‘Self-affirmation is very important especially on the interview day because if you are scared then it is difficult’, Says Subhra Panda, AIR 204, UPSC 2023

In short, if you could tell something about yourself?

I come from a very humble background. My parents, my mother is a homemaker, my father is retired. I came to know about UPSC through my friends and newspapers during my college days and from then on I decided to give it a try to become a civil servant like many others did and finally in my fourth attempt, by God’s grace and everyone’s help, I did succeed in getting rank 204.

So when the results came, what were you doing?

I was expecting for the result to come because there were so many rumors that it is coming today, it
is coming tomorrow. I entered my roll number first whether it came or not, then the serial number in it was 204, but, i thought, maybe, this is the merit list, and ranks will come out after this. I did not know, and then I got to know that oh no it’s a rank. So i was very happy, 204 is a good rank, so we all were very happy about it.

This was your fourth attempt, right? What went wrong in previous attempts?

I don’t know exactly. Maybe I was lacking a little bit on static, less revision I would say. So in the fourth attempt, I revised a lot. I revised my static portion every day and that really helped me in 2023 because if we see the paper it was very much knowledge-based. If you know the answer, you just know the answer. So in my fourth attempt, I made sure that I revise very much regularly.

When it comes to three prelims, what was going on in your head that yes, the fourth attempt is
the baggage of negativity from past experience? How did you manage?

One thing was in my mind that I will not think about the past. We have to focus on what number I want. So I wanted 100, but obviously, I did not get 100. So that was the only thing which I kept in my mind. And I knew that for 100 I have to work on my static work, some bit on my current affairs.

So, I removed all the negativity and focused more on statics.

The issue was in GS or in CSAT?

It was in GS only. Sometimes some things which were easy like politics used to go wrong. Something or the other, things get overlooked and everyone else is correcting it. So many times it happens that marks are decreasing, but it is not coming so this time I paid attention that do not make silly mistakes so read, revise-read it again.

When it comes to GS, what was your strategy?

I focused more on revising the concept, making short notes, especially the points which I am forgetting again and again. I focused too much on PYQs, made many short notes, and revised them every day. So this is something which I did.

What was the strategy for the week before prelims? 

I did not attempt any questions. I started revising all the notes again. There were some booklets which had questions and I wrote the answers which were wrong. I revised them again. I revised Modern India, Polity. These are the few things which get you marks. So I revised them in the last week again. So the whole syllabus, like for one day I’m going to revise the whole history and the whole polity.

After your prelims, how did you utilize the time between prelims and mains?

After my prelims, I didn’t wait for the results. I started doing my Ethics because I thought it was a small syllabus to be covered, and also I did not read Ethics in the perspective of UPSC.

In my graduation, my philosophy was my background, so I started with Ethics after my prelims. I completed the syllabus first, and then I went on for other GS. So this is my strategy so by the time the results were out so I had done with Ethics and also made some short notes on that.

How do we basically schedule the time after prelims result came out for writing tests?

I focused on enriching my content, and then I started writing tests, mainly the MGP which was the only
test then I analyzed the comments and the inputs which were given by the examiners and I worked on that.

Then I moved on to my next and all these things and saw some of the strategy videos which talk about how to structure the answers, how to make better headlines, what to underline. These are some of the things which I really learned from the MGP.

You must have written the first paper, definitely the content in it must not have been so good. How did you manage the pressure at that time?

It was very difficult because we have to write 20 answers, and it was only 14, so I was very sad. My mother said no problem, the first was now if you give more it will be fine. Then in the next, I wrote 16, I was still sad because 20 didn’t happen. But then from the third test, I wrote 20, and I picked up the pace.

What will be the three things which you focussed on, in the answer?

First would be philosophy, I did place some a good philosopher name and even Indian philosopher like Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo. These are some of the notable names which I mention, I can’t remember the exact line and that would become tricky if you write wrong. So I said that how Swami Vivekananda talked about it in that sense, so I quoted that how what Gandhiji said about this situation. So in this way, I try to incorporate them into my answers because if you do not remember the exact words which they said you can not put it in the quotes it could give a very bad impression if you miss out a few words and something. Yes, you can always co-relate with the main theme.

Another thing I focused was on the headings. I didn’t use what, my heading would go like this, reasons for this because the question there’s something main, and then I would go on right five points, and then I would write consequences of this. Then I would write this, so I think that really structured my answer in a way what the question was trying to ask. So that is one thing.

And finally, for the conclusion, I always gave a visionary conclusion and I reflected on what the question is actually asking, so I would conclude all answers always.

What did you do after mains, and how did you prepare for the interview?

I was pretty sure that I would get the interview call.  I was a little bit confident about it. So what I did, I was pursuing my Masters from Delhi University, so I went there. I attended the third semester classes full-time. I focused on my Masters. I enjoyed them because it was something new other than the UPSC syllabus.

Then the list came with the interview schedules on the 8th of December and third semester exams were scheduled to start in January. So I was relieved that my name is not in the first list. So I managed my examination. Then my interview was on 28 so after my examination I started preparing. The ForumIAS classes for current affairs dose helped me a lot and some interview guidance. I gave some mocks. This is how I actually managed.

What was going on in your mind when you were sitting in the Dholpur House for the interview? 

I knew that they are trying to get to know my personality so they know what questions to ask, so there was nothing to be scared of because they know that when we ask these questions we will know whether this candidate is right or not.

So I made up my mind that yes, I am the right candidate. I have to remind myself. Self-affirmation is very important especially on the interview day because if you are scared then it is difficult. They are looking for some good leaders, who are not scared.

How was the support of the family while preparing?

The family was very supportive, I would say because I had failed three prelims. After getting so much support again in the fourth. It’s difficult even the first stage was not passed, but my family was very supportive, and my brother said no problem, fourth be the lucky charm, and turned out to be. My mother said it’s okay what to do otherwise you would have read something else now read this, so the family was very supportive.

Was there any moment throughout your preparation which you consider the lowest point?

I would say throughout my preparation when I failed the third prelims, I was heartbroken because it feels like, well, the first one didn’t happen. It’s fine. The second one didn’t go well, but the third one didn’t either. So it was a very low point, but then my parents took me out. Let’s go out for a bit, it’ll feel good. Then I came back and what I did was I started preparing for my mains.
I thought let’s do mains first, so I started with my optional and did some research on the GS, What is the syllabus? What can I read? What are the NCERTs that are available? So this is how I did.

Never thought of giving up the preparation?

No never, I knew that I have to give the six attempts. It’s six, and I started early so I started I gave my first attempt at 22 so even if I finish all my six attempts I would be 28. So I think, okay! After 28 I will do something. I knew I have to give all the attempts.

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