UPSC SIR

Rachit Raj, IAS, sharing his experience and explaining how to prepare for IAS Exam with all who are going to start or who have started their Civil Services exam preparation.

I did my B Tech in Biotechnology and probably I scored decent marks. Always I had the motto of clearing this exam and getting into IAS . During my college days I never studied for this exam and also never went through any newspaper which now I think I should have done. Only thing which was happening was the thought to clear this exam.

After completing my B Tech , I didn’t join any job . Also I got chance to do M Tech but one of my special friend asked not to go into research and PhD ( nothing intentional) so even I dropped this idea too. Lately I realised that I should have some back up before going to start my preparation for IAS. Therefore I decided to go for MBA as a backup plan . I joined an institution in Mumbai and started with my MBA program. Three months passed and honestly speaking I was not at all feeling inclined and interested into this field. So finally in November I left MBA and thought to go for IAS exam preparation . Everyone in my family was not in favour of this decision ( you might know the reason ). But still taking into my self confidence and ability I decided to go for it.

At this stage I will tell you my condition. I was really not interested in history , polity, geography, sociology and economics ( being engineering background , you might realise ). I didn’t know about constitution , modern history, geography etc. But with affirmative mind I joined a coaching and started my preparation.

Initially I felt problem in reading newspaper and how to proceed in the subjects. But I continued with whatever material I had . Later on I really got inclined and interested into all the subjects and enjoyed reading. But I will tell you that always have patience, perseverance and self confidence . This is required .

IAS Exam Rank 3, Rachit Raj Sharing his IAS Exam Preparation strategy for those who are very new in their Civil Services Exam preparation and those who are in their midway preparation:

When I joined my coaching , I was not sure about the crowd and method of teaching . Especially the people all around . I used to hear the aspirants discussing about different general studies topic and on hearing their views I used to find myself at very low position , thinking that I really don’t know much about all these and might be they are much more well educated. Also in the book stores area and all I used to find aspirants having tea and discussing about general studies . These all used to provide me an envelope of negativity all around .

Later on I met some seniors who started giving me the whole list of around 20 books to go through and told me now you should take complete 2 years to prepare for the exam . They also said that it takes 1 year to understand the syllabus of IAS exam .

All these communication made me very skeptical about the IAS exam and filled in me negativity and lowered my self confidence .

But anyhow thinking that I need to continue I started my IAS exam preparation and then continued in my approach . In the initial phase I felt some difficulties as I was very new into this field but I thought that in the early phase of any start up the environment is filled with difficulties and struggle so one need to keep patience and have positive attitude to continue .

So I just managed to bring myself on the correct track .

Thereby just when u start your venture, initially hurdles will always come but you will have to encounter them and confidently deal .

You need to keep your inner positivity and never be affected by other’s negative opinion and thoughts . Other’s will only induce negativity , they won’t like you to succeed and they would only prefer to give you hell lot of advises but only to the extent that it will be never productive .

So it all depends on you , how you take things and how you react. Don’t let anything empower you . Trust me in your ias exam preparation phase none of your competitors and others too will pray for your success ,instead they would be more than happy to hear the news of your failure . So it’s all your persona and personality that will matter in the sense how you are reacting to the situation.

You will be filled with negative thoughts but you will have to maintain calmness and have attitude with positivity towards your goal .

Don’t think of others and don’t let it impact you negatively . Instead take positive points from it and be more motivated to succeed . Try to be more motivated with the negative thoughts , if you have done this you will conquer the world and you will achieve success .

One mantra is ” if you can feel motivated by the negative thoughts then life is all yours and success is yours ” but you will have to do this , though it is tough but you will have to try and it’s not tough. Whenever you are down and off , just think of your goal and aim and work accordingly , you will get more productive results.
All the best !!!!

This Article is written by Mr. Rachit Raj, IAS.

These 7 must to things while you prepare for IAS Exam, it will increase your chances of success, as it has already been tested by IAS Exam topper Rachit Raj himself. He is sharing the 7 point with all aspirants who prepare for IAS exam.

1. Just make a habit of noting down the materials you read . You will feel lazy in this but just promise yourself that you gonna do this. Because these things during the time of revision will aid you a lot .

2. Newspaper reading is must . Go through it and make a habit of making notes out of it . As you cannot retain all information so it’s better to note down as in during revision this would help you out . You will feel very lazy in making notes and you may postpone it for tomorrow but please it’s your future and its your goal , so be little selfish and try to do that for yourself . 
In newspaper you can have a glance of the whole but try to effectively study editorial section, national news of vital importance etc

3. It’s your choice about the magazine . But make a habit of going through and making notes of the magazine material you studied . It would really gonna help you in later times. Also try to go through the questions given in them as per seeing the changing trend in IAS exam.

4. Don’t be frustrated by the materials and syllabus . No one can prepare all and everything . So it’s up to you how much and how well you are studying . You have to manage study and revision accordingly .

5. Don’t pay much attention to what your contemporaries say. As it will mainly lead to demotivate you and in this exam the primary criteria is that you need to be motivated all the time . You are quite matured to decide for yourself . You should not be influenced by others

6. Journey is yours and life is yours . You have to decide how to live and sustain . It’s all upto you that how effectively you manage . But just remember that you cannot waste your time uselessly ,so in proper apt time you need to give your best and receive the best .

7. So take an oath before yourself that you will follow your path honestly and will try your best . You are not gonna be demotivated and you have to build patience , tolerance and perseverance in yourself. You need to fill your life with the colours of positivity and confidence .

Article written by: Mr. Rachit Raj, IAS

Before becoming UPSC IAS topper (2011-12) she was already had a degree of MBBS from AIIMS, which she completed in 2009. Prior to this she was also a topper of  the CBSE Pre Medical Test (PMT) in 2004.

– Shena is from Yamunanagar, Haryana

– Daughter of Dr. C K Gupta and Pinky Aggarwal

– Scored 95% in 10th standard from Sant Nischal Singh Public School, Yamunanagar

– Scored 92% in 12th std from Dyanchand Public School Nabha

– She stood first in the Class-12 CBSE examination in 2004

– She was the All India topper of CBSE PMT Exam 2004

– Shena got 305th rank in 2010 Civil Service Exam

– Became IAS Topper after getting Rank 1 in UPSC Civil Services Exam in 2011-12.

During her Preparation she mostly relied on self-study but also took guidance of teachers from time to time.

She read newspapers and magazines to get a better understanding of current events.

Despite her busy IRS training schedule in Nagpur, she dedicated 5 − 6 hours a day in preparing for the 2011 examination. It must be noted here the she had already cleared Civil Services Exam  once still she felt a need of 5-6 hours of study everyday.

She says “When it comes to preparation for the UPSC, there can be no shortcut. Obviously, since I had taken the exam once before, I had a certain edge. There were no surprises this year.”

When asked about how did she kept herself motivated, she says “Yes She took part in tests to find out her shortcoming and correct her weaknesses, it worked as both warning and motivation at times.”

Being a doctor her obvious choice was Medical Science and another related subject she opted for Psychology. She did not experimented to explore new and relatively unknown area but with a clear mind opted a set of optional subjects with which she was comfortable.

Every beginner has many questions while choosing optional subjects. Sneha was well versed in Medical Science as a paper but most of aspirants are not quite friendly with any of listed subjects and find himself equally weak in all. In such case aspirants need to go through NCERT books before deciding any subject. Don’t judge your like or dislike unless you get a taste of dish. Unless you will read these books you can’t become sure about your inclination.

This was her Third attempt.

In her previous attempt she secured 305 rank and joined Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) – IRS (IT) and was undergoing training in Nagpur while she got selected as IAS Topper in the IAS exam of 2011-12.

Mains Exam Marks

10th: Sant Nischal Singh Public School Yamuna Nagar

12th: Dayanand Public School Nabha

MBBS: AIIMS Delhi

Training as an IRS at National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur

Even after being having so many recognitions she was never a geek but took part in various sports and cultural events across her academic career from school to college and training institutes.

Her proud father Dr CK Aggarwal is a dentist in Yamunanagar; her mother Pinki Aggarwal is a housewife.

IAS Exam Topper Mona Pruthi was a Delhi University student turned teacher turned IRS before joining as IAS. She topped the Civil Service Exam held in 2005-06 to join the most prestigious service in India. She is among very few girls to have this title of IAS Exam Topper.

Her father Late N. L. Pruthi was an Additional Session Judge and a great source of motivation and support for her who always encouraged her in the journey of excellence. But he was no more to she her success.