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@whatonly @AzadHindFauz and others , pls clear a few things for me. I am in deep dilemma right now , as the prelims is postponed , I was thinking of completing optional till july with like making complete notes and stuff and practicing pyq. Now Shubhra mam has come up with her test series and now I m thinking whther I should join her test series so that could give me directions , but I don't want myself overburdened with test series which in any way could hamper my prelims as well. 

My simple question is specially to you@whatonly as you gave ur first attempt , what is more important a test series and practising more questions or doing syllabus completely and pyq at this moment. 

P.S. keeping in mind the pathetic checking at SR. And should I go for previous test series available online..so that can attempt and check answers with answers available and after pre go for some test series. 

P.S.S If someone can share or have some links of the previous year test series or this year test series do provide the link. I really see no point in wasting money for the pathetic checking of SR. I don't support this , but just to mention I am her tablet course student which she just rushed away in the end, had bad experience .

Please others do chip in . 

She had a similar structure last year as well when the pre got postponed. IMO it’s good business. Personally, I don’t think you should spend time on the test series right now. Focus on conceptual clarity right now. Work on PYQs for answer writing. One thing that helped me (take what I say with a pinch of salt given that I didn’t clear) was working on the same questions trying to improve my answers incrementally. It helped to really condense the concepts in your mind. I was able to do this for paper 1 last year and not for paper 2 and it showed in the exam hall.

Even though SR has pathetic checking, there aren’t many others available that give you a decent quality test series. Their model answers are good though, if that helps 🤷🏻‍♀️

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@sstarrr I'd say the same thing - understand the ideas inside out, make consolidated notes, and practice with PYQs before worrying about a test series. 

Make sure that for every item of the syllabus, you have the material figured out, and unless you have everything concisely in one place available, I'd suggest that you make notes from all the sources for that topic in one place. I didn't do this part until after prelims even though I studied optional during the postponement, leading to a lot of panic and stress. After prelims you can make even shorter notes if you feel like it. The idea is to get it to a level where you're able to revise the whole syllabus at least 2-3 times in the 5 day gap between GS and optional papers during mains. 

I agree with@DeekshitaP on doing the same PYQs multiple times thing. I only managed to do this for a few topics but it really helped for those (this too I did only after prelims but it would have helped to do it sooner). I think you can focus on PYQs right now as a way to make sure your concepts are clear and that you can express them coherently. I don't think you need to worry too much about getting these answers checked just yet. You'll notice the difference yourself between progressive answers you write. 

I had joined the SR crash course after prelims. You're right about the paper checking. I could never make time to watch the videos or even read the model answers, so the only way it helped was that the questions were really good. Many came in the mains. Crash course notes are good too, if it doesn't become overkill. I was in a similar dilemma about test series, but ended up joining because of the lack of an alternative. So I don't have an answer to this question.

Last year some of us had made a telegram group to share answers among ourselves and review them. That's certainly better than SR checking. I think after you get the hang of answer writing, you won't even really need someone to review your answers. You'll be able to figure out a lot on reading them a couple of days after you write them. (However marks are not out yet, I still don't know if this style I figured out for myself worked well - so ek chutki namak.) Also, well selected toppers copies will help. I do think this can wait until after prelims though unless you really have time to spare.

Also if you haven't already and if you're able to make time I'd suggest make some notes for 2B now. You can always update after prelims. I again did this only after prelims and it was not fun.

All the best :D

Yes to making notes for 1B and 2B beforehand, because it becomes far too much in that gap between pre and mains

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Rewl1said

@dragon_rider The mind maps look very neat.Is there an app /software for this?


XMind is also very good. The free version has all the features you need. It’s super convenient to use and makes the whole process very enjoyable. 


Thanks! I downloaded it simply because of how aesthetically pleasing it is. My inner organising fiend wants to be friends with you.

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Hey everyone,

Has anyone enrolled for PSIR advance (Chaubey), if yes then how would you compare it to the crash course at Shubhra's? Also, how's the TS at GSScore? 


Thanks. Hope you're all doing alright. Stay safe you lot. :)

Would like to add a bit about SR crash course, it’s good but it is very lengthy with each lecture running into a hefty 180 minutes more often than not, so it’s time intensive nature makes it quite a deterrent. The lectures themselves are pretty decent. Evaluation is terrible, its almost like they really don’t read your answers and give you comments that they feel like. Solutions are ok, there is some amount of value addition to them instead of what is available in her standard material

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@whatonly @AzadHindFauz or anyone else did you make block diagrams or flowcharts or anyother such things in ur answers??

It has always been just paragraphs for me, but Insights has recently come out with a TS with 3D strategy- Demand, Dimensions, Diagrams, so i don't know what to think...

Exactly one of my test copies evaluator gave me feedback to draw diagrams for value addition. When I spoke to him he said even Andrew Heywood and OP Gauba has diagrams why you shouldn't  :p

But personally the examples are somewhat flawed given that a textbook and an answer serve different purposes. But I suppose that if a diagram adds value to your answer and you do have the space and time, it wouldn’t hurt to add them

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Anyone joining SR CC for 2021 ? 


                                                                                                                                           Thanks

Pre ke bad will most probably join

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Anyone joining SR CC for 2021 ? 


                                                                                                                                           Thanks

Pre ke bad will most probably join

This time, Maam is covering half of the cash course before pre itself.

They say that every year. They give you access to the lectures afterwards as well

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Anyone joining SR CC for 2021 ? 


                                                                                                                                           Thanks

Pre ke bad will most probably join

500th comment! 🎊🎉🥳

Wow! We have reached new thread milestones 🎉🎉

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Same plan but i am apprehensive about Online test as I am not sincere so giving test for 3hr at home is achilles heel.


PS : Anyone who faced similar problem and now able to complete 3 hr tests can tell me how to do it !

If anything I was pretty good with regards to timing for this mains. Initially I used to take 4-5 hours as well. But what helped me was to cut myself off after the 3 hr limit, irrespective of whether I completed or not. So my first few tests were all incomplete. Each test i would try to at least write one more answer than the previous test. Another tip is to print out the sheets given by the test centres because register pages are much bigger and you’ll basically lose time writing in those sheets as well. I also roped in my mother to be an “invigilator”. She would walk into my room in the middle of the test etc. I actively encouraged her to make some small noises/ disturb me on the pretext of “signing entry sheet” etc so that I would not get flustered during the actual exam as well. Plus you’ll realise that once you are thorough with the material your time taken per answer automatically drops. I also suggest keeping a watch and planning how much time you want to give per question and adhering very strongly to that.

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I don't hang out in this thread because whenever I come here I go back feeling what a loser I am. xD You all people have so much figured out or at least you know what to do. Even the thought of a test makes me tremble. I have a lot of backlog PSIR tests. I hope to improve thoda thoda & learn from all you people. 

Hahaha if you’ve noticed I never update as regard where I am with the syllabus. We’re all swimming in the same rickety boat. As a very wise fish once said, “just keep swimming.”

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I don't hang out in this thread because whenever I come here I go back feeling what a loser I am. xD You all people have so much figured out or at least you know what to do. Even the thought of a test makes me tremble. I have a lot of backlog PSIR tests. I hope to improve thoda thoda & learn from all you people. 

Hahaha if you’ve noticed I never update as regard where I am with the syllabus. We’re all swimming in the same rickety boat. As a very wise fish once said, “just keep swimming.”

I know you want me to feel okay, but I can see through your lie. xD

I’m very good at appearing much more competent than I actually am 😂😂

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Can you all tell me how you went about completing any topic? I just feel like nothing is enough. Everything is so jumbled in my head.@whatonly 's mind maps gave me one way to simplify the mess & I am trying to go that way. But please tell me how you did it?

Last year, I started my optional entirely after the prelims (wrong choice absolutely) so I pegged my revision to a test schedule. This time I’m giving myself around 20 days per section and going according to that

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@nerdfighter That’s for kids, this is for legends :D





I screamed internally looking at these notes. God tier people use NCERTs though 🤠

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I'm UPSC 2021 aspirant and I thought of preparing optional by self study and thought if I feel need coaching I would take it after mains 2021 for 2022, if I couldn't crack without coaching. Mains 2021 was scheduled in September, so I thought I would join oct batch.


But now mains would be in January mid, means if I go without coaching for UPSC 2021, I won't be able to go for coaching as batch after mains will start in Feb 2022 ending in July 2022.

So I'm really confused. I'm thinking to join batch starting from July 2021 ending in Jan 2022.

I know it's late, but this seems the best choice as of now.

Am I thinking on right lines?




If you join regular coaching right now for a 2021 attempt you’ll find it very difficult to manage whether you join in July or later. The speed at her regular classes is very different compared to the speed required to finish the syllabus while writing mains. You will need at least 3 revisions with notes made to get a decent grip of PSIR for writing mains. Whereas with the coaching classes you will not even be able to cover the entire syllabus once. Besides, you will also need to write tests given that this is your first attempt. The general gap between each test for most TS is 2 weeks. Which means in 2 weeks you will be expected to complete one section of one paper at least. The classroom course (bear in mind I did it in 2017) took 2 and a half months to cover just Plato alone, which is merely a subtopic of one section of one paper. Look at the cost benefit ratio and it’s not enough time to do the coaching. Your safest bet would be to purchase her notes ASAP and go through them by yourself. I’ve heard there are TG lectures of SR which you can listen to while reading the notes (I think someone on this thread itself suggested it) and work in this time to create a deep conceptual understanding with your own value addition. The rest is your call entirely.

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I'm UPSC 2021 aspirant and I thought of preparing optional by self study and thought if I feel need coaching I would take it after mains 2021 for 2022, if I couldn't crack without coaching. Mains 2021 was scheduled in September, so I thought I would join oct batch.


But now mains would be in January mid, means if I go without coaching for UPSC 2021, I won't be able to go for coaching as batch after mains will start in Feb 2022 ending in July 2022.

So I'm really confused. I'm thinking to join batch starting from July 2021 ending in Jan 2022.

I know it's late, but this seems the best choice as of now.

Am I thinking on right lines?




If you join regular coaching right now for a 2021 attempt you’ll find it very difficult to manage whether you join in July or later. The speed at her regular classes is very different compared to the speed required to finish the syllabus while writing mains. You will need at least 3 revisions with notes made to get a decent grip of PSIR for writing mains. Whereas with the coaching classes you will not even be able to cover the entire syllabus once. Besides, you will also need to write tests given that this is your first attempt. The general gap between each test for most TS is 2 weeks. Which means in 2 weeks you will be expected to complete one section of one paper at least. The classroom course (bear in mind I did it in 2017) took 2 and a half months to cover just Plato alone, which is merely a subtopic of one section of one paper. Look at the cost benefit ratio and it’s not enough time to do the coaching. Your safest bet would be to purchase her notes ASAP and go through them by yourself. I’ve heard there are TG lectures of SR which you can listen to while reading the notes (I think someone on this thread itself suggested it) and work in this time to create a deep conceptual understanding with your own value addition. The rest is your call entirely.

@Hercules_15   I think if you can read and understand PSIR 1-A by yourself, you should not join any coaching. I was part of her course this year, and after PSIR 1-A, she just gave us printed notes and read through them most of the times. Even PSIR 1-A is just 80% dictation. And she'll spend way too much time on  1-A and you'll start praying to god that this thing gets over. It doesn't leave much time to do other things as you do classes and revise stuff. Also this is your first attempt, so may not be too sure about GS too. Notes are 95% of the value that SR adds. Try to get the latest notes. Do them well. If you don't understand anything, there is yt channel which has uploaded her audio lectures, listen to them. But only selectively.

And you don't know if the course gets finished on time. I joined in June and the course was supposed to end in December and it ended in April. We complained that PSIR isn't the only thing we have to do & she replied, "Jinhe prelims nikalna hota hai woh nikaal lete hai." Everyone in my batch is so angry with her. 

@DeekshitaP Lecture 28 & Plato wasn't done.


Your keyboard is beyond fascinating 

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@nerdfighter And on top of that someone even sent her a legal notice to complain that the course has not been completed on time and it was a whole other fiasco after that.
If I knew it would take 9 months to complete the course, I might have saved 60k. 
😌


Wow I thought our batch was the only one who did it. We were a national disgrace as well. Btw this was when she was still teaching at VR full time.

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hi guys , does anyone know how is the psir course of sleepy classes ? Can anyone give me a review based on their experience 


Your username is the level of dedication I aspire towards

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Gym krne se answer writing ki speed badh jati hai ? Any research ?

Writing Karne se writing speed badhti hai

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Hi to all the very cool, but erudite veterans here,

I've started out recently, armed with PSIR as the weapon of choice, absence of familiarity with the subject led me to seek refuge under the very towering Shubhra Ranjan, she's started out promisingly with Western Political Thought, which I feel (after stalking this thread here) is probably the superstructure of the PSIR syllabus.

My question here is besides revising Ma'am's class notes everyday, should I also be supplementing this with a textbook at this stage, like OP Gauba, Sushila Ramaswamy, or should I wait for Western Political Thought to get over, get really cozy with Maam's notes and then begin reading other texts? 

Also, I have made a booklist for PSIR, but after scouring through the internet, I saw quite a handful of toppers vouch for just Maam's notes and some addition value addition here and there. Do you all attest to this? Are there books which are essential must reads? (Gauba, Sushila Ramaswamy, Bhargava, Baylis and Smith, Andrew Heywood) I feel a little uneasy with the idea of taking up an optional and not going through the textbooks. SR also very convincingly in her first lecture dissuaded from taking up any readings, she then very reluctantly, doled out the names of certain textbooks.  

To avoid complacency, I've started out with reading Maam's notes of Paper-2, so that I would also be covering the Paper-2 groundwork on my own simultaneously with Maam's lectures of Paper-1.

Please help me out here, any help on this front would be a lifesaver! @whatonly @Villanelle @babu_bisleri @KropotkinSchmopotkin @Jammu 

(this thread is absolutely dope, a lot of golden nuggets here, thank you to all of you! )


In entirely Marxian terms western political thought would technically be the base. Sorry couldn’t resist

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Who is better piyush chaubey or sr as one stop solution? Nyone. 

As far as I’ve learnt about this exam and the optional, there is no one-stop solution. Collaborate and cumulate

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D503said

Why do they call india getting close to usa a balancing act. Balance of power means weaker states coming together agaiant a stronger one. So if anything it is when India combined forces with china and Russia to form RIC or brics against US unipolar moment , that it was balance of power in true sense ? Assuming US is still the sole superpower way ahead of its nearest competitor china.

Agree with what everyone said. There can be two meanings of balancing act, both of which are in slightly different contexts. The first would imply balance the US-India relations with interests with other countries as well, namely Russia, a relationship that US traditionally doesn’t take kindly to, or Iran (S400 deal, sanctions etc). The second could imply a balancing act in the regional sphere of influence, namely balancing China- Pak axis as well as a belligerent Iran and Turkey. So it needs to be read in context.

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Does anyone have a pdf of political theory by Rajeev Bhargava?
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Does anyone have a pdf of political theory by Rajeev Bhargava?

https://1lib.in/book/5443369/36b4f3

Thank you, you beautiful creature, you

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How would you guys approach a question asking about the achievement/ significance of NIEO? Would you take an idealist position on it or one that points out the lack of significant achievements?
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How would you guys approach a question asking about the achievement/ significance of NIEO? Would you take an idealist position on it or one that points out the lack of significant achievements?

I would go with lack of significant achievement and add in the last that why it can be the new alternative and why the present LEO is declining.

This year the question asked our opinion on whether it is possible to achieve the objectives of NIEO. Would it be too risky to say that they wont be possible even though the ideal is lofty?

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How would you guys approach a question asking about the achievement/ significance of NIEO? Would you take an idealist position on it or one that points out the lack of significant achievements?

Both I think. I would say it was a valuable idea and had a lot of potential, but did not lead to significant results because of both the circumstances at the time and the failings of the members. Looking at the situation today it is still a valuable idea and still holds potential, and we need a new theory of NIEO that keeps the principle intact but also learn from the mistakes of the first time in practice. 

Cool cool thanks 

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Hey does anyone have good sources to study 'Principal Organs of the Union & State' part of the syllabus? Does BL Fadia have chapters on these? SR has shared some chapters but this is not included.

@whatonly are there any good academic texts shedding light on this?

Same, I looked at Fadia and found it to be just a longer version of Laxmikant 

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Fellow lol-mates, how would you approach the question “critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security.” (2014/15 marks) what critics would you quote?
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Fellow lol-mates, how would you approach the question “critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security.” (2014/15 marks) what critics would you quote?

Answering as of gs perspective add your thinkers and theories as per your needs of you find it good

There is seems a change in nature of concept of national security

In terms of trade: govt. Prefer people buy from domestic market ( protectionism) otherwise BOP crisis and currency devaluation which pose nation threat

In terms of culture: every nation wants to protect its culture from others which may indirectly pose theat to security

In terms of environment: due to pollution caused by developed countries in past lead to environment threat which indirectly pose security concerns

In terms of data/ IT/ cyberthreat: data breach of imp. Department , people , threat to security

In terms of political ideologies: the ideas other than ruling party certified as anti national or threat to security ( in modi times)

I may be completely wrong please tell where am I :)


Last wala point might raise eyebrows, so I don’t know how much of an “aa bail mujhe maar “ move that might be. What critics would you write in this. One that I could think of was that even though national security is primarily an idea central to the realist discourse, its definition and components are constantly evolving.

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Fellow lol-mates, how would you approach the question “critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security.” (2014/15 marks) what critics would you quote?

Answering as of gs perspective add your thinkers and theories as per your needs of you find it good

There is seems a change in nature of concept of national security

In terms of trade: govt. Prefer people buy from domestic market ( protectionism) otherwise BOP crisis and currency devaluation which pose nation threat

In terms of culture: every nation wants to protect its culture from others which may indirectly pose theat to security

In terms of environment: due to pollution caused by developed countries in past lead to environment threat which indirectly pose security concerns

In terms of data/ IT/ cyberthreat: data breach of imp. Department , people , threat to security

In terms of political ideologies: the ideas other than ruling party certified as anti national or threat to security ( in modi times)

I may be completely wrong please tell where am I :)


Last wala point might raise eyebrows, so I don’t know how much of an “aa bail mujhe maar “ move that might be. What critics would you write in this. One that I could think of was that even though national security is primarily an idea central to the realist discourse, its definition and components are constantly evolving.

Critique to what last wala point :p or the whole discourse?? ( although I don't have thinker to qoute nor have a psir background but try to do as much help as I can )

Oh haha I thought you had PSIR, sorry my bad.

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@LetsGetThisBread I guess the idea of national security gets changes with idea of nation which is getting more and more inclusive so adding more components to former

Haan I didn’t think of it in the sense of idea of nation itself is evolving so national security itself gets nuanced. Good point, friend.

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Fellow lol-mates, how would you approach the question “critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security.” (2014/15 marks) what critics would you quote?

Answering as of gs perspective add your thinkers and theories as per your needs of you find it good

There is seems a change in nature of concept of national security

In terms of trade: govt. Prefer people buy from domestic market ( protectionism) otherwise BOP crisis and currency devaluation which pose nation threat

In terms of culture: every nation wants to protect its culture from others which may indirectly pose theat to security

In terms of environment: due to pollution caused by developed countries in past lead to environment threat which indirectly pose security concerns

In terms of data/ IT/ cyberthreat: data breach of imp. Department , people , threat to security

In terms of political ideologies: the ideas other than ruling party certified as anti national or threat to security ( in modi times)

I may be completely wrong please tell where am I :)


Last wala point might raise eyebrows, so I don’t know how much of an “aa bail mujhe maar “ move that might be. What critics would you write in this. One that I could think of was that even though national security is primarily an idea central to the realist discourse, its definition and components are constantly evolving.

Critique to what last wala point :p or the whole discourse?? ( although I don't have thinker to qoute nor have a psir background but try to do as much help as I can )

Oh haha I thought you had PSIR, sorry my bad.

Don't say so iam an active reader of this thread only the post which make sense to me :p

Arrey everyone is welcome here :)

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Fellow lol-mates, how would you approach the question “critically assess the changing nature of the concept of national security.” (2014/15 marks) what critics would you quote?

Does anyone else have any other points that can be added here?

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Where is everyone doing Gramsci and Arendt from besides SR notes?
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Where is everyone doing Gramsci and Arendt from besides SR notes?

If I can remember Mam's notes, that will be sufficient for me. So I won't refer to anything more. 

Besides, you can refer to last year's mam crash course notes of Hannah Arendt. 

I found that the version of the SR notes I have didn’t have any scholars per se, which is why I asked.

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Where is everyone doing Gramsci and Arendt from besides SR notes?

If I can remember Mam's notes, that will be sufficient for me. So I won't refer to anything more. 

Besides, you can refer to last year's mam crash course notes of Hannah Arendt. 

I found that the version of the SR notes I have didn’t have any scholars per se, which is why I asked.

Hannah_Theory.pdf

Refer it

Link is not working I guess?

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@Tina1997 Thank you so much! :D I will indeed be writing again, so it will help! And may I say what a lovely name you have! And ✊ for Hyderabad!


All the very best to you :D May you come out with flying colors this time too! 

Thanks :p But that is neither my real name nor my pet name. It's actually a dig at TINA - There is No Alternative, Margaret Thatcher's Neoliberal philosophy :p 

Thank you! :D all the best to you too!

And I got what the name meant, given your dp. That's why I mentioned it. Should have been clearer hehe. Everytime I see anyone named Tina that is what I'll think of now. 

Anjali ka TINA bhi Rahul hi tha… sorry that was terrible

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D503said

Indian national movement comprised of a large and diverse sections of society. Consequently it has been studied from different perspectives. Marxist perspective is one main perspective. Marxists are critical of Nationalists and Colonialists for ignoring economic and class dimensions of freedom struggle.

According to marxists Indian national movement emerged in the special circumstances precipitated by Colonial Economy and administration. MN Roy argues that the Indian National Movement was led by indigenous bourgeoisie who had to contend with contradictions at 2 levels . At one level they had to protect their interest from colonial govt and the foreign capital, which they did through nationlist movement, but at the other level they also had to ensure that the national movement didn't lead to Class consciousness among peasants and workers. They wanted to use the proletariat only to the extent of forcing the colonnialists tho flee and not beyond that. According to RP Dutt this was the reason why Gandhi adopted the strategy of Struggle Truce and Struggle and called off Non-cooperation and CDM movements as soon as they turned violent and threatened native bourgeois interests. 

The marxist scholars argue that Indian Nationalism reflected the "ideology and aspiration of the young bourgeoise". The native capitalists emerged in late 19th century with establishment of textile industries and reached pinnacle during WW1. Initially their demands were moderate and consisted in demanding civil service reforms, preventing drain of wealth etc. Once they matured during ww1 they became more assertive culminating in Gandhi including bourgeoise demands in his Salt Satyagraha movement.This led some marxists to call Gandhi "the mascot of bourgeoise".

However not all marxists agree with the idea that indian national movement was fought for selfish interests of native bourgeoise. Bipan Chandra in his book India's struggle for independence moves away form instrumental approach of ealier marxists and calls Gandhian movement a Gramscian movement which included a protracted war of position to build counter hegemony and finally a war of position in the form of Quit India Movement to overthrow the british. He argues that the work done by gandhi in breaking the british ideological hegemony had the effect of liberating people from the idea that britishers were superior to Indians. And By criticisng modernity itself and calling it satanic and cruel, Gandhi brought the whole notion of western superiority into question.

But even Bipan Chandra agrees that Indian national movement was greatly influenced by bourgeoise. Thus, even though various classes and groups were involved in the movement, it ultimately served the fundamental interests of the Indian bourgeois classes. Nevertheless, Marxist interpretation has added greatly to the understanding of Indian Nationalism and has brought forth the contribution of peasant and worker classes in national movement.

--is this sufficient for 15 marker. just read a few pages of ignou material and mixed whatever i knew with whatever was given there.


Not a critique but this seems too long even for a 20 marker. Why don’t you try writing on UPSC style sheets to get a fair idea of how much of this would actually fit in the sheet? 

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D503said

D503said

Indian national movement comprised of a large and diverse sections of society. Consequently it has been studied from different perspectives. Marxist perspective is one main perspective. Marxists are critical of Nationalists and Colonialists for ignoring economic and class dimensions of freedom struggle.

According to marxists Indian national movement emerged in the special circumstances precipitated by Colonial Economy and administration. MN Roy argues that the Indian National Movement was led by indigenous bourgeoisie who had to contend with contradictions at 2 levels . At one level they had to protect their interest from colonial govt and the foreign capital, which they did through nationlist movement, but at the other level they also had to ensure that the national movement didn't lead to Class consciousness among peasants and workers. They wanted to use the proletariat only to the extent of forcing the colonnialists tho flee and not beyond that. According to RP Dutt this was the reason why Gandhi adopted the strategy of Struggle Truce and Struggle and called off Non-cooperation and CDM movements as soon as they turned violent and threatened native bourgeois interests. 

The marxist scholars argue that Indian Nationalism reflected the "ideology and aspiration of the young bourgeoise". The native capitalists emerged in late 19th century with establishment of textile industries and reached pinnacle during WW1. Initially their demands were moderate and consisted in demanding civil service reforms, preventing drain of wealth etc. Once they matured during ww1 they became more assertive culminating in Gandhi including bourgeoise demands in his Salt Satyagraha movement.This led some marxists to call Gandhi "the mascot of bourgeoise".

However not all marxists agree with the idea that indian national movement was fought for selfish interests of native bourgeoise. Bipan Chandra in his book India's struggle for independence moves away form instrumental approach of ealier marxists and calls Gandhian movement a Gramscian movement which included a protracted war of position to build counter hegemony and finally a war of position in the form of Quit India Movement to overthrow the british. He argues that the work done by gandhi in breaking the british ideological hegemony had the effect of liberating people from the idea that britishers were superior to Indians. And By criticisng modernity itself and calling it satanic and cruel, Gandhi brought the whole notion of western superiority into question.

But even Bipan Chandra agrees that Indian national movement was greatly influenced by bourgeoise. Thus, even though various classes and groups were involved in the movement, it ultimately served the fundamental interests of the Indian bourgeois classes. Nevertheless, Marxist interpretation has added greatly to the understanding of Indian Nationalism and has brought forth the contribution of peasant and worker classes in national movement.

--is this sufficient for 15 marker. just read a few pages of ignou material and mixed whatever i knew with whatever was given there.


Not a critique but this seems too long even for a 20 marker. Why don’t you try writing on UPSC style sheets to get a fair idea of how much of this would actually fit in the sheet? 

Thanks for your suggestion. This was not meant as an actual upsc answer. The thing is I am preparing topics in question and answer format As I don't have time to read much, and mams notes seem fragmented and don't have a flow. So by framing answers I am trying to create narrative for myself, something like a story that I can remember.

So I wanted to ask if this much material will suffice for psir qsn or should I add some more dimensions, scholars etc


You could probably add a critique of the Marxist scholarship as well, just to balance it out towards the end

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Today Crash Course paper is same as June one or different as Batch 1 dont have any test today ?



Anyone ?

Haven’t taken the crash course yet  to confirm

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Has anyone joined the Vajiram test series for PSIR or heard anything (good or bad) about it?
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D503said

rolling back of Farm laws is an example of Relative autonomy of Indian state? It's a clear evidence of hamza alavi's thesis that due to plurality of fundamental classes, no single class can be called as ruling class, and no class is able to completely dominate the overdeveloped state, which dominates all of them.

So…Bonapartisim?

What be bonapartism? 😶

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D503said

D503said

rolling back of Farm laws is an example of Relative autonomy of Indian state? It's a clear evidence of hamza alavi's thesis that due to plurality of fundamental classes, no single class can be called as ruling class, and no class is able to completely dominate the overdeveloped state, which dominates all of them.

So…Bonapartisim?

What be bonapartism? 😶

a situation where state enjoys relative autonomy and is not simply an instrument of bourgeoise. The idea can be traced to marx's 18th brumaire of louis bonaparte, however it became popular after Gramsci's structuralism. marxists like hamza Alavi and anupam Sen have used this analytical tool to explain nature of state in postcolonial societies.


So it’s basically just relative autonomy theory? Or am I missing something?

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D503said

D503said

rolling back of Farm laws is an example of Relative autonomy of Indian state? It's a clear evidence of hamza alavi's thesis that due to plurality of fundamental classes, no single class can be called as ruling class, and no class is able to completely dominate the overdeveloped state, which dominates all of them.

So…Bonapartisim?

What be bonapartism? 😶

a situation where state enjoys relative autonomy and is not simply an instrument of bourgeoise. The idea can be traced to marx's 18th brumaire of louis bonaparte, however it became popular after Gramsci's structuralism. marxists like hamza Alavi and anupam Sen have used this analytical tool to explain nature of state in postcolonial societies.


So it’s basically just relative autonomy theory? Or am I missing something?

Yes it's the same, Marx termed it Bonapartism. And uske work p jo school of thought hai- It's Relative autonomy approach.

Great thanks!

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Muffinsaid

People who wrote mains this year...world be great if you share some tips/do's and don'ts here... regarding PSIR.

Definitely agree with@Villanelle about the short notes thing. Especially for 1A areas like Justice, State, Democracy etc where you need to cover a lot of thinkers and a lot of approaches comprehensively in one answer. I would say also try and do the same for the WPT and IPT section (I didn’t manage to find the time to do that, and I struggled with covering that section in the end). Another thing I would urge everyone to do, is to go through the PYQs for the static portions, i had in brief answered most of them which made my revisions for those sections very structured as well.

Paper 2 is something i really enjoy anyway so studying that has never been a drag. I did the same thing of making really short one page notes for all the theories which really helped because i ended up using most of them in the answers as well. Also it really helps to consolidate the most important information on a particular topic in your mind. I also had my own notes made from different books for this section which also helped (or so I think). The rest would depend entirely on the marks I get.

The actual exam scenario— I was able to finish Paper 1 a minute before time and answered most of them from SR notes (that meant my answers weren’t really innovative) don’t know if I’ll get penalised for that. I also answered more questions from section A than B.

Paper 2, since I relied mostly on my own notes and i felt it was a lot more analytical than the morning session took more time. I was rushing through the actual paper due to which some of the 10 markers suffered in quality. I knew pretty much all, except one (the vaccine patent one). I’m just hoping that the examiner is convinced that I actually know stuff and just ran out of time in the end.


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Muffinsaid

What books you used for paper 2? I have mostly done part A from Shubhra ranjan notes and Andrew Heywood's Global politics. For part B I am referring SR notes only...I don't think I will be able to write even average quality answers for this part with those notes. Satyam Gandhi (AIR 10) recommends onlyias IR material for paper 2 part b... What would you recommend? How to go about it?


Yaar i read both Heywood and Baylis for paper 2 and i extensively read on ORF purely out of interest, which really helped. Obviously not feasible for everyone, but if you can get your hands on Baylis and Smith its a brilliant book. Never made any separate notes just underlined in the book itself (which if I would do in an alternate universe). For part 2 i would advise you to remember the points from mains 365 and add some of the part 1 ke thinkers itself as well as supplement with C Raja Mohan, Happymon Jacob, Hash V Pant. Beech beech m daal dena. I also remembered few keywords from diplomats and FS like Amb Nirupama Rao, Amb Vijay Gokhale (brilliant for China analysis), EAM, former NSA etc and i had googled a few book reviews which really helped in my answers. But again all of this remains unproven till the time mains result is out, and more specifically mark sheet.

Edit: as my friend @HeNeArKr pointed out (after calling me a jhooti XD) this seems way more than what I actually told people. It isn’t because it’s about the extent to which you do this. I have one comment from few of the FS, and a few by EAM. I googled 2-3 book reviews and found some blurbs that were helpful and would make me look like I read the book. You can obviously do so much more if you have the time or the energy to not procrastinate. 

Also in comparison to paper 1, I prepared a lot for paper 2, but objectively speaking I didn’t do much.

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Muffinsaid

What books you used for paper 2? I have mostly done part A from Shubhra ranjan notes and Andrew Heywood's Global politics. For part B I am referring SR notes only...I don't think I will be able to write even average quality answers for this part with those notes. Satyam Gandhi (AIR 10) recommends onlyias IR material for paper 2 part b... What would you recommend? How to go about it?


Yaar i read both Heywood and Baylis for paper 2 and i extensively read on ORF purely out of interest, which really helped. Obviously not feasible for everyone, but if you can get your hands on Baylis and Smith its a brilliant book. Never made any separate notes just underlined in the book itself (which if I would do in an alternate universe). For part 2 i would advise you to remember the points from mains 365 and add some of the part 1 ke thinkers itself as well as supplement with C Raja Mohan, Happymon Jacob, Hash V Pant. Beech beech m daal dena. I also remembered few keywords from diplomats and FS like Amb Nirupama Rao, Amb Vijay Gokhale (brilliant for China analysis), EAM, former NSA etc and i had googled a few book reviews which really helped in my answers. But again all of this remains unproven till the time mains result is out, and more specifically mark sheet.

Edit: as my friend @HeNeArKr pointed out (after calling me a jhooti XD) this seems way more than what I actually told people. It isn’t because it’s about the extent to which you do this. I have one comment from few of the FS, and a few by EAM. I googled 2-3 book reviews and found some blurbs that were helpful and would make me look like I read the book. You can obviously do so much more if you have the time or the energy to not procrastinate. 

Also in comparison to paper 1, I prepared a lot for paper 2, but objectively speaking I didn’t do much.

Would you advise reading Baylis and Smith to someone who has read Heywood?

Yes. Baylis has a more scholarly perspective compared to Heywood. Heywood is good to understand a topic for the very first time, but if youve written at least one mains you are looking for more than just a conceptual understanding of that topic. 

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@AzadHindFauz would you advice reading Heywood to someone who has raad only subhra mams notes?


Heywood has many books IMO don’t read any cover to cover, instead be very selective and read topic-wise for those areas where you feel you cannot answer well. The ultimate purpose is being able to write a 20 marker. If you can do so with ma’am’s notes then feel free to skip heywood

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Guys please help out, I'm scoring borderline in Prelims 2022 and have to start for Mains 2022, was confused between Shubhra Ranjan and GS Score. SR is quite expensive though, and I had Pol Science as my bachelors so subject understanding is not an issue. Ideally want a test series which makes me complete the syllabus on time and givestimely evaluation. Any help will be greatly appreciated

SR evaluation is not great tbh. So I would not put much store into the marks they give. I haven’t tried GS score but i have heard evaluation is not timely (this is hearsay and may not be true) as the exam gets closer. But their evaluation is supposedly better

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I need some help in PSIR. Feels as if I have not yet learnt writing language of the subject. And was adequately punished in marks assigned.

Also Is some strict checking being pursued in PSIR ? Found one analysis in which average marks was in mid 260s

The more number of times you revise the better your hold of the subject will be. Also try and identify the keyword from your notes and revise those multiple times

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