 Hello friends. Today we have with us a very special person. She is Ms. Srilakshmi Ram, who has secured UPSC All India Rank 29 in the prestigious civil services examination. She has also emerged as Kerala Topper. So it's an honour to get to know a few details from her about her preparation. So let us go straight into her to ask about the details. Hello Srilakshmi. Hi Arun. So how are you feeling? Feeling very excited, very happy. Okay on behalf of Shankarayas Academy we would like to offer our extreme congratulations for your prestigious achievement. Thank you. So could you please share a few details about your preparation strategy. So to begin with when did you actually think about joining civil services? Civil service as a career was always just an option for me in my school days. I started thinking about it seriously after my post graduation when I returned to India and I started working in deadly for a couple of months. So I got to interact with a few IAS officers in Government of India and that is when I realised that this is where I want to be, that some change in society can be made in through them. So that was the motivation behind my civil service preparation. Great. So how has been your experience with Shankarayas Academy? Shankarayas Academy is a very prominent name in the UPSC circles and my experience has been extremely positive. And I think I first encountered Shankarayas Academy by using their material for my prelims preparation. They have excellent content especially I remember using the environment textbook of Shankarayas Academy and the current affairs compilations etc. And it was in my mock interview sessions for 2017 interview session that I came across. I had a personal connection with Shankar sir. He was there to guide me and he was extremely encouraging and positive. And I have to say that my interview score was exactly what he predicted. And in 2018 again after my main results were out I had an opportunity to be associated with Shankar for the mock interview sessions. And it was a really good experience. It was an overall enriching experience. So great. So how was your interview experience this time? The really UPSC interview experience? It was a very cordial conversation that I had. I had Ms. Satyavati, M. Satyavati. She is a new UPSC member. And the interview was about 30 minutes and I really enjoyed the conversation. We had a few light moments also. I am not aware of the marks yet but then it was a really good experience. Srilakshmi, can we know which attempt was this? It was my fifth attempt. So you might have undergone the struggles in the previous attempts. Definitely. So how did you overcome the challenges in the previous attempts to emerge victorious in this one? Actually every attempt I had some milestones covered but then every time I fell short of the cut off by a few marks. So that was the motivation that if I try a little bit more I will be able to make it to the list. So last in my previous attempt, in my fourth attempt I had missed the cut off just by nine marks. So I thought that another attempt I will be able to make it and I am happy that I made it. We are also very happy. Just one question which some of the senior aspirants who are in the preparation for a long period of time. They have an apprehension whether UPSC provides them any disadvantage being a senior aspirant. Have you ever felt any such bias or any such feelings even in these attempts? I would say that being a veteran or a senior aspirant is actually an advantage because yes there were stressful moments especially during my interview because they tried to ask about the number of years spent on UPSC preparation and whether I was productive in these years. But then I was able to substantiate how much it meant for me to be in the civil service and I had also done a few temporary jobs in between so the questions then went on on these topics. So I think being a senior aspirant you will be able to understand the process much better and the knowledge base is also much wider. So I would say it is a definite advantage for senior aspirants. That's great. Could you please share a few of your prelims, mains examination and your interview strategies? Prilams requires a very wide reading. You need to focus on the static textbooks especially NCRTs and constitution like books like Lakshmi Kant. Then there was environment book by Shankar IAS Academy. These are the static material that I use which almost everyone uses. Then there are current affairs materials. There are a lot of institutes that come up with compilations. So it is better to go through them especially the ones related to government schemes etc. Economy is also another important topic. So I think prilams requires a very wide reading. But then even if you don't know the entire number of there are 100 questions. So it is very probable that you will be knowing only half of them. So the writing practice is very important. Answering mocks give you the practice, the skill of eliminating the options and arriving at the right answer. Even if you really don't know the right answer. So I would say that the best strategy is to focus on attempting mock tests. Yes. Could you please share about mains strategy whether writing practice is very important or? Definitely. That was one thing that I focused on in my successful attempt. Because I always had a problem finishing the paper. So I attempted as many mock tests as possible. And it made me manage time better while writing the real mains exam. And writing mock test also helps because you get only 7 or 8 minutes to write an answer. So then it helps you to structure the answer better. Look at what really the question demands. So in all these aspects writing answers are must. Which is your optional subject? My optional subject was economics. And what was the reason you had taken it? My graduation and post graduation was on economics. And it was the subject that I was most familiar with. And it was also the subject that I was most interested in. Could you please elaborate on few things that you did for economics optional? Because it is not a very common option that is taken. Yes, it is a very unconventional option. And there is the fear among us aspirants that it is not a scoring option. And there are many economic students who shy away from taking economics as option. They take other option which are more scoring. But then my experience especially in this attempt has been that if you really study economics in the way it matters then it gives you rich rewards. Because it is a technical subject especially paper one. And if you score, if you really write reasonably well and it becomes very scoring just like max or physics or any other science subject. And the second paper is extremely useful for GS as well. The second paper is on Indian economy. So the white knowledge that we get from studying economics really helps in GS3 and in essay. So I would say that economics is an optional that people should not shy away from. That's also great. Could you please tell how did you manage the pressure associated with the preparation because that is also one aspect where the students really fear about the exams. So how did you overcome the mental challenges related to the preparation? It is, it always boils down to inner strength. In the sense that you cannot for a long time depend on external factors. So Sri Lakshmi could you please share how are you able to overcome mental pressure associated with the preparation. Many of the students have fear regarding the exams. So could you please suggest few methods that you adopted? It is true that civil service examination is mentally taxing and it is a stressful experience to go through the preparation. But I would suggest that the remaining calm is the best, is the only best strategy that an aspirant could have because being stressed doesn't give you anything. So I used to do meditation. I had a very supportive family and a friend circle. So these things help me handle the pressure. And ultimately I think it all depends on what the drive that you want, what is the motivation behind trying for civil service. So that always inspired me to handle the pressure. So last question, any piece of advice for the young aspirants who are coming up to prepare for civil services? I would say that civil service is a really good opportunity for anyone who has a social commitment who really wants to make an impact in the society. So I would say that the best strategy is always to look for guidance. There are seniors, there are mentors, there is a lot of help available because this is an exam where they can ask anything under the sun. So it is important that you have a strategy wherein you read only what is required and don't read what is not required. So in that way guidance, mentorship, everything helps. And ultimately there is nothing, there is no shortcut other than the hard work. So thank you so much. It was a pleasure to have you once again. Hearty congratulations. Thank you.