 Hello everyone. Welcome to success stories with Shangri's Academy. Today we have with us Ms. Minnu PM, who has secured 150th rank in this year's UPSC civil service examination. So first and foremost, hearty congratulations Minnu from the end-air Shangri's Academy family. And you know, this is a result which is more personal to me because I know Minnu for the last two to three years and she's very close friend of mine and I've seen her struggles like the successors, the failures, the personal trauma she had to go through in the preparation journey. And finally, when the list came and I found Minnu's name in the list, it was like a personal happiness for me. You know, I have personally told her that also and I'm sharing the same with all of you. Now my first question Minnu, like how did you know the result? Like when did you know the results? How did you know the results? And what was your first reaction seeing your name in that holy PDF? Yeah, that was a working day. So I was in office. And after office, I went for taking my second shot of vaccination. And after taking vaccination, me and my husband, along with my best friend, we were sitting in the car. And then suddenly this PDF came and we just checked through it. And I was my search button was not working. So literally I was I have to go through the entire PDF. And I found that my name was at 150th position. But still, I want to check my best friend's result as well, because she also wrote the exam. So I didn't saw her name. So we were both disappointed. So the initial thing was a disappointed disappointment, because you are there, but your friend is not there, who was with you throughout this entire journey. So for a while, but she actually told me it's okay. She actually comforted me. She said it's your moment. Just enjoy it. So after some time, suddenly, like, I understood, I finally I did it. That was like, really happy. I was really happy. Now, almost two weeks have passed since the results. Has it all sunk in? You know, have you realized that you're going to be an IS officer and you finally cleared this exam? Has it all sunk in? How do you feel now? Actually, I didn't personally process it so far, because I really wanted to cherish this. But to be honest, I didn't got some time. Like, even after two weeks, I didn't get a time to sit in and just go through all the events for the last five years to get that personal space to enjoy the moment. Exactly. Okay. So you got a message from, you know, the Malayalam superstar Mohanlal. Actually, a Malayalam actor Chandu Nadu's classmate. So when this result came, I think a shoot was going on where Chandu Nadu was with the legendary actor Mohanlal. And Mohanlal actually personally messaged me. So how did you feel getting a message from such a great actor? Yeah, we all Malayalis, we love Mohanlal. Even a fan or not, but we really admire him. So getting a message from this superstar was really a surprise. Chandu already congratulated me. He also sent me a message. He called me, but it came as a pleasant surprise and there was a cloud nine when I received his message and I actually replied him back also. That was like once in a life moment. Great. Meenu, you got married at 21, right? And had a kid at 23 and you joined a government job. But again, I think before marriage, 2021, you started working and then you decided that you wanted to write this exam at an age of 26. Right? So this is a period when, you know, if you take a Malayali family, husband and wife is working. You have a kid who's almost three years old. This is a point of life when you feel that life is settled. Okay, you want to live peacefully now. What was the spark like at an age of 26 in the middle of a family life, you decided that you wanted to write UPSC. So what was the spark? What made you, you know, take that decision? Actually, as you said, I was settled and suddenly one day I understood there is no meaning. Like being settled, we were like me and my husband was in constant talking and we used to say, yeah, we are now settled. We have a house to live in. We both have jobs. Our son is also growing. Now like everything is at peace. So I thought like I talked to him and I asked him, yeah, my dear, can I do something? Like can I study a course or something? Because I love studying. I love learning new things. So he said, yeah, you should pursue something if you really like it. So first, my thought went to doing some JRF because I did my post-graduation in biochemistry. So I thought I'll continue my studies in that way. But I understood no longer my talent lies in that position. Since I'm working for the last four years in an administrative side, I think, okay, I will do civil services because it's a childhood dream. So constant interaction with my colleagues, my husband and constant talking, it was not a quick decision. But I was thinking it for a long, long time. But one day I finally thought like, okay, I'll take leave and I'll start preparing for this. Okay, so as you said, you know, when a person at 26 was married, settle in life, takes a decision like this, the support of families is very, very important, right? So how did your family, especially the extended family, you're in laws, your parents, you know, how did all of them react to your decision that you're going to take an exam, which is uncertain, you know, in many ways, like you have to spend years, yet you're not sure whether you will clear it or not. So how did and you're already settled, you know, obviously, the first question is, why do you want to, you know, rather waste so much time in preparing for that exam? So what was the reaction of your family and how did family support you, you know, in the six years of preparation? You're right, because I, when I, as I said, I talked with my husband first, and he said, yeah, if you want to study something, you can really study something, because we are actually, we are coming from a middle income, you will understand, right? Because he's working, I'm working, and his parents are with us, our son is growing. So there are a lot of financial needs. So the first question he asked me, like, we'll be a little conscious, it was not a question, but it was his opinion, he said, we'll be a little bit financially constrained when suddenly your salary is being off the table. So we discussed it with our parents, our in-laws, and my in-laws, and they said, if, if you are confident, if you love to pursue, you go for it, financial thing we'll adjust, all of us will adjust. First you try, try for three months or something, because in government service, we'll get three months personal leave for something. So I thought, okay, I'll go for three months, I'll try, and I'll check out whether this is feasible for me or not. After three months, I again, we had a discussion over dinner, and I said, I really want to do it. So they said, yeah, go for it. Because by the time we adjusted our finances, and everything, so they didn't explicitly told me anything, but they really wanted me to do something because it was my father's job. And they know that it is my father's job, it was not my dream job. So they said, yeah, if you really like to do something, you should really do it. That was their reaction. The job which you were doing was on a compassionate basis, right? You got your father's job. Okay, okay. He died in service. Okay, okay. So we call it dying harness. Okay, okay. Okay, so you wanted to do something on your own, and then the support was immense. Yes. And happy to, you know, see that all the support fruitfully ended in a really good result. And you said that this was a childhood dream, like, you know, when did this dream start? Or when did you really feel that, yes, I want to write civil service? Because in our families, or in normally in families in Kerala, we have a little walk with this high ASI PSI thing. It's in Vogue. It's a fashionable thing. It's a dream career. So naturally, it comes to our family also. My grandmother is there. She always say, Meenu, Moolay, you want to be an IAS officer, you should be. So I didn't even know what is it. But I feel like, okay, it's my grandmother's dream. I should go for it. But again, my father who was work, he was a gunman of IAS and IBS officer with the Desmond NATO, sir, and Nalini NATO, ma'am. So he was already working with them. So he used to come and say like, what all power they have, what all privileges they have, etc. So they were like, we are in a conversation. But yet I also didn't know the value of it because I was very small. But somewhere down the line, I understood this is a very prestigious position or this is a very dream job. And also my father said you should really read newspapers as a child itself. You should really read it because even if after completing your education, if you want some job, general knowledge is imperative. So you have to read papers. So in newspapers, after politicians, all the news came across the civil servants and the initiatives they are doing. So it is exceeded. It is nurtured and it eventually would I kept it somewhere in my heart as a dream inside deep rooted that was there, which actually came out way later in life. So those who are students of Shankar will be very familiar with Minnu's face, because Minnu used to sit and study in Shankar's reading room. And there is a corner which is called Minnu Chechi's corner because it is one corner of the library where she diligently comes every day morning and she starts reading Hindu. I think two to three hours, she sits there and reads Hindu very meticulously. And there are students who come and sits near her table to get inspiration that happened. But Minnu's journey is not as smooth. She failed the first two problems. Then you successfully cleared till the interview, lost it by 13 marks and then the fall from the pinnacle. You lost problems, not once twice. And then you bounce back with rank 150. How did you overcome these failures? Because you know, when I know, you know, we're failing interviews very painful on that to not clearing problems after that is extremely painful. You need a lot of no vigor to bounce back after that and you bounce back successfully. So what kept you motivated through all these failures? Mainly there are three things. One thing is my definitely my family, especially my husband. Unusually he kept high hopes for me. And even at times when I was not sure, he was damn sure that I will get through one day. And because he's seeing all my effort, I didn't cherish my effort. But he always noticed I am doing I am trying hard for this. So he always kept faith in me. And he said, you have to write one more time. So as you said, when I consecutively lost prelims, and in 2019, I decided I am stopping this, I can't do this anymore. And I said, I am joining back. So he said, you don't want to join back. Continue for one year. I said, No, no, I need a break. I'm really going back. So he said, Okay, I don't want to I don't want you to go back to office and doing the job. I want you to sit and study. But if you like to join back, if you need a break, you go back. But you always think I don't want your salary. This was he said, he's saying. So I was like, Okay, someone is having high hope on me. That was like really, really assuring. Second thing is my friends and the study circle. So as you said, once I went to interview, so people have created a benchmark like, Okay, Vinay Chichi has one been to interview. So he's good. She's good. So she can do it again. So everyone, including the staff of shunkers, they always, always kept hope on me. They said, Okay, mean, you want to try one more time, you should you will get it, you will get it. Everyone say you will get it. Only I was not sure. But I was sure at the point when COVID struck, when COVID came, that was the third thing, the self introspection. So COVID gave me an opportunity to introspect myself as self introspection happened during the lockdown. And I understood, Yeah, I have to do this because it's been a long. So I'll face this exam with a fresh, fresh optimistic way. So that helped, I think. So family, peer group, and ultimately the determination, yes, know that you have to succeed, kept you motivated. Now I wanted want to ask about your time management. You know, you were a working person, even though you took leaves in between. So this is a part confusing for aspirants who are especially working, like how to manage preparation along with work. So even though you took leave at times, you were working also know it was on and off. So how did you manage your studies with work? And what all you have to tell to those aspirants who are working and preparing like about time management? Yeah, as you said, at times, I joined back and during those time, I, I understood one thing that I can't study in full throttle while working, because my job was with police department. And it is not an easy job. It is like, it is very hectic at times and all the portfolios I handled require my time and attention. So I understood I had to take leave. So I really don't know how to advise these working professionals. But in my case, I had to take leave for a full scale preparation. But while going to office, what I continuously did was to going through this newspapers because Arjun, remember, I used to come early in the morning, I read the paper that day, I went to office, I again come back. And I went through, I think, options or some GS paper or something that was the methodology I adopted at that. But after taking leave again, I have a family to take care of. So I can't study for 12 hours, 14 hours, that is not feasible for me. So what I do is I also I was not an early bird, I never wake up early. So I used to come by nine o'clock to Shankar's. 9.30, I start my day. And until 7.30, I sit here. 7.30, by 7.30, I'll be exhausted. But maximum 8.30. 8.30, I'll leave. And when I go home, also, I'll have a bath and I'll sleep because I can't sit late. I will, I'm not at all a nightingale also. So it's like 9.30. You studied, you studied, you made sure that you studied it in Shankar. So that you went back home and rested. Right. And to add to it, even though she is not a early bird, so she was one of the earliest people to come to Shankar Library, especially on those days where she was working. No, no, that is a great advice. She started the day early. She came to the library, finished the newspaper, went to work. And after work, she came back to the library, sat and read. So whatever time you got in between the spare time, you made sure that you use it very wisely. Right. So that is a great advice you can give. Now, next question I want to ask, like, you know, it is not that out of blue, a person got 150th rank. No, she has consistent academic track records. Like in 10th, she has fully A plus. Then in 12th, you got good marks in BSE and MSU got ranks. And after that, you got this rank. So how important is consistent academic track record relevant to the UPSC preparation? Like you are an average student. Still, will you be able to clear it for a student, I am asking? An average student, will he or she be able to clear it? Obviously, because whatever your academic track is, I had a break because studying in a school or college is very different from preparing for a competitive exam. Competitive exam needed different strategies. So even if you get a rank or not, it doesn't matter. Because I will tell you from a personal perspective, because when I started preparing in 2016, I was working for years continuously when I took the break. So when I started learning this, I understood that I forgot how to study. So I still remember the first task I undertook was to learn preamble of our constitution. So I was like sitting blindly with this paper and I was like, how will I buy hearted? There is no need to buy heart it, but I tried. I tried to buy heart the preamble. I understood it's a very good thing to buy heart. So I was like doing this, doing this and I am not able to study this. So what I did is, I literally pasted it in my wall and I continuously looked at it and I understood it needs some pauses because if you want to buy heart something, you have to break the entire paragraph into certain group of words. So one month nearly I undertook a mission to study how to study, how to learn things. So I think a good track record is good, that makes you a very studious person, that makes you like a better person, but that is not an imperative thing for clearing a competitive exam. So what you told is very evident when I speak with you also. You have recommended a lot of books to me. I didn't read this and this is really good and when you speak about a book, you're really enthusiastic and passionate about that book. So the way you approached every subject would be almost the same. So I know that the way you studied, how passionate you were about studying, irrespective of whether you cleared the exam or not. The way you studied, the way you approached the exam itself would be a great message I think for everyone. Yeah because as I told you earlier, I'm a very greedy person. So a fresh knowledge or a fresh thing, a thing which I previously didn't encountered with makes me very excited. So I told you know there is a book, Ocean of the Churn. So when I read Ocean of the Churn, I was like my god there are such things there which I didn't know. So I really wanted to share it with everyone and I really want everyone to read that book so that their knowledge will be enhanced. So when I was doing mentoring in Shankar's, I understood that people are very close-minded. People, they used to restrict themselves into certain books and they'll feel like this is the end of the world. We have to read the book again and again. But I would like to suggest like you have to expand your mind and read whatever comes to your hand so that it will be really about knowledge and reaching. Yeah rather than just you know sticking yourself to the preparation when you get time, read books like you know there is a book called The Wonder that was India by El Basha. Actually you know earlier people used to read it for art and culture. Now we are everybody is into a capsule mode. Whatever easiest source we can take, we read it. But that books give you a lot of you know beautiful insight about the country called India. Even the pictures are really great in that book. So I know we will not suggest, I mean I personally recommend it as a study read because you'll take a lot of time. But when you get free time and you know definitely enhance your knowledge. Yeah that's same thing it's with the struggle for independence by Bipanjandra. Yes. It is like Bipanjandra didn't brought it for aspirants but for the whole Indians. Correct. So it really captured the struggle we had through all these hundred years of like freedom struggle and all. Yes. That should be definitely read. Yeah I think that was that all this value adds to your preparation. Now let's come to know preparation related queries. We'll start from problems. So you are a person who have tasted success and failure in problems. So your third attempt you know your maybe second serious attempt you clear the problems went in the interview and then third, fourth and fifth attempt you failed the problems. Sixth again you clear. So what happened in this fourth and fifth attempt? Why did you fail that problems and what you know what did you correct in the sixth attempt and to tell our viewers she scored 125 in 2020 problems. So you would have made some drastic changes which made you clear that 2020 problems. So what did you change in these attempts? The first problems I cleared I literally did nothing but followed a test series because 2016 December Shankaray's academy started at all India test series at that time it was being written by 5000 plus students. So the all India ranking was there. So it was like really competitive at that point of time. So I religiously followed the test series because at that point of time I didn't even know how to approach problems. The only thing I knew is there is a test series and I have to follow it. So every test falls on Sunday. So I got an entire week to study the Sunday portions. So as I told you earlier 9 30 I come and 9 30 to 12 30 I study the test portions. Afternoon I'll study the value add addition things like any other topic which is not related to test series. So I balanced it like morning time for test afternoon time for self-preparation. So after months I became the top like top ten invariably I'll come irrespective of the subject. So my friend said me know you will be getting for this sure but I was not sure because it's a test series it's not the real exam but actually that practice matter at that test that preliminary. But after that my interview was on the last day of that year and one week later the result came and I lost. So one month later there is preliminary. So I quickly went through the preparation through that one month and it costed my attempt because I lost it by one mark. So I understood it was not sufficient. I should have started it earlier during the interview phase also. But in 2019 what mattered is I still managed to score 1194 the paper one but I lost C set. That was like really heartbreaking for me. I was really disappointed and I thought I will quit the preparation because C set C set was the cup of tea which I didn't get. So and then I worked on C set. There is a program there is a crash course given by Shankar's before the 2020 prelims I attended it. Also I practice this previous year questions. That's what I did for C set. But for the paper one as you said I really I did significantly shifted my strategy. But now that you told this 2019 also you had 119 and 125. In 2019 and 20 papers were not easy to score 119 and 125 because Qatar was 98 and this year it fell to 92. So you scoring 125 means that you have done something significantly correct to get that mark. So please elaborate the strategy for prelims. One thing I understood about the prelims exam is preparation is for confidence and exam is all about your attitude. So we prepare a lot of things for prelims and we are always under confident that we didn't completed the PTs. We didn't go through Laxmikan 3 to 4 times. We didn't go through spectrum. Like so many worries are there. So actually we fail before prelims comes because we are so under confident about prelims. So first thing I made my mind is this exam whatever you prepare 100 questions will be very fresh. 100 questions will be new. It won't be like we didn't encountered it through our test series and all. So anyway this 100 questions is for new things. So that was the first thing making up your mind. Second thing is I understood whatever a study it is for my confidence and comprehension. Like when I saw a question if I studied it I can solve it or if I didn't study it still my collective knowledge will come and solve it. That's what I tamed my mind to do. Third thing is time management because time management in the sense everyone do time management but I did this I went through the question papers 4 to 5 times because I do it by cycles. First round one word question. Second round two sentences question. Third round three sentences question. Fourth round is the rest of the question and fifth round overall thing and I made sure that I will do 85 to 90 questions. 85 to 90. I will not do 90 plus or I won't do 85 below. So 85 to 90 questions I will anyway attempt. This was one thing I do and another thing is I don't know this is a good thing to suggest or not. I made very calculated risk in the exam paper because as I told you earlier I was very open minded. So I know two hours is in front of me only me and question paper remain. What all I studied till yesterday doesn't matter it will only matter for my collective cracking of the question and I just concentrate entire myself into question paper and I understood that answer is in either A, B, C or D. Answer is not outside but answer is inside the question paper and I made calculated risk at points. I'll tell you an example. There was a question in 2019 film regarding an Indus Valley civilization and Ashokas edict. So both are like one question is about which of the following is an Indus Valley site. Other question was in which of the following places Ashokas edict says this and this. So one of the option is similar which means one is an Indus Valley site. So it won't be an option for Ashokas edict. So I strike it down. So such things are in the question paper there will be clue. So if you are willing to take a calculated risk at times we may be rewarded. Yeah this is actually true only because you know for sure you will not be knowing all questions in UP. It may be 30 questions you will know for sure. Rest 60-70 will be as you said you know you have to make answers find answers then and there. So it is very important reading through the options and options itself will give clues as you said. Like they will add you know there are certain ways in which UPSC can make a statement wrong. Yes it is easy to put correct statements to make a statement wrong it is difficult. So that is why we tell in science and technology mostly all of them are works because in science and technology it is difficult to make a statement wrong. Yes so as what she said is very very true you have to look for clues and hints in the paper while doing the problems. The answer lies in the paper it is not if so if we think like if we read a question and think outside the paper you won't be getting the answer. You compare the statement with the option then you read the option and again compare it with the statement then the right thing happens. Yes it may strike well. Check for clues from the options great. Now I want to ask about your sources you are not making etc so static sources most of the aspirants will be knowing Laxmi Khan spectrum all this book Shankarai's environment book people read did you and NCRT's obviously the most important source did you ever make notes for the static sources. To be honest I was I am a very lazy person to be very honest so one thing I religiously did all through the years is making notes from the newspaper if someone is called a bookworm I will be a newspaper worm because I thoroughly read the paper and I understood that we get a lot of information from the newspaper newspaper is not a study material but we can make it as a one so I daily I read entire paper editorials plus editorials so sometimes the editorials will be very elaborate so I cut and paste it in my book as such because it is very time-consuming to make notes from a certain editor otherwise if we get some news related to wireless sanctuary or some important places I will note it down so I have a newspaper book to collect all the information so my option was geography sometimes the case studies of geography will be there in the paper so if we search for a case study we may not get it but if we find a news and make it as a case study the reverse engineering will do the good math for example there was a project called a varate or you might be knowing right so this is about a river yeah Kerala did a good thing where river rejuvenation so it is it is channel morphology we are having a channel so if we go for some case study for channel morphology we may know we may get some from Mississippi or something but if we have something if we know the syllabus and if we can connect it with the newspaper it will really aid in our preparation okay so now that you told about your newspaper reading and not making and we have already discussed that you used to take two to three hours to read Hindu this is a problem which is faced by aspirants especially those who are taking classes this you know the fresh aspirants they have almost two and a half five hours of class plus if optional is there seven and a half hours they are sitting in the classroom then they come and take this newspaper they have to spend two to three hours no they have no time to read you know Lakshmi Khan spectrum so their question they basically ask because you are a mender you would have also faced the same question how can they manage the type when asking about those aspirants who are new aspirants and taking classes so how what is your suggestion to them I I relate on those newspaper based on my personal experience because I understood that a significant part of this exam whole exam process whether it is prelims mains or interview it largely contain current affairs if the more we know current things the more we have a grip on certain current things it will be very useful even if you manage to clear claims and mains in interview you will be having a very good knowledge for current affairs thing so in any part of the exam it's very relevant so I understood newspaper is one hand material which is very useful for this because I why I relate more on newspaper is I went through certain consolidated materials like a compilation of news articles and all and I understood that that is not feasible for me that to be very honest I'm saying because it the consolidated material is something which a person sit and read through this newspaper and they consolidated it and they put it in front of aspirants as a cap capsule but that is not my cup of tea I have to go through this paper I have to read this I have to comprehend and understand this then I have to make notes then only it will be stored in my brain maybe that's why I took five years to clear this exam also it's a time-consuming process I understand but I think I'm going through I am not suggesting Hindu is good or any other exam newspaper is good but a very first-hand information in front of us will be really really really good I'll I'll testimony it because there was an issue which was going on in Afghanistan the Taliban take over so I was following this newspaper since Trump years so I know Trump is deciding to withdraw withdraw the US troops from Afghanistan since that day I am following this news so ultimately it was so obvious that Taliban will be taking over we can even predict we can even predict what is going to happen so such kind of first-hand knowledge will be in our hand if we go through it religiously but any suggestions on time management like how this aspirants can manage all these things one thing is as I said earlier you can connect it with syllabus okay most of the time some days Hindu will be over by 10 minutes because there won't be nothing important in the perspective of our exam okay so we have to look through the prism of examination when we open the paper you are not supposed to read everything which is being reported because it's a newspaper it's they are reports their news reports so we have to make a collective conscious effort to segregate what is important for this exam what is not important for this exam so such such an effort can readily reduce the time when we raise great advice so now problems is almost no two to three days down the line and aspirants will be keenly preparing so what are your last minute tips for those aspirants who are taking the 20 21 problems as I said earlier don't don't accept your defeat before you give the exam now I always say to my mentees you just just fight it then you accept it like no you don't want to be defeated before the war starts so that's the first and foremost thing we are we face brilliance with fear of failure that's the first thing we have to change anyway it is hundred questions fresh new questions two hours so we have to be ready for it that readying making up our mind for facing one of the most toughest exam in the world we have tension but we have to accept there is tension because it's a universal phenomenon so accepting our opponent or accepting the what it is waiting for is the first and foremost thing second thing is you have to stop reading things in the day before the prelims you know by the night you have to close the books to tomorrow morning or the day of the prelims you have to go with a fresh mind you don't want to hurry through all the notes you studied just before the exam that is very counterproductive I think doesn't matter actually yeah so you have to wake up by 7 o'clock you have to have the breakfast drink a lot of water go to the exam hall with a positive mind and just be in the exam hall for half an hour like 9 o'clock you enter the hall you sit and meditate fine okay I am going to give the exam so by 9 and 15 your tension will be over this I tried and it was very fruitful for me third thing is the moment you get the question paper then stop over thinking something else like you have to be you and your question paper nothing else you have to read the questions carefully you have to read the options carefully earlier I said comparing the answer with the question and find the right answer done then you'd quickly move out to the next question please don't sit with one question because that won't deal to anything you first read then read the option go to the question again again you read out two time read is enough if if your answer is not coming leave it and move to the next that was you have to quickly quickly go through the go through the question paper I had a friend who used to do only 60 questions because by two hours she didn't even read the rest of 40 questions that's a huge mistake we are doing sometimes the questions we know will be the other questions so there is no concrete rule that you have to do the first question then move to the next there is no rule like that maybe the first ten questions might be from art and culture which would be extremely difficult yeah so maybe the last 30 questions would be very easy yeah you can do question paper from anywhere I sometimes I used to start from hundred I used to come from behind sometimes I start from 50 50 to 100 then 50 to one this was I used to do a lot of things because I am not stuck with a certain idea that I have to do from 1 to 100 and all there is no rule like that another important thing is there is a like there are clues as a as we discussed earlier there are clues inside the question paper so if you if you consciously go and find out the clues maybe they won't be there but there are clues in question paper and you have to be prepared for it and don't please don't mark the answer in question paper and then blackening it that there also my another friend did that she used to mark every answer in the question paper thinking that she will blacken it after doing the hundred percent it's a biggest mistake we are doing so whenever you are sure about a question sure about an answer A B C or D you quickly mark it because we may not have the luxury to come back and again blacken it and one another thing is like some most of the times aspirant expect current affair question geography question history environment like we studied it in that way so we expect that in the question paper also we will be having question from history we will be having question from modern India or something like that no there is nothing like that sometimes UPSC may mix geography and environment sometimes current affairs and science and technology sometimes ancient and art and culture it will be mixture so we can't compartmentalize questions into quality economy geography etc so we should be very ready for mixture of questions you might be remembering right there was a in 2018 I think economy and environment they clubbed it together and they asked 32 I think 2017 or 18 three question three to four question they clubbed economics and environment so that was like really startling but we should be ready for it has in the north mythology there was a king Odin King Odin used to advise King Thor that a wise king should be always ready for a war should be always should not seek war but always ready for it so UPSC aspirant should be always ready for the unexpected be prepared for the worst yes just one more point I want to ask is about C-set you failed 2019 C-set you bounce back and you know clear 2020 C-set 2020 C-set was a difficult as compared to 2019 still you cleared it on with a good margin so you told you to classes from Shankar so what is your advice to those aspirants who find C-set as a difficult paper a C-set is a particular paper where we can choose the questions for example for as a person I am not comfortable with mathematics I understood I understood my weakness because okay maths is my difficult area so rather than concentrating more on maths I should concentrate more on comprehension which is my strong area and reasoning comprehension is a strong area for me because I used to read newspaper so reading an article comprehending it made me a better person to read comprehensive question comprehension questions so I concentrated like I made a strategy for C-set that in the first one hour I will do maximum comprehension question I made up my mind that I will do every comprehension question so I did that and after the next one hour I will do reasoning and maths which is comfortable for me for example cube average age questions which are easier for me but for some other aspirants I have a friend his comfortable area was mathematics so first what he does is he first went through all the maths because that is his strong area so C-set is all about finding your strength and weakness if you are strong in reasoning do reasoning questions first if you are good in English comprehension do it first so anyway you have to do maximum 40 questions that that only we can do I think 42 I think 50 questions max that's a thing we can do in C-set so find your strong areas so anyhow all the best very best to those aspirants are taking problems right yeah all the best right now let's move to mains your mains preparation again you wrote two mains right 2017 you wrote the mains again you went to the interview and 2020 you cleared with rank 150 what differences did you make in the mains preparation strategy if you take compare these two mains what all differences did you make in the preparation strategies first means I was so underprepared because I started learning optional only after problems because on that day I understood that okay I may clear problems so okay I have to study an option so then only I started studying but this time I got some time so I could prepare better so one thing I understood is that mains is all about answer writing it is all about like how you present your ideas no matter how many hours you studied how many books you read it is ultimately about presenting your ideas in a neat and orderly way so this made me score very good so the thing is an answer writing need a blend for me for me I understood answer writing is about content and presentation it should be in your perfect balance you if you concentrate more on presentation you will fall short if you concentrate more on content then your answer may not be attractive I'm not the person to judge but I always try to balance my answer with both content and presentation that's the strategy I okay so and just I wanted to ask about answer writing more you were a student of mainstreaming means test series of Shankar and you know how did you when did you start writing answers 2017 was your first means so again students have this apprehension when they're taking classes no shall I wait for the course to get over to start writing answers or can I write today itself no I don't have much knowledge to write answers when shall I start writing answers whom shall I approach with these answers okay so what is your advice on answer writing and how do you manage the answer writing for the papers in the beginning stage of preparation people may find difficult to write answers because answer writing need some sort of knowledge as I said earlier need content if only you know the content you can present it right so like in the beginning of the preparation we can't write answers but we can practice I'll tell you an example we have NCRT's so NCRT's in the every chapter end with a set of questions if you want to start answer writing at the early stages you can start with NCRT question no need that you have to write UPSC previous year questions in the first place or you have you don't have to write answers from any websites there is no rule like that if you want to practice answer writing you can start with small classes in six standard question there is a question called what do you mean by constellation answer it it is also answer writing right here so we can start from the beginning as well but as we go upwards as we move forward the better way to get into answer writing is going through previous year questions because previous year questions are very good medium to practice it because they are already asked the questions we already studied it so for example there was a question what all features from Indus Valley civilization we inherited in the later years so any person who read NCRT can answer those question so previous year question will be a good strategy otherwise what I did personally is I did main storming yes but I was not a big fan of test series I used to daily practice one or two questions most probably I used to randomly anyway I will be writing one question from previous year and one question which is current currently relevant one day I still remember there was an article about dry land farming in Hindu so I saw a question related to dry land farming in the previous year paper so I was very confident in writing that question so we can actually blend according to our schedule and all did you have a peer group did you used to write answer show among yourself yeah did you work like that yes we do we did have a peer group and they were all excellent answer writers also I used to show my answers to various teachers now for example show banser he was here also you also check my answers I was about to tell that the first thing you know before I actually met Minnu the first thing I heard about Minnu was from Arun Lal he came and told me you should see Minnu's answers she writes beautiful answers and add to it she has beautiful handwriting okay so you know you should see Minnu's answers so that the day I saw Minnu's answers I was sure that some day I think I would have told you know clear the problems you will be in the list I'm sure about it that is the beauty the way she you wrote the answers so you know that is again next question about mains is about not making I want to ask did you make notes for mains or you know you obviously had your Hindu notes that you know syllabus wise topic wise did you make notes or it was improved or preparation I don't know whether it is imperative but what I did this I used to have four notebooks GS1 GS2 GS3 GS4 so whatever article I came across I used to paste it I told you know apart from my newspaper book also if I came across something something from Yojana or Kurukshetra I used to write it down I have a book on Yojana and Kurukshetra as well because sometimes Yojana and Kurukshetra used to discuss topics related to our GS syllabus skill development digital India there are editions like that so I read through this and makes not for it but if you ask specifically for GS topics I didn't had notes but I randomly collected like for self help groups I used to prepare case study for NGO question I prepare case study globalization so such things yeah I had yeah randomly I used to because you had we were discussing about handwriting I wanted want to ask how did you develop this beautiful handwriting and is there any tip because I have seen your handwriting no we will be uploading few of Minnu's answer copies in our main storming booklets do we have any tips that we can give to those aspirants who find it difficult to write in good handwriting I always write in rolled books because I can't write in like blank papers I used to feel like when I write in blank papers it will be very sliding it will be a sliding way so I consciously buy rolled books for making all the notes that's the one thing I did and also I used to tell my friends and other aspirants is that if you think your handwriting is very poor or it need improvement you can write in four line book or in other two lined books as it will it will really help in improving handwriting because handwriting is something most people think that after a certain age we can't improve it that's that's wrong because my handwriting in my school days is very different from now what I am writing I used to write in a good way but but it is not like what I am writing currently so if you are not confident you can write in rolled books so many people told me like you know your handwriting is good but I didn't have the confidence to write in a non-ruled book I still in the last day of my preparation itself I used to write in rolled books so there is nothing to be ashamed of buy a four line book and start practicing whom you have to bother like whom you have to address correct who certificate you need exactly we just want to like self-improvement is very important for this exam if you are a better person than yesterday you are more closer to the goal every day counts yes exactly great great so we know we would be happy to hear about your experiences with Chandra's Academy in your main preparation I have joined for the main storming program and as if sir as a guidance was very what very it made me a very confident person because as if sir personally corrected my papers and he used to he saved my number is Minyu Sia Trivandrum prospective candidate or something it like that so he he sent the screenshot and he said see this is how I saved your number so you have to live up to the expectation so I understood he being a very top faculty in India now he has still hop on me so I have to improve a lot so which small thing but it give a very good confidence in me they actually literally went through each and every question and in every question they give feedback not as a general feedback but for each question they have feedback and it actually helped me improve a lot and I especially want to mention Shamna ma'am because in the last week of main when I was so severely under confident she said she she gave a fresh new perspective for me in appearing for this exam especially in the ethics part and I think I did ethics very well not just by my merit but because of the confidence she gave me at that point of time which was very crucial for me so to those who don't know as if sir is our academic coordinator of Shankar's Academy Delhi and he and Shamna ma'am are in charge of her main stress series program main stopping and Minyu had been a part of our main stress series so really happy that you know the team could help you out and definitely yes even I want to mention essay was corrected by Shiv Shankar sir and he was like he gave me some beautiful tips for essay because last time I fed really bad in essay paper because I got only 99 this time I could improve it to 126 so not very great months but I improved from a very subtle position great great now let's come to your optional okay so you have a background in the industrial microbiology and biochemistry like you have done your masters in my biochemistry so when you are planning to take your optional did you think of biology or chemistry as an optional how did you reach geography yeah anyway I had to take a fresh new subject like didn't you think of biology chemistry did you go through or you decided no I don't want to do biology chemistry I will choose something else yeah because even though I studied microbiology and biochemistry I didn't study to bottom your zoology either as an elective subject so last time I studied a biology botany and zoology and chemistry in my school okay so anyway anything will be like a new geography history everything is at par so geography comes very late to me because the first I attended Malayalam literature okay because but I am I never read even a poem the only Malayalam thing I read is Malayalam newspaper and Baladama otherwise I didn't read Malayalam so I understood I didn't have the talent okay so next thing I went through is public administration and I understood that public administration is full of theories yeah okay it is so elaborate okay and I had to write long thing so being a very lazy person I understood geography will be okay for me because you can enrich your answers with diagrams okay so let's effort more marks that is why you ended up in geography yeah also I love geography I am a very travel enthusiast I love traveling I love reading geographical non-fiction so geography comes naturally to me okay so again you have taken two mains with geography what all changes did you make between your first geography means and your second geography means as I mentioned earlier I started very late for my first means and I scored only 261 that year so the only thing I changed is saw I enriched my content because the writing style is almost at par and I understood the subject also because I understood UPSC will ask Indian geography in a current way current of his perspective they won't be asking any specific theories in a paper to but in paper one anyway you have to learn some specific theories as well so in paper one I understood again my strength and weakness I understood geomorphology is not my cup of tea okay but rather I can fare better in human geography so I left I literally took a risk by leaving certain things I couldn't understand I couldn't study example being L.C. King's theory slope development such thing I can't read and I can't understand so I thought like okay let it be I'll leave them and I will focus on the rest of the syllabus actually it rewarded like you picked and chose then studied not like the full things okay and again Minnu's Q score 293 in this year's geography paper which might be one of the top marks in whole of India right so again congrats for that this you know this is a huge mark so you know what what all will you say as the do's and don'ts of to someone who wants to pick geography as an optional or who studying geography as an optional what are the do's and don'ts of geography one I'll start from the do's and one thing I start did in the earlier phase of my preparation is I studied the entire India by focusing on states for example I started from Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir the major geographical features there the places the reverse like the topography the mountains everything in a geographical way the national parks Ram sir sites so I studied the state as a whole and by 29 after I completed 29 states and other uts I got a whole picture of India so it immensely help me in Indian geography because somewhere if someone says a place I immediately connected okay this will be this and all so that's the one thing I did I don't know that there that is feasible for other aspects it's you know hearing it itself you will feel oh this is like a really good thing because no India will be in a fingertips by the end of this process even though it will take time you know by the end I took three days for a state because it's a it's a very sternous process so in Indian geography the first question will be identifying the places okay ten places you have to mark in a map and you have to give a description of it it will fetch you good marks for Indian geography paper that's the one thing I did another thing is as I said under understanding your strength in the syllabus in paper one we have perspectives population geography settlement geography so certain things will be in your hand so if you can identify your strong areas in syllabus you concentrate more in your strong areas it will be highly rewarded if you keep working on your weaknesses also you will be rewarded but if something is not in your hand just leave it that's the best thing you can do most of the aspirants sit with the geomorphology and they will ruin your ruin their life okay because geomorphology is so vast I'm not saying not to study it those who can grasp it they can grasp it but if something is not like readily understandable we should take that risk to leave it in that way that's the one thing like you basically don't want you to do a PhD in that subject they give you that is why options are given you can pick and choose and learn so that you should make use of it and selectively wisely cleverly prepare yeah third thing is you can go through previous year question papers that is an eye-opener we can sometimes even predict questions because especially in paper one so this time really you won't believe but I expected they will be asking either continental drift or plate tectonics right away they asked both like continental drift they are very happy so based on previous year questions we can know which all theories comes in probability so that we can comfortably leave certain portions so going through previous year questions like a Bible will help you a lot fifth thing is you need a not for geography okay you find a not study it and read textbook only to enrich this okay no need to study every like an entire textbook reading an entire textbook is good only it will anyway enrich your knowledge but if you're time-consistent and it is like you're taking too much time for option it is better to stick on to a not and enriching the content if you have any doubt as you said earlier it is not a PhD exam anyway it is an optional exam we will get only seven to eight minutes attending a question so if you know the topic if you understand the topic that will be sufficient for writing this we have to just present our ideas right no need and for Indian geography what you can do is you can go through Yojna and Kurukshetra and prepare case studies for it because in Indian geography we know the syllabus is itself a collaboration of GS subject resources agriculture settlement cultural geography so sometimes you may not get everything in a textbook or something but as I said earlier the state study will aid you in Indian geography preparation any dawns dawns is like don't do don't do much like don't overdo okay like we are overdoing things a lot like when we get a savindra thing will be like oh my god we have to read all the savindra thing no no need like we have to read something which is sufficient for the exact overdoing will kill your confidence and marks so understand the exam first yeah before preparing for the exam yes exactly and regarding geography as an optional especially to those who are thinking about choosing the optional you know geography is at least you know projected as a risky optional because you know there are years where geography does well then there are years where geography doesn't do well like I remember in 2017 exam was very difficult but the marks were high even though the exam was difficult in 2018 the exam was very easy but people did not get marks and people did not clear from geography 17 18 and this see this is a year where geography actually bounds back a lot of aspirants cleared from geography so this up and down is there in geography so people at least even if they like geography as an optional they are apprehensive about taking geography as an optional so as somebody who cleared with geography was stopped in geography what will be your advice to those aspirants in selecting geography as an optional actually this risk factor is there in every option but normally we don't notice it because when I started preparing public administration was a very heat option but somehow public administration is now I think in every option there is a risk element but choosing your optional should be based on your interest that's my opinion is why I selected geography I know all this risk element but I can't study another subject in this vigor that is why I stick on to geography in all these attempts so your interest is one thing second thing is you you have to go through the syllabus and previous year question papers and you have to understand whether this will be our cup of tea or not that is also very important sometimes as you said you may like the subject but you can't answer the subject there is a huge difference so that is a very good homework you can do third thing is you need a mentor or a guide to guide you through the subject because self-preparation may not be sufficient when a subject is a little bit tough so correcting your answers guiding you in a good way understanding you in the the latest happenings in the subject I still remember my mentor used to tell me you have to go through IPCC report because that is very important for climatology perspective in a climatological perspective so such guidance is required and above everything you have to you have to be very dynamic in that subject also particularly in geography you know it's a mother of all sciences geography is called as mother of all it is same time a science subject same time a humanity subject so you should be very dynamic for it when you study geomorphology is a scientific subject climatology also it's about specific heat temperature it's about what the specific heat capacity of the ocean at the temperature pressure so P is inversely proportional to T there are things know when we study in physics which is very much applicable to geography also so scientific explanation is required in this subject another side of geography is humanities human geography how communities are being shaped by topography or how geography influences even the appearance of the people so many things there is a humanitarian side to geography so you should be also dynamic to both that is very important for being geographies so your passion or liking for the subject plus your ability to write answers and the presence of a mentor or guide you know these things made you choose geography exactly okay now let's come to the interview phase and again you had two interview experiences right in 2017 you went to the interview 20 again you went to the interview so how was your UPSC interview experiences because you know when you tell anybody that you went for the interview first question is like what all did they ask and you know did you get any interesting questions so share your interview experiences as you said first time when I went to interview I was the most unconfident candidate in that entire group okay because I was so like nervous because I heard a lot of things in from YouTube and others hide like interviews like this interviews like that and even I give so many mock interviews the real experience is something different like so I went with a very preoccupied mind that something is going to big happen there so my first interview I was the second last one to go and it lasted only for 15 minutes it was more like a Q&A okay I got bones laser board okay and they were like to wind up the session because they were in a hurry I also was not at all interactive so it was it was not a pleasant experience for me but this time I learned from my mistakes and I approached it in a new perspective in their examination I bring in a new perspective especially to the interview I understood I was working in police headquarters I used to see a lot of IPS offices every day so why I am being so nervous I am like I am seeing certain rank of officials every day correct so what's the point of being nervous anyway it is going to be a new day anyway they are going to ask you very unexpected questions so you should be ready for it this was the mindset of mine before my interview so the questions were mostly from policing because I was working in police so they wanted to know an insider's perspective as an insider what you think as an insider what reform you want to bring in as an insider what is your perspective about women enforces certain like only question they asked outside is about genetics because I studied it in my graduation yeah genetics and it's what it's prospects in our country that's the only question I got from outside but rest everything was in one or other way related to policing again it's a rumor most probably or a myth that is there that you know if you are if your age is higher okay it is disadvantageous for you in the interview and UPSC will no disc like there are sayings like that the younger you are the more marks you will get etc and you attempted it at maybe a late stage of your career like I know yeah 31 so generally people don't like revealing me but still since you told so did you feel that at any point like you know UPSC discriminates based on age etc etc did you feel that especially in the interview phase I'm asking I didn't think so because anyway this time we have a mask and face so I don't know whether they can identify our age but what I felt is they are expecting an officer not an aged person or a young person so I used to discuss it with our peer group and I used to say please don't go in as a candidate go present yourself as an officer so that they will be impressed so even if we are late and I personally think why I revealed my ages we are living in such a time where ages just a number ages being a number or life expectancy goes up I think most of the people who lives up to 90 90 plus even my grandfather is around 90 so people are not dying like somewhere in 70s or 60s as in the earlier phase so 30 or 30s are the new younger 20s new 20s yeah so I think ages for our mind not like ages or ages for our body not for our mind so if you really feel like you are young you are young and I always like what Mr. Mammoot says like even if you are 70 or 80 if your mind is so young no you will be young so I went with that that attitude only earlier I used to have the this apprehension that I am like two age because you know right everyone called me chechi chechi so in this library itself everyone calls me like they I am like a mother for all of them but I used to view it in a very different perspective great now we would like to know your interview preparation experiences with Shankar ISE Academy I did three one-on-one session with Shankar's and two mock interviews one I did online and one I did offline in Delhi's and itself so it was like a great experience and earlier in 2017 I had a chance to meet with Shankar sir also whose tips I used to recollect every day as an aspirant because Shankar's one thing I particularly noticed from Shankar's is the quality of their one-on-one sessions because mock is like more or less equal with everyone but one on one session is like very elaborate it is like always I like to attend one on one session because they will sit for you and have a detailed analysis of your DAF and they will give fresh questions so it is this time it was very enlightening to me to Mr. Vivek sir Vivek ISE also Sudesh Kumar sir which was very very good for me I think happy again happy to help you in your preparation journey now let's come to a few general things like retrospectively thinking you know what were the three things which you would have done differently if you are you know about to start the preparation a fresh now what three things would you have done differently this was like this was so unexpected so three things I would like to change yes like yeah if I start as a fresh aspirant okay first I think I I will I will go through the syllabus thoroughly and I will like I will I will make a plan I will make make a plan for one year like for example in 20 I will be appearing for 2022 then I will definitely make a plan for 300 days okay one 300 day plan which which I balance everything my optional preparation my GS preparation my prelims preparation along with CSAT and newspaper this will be my strategy for the next 300 days and the second thing I will be a very positive person because when I bring positivity or a kind of optimism to my life my life changed actually I but earlier I was like very tense you know me I was like very nervous I was very sensitive I used to I used to worry a lot for nothing I don't know why I did all these years like that but I I confidently approach this exam because this time when I went to interview I understood that most of the aspirants the interview day is just another day most of the aspirants I met and sorry candidates I met for me it was the greatest today in my life okay I went with that mindset in me like oh UPSC interview day it's a D day for me it's a carrier end for me like I used to speculate a lot about this exam okay but for most of the candidates especially from North Indian candidates really appreciate they took this exam in a very different way okay for them this is just another exam EPFO, SSC, RB exam, you see civil service exam, forest exam so it's one of the exam for me this is the exam so I will definitely change that my mindset for this and third thing I will be like what to say I will stop overdoing things for example I will calibrate my preparation okay the NCRTs okay the minimal standard textbooks okay plus extra reading okay because extra reading what I meant is you know I am a very big fan of non-fiction books I will anyway try to expand my knowledge along with the preparation okay because this preparation eaten away my five years without bearing any fruit like this okay definitely I get this but as a person I could have grown in the last five years so I will definitely do a parallel reading or doing something along with this preparation those are the theory things I know add to this I am asking you another question you are seeing a 21 year old to be new in front of you you know who's very young just joined the job just got married okay and you can give one advice to this minnow young minnow what would be the advice you will give to that me like minnow you let it what to happen in your life like let it be like you just just just leave your life actually did they actually did it because I got the luxury from my husband and his parents that you can choose your own life and you can pursue it I think most of the people they didn't get this chance only thing is because the major thing or the 90% of the thing is there on subtleness only or there on restriction to themselves so I would like to say you know you be a free bird go and explore the world just just enjoy each and every moment you ask me in the beginning of this interview did you cherish the moment or did you what do you feel about your thing so I am just enjoying the moment like for the time being I'm like I'm not at all speculating what is waiting for me as an IAS officer or what is next to be very honest I'm not speculating I'm like let it be let it come to me everything as Paolo Kolo said when you truly desire something the whole universe will conspire for us so we don't want to worry about it but we have to be only sincere about it let things happen as it has to happen waiting for all the wonderful things all the good things happen to me now another question I want to ask is about managing stress yeah because UPSC preparation is a very stressful journey we know because it's uncertain no problems means in the view it's a one-year long journey and you don't know how many attempts you have to take to clear this exam and many aspirants fail in know in in this journey and this even irrespective of whether you win or fail stress is there right stress is there and people go through depression all these things how did you manage stress and what is your take on managing the stress which is a part of this preparation I was a very stressful person before 2020 as I pointed out earlier during the covid I understood stress management because as I said earlier we forget to live a life during the preparation so in 2017 when I was writing mains so you know you know like I just cleared the problems I have a mains coming so I was so stressed because I just started my optional preparation I have to learn ethics I have to study GS I have to do essay everything I have to do I was so stressed and I start I opened this Disney app and I watched and I watched the TV series called Arjun Arjun in there's was a Hindi serial it was a detective story so my friend I should I sleep yeah what you're doing you have a mains and you're watching a serial and I was like yeah I what else I can do I I can do nothing because see I am very stressed so this is this one-hour episode is my stress free thing so after seeing this one-hour episode no I feel like guilty I wasted my one hour now I'll study so but somehow it acted as a stress managing thing to me this time I found again another series called Lucifer you know like I used to see Lucifer every day so I that was my stress management thing or some movies like I'm not a movie buff but at times I take I watch movies I watch series and all which I think it's a stress mister also I have a personally to me I have a son so whenever I was stressful I go to him my point is what all makes you happy you you had a life before starting this preparation so there are certain things that made you happy at those point of time maybe some things change but you can still find something to find happiness for me at a later point of time it was books like reading nonfiction was like very stress-free for me I never thought in my life watching a series reading a book listening to music is has to do something tampering this exam no it was not like that so find your own happiness that's the one that's the best thing you can do for stress management most people advice me to do yoga so I used to feel like I select meditate and I will whenever I close my eyes I like to make on this vector so you don't have the luxury to meditate because even in meditation your stress only on do you so I understood no yoga is not cup of tea so someone is really yoga is stress free I do yoga not for stress stress management but for my own happiness if you think yoga is your stress management then you are like no that is not the way if you find something like okay I have stress I'll do this for my stress management no that that won't suffice I think you have to find your own happy time you have to find your own private time so automatically stress will be please don't think that this is the end of your life very this exam is the end Arjun you know right I I used to stop the preparation in 2020 yeah I was so sure about it because now I got 150th rank yes but if I didn't get the 150th rank I made up my mind yeah this is the end I will I will end up like I will end this year and I will no longer attempt this exam that I was very sure about but we are all happy that you know even though you had made up your mind that you didn't want to give it you are sure that this year you will get through now just add to the stress buster thing I want to ask like what all are your hobbies you told you what series etc and you know did you get time to pursue your hobbies while preparing for this exam I am a person who loves to travel you know so I like in between the preparation years I went to Andaman and Nikova Islands I went to Rajasthan I even went abroad I visited five countries no six countries I visited during this preparation years only so whenever I go visit places I am like very happy so so one hobby I always try to pursue even not just being during preparation years but before preparation years also when I was doing PG my semester exam final semester exam was there and I got a chance to visit to Kashmir I chose Kashmir I didn't chose this semester exam to give so I am a person like that I feel like travel make me so humble travel make me so informative travel make me a better person this is my perspective so I used to travel and covid happened and travel became stopped and now I my traveling is around the bypass and so I say my husband please take me to the beach side or take me somewhere so we used to travel like that only in a subtle otherwise I read books I only series I watch is Lucifer only so far I watch and my son has a hobby he keep fishes so I aid him to clean the tank and everything so that's only hobby so you still managed to pursue all your hobbies in between the preparation yeah maybe that thing also took me five years to but still it's important to keep yourself mentally also no ground ideals you need too much stress I think without any hobbies and know that is very important so another question is like did you use social media again there are people who say that stay away from social media don't use you know the social media did you use social media and did it help or did it like it was counterproductive what is your take I identify myself as a non-social media person because I have a very social media I have a teacher I had Instagram I have Facebook but I don't consciously put any effort to maintain it because mostly I don't get time I always understand that social media is something which is meant for free people like someone has time they can invest in social media but I am such a person who is not so enthusiastic about it but if I get some time I would like to post my pictures post some update or something I used to do but most of the time I didn't because I don't find interesting me and my friend Aishwarya we used to joke each other now Facebook has becoming something for senior citizen kind of thing because our mother our relatives are in Facebook so there is no place for us in Facebook and what about in Instagram Instagram is about people below 20 so now it's like a kids platform so where is the platform for us for someone who is in 30 there is no social media platforms I am not finding any kind of interest in but I maintain you used to use not in a very enthusiastic way so we know as a very experienced person or as a veteran as we call it in UPSC circles what is your advice to new aspirants or those people who are watching this video and you know we'll be thinking that okay I want to take UPSC so what is your advice to the new aspirants everyone has a reason to pursue this right when when a candidate decide to prepare for this they are half successful because we take a very big risk in our life to attend the most prestigious examination of this country so understand that from your peers you are very different you are someone who took this initiative that is very very important you have to acknowledge yourself that you are the best so you can do it second thing is the self-belief should translate into our preparation joining the civil services and following a flock is the general trend I am seeing among young aspirants you have to find your own way like you have to you are coming with a confidence to cracking this exam so you have to trace your own path you have to personalize the preparation if a topper read lexmika it is not imperative that you also read lexmika no it's not like that sometimes some other book will help you we know that chunkers have an environment textbook so which is very elaborate so everyone's like that is not a full stop right you can still read another books so find your own comfortable things find your own plan or strategy to pursue this and third thing is don't give up on one or two failures you come with a plan like I will do this you can do this by three or four ways either you can decide like okay I'll give all the six attempt or you can decide like I'll clear it in the first attempt if you know managed to clear this in the first six attempt you can still take one or two attempts but you should be very sure about it you have you don't want to come this as a five-year plan like you will say to read the ender syllabus make all the notes and that is not feasible so you should be very obvious and thorough about what you are going to do in the next two to three years of your life and the last ten I think the most important advice I am not a person to give that also but the one thing you have to keep in your mind is you should be ready to take all the negativities during this preparation stress management is very very important like you you will you may know you may be the person who never tasted failure before but you should be ready for it you should ready to ready to taste failures I'm not saying you will be fail you will be a failure but we should be very open-minded and we should embrace or embrace this whole journey not just the exam but the throughout the journey is very very important be ready for the right ready for everything that makes you a good officer also because even if you get an IAS yeah that's a that's a point like we don't come as an aspirant just come as an officer so that you can give you can view the exam in a fresh perspective you know when we become a student we always think like a student but when we put ourselves in the shoes of an IAS officer things will be more easy it will be more handy so when a question being asked in disaster management okay let's say floods are coming how will you tackle floods if you think like an officer you'll get the answer but if you think like a student you will recollect the textbook that's a difference exactly you know what what what is your advice to those aspirants who are taking who have already taken multiple atoms and it's not able to clear the exam again as someone who has failed multiple atoms so there are aspirants who take multiple problems they fail or multiple means two to three means they're writing on they're not able to clear it and even those aspirants have faced the interview you know this year also you told your close friend Aishwarya she took the interview she did not clear to those aspirants who are giving multiple atoms and you are not overfailing and you know there are many aspirants who want to give up yeah even after just two or three items they want to give up but you have given sixth attempt you have decided that you will stop with the sixth attempt but you know those to those aspirants who are giving multiple atoms but not able to clear so what do you have to say to those aspirants yeah this is like talking to friends I don't know whether how they will take this but a self-check will be very important because I believe why I cleared this attempt is I did a self-introspection what all my strengths, what analysis we say, what analysis will be really good as a person because if we are getting constant failures we'll understand okay this is there is something wrong in my preparation or there is something wrong in the approach to the exam that is very important I told you why I wanted to stop this in the sixth attempt because I understood if not this it will be never because I did my best in the last five years every day you know I am I am being a barrier it's like fight fight fight repeat fight it is like I'm fighting every day some battles are not meant to be won some battles are worth giving up so I understood okay if not this time it will be never because I got the best capability like best what opportunities all these years now it's a time to wind up this was my mindset so I was ready for it another thing is when we say changing preparation strategy it means being dynamic you have to run with the time I still remember when I started in 2016 most of the people were of my age but I when I become 31 you know everyone or kids I am competing with younger generation I am competing with 10 year younger kids I have to be really smart I have to be super smart in front of them so we are like oh if we are veterans we are like someone very experienced no doesn't matter because most of the people who clear is around 23 24 years old so it's like understanding our position and being so dynamic I think that that is also very helpful you know you have to be brave to give you PSC you have to be braver to actually decide to quit you PSC preparation exactly yep see I am very I I simply gave away my five years because I had a job I know the moment I quit I can go back and join yes I have a plan B so a plan B will be good because please don't think like ups is the end of the world you can still give another exam get a job or you can do freelance job so that most of the veterans I know personally I have friends and their biggest guilt is I wasted so many years no we don't want to waste it further right you can take a decision like I will find another job or I'll find I'll do some freelance jobs or I'll find something different in my life so when I quit this or when I am out of this I can still go back to that that that will also boost your confidence as well I know certain people like that who give EPFO exam or RB exam or IB exam which is a good backup because that also give them confidence that they clear such exam so you can take one or two hours from your preparation to prepare for such exams as well very valid like have some solid plan Bs yes that's all this doesn't work out now you said you are you don't want to be speculative anymore you are all up for whatever is in store but still when you decided to take this exam you know something would have been there in your mind like I once I clear this exam you know I want to do these things as an officer so you know do you have any thoughts on like what all you would want to give back to the society once you become an officer I am a person who who was at the mercy of government or public service since my childhood I studied in government school I studied in government colleges my father was a government servant I am a government servant I travel in government public transport so every I studied with government scholarships so everything was given by government so there was a movie Suresh Gobi movies so it was like his name is Mohammed Sarkar so they were like why the name Sarkar so like everything was sponsored by Sarkar so it is like Minnu Sarkar so everything was sponsored by the government only so I always wanted to give the highest authority or the highest public service back to the taxpayers who made me study and everything so while working as a clerk I know my power is very less my opportunities are less and also in a in an office hierarchy when you're on the top you'll get more opportunity as as spider-man's uncle said great power comes with great responsibility so I would like to give my full potential in a large scale that's a one major point I was thinking while preparing for the exam but I know circumstances will be different but definitely I was not up to social service people with thing like civil services social service I never think like that if you want to do social service start an NGO not in civil service so civil service is something we have a concrete bureaucratic system you have to be a part of it and do your part in a very good way that is what am I understanding about civil services so when you are our system is very good people used to say you have to change the system I don't find anything like there are room for improvement the system has to change in certain places but largely our system is a good system because I was a government servant I am a government servant so I know if people inside the system works properly no one will say the system is bad okay it is a people who as again the Norse mythology Odin says as good is not a place it's the people he used to say because we use to say if if you say Shankara his academy it's not the building or the chairs but the people inside it yeah so if you say the system it's not about the system but who is handling the system so I think I will be a part of the system I will do both rules based the thing and rules based to think great I'm sure that Minnu Sarkar is going to do a tremendous job on ground I really wish yeah so my last question Minnu you have been a part of Shankar family for almost five years in 2016 as you told you join Shankar and you are a very familiar face to anyone who comes to Shankar I as I told there is a seat in the library or our reading room called Minnu's in a corner and where she every day sits and reads so and we are really happy that you are now on the other side you know you know with a super success so we would be happy to hear about your experiences with Shankara's academy you are also a mentor for the last two three years you are also a mentor so we would be happy to hear your experiences with Shankara's academy as a student as a mentor and as a part of her team as I always say to Lena ma'am this is my home away from my home and the people here are my family away from my family because the significant time hours my productive hours I spent here so being here for 45 years like this has become my place I even have a bed then below here so this is like more like a home for me and it it's very comforting that I am being a part of here because I am also proud to say that I am the first admission to Trandrum batch as a library student as a like someone use the reading room and for the test series so this is like as I said earlier a place has become something very attaching is the people there so the staff of Shankar's especially Lena ma'am Srijit Anupama Hari there was a KK also Suraj a lot of people are there most of them are my friends as well you are in love everyone everyone who is there Laddika Chichi Laddika Chichi is my mom away from home she used to give me a lot of food tea everything everything the thing is that handy like you will get everything handy in Shankar's so this is like a place and sometimes my husband used to say me like you are being so comfortable in Shankar's that you don't want to clear this exam this is the level of comfortability I get this in this place and this is a place I'll never forget in my life because this has become so instrumental in my entire preparation journey that as you say it was my corner it was my table it was my chair and I want if I want to really study something I have to sit there so that much content and also I am not mentioning any test series or something like it is it is like obvious because I'm being a mentor I had a chance to interact with new aspirants as I told you earlier I never felt so old because I am always in constant interaction with my mentees they are like very bright students very bright people and it was my personal success I always used to say to my all my people I know that my mentee Isaac cleared prilins and mains at the first attempt which was like a personal success for me so I was like very happy about him very happy about my other mentees as well so this dynamicity rate the entire atmosphere the staff the people the students everything that gave me as you as I said you like it never it was a stress management it is like very stress-free always there's you along with you you used to say you will clear this time yeah I think I'm from the time I told you know I don't know first told me your answers were good and all I saw your answers and I you know I always used to use to enjoy the conversation which we had because you are so enthusiastic water we used to discuss now I even without reading books I used to love the books you suggested because you so passionately tell me told me about those books so you know yeah yeah I just like you always say you will clear yeah you know maybe it's just a pass by sentence sometimes but it will instill a lot of confidence so Lena ma'am also say many you will clear and last time before writing this prelims she said I'll kick you out of that chair because no longer you will be getting that chair and table because you are going to clear this time we won't provide you this anymore because you are being so comfortable there yeah so like such things are very encouraging at times when we feel so down places like this will really really boast your confidence and I always say my mentees please don't sit at home come to Shankar's find a table sit and study you will clear that was what I always say to people so Minnu we as I told we are really really happy that no we you are part of our family and we are happy that you even though we'll miss you your seat will miss you a corner will miss you the students in the reading room will miss you but all of us are really happy that you have cleared the exam in flying colors and now we are waiting you know to see you in action on ground you know that that fears me new doing things making changes or whatever whatever is your plan now within the bureaucratic rules regulations whatever you're doing we are waiting to watch that so personally also I'm really happy because I was telling that the day I saw your paper I was sure you are you know going to clear the exam so that is why you used to tell you know just be confident the day I know back to back you failed problems but the day you cliff clear the problems you are going to be in the list that was our confidence so really happy and once again hearty congratulations for clearing this exam in flying colors and waiting so waiting to see you in action and all the very best from all of us and you also promise me you will give a you will take another interview of mine as an officer also definitely waiting to you know once she does this thing will come wherever whichever cadre we hope that you come back to Kerala if not whichever cadre you are will be definitely coming there you know me and Hari we'll be coming there to shoot you know in action live and saying that she see how well she's doing she's a Shankar prodigy and she's doing wonderfully well so hope to see you in that next interview in the on ground thank you thank you so much we know all the very best thank you pleasure meeting