General Studies - Mains

If conventional topics (National Movement, Polity, Economics, Geography) are prepared well during Prelims itself, then it eases a lot of pressure in preparation for the Mains as during the period May-October effort can be focused on practicing for Mains and Current Affairs which have become very important in GS exam. I'll try to deal with each of the topics mentioned in syllabus.

For National Movement, I used to read from Spectrum “History of Modern India” and practice from NCERT. There is usually a surprise element in UPSC history questions (though this year's were straight forward) and practicing from NCERT without reading it gave me adequate practice. I'd read a chapter after solving the questions given at the back. I tried approx. 5-8 tough questions from most chapters. Also, some topics – State People’s Movements, Rise of Left Front, Communalism – are covered very well in Bipan Chandra “India’s Struggle for Independence” (Penguin).

For Polity, I read Dr. D.D. Basu “Introduction to the Constitution of India”, Wizard Indian Polity and Constitution and solved questions given at the back of Wizard book (they are just Previous Year questions). To add some extra points or clarify doubts for important topics, I used to go through P.M. Bakshi’s “The Constitution of India”

For Geography, I read NCERT books - India's Physical Environment, India People and Economy.

For Economics, I had notes from Sriram's institute and substantiated them from Misra/Puri. I was thorough with XIth Five Year Plan and would read important topics from Economic Survey. These were: State of the Economy, External Sector, Infrastructure, Social Sectors.

I practiced previous year papers for Statistics.

And now the most important part- Current Affairs - India and World; International Affairs; current topics in Economy and Polity; National, Social and Environment issues; Science and Technology.

I was regular with The Hindu - took clippings daily, underlined important points in them right away (so that I didn't have to read the article all over again later) and arranged them topic wise once every fortnight or so. I also read Chronicle and important topics from Frontline (20 pages in each issue out of 130 pages). By August mid I had a list of important issues from all topics. This includes:

• Relations with about 10-12 countries (Russia, US, Pakistan, Nepal, Brazil, South Africa, China, Japan, ASEAN, SAARC, G8, Italy, Germany; any country important for that year). I arranged the clippings topic wise and wrote answers for relations with each country. For example: In India-Russia relations I divided answer into 6 sections (Energy, Defence, International affairs, Economy/Trade, Cultural, Miscellaneous). There would be about 5-10 points of recent developments under each heading.
• Nearly 10-15 topics each from International Affairs, National issues, Polity issues and current Economy, Science and Technology.

I prepared and practiced answers for these important topics. Atleast 3-4 revisions are must to get the best out of this effort.

Many of the 2 markers were covered from these news clippings. Also, I practiced to write maximum information in minimum words. This is a must to do well in 2 markers.

Tackling the exam: For me time is a big issue in exam. I write quite slowly. So I would answer all the questions I knew first and leave all the flukes for the last (around 30-40 marks detailed questions). This way I could give my best in the questions I was thorough with. Moreover, before writing the answer I’d think on it for a few minutes and prepare a basic framework. This is a must. I wrote to the point answers. Moreover, if I could write only good 150 words for a 250 words answer, I’d leave it at that rather than trying to stretch my answer to required word limit.

I left 2 markers which I didn't know rather than attempting flukes in them.