 Hello everyone, my name is Sana Chhabra and I have secured all India rank 84 in UPSC civil services examination of 2018 and this was my first attempt. And today I will discuss with you certain do's and don'ts of the mains preparation. As far as mains preparation is concerned, there are a few things that you have to keep in mind while you know preparing for the examination which is subjective in nature. When you are done with prelims, you have to shift to the new mode of writing answers and not just solving the test papers which have four options which are objective in nature. So the first thing is to adapt to the new phase of you know writing answers of 150 words or 250 words, a certain number of them in three hours. So there are certain things that you have to keep in mind that I would like to discuss with you today. First of all, go through the syllabus and do have substantial knowledge on each word or topic that is written in the syllabus. That will help you know almost all the questions that are asked in the mains examination. Because if you see the syllabus and the previous year question papers, you will notice that many of the questions are directly on the line of the syllabus that is mentioned by UPSC. So if you are substantially prepared with every word or topic that is given in the syllabus, you will be able to manage a lot of the questions. Secondly, do practice. So the formula has to be revise, write and repeat. If you revise your topics, give the test or write the test and then you reverse engineer. I mean with the discussions that are given by the institute that you joined the test series of, you will be able to add a lot of material to the notes that already exist. So that way you will be able to enrich your answers in a beautiful manner. So when you revise things, write them and repeat this strategy over and over again, then your practice of completing the answers also enhances. So practicing test is very important. By practicing, you will not only be able to develop the physical and mental strength to complete the questions in time, but also improve the quality of the answers that you write. Thirdly, develop the habit of noticing the directive that is given in the question. For instance, the question says critically examine or explain or substantiate. We must realize that these directives have different meanings, though the question that is asked with whatever topic it is given, the meaning changes when the directive is changed. By noticing the directive, you have to realize that what the examiner is trying to cull out of your answer. And if you notice the directive and keep that in mind while writing your answers, your answer will be exactly as per the demand of the question. So noticing the directive has to be that habit of noticing the directive has to be developed through practicing of a lot of tests. Next, I believe that it is very important to superimpose current affairs in all the static subjects that you read, because if we notice the previous year questions, a lot of them are being asked because a certain thing or a two were in news regarding that topic. So it is important that you develop the habit of adding current affairs as examples or case studies in your answers of GS, optional, even in essay and ethics. Next, do develop the habit of understanding the demand of the question. You know, we generally have a tendency of answering whatever we know and we do not focus on what the examiner is exactly asking. So develop the habit that you have to read the question in its entirety, understand it and then answer only as much as asked, because if you try to answer all that you know, probably you will miss out what the examiner is asking. Next, try and develop the habit of writing multi-dimensional answers. So if a question is asked from a social perspective, try and include all other perspectives like economic, like political, cultural, or maybe historical in those answers. When you write the answer from a multi-dimensional perspective, it adds to the quality of your answer. So multi-dimensional answers is always what the examiner is looking for. And as an administrator, I think that is what you have to do when you become one. So thinking multi-dimensionally and then writing it on the paper is something that you have to develop during the preparation of the means. Next, make your answer sheet very interesting. By interesting, I mean that it should not be monotonous. Some answers have to be written in paragraphs, while some in points. You can make some diagrams, maps of the country that you're mentioning, or maybe certain flow charts to make your answer visually attractive. And also sometimes with the capacity of space and time, flow charts become a better option to represent your answer in a better way. So these are some do's that you have to do during mains preparation. Other than that, there are certain don'ts that you have to avoid while preparing mains. For instance, your focus should not be on completion of answers alone. You should realize that the quality of answers is of as much importance as is the quantity of the answers. So the quality or quantity should not be compromised. On the one hand, it is very important that you complete all 20 or 15 answers that are being asked in the mains examination. On the other hand, it is also important that you write all the answers with decent quality. Secondly, do not overemphasize on a particular topic. What mains requires is a substantial knowledge of each topic. So instead of reading one topic in detail, which might not be of help in the mains examination, it is important that you focus on each topic to a decent depth. Thirdly, there is a general tendency that people overlook essay paper saying that it will be covered from GSN optional, which is true. But do not overlook essay and ethics paper. Why? Because these are the papers which give a decent margin to the people. So it is important that you practice as many essays from the previous year papers or certain test series and ethics in a good manner. And with the evaluation that you get, you please improve your the weak points that you have. Next, don't take English and vernacular language paper very lightly because there are cases where people score well in GS optional essay ethics, but sometimes are unable to score well in the vernacular language. So even if you practice a test or two, make sure that you completely do not neglect them. Lastly, I would say that do not refer to many new materials at this point of time. It is important that you revise all that you have done already instead of picking new books or new materials because revision is ultimately the key. And lastly, do not stress out, take care of your health and manage your mental and physical abilities in a manner that you are able to save through the mains examination. All the very best. Thank you. Thank you.