Having a positive mindset really helps you to clear the exam, says Abhinav Ashok, AIR 693, UPSC CSE 2023

General Details

You first reaction after result?

I was extremely happy. I was beyond elated to finally see the list out with my name on it.

I had been working towards this for the past three years. Immediately, I called my parents, and they were on cloud nine, tears of ecstasy flowing from their eyes. There was a big celebration in the family.

Result was on Expected line or not? A lot of hard work had been put in over the past three years. I had a feeling that I would perform decently in the personality test after clearing the mains. So after the interview, I was hopeful that I would see my name on the list. However, I was unsure whether it would be high or low on the list.

A brief background about yourself?

Schooling: I grew up in Gopalganj in Bihar. That is where I did my primary schooling. After that, I moved to a boarding school in Ajmer, where I completed my secondary and higher secondary education.

Graduation: I pursued my engineering degree in Information Technology from NSIT Delhi and graduated in the year 2021.

Decision for UPSC: During my time in college, I had decided to appear for the civil services exams and therefore did not participate in the placement process.

Do you have anyone in bureaucracy in your family?

No one. due to that I was a little insecure and felt overshelmed when faced and met those bureaucrats for the first time in my life.

However, I wanted to become the first in my family to achieve this, it would set an example for the entire family, and I believe that many more will follow suit.

Overall Preparation Strategy

Any instance from your preparation that you would tag as a lowest phase?

It was just before the interview.

I had been very motivated throughout, but just before the interview, sometimes you receive negative feedback or reviews. Due to this, it felt like, ‘Will I be able to do this?’ Because in the other stages of the exam, you can take tests to improve, but at this stage, it seems like you’re portraying your personality. i was thinking, what if I’m not that good?

At that point, I felt a little low, but then again, I was lucky to have teachers, mentors, and my parents who helped me a lot.

How did you overcome that feeling?

I think it is very important to believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself and think that you can do it, then there are very high chances that you will succeed.

I remember in the beginning, after the prelims, you asked me whether I could clear mains, and I answered with a yes. The only thing running in my mind was that now that I have told you that I will clear mains, I have to work towards it. So, I think that a positive mindset really helps.

What were the three or four things that you think clicked this time in your preparation and overall approach?

The first would be hard work. I think I worked the hardest this year, in the last three years. I put in everything. I used to study for 12 to 15 hours as much as possible, not every day but I used to try to be as consistent as possible every day. It doesn’t happen other than Diwali, Holi, major festivals, I study almost every day so I think that really helps me.

The next thing would be staying in isolation also helps me a little because I used to live alone so I always got used to having this fear in the back of my head that everyone might be studying and I too have to study. I thought everything is possible, everyone is doing everything, I have to do better than them.

The third would be, I think there is also a luck factor to some extent because I think everybody is working equally hard but not all succeed, sometimes there is a little bit of luck factor too which helped me in this. This was the first time that I appeared for mains and interview.  so I think these three things played a major role in this attempt of mine.

Association with ForumIAS

What programs were you associated with at the forum?

I started with MGP.  I can say with a lot of certainty that the quality of questions and answers provided was absolutely top-notch.

Apart from that, I was part of the SFG program for prelims preparation, which really helped me deal with the uncertainties in the real exam that occurred last year when the paper pattern changed completely.

After that, I participated in the AWFG program because I was very ill-prepared for the mains part. I had only three months for that. So I believe AWFG really helped me build a more polished base than what I had cultivated during my preparation.

Additionally, I was also part of the Sociology test series. Surprisingly, the sociology test series worked out really well for me because there were three or four questions that came directly from it. So I was quite surprised when I saw them for the first time in the paper. How did the same questions appear here? But it worked out very well for me.

UPSC Prelims Preparation Staretgy

How did you manage the prelims examination?

I think this year, I learned what prelims actually entail. It is not just a test of knowledge but also a test of patience and mental stability.

There are many questions to which you might not know the answers. As everyone says, you might only know the answers to 25 to 30 or 35 questions, which is not sufficient to clear the stage. However, if you make educated guesses based on your past knowledge and take calculated risks, that can go a long way in helping you clear the exam. Many people were perplexed when they saw the new pattern of the paper.

What I was prepared for was – to encounter something very different in the paper. I had already prepared myself mentally for anything that might happen. So when I saw the paper, I thought, ‘This is a different paper again this year, with a different kind of option setting.’ So I just proceeded normally.

I believe that being calm and composed really helped me in this.

CSAT – Honestly, CSAT was a hurdle in my previous attempts. However, I would say that patience really helped me because there is no fixed pattern in which CSAT questions come. So, I was relying heavily on mathematics questions. So I just had it in my mind that somehow I had to solve a good number of mathematics questions because comprehension is sometimes ambiguous.

You find a lot of differences in the answers provided by these coaching centers and the commission. So I was relying heavily on mathematics questions as well.”

UPSC Mains Preparation and Answer writing Strategy

How did you manage your answer writing?

Analysing PYQs: One important thing that everybody used to tell me is that it is very important to understand what is being asked and to address the question. So, for that, I used to gather a lot of information about the kind of questions they usually ask and what they have asked in previous years.

Creating backgrounder for topics: I also made sure to learn the topics thoroughly so that I could have a background of what they might be willing to ask and what they might be intending to ask. Sometimes, there is a very limited timeframe during which you have to think and then write it down on paper. So, I believe having that background really helps recalling what and how I have to write.

Topper’s Papers and Dipin Sir’s Guidance: Apart from that, the toppers’ papers always guide you on how they expect you to write. I was also a part of the current affairs program with Dipin sir. He often gave questions in the classes and frequently checked them, providing reference answers as to what he would expect.

Sometimes my answers were very different from what they were expecting, so over the period of three months, this really helped me gain insight into what people actually expect, what to ask, and what you usually write. Therefore, I tried to bridge this gap as much as possible

What are the three qualities in your answers that you would definitely highlight?

Being innovative in Intro and conclusion: The first thing I did was to be a little innovative in my answers, especially in the introduction and the conclusion. I heard from one of the toppers in previous years that she used to include some sentences from Laxmikant in every answer. So I tried to emulate that. Not everyone would do this because, in those few minutes that you get, it’s probably not possible to recall everything you’ve studied. So, I had a few templates ready, and I used them directly.

Adhering to the question: The second aspect you would notice in my answers is that in the final paper, I tried to closely adhere to the question being asked, so that I could cater to the question’s requirements and possibly earn more marks.

Handwriting: Thirdly, handwriting. I knew that I had handwriting that I could leverage to my benefit. I really worked on the presentation so that even a slight improvement could make a significant difference, as it always does.

Which pen did you prefer for the exams?

Initially, I didn’t give it much thought. I got a random Reynolds pen, a ball pen, and started using it. So when I started AWFG and started writing with it, I gradually got used to it. So it was only after 10 or 15 papers I saw a blog post on which it was written that someone had asked what kind of pen should we use. Then I thought oh, I didn’t know that this thing also matters.

But by then, after taking 10-15 exams, I had developed the habit of writing with the same ballpoint pen. It is a very inexpensive pen, costing Rs. 5, but I had become so accustomed to it that I ordered them in bulk. So I stuck with that pen for the entire preparation.

How did you manage your edge over others in AWFG? 

I wrote regularly. I was following AWFG very religiously because as I told you that I felt that my mains preparation was not up to the mark. Every day we have a certain syllabus and the next day there will be a test on it. So I thought that if I stick to this exactly my preparation would be better.

Sometimes it happens that you do things superficially and you think that maybe you have read it well but in the test series there are a lot of unexpected questions. So I used to study for it all day and give tests in the morning and still I used to get surprised by some unexpected questions, asked from some important points.

I think AWFG taught me very well how to gather my thoughts within that 7-8 minutes and write productively.

UPSC Optional Preparation Strategy

How did you manage sociology preparation?

Sociology, I had my basic notes from my foundation classes which I was following religiously.

Language: I think the language used in it was quite technical so in the beginning I was not able to understand it even after reading it a couple of times.

But slowly I learned that the language that is used here is very nice so most probably there will be a professor to check so if I use this proper language they would really like it rather than writing in a layman’s perspective as it might sound a little bookish but I was very happy with that.

Examples: I used to use direct examples because all that was written in my notes. If Weber had given any example then I used to write that example by quoting Weber only and that is better than my own observation. Weber is someone who is more credible than me. So I used to do that on my paper. But, Yes, the normal observation that you have from around really helps.

Test Series: I had joined the ForumIAS’s ATS(Augmented Test Series) and I think that really helped me refine my answer writing style because I came to know that it can be written in different ways. Sometimes you have the freedom of writing, but sometimes it happens that you come across a question about which you are not very aware, then you have a lot of general observations around you and in your mind many times it seems as if in paper one, this general observation may be used. Many times you can do something very practical which you see around you.

Interview Preparation Strategy

How did you prepare for the interview?

Yes, I was scared, nervous for sure, but then I took 10 mocks, which helped me keep my nerves in check before the real interview.

When i took interviews, I was very nervous. I remember coming to you and saying, ‘I don’t know how to start, when to start.’ Because in the beginning, it was a little tough. I actually lived all alone for the past two years in a flat all by myself.

I’ve had really few interactions with people. People usually have their friend circle to discuss things with. But since I was living all by myself, I did not discuss much. So I was also afraid that now I was facing these bureaucrats for the first time. I was seeing an IAS officer, IPS officer for the first time in my life, and I had to speak so much. It had been a long time since I left school. So I thought the first thing was to break from that inertia, come out, and try once. With time, the graph only went up, and that really helped me build my confidence.

What was going through your mind when you were waiting for your turn in Dholpur House?

There were a lot of people sitting all around and you see all these happy faces, excited faces and at that moment I knew I don’t want to be the only person who is worried. I also want to be like them and I have to be as confident as they are.

I knew this thing that if I have come to this stage then there is probably something in me, there are some qualities in me that the commission is looking for. Therefore I should capitalize on it and I should use it to the best of my benefit. I tried to remain calm and I thought that I am as good as the other person.

Everyone was talking to each other. We were discussing about whose panel we might face on the common table that we were sitting. I thought to myself, regardless of which Board I get, I’m going to do my best. These are the 30 minutes that I have earned with this commission and I think that this level so I should do justice to what I have been working for and it was with this thought that I went there.

How did you handle the sense of insecurity when interacting with other candidates who might have had more experience? 

That thing was in my mind because out of the six people at my table, five were serving people. One of them was IPS and the rest were working in different government sectors. I definitely had a slight feeling that these people have faced an interview before, they know what to say. But then again I thought that I make novelty one of my strengths that maybe the panel will be happy with the fact that an aspirant who has never done a face to face interview before, came here for the first time. So I thought that maybe I should look at it this way . It has worked out well and I ended up scoring 184 in Interview.

Read – Biography, Testimonials and Answer copies of Other toppers