Subscribe to ForumIAS

Mains 2022 - All Papers PDF + R**** Rona + Paper Discussion

Guys, Essay Paper is over. How was it?

DM,Oshoand33 otherslike this
1m views

2.3k comments

@rockhard  i too face same issue last year..
In gs 2 bluffed in 14 fc,, earn while you learn,, cbi and India vs usa ,, scored just 98 which is below avg
In gs 3 left completely blank s400 who air,, blue led ,, cop 26 still got 95.. i wrote other answer very nicely...
This year I focussed on quality... In gs 1 left colour code wala blank... In gs 2 India vs France... In gs 3 cellulose... In gs 4 i give 85 min to section a in mocks same approach but complete only 12 questn in next 95 min wrote case study well except last one where I just address all parts...


rockhard,
7.1k views
@Capedcrusader1 @rockhard What were your  solving strategies w.r.t GS-4 this year? 


- case studies will be solved firstly because 10 markers are too complicated and decoding 10 markers will definetly take more than 7 minutes. 

-1hour 40 minutes for case studies. i overhauled my writing and presentation part this year wrt last year. 

-options available are 4 in my case. ias360 pdf that i saw also has minimum 3 options available. PS: while exploring more options one ma find qualitatively eroded content because of time issue.

-IBC format in all cs and 10 markers

now coming to 10 markers: 1hour 20 minutes. 

to be brutally honest, it was such a rush that i have never faced in any mocks. not because im slow in writing but because the shock value of 10 markers was at its peak. decoding the demand of the 10 markers was not easy atleast in first go. in mocks, i usually crack the demand in one go, infact i begin to write while i am reading the question. this had a domino effect on the last 10 markers. since i dont remember an iota of what i have written, i cant say quality is heavily compromised but i dont think by leaving questions,you would gain an upper hand in quality. thats simply not how gs4 is designed(my opinion). these are all my experiences. last year i couldnt complete whole paper as well.

Exactly. 10 markers were shocking indeed. I remember as soon as the paper got over, everyone was asking whether they "completed" the paper or not (The paper felt too lengthy). That 1st case study was quite complex too. It was a big challenge to maintain quality "and" quantity in GS-4. Honestly, I compromised quality in last 3 10 marker questions. 


I will be back!
8k views
@Capedcrusader1 I don't think so the optional guys had much advantage. The keywords in the questions were quite general which just  needed 'better' analysis. 

  • Socio questions were doable if you have read Indian Society NCERT, did PYQs and followed current affairs 'broadly'. 
  • The main problem with Geo questions was that they were quite unexpected (easy questions like primary rock (types and characteristics) made me go blank but however time management helped me attempt that question) plus when I read some Geo questions in the first iteration, my mind went like- "What to write now?" (But again, I had not prepared for Geography that well so that feeling won't be the same for everyone. I had completely relied on revising diagrams and maps during prep. So in the end, I broadly addressed the keywords and drew a labelled map in those rubber plantation and wind energy questions (covered 1-1.5 page). For other questions like ocean currents and straits, I drew 2-3 maps and wrote about keywords with some examples). 
  • For the colour-coded IMD question, if you have seen maps in Disaster Manageme nt - the common colours are red, orange, yellow and green- whose meaning doesn't change much. You can just "broadly" write on that with a map showing cyclone prone areas (I made an educated guess here which turned out to be right, I was analysing PYQs (NDMA Reports were asked) so I thought of going one step ahead and ended up skimming through various maps in NDMA reports. I thought that different govt agencies won't colour code maps differently so I ended up mentioning these 4 colours).
  • Deccan traps question is again from understanding of map of India. I was just reading about formation of Gondwana Coal, black soil etc from Wikipedia when I happened to come across this term (it appeared quite frequently). Plus the question was about resource "potential"  so there was scope to write stuff. 
  • Troposphere question - I just loaded the whole answers with diagrams and addressed the keywords in few points. 

Therefore, I think the paper would have created a huge advantage for the Geo/socio optional people if some "specific keywords" would have been there which are not known by a normal non-Geo/socio optional person. In this paper, I believe everyone has atleast read enough things to address them with relevant "examples" and "keywords". 

Note: I am not saying the paper was easy but I think the paper was more about common sense. Even if the socio/Geo optional people had an advantage, it wouldn't more than few marks. 
 

going ahead 1 step NDMA and looking at map how did you decipher that ? Seems like you are topper in making with such foresightedness. 

I started answer writing (from Insights) and analysing UPSC questions way back in 2017 when I was in my 2nd year of UG. When you read and write things n number of times, you develop a small intuition about various things. So I had a small intuition that the colour-coded maps used in these NDMA Reports "may have been" similar to those of IMD. I ended up "deciphering" the meaning similar to what I had read in the report (I had read 5-6 lines out of curiosity). It would have gone either way and "fortunately enough" it went right. 

Also, about the "foresightedness" thing. Seriously, analyse PYQs of GS 1 & 3. I was preparing content for Disaster Management keeping PYQs in mind when I "thought" of skimming through these reports. 

Okay bhai 

Aap toh topper ho hi fir. Color coded map bhi yaad hai that too of cyclone so isse jyada toh kisi topper ko kya hi pta hoga. 2017 se answer writing kar hi rhe ho aap aur content bhi excellent hai aur aapne guess work bhi on point jaa rha that too in mains. 

PYQ for mains dont hold much significance . Syllabus is more relevant imo. Pyq are from syllabus only. :)  If you have themes covered from ncert and books etc it is sufficient. Color coding ncert me hi hai . 2017 se intutuon ki itno zarurat nhi

 

I believe Mains ke PYQs kaafi zyada hi important hai. Kuch general points toh mil hi jaate hai likhne ke liye. Itna idea lag jaata hai ki kya area repeat ho raha hai/kya area zyada important hai. Uss hisaab se notes thode focused mil jaate hai. 

For that colour coded map, Bhai content content hota hai.. chahe vo kahi se bhi aaye. Mai kitni baar out of curiosity, kaafi cheeze read kar leta hu. Kabhi kabhi vo random knowledge fit baith jaati hai kahi pe. 

I remember Delhi mai hotel ki taraf jaara tha exam centre se toh Modiji ka flex banner laga tha jagah jagah and likha tha "Launch of National Logistics Policy (Sept 17)". Thoda Google kiya usske baaremai (2-3 lines) and 'ussko bhi' link karke aa gaya Gati Shakti waale question mai (not the whole content but things like how logistics can play an important role in multimodal connectivity .. thoda jo 2-3 lines padda vo bhi).

Although mera approach wagera haphazard lagra hoga but ab vo back of the mind tha toh daal diya vo bhi. 

Anyways, the point is- Topper wagera waali baat nahi hai..  usska toh kuch nahi pata mujhe. Mai bas jo approach hai vohi batara hu. Hoga nahi hoga vo baad mai dekhenge.

Approach ko criticize/support karna hai toh Karo. Nahi bhi hua iss baar toh next attempt ke liye kaha improve karna hai vo toh pata lag hi jaayega atleast. 


I will be back!
ssver2,GaneshGaitondeand5 otherslike this
7.9k views

i did not give last year..but yes i have mentioned it before...even i attempted 16.5 in gs 2 in 2020 got 105...completed all questions in gs 4...got 66... that made me think on those lines

7k views

i did not give last year..but yes i have mentioned it before...even i attempted 16.5 in gs 2 in 2020 got 105...completed all questions in gs 4...got 66... that made me think on those lines

Why are you comparing gs 2 with gs 4?


7k views
@Capedcrusader1 why can't we ? are marking schemes different...anyways actually it was applicable in my other gs too


6.9k views
@Capedcrusader1 why can't we ? are marking schemes different...anyways actually it was applicable in my other gs too


Yes gs 2 was leniently checked last year 

and gs 4 answer writing is too varied to be marked similarly for all. In gs 4, I have seen toppers copy with paras written in 10 marker . You can’t do that thing in gs 2. Gs 2 is not vague 

6.9k views
@Capedcrusader1 bhai read again...talking about last to last year


6.8k views
@Capedcrusader1 bhai read again...talking about last to last year


Acha okay 👍 


6.8k views

Any idea when the results are expected


6.2k views
@Street_lamp i left First Case study and a Sub part in last case study


Street_lamp,
6.2k views
@vishal_12342 Considering Tough evaluation given to GS 3 in 2021 : If you have got 105 even after leaving COP26 kind of question, i wonder how the paper is being evaluated for all !! 


Street_lamp,
6.1k views
@rockhard Bro merely leaving 3.5 10 markers won't throw you out of race i think. 

An Important one for ALL TO NOTICE : 

Mridul Shivhare (AIR 247) LEFT AROUND 170 MARKS ACROSS ALL PAPERS in 2021 CSE due to His Debilitating Corona. (This is True 100% as he himself told)

If leaving questions take us out of the race, Toppers like Mridul Shivhare wouldn't have seen the light. 


6.1k views
@tmblnd1325194 Bhai it was 95 not 105


5.9k views
@tmblnd1325194 ghee shakkar bro...if i make it despite that, i'll give u dinner at Taj. 


mvp,
6.2k views
@vishal_12342 sorry. 95 only. Still it is not even average in that year. Right?? How many toppers got more than 95-100?? in 2021 GS 3. 

I am wondering because Score is relatively better despite u missed many questions. Hence net effect of your performance is too good , i would say


6.1k views
@tmblnd1325194 just read about him...he left 50 marks blank in psir also ...total 150 something overall...he must have written amazingly as his written total was 805 despite all that


6.1k views
@rockhard yeah. Thatz what i am trying to tell. Completion doesn't guarantee marks. Quality answer matters i think. 


5.9k views
@rockhard yeah. Thatz what i am trying to tell. Completion doesn't guarantee marks. Quality answer matters i think. 


yes, quality matters a lot since. bluffing will give a wrong impression..0.5,1, 2 no. ke chakkar me baaki sab questions ke quality kharab aur scoring kharab ho jaate hai...

5.9k views

Anyone suggest a good pyq solved book 

I already have new Vishal publication 

haven’t seen it yet 

mightyraju,
4.6k views
Write your comment…