I really pushed myself to attempt all the answers in Mains Exam, says Deepti Rohilla who secured AIR 39 in UPSC CSE 2023

What was your reaction when you saw your role number in the PDF? In what situation were you? Were you with your family or your friends? How did you feel when you finally saw that you made it to the list?

First of all, thank you for having me.  It was a feeling of disbelief at the first, then happiness, then relief, and then finally it’s taking time to sink in now. I was with my mother and we were driving home back when the result came, and it was mixed feeling because my mom was driving, she was happy and also had tears in her eyes. I was very happy to see her smile.

Can you tell us from where did you prepare? Many students go to Delhi; where did you prepare from? From Delhi or from home or from your college itself?

I started during the later half of my college years and focused on basic books. The core preparation started after my college years were over and I took one year and I prepared diligently from home because I needed someone’s support during my low and high times.

So, I consciously decided to prepare from home even though there were logistical challenges.

I joined a library and had a very focused environment. I think my family has been a great strength. My entire family prepared along with me. My mother is a History teacher who helped me prepare the History portion because it is a task to prepare that subject especially for prelims.

My brother who is in IIT Delhi has helped me with the CSAT preparation.

Apart from my family, my friends have been my very supportive.

What else did you follow to navigate through the times of stress, like practicing meditation or any kind of exercise or any other hobby?

I do listen to podcasts, so I refer to Andrew Huberman’s podcast on neuroscience. I was dwelling a lot on how to tackle stress, anxiety, and from there I’ve got my interest in neuroscience. So I refer to his podcast. I also listen to Robert Green’s podcast. So these two were my constant during my preparation.

You have cleared prelims in both the attempts which is a very critical stage that many students fail to clear. Can you tell everyone what worked for you and what is that one-shot strategy that will ensure that everyone clears their preliminary stage in the first go?

I think I was very scared of the prelims stage because it is so uncertain that you can nearly lose a year of your preparation and it’s very taxing on the mental health as well. So I think first I was very fearful and I was very determined to get it right in the very first go so I practiced a lot of test. I focused lot on the static component rather than running after too many current affairs sources.

I have limited sources but they were diverse and comprehensive enough, so I refer to that and I had developed the knack of solving questions repeatedly solving the PYQs yearlong as well as 1 month prior to the examination.

I think having the right mindset of solving the questions and even not attaching your worth to the examination especially in the prelim stage because you never know how much hard work the other person have done and probably it is luck based also, so I would say I was chilled out one week prior to the prelims because it is the most dreadful stage and we are very fearful especially one week before the prelims.

I was not burdening myself that I have to reach to a certain number of hours during those days so I would say that mindset plays really a crucial role.

What role does current affairs play in the initial stage of the exam, in the preliminary stage of the exam?

I would say it is important but if the static component is very strong then leeway in current affairs can be given, but certain subjects such as Environment or Science and Tech and IR, focus should be given to the current affairs part.

For Polity, Economy and Geography, static component with their conceptual clarity matters,  so I can say that it varies from subject to subject.

What was your push factor and what was something that motivated you to keep preparing for CSAT side by side? How did you include this in your timetable? What was your strategy?

I think my motivation for CSAT was fear, fear was driving me to work very hard in CSAT because I was comfortable in GS where I was confident that I could clear due to my geography honors background. Though I had Maths  class 11th and 12th but I think if you’re not humble and not preparing enough, nobody is spared so I prepared diligently based on the PYQs and I’ve solved all the PYQs especially of the reasoning part or the mathematics part.

After solving the PYQs, I practiced questions from a book titled CSAT by Arihant Publications, the type of question that have been asked, I would practice more difficult questions from that book.

I made a 10 page handout of the formulas and the short tricks or what I need to remember and I’ve highlighted that well that you need to focus on this part more or that part more.

For CSAT, the day of the examination matters a lot, so I diligently prepared what will I do in the break between GS and CSAT including what food should I eat so that I’m not lousy sleep. I practice NSDR (non sleep deep rest) so that my mind is fresh. I practiced this few calculation sums, so that I’m in the groove and my few minutes are saved while I’m sitting and giving the examination.

What about reading comprehension? What was your strategy because in CSAT we have seen a pattern that reading comprehension can be really tricky because the options are similar, the paragraphs are shorter, more difficult to comprehend?

I would say reading comprehension was my strength. If there are 32 question I would make sure that 30 of them are right and for that, I believe daily newspaper reading played a role because after reading a editorial I would make I would quickly ask what what are the main points that are being asked in the paragraph or the article.

I also practiced a lot from PYQ.  There is a way say assumption is asked or inference is asked so I I made it a point that I’m getting the hang of those question.

I agree that in the last year, we were left with two options, but we have to go with the broader theme that is there in the option.

What was your optional subject, and was your choice of the optional subject also related to your background? How did it help? What was your strategy?

My optional was geography and I’ve done geography honors from Miranda House Delhi University, so it was natural inclination for me to take the subject but in my very first attempt, I got the score of 219 wherein I was very dejected.

This time I made it to 323 so I mean getting 300 plus was really a dream come true to be honest and I would say regarding the optional strategy my approach would be to have comprehensive notes of all the subjects prepared and here in comes the role of newspaper reading regularly I was finding the areas wherein I could use the keywords mentioned in the newspaper which are not readily seen in the magazine or in the books which made a lot of difference in the marks.

What about answer writing? What about the Mains exam GS 1, 2, 3, 4?

Mains stage of the examination is really the main stage.

I joined the MGP and Dipin sir’s current affair classes and I am very thankful for the quality content that sir has provided and I also referred to the topper copies or the comprehensive answers that has been provided so it has been quite useful.

Regarding the individual strategies I would say in Essay, my score was 110 and in that I believe understanding the topic well and then writing according to the flow of the essay where it is not mechanical wherein you have certain emotional connect with the essay,  I think that played a role and I usually start with the story and conclude with the poem so these are the omprehensive strategy that I followed for the essay.

Regarding the GS subject I would say that identifying the sub part in the question becomes the key and I followed the regular introduction body and conclusion framework and it differed from paper to paper say in GS2 it’s very crucial to be analytical and writing the keyword.

In paper 3 it is bit mechanical, you have to give lot of examples it need not be too much analytical so it depends and I I feel that in ethics, it is mixture of all the three GS where in the examples that came along with the ethical keywords.

Talking about the essay, I’d like to focus more on that for now. Most of the students, while practicing their answer writing, what they do is that they fall back a little bit when it comes to essay writing practice. What do you want to suggest? Is there any one particular strategy depending on the topic?

I was not rigid in terms of whether it is of one subject or other I would let my feelings flow. Whatever came to my mind, I would just jot it down in the rough work that is provided and regardless whether it is philosophical or a general topic I would say the approach is same.  I mean question it as to why it has been asked relating I mean negating the subject whether the statement if it if it is taken in the negative sense how would it be then concluding in a very good positive note and making an emotional connect with the reader is really crucial and I did not neglect essay.

I would say that essay,ethics and optional they are really the game changers so I I focused lot of answer writing.

How important is the conclusion part in an answer in a 10-mark question or in a 15-mark question?

I think conclusion is quite important it gives the closure to the answer but I still believe that the main part that has been asked whether it is answered well.

Initially we’ll write really good answers but in the last 10 minutes we might have to rush with one or two answers so even if we have written the conclusion in one line with a keyword or a positive note I think that will work but I think more focus should be given on the main content as to what is asked in the question.

Did you attempt all the answers? Was there in any of the GS 1, 2, 3, 4 were there any questions that were left out because you were running short of time, or was there any situation like that?

Running short of time did not happen to me because  I knew that mains is really important. When you leave an answer unanswered, even if the marks difference would not be huge but it takes a lot on your mental toll, so I was very scared of the guilt and I really pushed myself to attempt all the answers well.

For that I had the hack that I will select two questions from the 10 markers that will be attempted in last say 10 minutes and my watch was 5 minutes ahead of the time so generally my mind would say that we have 10 minutes but in reality, it was 15 minutes so in question wherein we  don’t know that much of the content well I would mark the questions and write them later.

Did you include any flowcharts or diagrams, data in your answers?

It varied.  I mean in GS 3 it is required to draw diagrams, give data, etc and in some it requires codes so I think it depends on subject to subject.

How did Forum IAS help you boost your Mains score, and what role did MGP play regarding your entire timetable for answer writing, the entire practice process that is involved?

I think I attempted nearly all the MGP tests it builds your accountability that you have to give the test on that day so I mean regardless of whatever is going on I have to complete my syllabus during that time and it also ensured the revision is timely.

I would say that the questions in MGP are really of good quality and it tests that whether we are able to complete their paper on time whether the answers are comprehensive or not so I think it really made me ready for the day of the examination.

Can you also tell us about your timetable, the timetable that you followed maybe one or two months before prelims?

Regarding prelims I would say that I have dedicated a lot of time in solving the PYQs and the test series because I believe there is a knack of solving questions,  we tend to ignore the mistake but I believe no mistake is silly so I was practicing a lot of questions and working a lot on what will be my mindset during the day of examination and focusing on the static component because I believe there’s no end to current affairs.

One or two months prior to the prelims my focus was a lot on static subject revision and revising what all mistakes I’ve done in the test series and and practicing a lot of questions.

How was your timetable for the Mains? Was it very hectic? What I want to know is what an ideal day of your life looked like before attending the Mains examination?

I would say that the time between prelims and Mains I was very focused because I know I have to give my all in in this stage because that’s the main stage.

I pushed more than 10 hours, at times when the momentum began I would study more than 12 hours, on some days when the I mean motivation is very high I would study for 13-14 hours also but that was occasional.

The daily timetable initially I would start with the newspaper reading which got completed in 45 minutes to 1 hours then I would study two subjects together because I am a person who cannot study a subject for a stretch. I feel it reduces my productivity so to make the process also interesting and reduce the boredom I take two subjects in a day.

How did you go about preparing for the interview? What was the entire journey?

The date for the interview came on 19th of December and mine was on the very first day i.e 2nd January,  so I had nearly 2 weeks to prepare so I focused on developing perspective for newspaper, forming opinions then brushing upon optional subject and being mentally ready for whatever is being asked for the day because we tend to neglect communication when we prepare for Mains because we are in just head down execution mode.

Definitely I think during that time I tend to talk little more so that there is no awkwardness while talking.

Did you attend any of the mock interview tests that we conducted?

Actually I joined the Dipin sir’s current affairs program there were I think three classes who and he nicely summarized all the the current developments that might be asked and I have given mock interview.

It was very surreal feeling when I entered the Dhoplur house. When you enter in that building, the whole architecture gives you feel that you are somewhere else so it was very a proud feeling.

My parents were accompanying me and it was very proud feeling happy feeling that I’ve made it to the interview stage and now I just have to perform and talk and be myself.

I was expecting a little more marks yes but ‘All well that ends well’.

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