Silver linings...

Geography is one of the lengthiest and trickiest optionals for this exam. I took this optional because of my earth science background and because it overlapped with parts of GS1 and GS3 papers. I didn't change my optional in any attempt because I always found it more difficult to prepare a new optional from scratch rather than improving the one already prepared. This optional unfortunately has not performed well in last few years but UPSC is unpredictable, so you have to take your own call. From my last selection to this selection, the only addition was Himanshu Sharma's notes for human geography, especially geographical thoughts part. I didn't do his coaching but joined 8 tests test series and gave 3 tests. For rest of the tests, I just saw the solutions. I had bought his notes of human geography from the market. Rest of the approach and sources remains the same . Geography is a lengthy optional therefore it should be prepared along with current affairs throughout the year...

GS 1 paper is one of the easiest papers as it has a defined syllabus and should be prepared first. Please have a look at last years question papers to understand the type of questions asked. This should be done for all the papers to have a concrete strategy for preparation.  My sources for this paper are as follows: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society. (i) Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times. Source: Old and new NCERTS of ancient and medieval India, currents affairs art and culture, CCRT material, new fine arts NCERT Approach: For mains, focus should be on contribution to Indian art, architecture and literature by different dynasties and during different periods like Gupta, Mauryan, Mughals, Indus Valley people. Vijaynagar kingdom etc. Focus on broad questions like features of buddhist architecture, difference between north Indian and south Indian temples etc ...

Prelims is the first stage of UPSC examination and undoubtedly the most competitive one. This is "the" stage of elimination therefore, it is to be taken with utmost seriousness. It has two parts: CSAT which is Paper 2 and GS which is Paper 1. Let's talk about Paper 2 first. CSAT is an aptitude test and not a mathematics test. Therefore you don't have to be scared about this exam if you are not from a science-maths background. All what you have to do is solve last year question papers. Similar types of questions are asked every year. Just try to solve every type of question which has been asked and practice them daily. For more practice you can buy some CSAT tests of coaching institutes but keep the UPSC papers as your standard. Even those who had maths in 12th or are from engineering background, please practice one or two tests before the real exam Now let's talk about GS paper. The first thing that you should do is look at last year question papers and identify t...