 Hello Prithyus, I welcome you to this program success speaks and congratulate you on securing your all India 21 rank in civil service exams in 2019. It's a grand success and in a very first attempt that is something superb you have done it right. Prithyus I would like to do something as your background of your education and family which could help the audience to get connected with you so please say something about yourself. I completed my schooling from New Delhi in Sanstiti school and after that I did bachelor's in civil engineering from IIT Kanpur after which I pursued my MBA from IMAHEMDAPAR and I graduated in 2019 in the same year in which I gave the civil service exam. Both my parents are also government servants. Very good it means that you graduated in 2019 in the same year you appeared in the exam also. It means that you already had some plan that I have to appear in the exam. I decided this with my second year in IMAHEMDAPAR so like at least for me I didn't have one single childhood goal that I knew I this is something I have to do I've changed my mind a lot of times yes and when I finally made I interned with the Clinton foundation in IMAHEMDAPAR and I had a lot of public policy courses in my second year and after that I decided that I'll sit for the exam. So Prithyus as you said that I changed my mind many times. So first there must be some aspirations in the school that what to do what to think about that. So I changed a lot in fact when I was small I loved tennis. I played for 10-12 years so I used to sometimes think that I will pursue a tennis player career but when I finally did the rigorous coaching then I saw that all the material was removed from the game so I changed it then I thought maybe the army or law in both of them and then I thought environmental engineering and the same thought process I had given civil engineering in IIT Kanpur. I found out that transportation engineering is actually more fun than civil in the environmental engineering. And then I went to the economics interest in MBA also. But all through, since your parents have been in government servant, right? So in the government servant and so in the good railway services and also in the archivalent services. So naturally exposure is the first thing that will happen in the family. So have your parents never entered into it or forced you to do it or not? Because you are talking about a lot of sports. Have you ever been in the military? So when I was in IM, when the placements started, then on the other side, I told them to sit on the placements, don't leave the consultancy or banking. They can say I didn't want to go in that direction. There was no pressure or anything. So I think I should take like this, that you were given full freedom by your parents to make a choice of your career. I would do like my career, so I wouldn't let anyone else choose for me. So you had a very independent thinking on that, that your choice. So it's very wonderful. Finally, it happens in different ages, in different people's aspirations. But finally, you took your all decision with a lot of clarity that I have to go to civil services. And where the engineering background is also there, the economics background. So if I can add one more thing, when I was thinking, I thought about foreign service, but only in IM, I realized that all my previous background, everything is environmental, transportation, management, economics, like I would get the best chance in administrative service to make use of everything. This is a very good clarity, but you have made it clear that not even the choice of civil services, but the choice of a service, that I have to go from IFS to IS. So the choice that came in your mind, it was a desire to go to Indian Foreign Service. But you have made the choice of IS, especially you said that, but I still want you to clear the audience a little about the choice from IFS to IS, what were the thoughts and decisions that influenced you? So my mother's take to foreign postings has been done in Sweden and Russia, so I went there and I think because of that, foreign service inclination was because of that exposure. Plus, again, this was linked to the management that diplomacy, negotiation, they had done a lot of courses on it and it was fun. So it was just a choice that both are good, but what do I have to do? And I realized that all the subjects that I liked the most in engineering, in management, that I will get the chance to make the most use of them, probably in administrative service. I think this is a personal choice, that everyone should think about what suits them the best. Different people will have different choices. Temperament is important. That's why given the UPSA has given an option to you, that you can take your preference of services on the basis of merit, that you have to choose 1, 2, 3, etc. That is very, very important. Right? That is very important. So naturally, curiosity comes in that the civil service examination that you completed in a year and after that, you will appear immediately after your graduation, so a preparation and your first clarity was not that I had to go there first or go to foreign service. So it is very interesting to know that when you got the idea of civil services, finally, and when did you start it? So like I said, it came in the second year, but at that time I didn't get much free time in the load of a lot of courses. So when I finally decided, I saw that a lot of people just started preparing immediately, without understanding what was going on. I believe that by making a decision, time is the most precious thing. Don't go into an exam without thinking about what you have to do in it or you will waste precious years of your life. So an example can be that when someone tells me to watch this movie or this book, I suddenly don't want to watch it because I know that there will be an investment of a few hours in it. I first watch it and then I decide that I don't want to waste it. In this exam, I have to invest a few months of my life, so I won't go like this until I'm sure I know what the demands and what's the best way to go for it. This means that it is very clear that you are very conscious about time and you first decide that whatever time we are going to put, whether it is a picture or not. So my investment of time is worthwhile or not. That is very cool. Right? So when you took the initial decision about civil services, how did you make the first, second, third step in this process? So before making a decision, don't close this much. There are so many things you can do. It is not necessary that you have to carry this. When you see everything around you, then consciously compare yourself to your personal decision. What do you want from life? What are the different carriers open to you? Once this is one decision, once you have decided, then don't keep going back and questioning it. Once that decision has been made, then get on to the next step, which is now you have decided how to achieve it. So these are separate questions. So this is the career condition. Now how do we achieve it? Let's start from here. How did you start your strategy to achieve it? So when I think last one and a half months in college, I didn't start reading books. I was just watching blog posts online because there is so much content and so much misinformation that if you don't know what you are doing, you can go on the wrong path and because of that, you lose your years. So first, the most important thing is that understanding the exam. Is it a generalist exam? There is no need for more specialist knowledge to clear the exam. Then what is the best way to go forward? The minimum number of books to read, what is the content, what is relevant, what is relevant. I think you get clarity by spending time and thinking about yourself. I have written a lot in detail in my blog that what exam demands, what needs to be done and I will clear one more misconception that time and time are not proportional. It is not necessary that someone has one or two years to clear the exam and someone has six or seven months to clear the exam. This is a misconception. Okay, now I want to explain a little bit about the audience because you are talking in wonderful points. First of all, you said that what you have to do is to clear the exam first. So you decided about your career and very clearly that first of all, the service condition, foreign service and then it must be precise that you have to go to Indian study service. Because of this, first of all, the attitude of further finishing and development starts around that I have to go to IIS. So what is the use of your studies in the IIS? The second thing you said is that in place of jumping on the floor, because there is a lot of information overload. There are a lot of materials, there are a lot of networks, there are a lot of blogs, everything is there. In such a situation, first you did, you went to know the experiences of the previous stoppers. What did they do? And then you definitely might have identified your sources of study that I have to do this much and because you just said that this is not a specialized study, it's a very generalist and UPSC has given 10 plus two syllabus for GSNC said and said one obstacle subject to the ratio level. So there is no need to do MN, PhD in any of the subject and to read a lot of voluminous books and do a lot of things. So that's why future aspirants should be clear from your discussions that you have to be very clear on that. Right? Now the time management you are talking about is very important. Because you are talking about time, because the time in every person's life is the biggest thing, its investment, because money can come in, but time is money. Actually time is the person's consciousness is very important. So especially in relation to civil services, you have been traveling for 21 years. First tell me what was your average study hours and what was your normal routine of 24 hours? What did you do? So tell me your schedule, I didn't follow anyone's schedule because I had my own schedule. So I believe they vary for every person. I used to sleep for 7, 7 and a half hours from 11 to 6.30. In the morning I used to go to the gym for 2, 2 and a half hours because that's one hobby that I don't leave for any shift. So after that breakfast or a small nap, roughly 10.30 I would have the day to myself. If you look at it, 10.30 to 11.30 is 13 hours. It doesn't mean that you have to study for 13 hours. It means that from 13 hours, I would take anywhere between 6 to 10 hours of study, eat something, read a book or recreation. Again it's not important that the more you study, the better marks will come. This is something I had learned in my knowledge that time and result is not always proportional. I would aim for anywhere between 6 to 10 hours. Perhaps 8 hours of average would have been 10 days. It would have been 6 to 10 hours. I don't think it's essential, but if it helps, if someone thinks they can do more, it's up to them. I would say just make the best use of the time you put in. Self-care, gym and exercise. That is a very powerful thing you started with. When you defined that you have to sleep at 7.30 to 7.30, your time would be decided that you have to sleep at 11.30 and you have to go to bed at 6.30. This is clear because there are many students who make a mistake in their sleep time. They cannot manage their energy level because of that. When you have less sleep, you will have stress, depression, anxiety, because your energy cycle is disturbed. The biggest thing is that memory will be sluggish and low because you didn't give time to process your mind. You are not giving process time. So subconscious mind takes care when you are completely at rest and then processes everything. So that is one thing very important. Secondly, for the whole day, your confidence has increased that I have taken care of myself, I have gone to the gym and I have taken breakfast. Very good. Your gym was your hobby, right? Yes. So the hobby is very important because it recreates you, regenerates you. And that keeps you happy that I am able to spend time for myself. You will do the same in your job. But you have a very interesting time. You have to take a nap at 10.30 and then you are ready. And then you are saying that you are an average of 6 to 8 hours. Because it is 11.30 in the night. You have taken out which is going to be nearly 13 hours, right? So in the time of 13 hours, you study at average 8 hours. So even then, 5 hours depends on you when you have to take a rest, after 2 hours take a rest, after 3 hours take a rest. You don't have to worry about your energy. You don't have to worry about food. Anything you can do, right? And then you have to recreate yourself. You just said that we have to do some extra reading, light reading. So that is a very, very powerful thing you have done. Now overall, because you have been stressed from time to time and your style tells that you are not having any stress. You are going very stress free study. So how do you manage stress? Just a little bit more. So one thing I think that a lot of people take stress is that they start comparing with others. Which I have noticed in college, a lot of people do. That no one will be happy with their placement until they know what others are getting. So I think this is a very foolish thing. So I have seen the exams as well. If the rest of the people read these books, I too have to read these books. There is nothing like that because there is no syllabus prescribed. I would recommend that don't try to compare and copy anyone else. You have to focus on yourself and don't get stressed that you have been preparing for so many years. That has no relevance on whether you will clear the exam or not. If you will focus on yourself, you will use all your energy on yourself. I have noticed that throughout my college, not just for exams, everything becomes very effortless. Whatever you have said, you have said that you should run in your faith. Run in your own faith and when you have faith in yourself, even if the whole world doesn't trust you, it doesn't matter. But if you don't have faith in yourself, even if the whole world has faith in you, then you won't get anything. So first of all, respect for yourself, love for yourself. And then you are unique. So nobody has to copy, it is okay to learn for reference. We learn from the people who go to the temples. But your style is your own routine. So what is coming from your experience is that one should identify what is your weakness and strength. And where the weakness is corrected, the strength should be projected more. And work on it, not copy anyone else. That is very good. Anything you would like to add on that? So I like reading. There is a western philosophy, Stoicism, which has helped me a lot. And it is the same thing that external things keep happening. But internal response is on us. Like if something, let's say laptop crashed, all the work is deleted. This is external. This is not control over me. But if I am worried, I will get angry. This is on me. I don't have to simply react to what is happening. I don't need to react blindly. I have so much control that I can choose. And this is also in Gita, Nishkamp Karm's disinterested action, which I think is the best, the single best idea, which has helped me. If you enjoy the process, you do it for fun. Then the result comes on itself. Like I said, when I was in college, my grades were not that good. When I finally internalized it from my second year, the more time I was reading, the less I did. Almost nothing. And my grades were getting better. The exam is the same thing. Those who have the same thing. If you forget the results, then they come on themselves. I think it works everywhere. Nishkamp Karm, if you will always be focused on the result, it should be a goal. But to reach the goal, the action, the process, you have to enjoy the entire process. And you have to be focused on the process. Otherwise, whatever you see, whatever your stress and tension has resulted in, mentally you are not there. You have to enjoy the power of now. You be there with the action plan. But you have talked about two great philosophies. Have you read it as a person? Yes. Have you talked about Tolstoy and Bhagavad Gita? These are very, very powerful philosophies. Right? These are two great philosophies. You have to understand this philosophy in such a young age. And you don't have to understand it in your life. It is very attractive. So after Tolstoy and what you have also talked about about Bhagavad Gita, did you study it yourself or did you guide it? How did you internalize it? I studied it myself once. After being injured, when I was bedridden for two months, I was very worried at that time. Because for me, being active is the most important thing. If I don't do anything, then I think I get stagnated. At that time, I accidentally had a chance on the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. After that, this was my introduction to Stoicism. And then there are other books on this topic, like Seneca and the Man's Search for Meaning, Power of Now. And I also read the English translation of Bhagavad Gita. I also saw that both East and West give the same message in their own way. Very appreciable. You read all the things in your mind. And you are talking about Power of Now. That's a very powerful book. You have done a very good thing. What did you say that your health will deteriorate this time? What happened? In fact, a lot has happened. A foot fracture, a back injury, an appendix, an operation. I will give you one example. If I talk about the gym, the results that you achieve in five years disappear in one injury in three to four days. If you run after the results, this is demoralizing. But if you don't care about the results, then you can bounce back easily. I would say that both books and weight lifting have taught me this. So you had an injury in your back injury? Yes. You had an injury in the gym? Yes. Okay, then you have to learn this. You have to maintain your consistency. You don't have to be aggressive. That will create a problem. Similarly, appendix, so that everything, that is very, very good. So this way, in your personality, one thing is very clear. You are knowing how to make best investment of your time, how to manage your stress, and because of that, you have studied most of your speech, and best of the books for your self-development and care also. That is very, very good. Now, you have to learn how to manage your time and stress. Now, you have to learn from where to start, the fundamental clarity of the books. When your syllabus is clear, you have decided that you have to prepare and I will have my own strategy. So what were the initial readings from where you started? So when you start, when you look at the top of the blogs, there are a lot of books that are common, like, let's say, Luxbury Khan's Spectrum. Some people also suggest different books. In every case, I saw a minimum number of resources, because one thing is different. When I read a book of politics, 90 to 100% of the content is new for me at that time. So, let's say, in every hour, I am not learning anything. Now, if I read another book, it will be 10 or 20% new. So, the return on time is very bad in this case. So, the idea was that the minimum number of resources and there is no such thing as a resource compulsory, that you have to read this book. If I had seen that some of the books that were commonly suggested to me, I didn't like to read them. I felt that there was no value. So, I replaced them with lesser known sources. But, you know, the material is almost moral. It's the same. There are no prescribed syllabus. So, don't waste so much time on these things, that you have to read this book, that you have to read this book. The one that suits you is the best. The important thing is that you keep your syllabus in front of you. Keep your questions in mind in the last year. Then, from the book, you feel that it is convenient. It feels like an interest development, which can be in shiiti books on those papers, which could be in a standard book, like Lakshmikanth and others, anything can be there. So, because of this, you chose the one that you think that it would help me to give clarity, not just randomly chose. That is correct? Yes. The previous year paper is the best guide. You can see that which topics have more questions. That is, the environment, economy, modern, history, quality, and some topics are not that important. Because at the end of the day, the material can be infinite, if you read it like that. But memory and time are not infinite. And all facts are not equally important. So, according to this, you should devote your energy. And again, keep in mind that I am not doing a PhD and there is no need to know everything. I would say that in the previous year, you should not read for 200 marks because there are always such questions like a question about Tansen in my year. It will not be available in the book. If you read it, it will take a lot of time. So, basically, limited source, clarity of the things there. And accordingly, you have to complete it so that your syllabus can be completed. Then, as per the question, you keep improving yourself and additionally, you keep advancing from a standard book. And when you pick up any book, you should see that you are getting something from it. Am I spending my time well? If there is no return, then there is no need to read that book. You should discriminate all the time whether you are getting something from this book or not. It is not that if someone says that then they ask you subject-wise about how your fundamental reading works. I want to ask you about history and what is your main source in culture? History of art and culture, I have seen that ancient or medieval, art and culture is the only thing. Dynasties and wars are very rarely asked. If they are asked, they are mainly major dynasties or major dynasties. It is a very bad use of time to run after a small thing. I had seen that this was a book of Nitin Sanghanya but I didn't like that book at all. So, I searched and I found a previous year top of Nitin Sanghanya and I felt much easier reading it even though it was recommended but I felt it was much simpler and I used it. It should also be noted that in art and culture specific topics like Buddhism Buddhism and even other religions temple architecture, literature are more important. You should discriminate. What did you think about Nitin Sanghanya and the topic of notes mostly about it and the NCRT reading as a story it didn't take much time. You read the NCRT book and also the NCRT notes. I think 11th or 12th would be enough. What about geography? So, geography I don't enjoy that subject because the concepts like disasters and tectonics are not very interesting but in fact like this is in this country I didn't like it. I saw the papers and I felt that it is not very important so you don't need to put too much effort so NCRT was very selective mostly disasters, cyclones or crops these things which are actually asked and the irrelevant topics which I felt a lot I didn't use them similarly I thought a book, G.C. Lyon was recommended but I found it very heavy I realized that geography is not so important especially there are selective topics like if you look at it in 2019 and it was OceanMars these are a little conceptual I had focused more on them I was prepared that if one came I could leave them in pre-limbs You saw that geography is not very comfortable so you kept it on a second line you didn't keep it on the first line because every subject you couldn't be a master and it wasn't that important the more questions how much probability you get later you can say if you have time I mean there are a lot of questions in geography you can discuss some issues but if you have a fundamental clarity then you can manage that what about sociology although you have an optional we will talk about it but if you have social issues sociology and G.S. paper are very similar in fact if you write the same answer but the question was how to make the answer sociological so I decided that I will quote the name of sociological thinkers and make it sociological even though the same point is written in G.S. let's say migration same point is written in sociology we put the name of sociological thinkers according to this thinker where there are no examples of thinkers we will not talk about sociology we will talk about it we just talked about G.S. then we will talk about it we were talking about social issues from a journalist's point of view we were talking about social issues in which way the subject whose sociological background is not there what would you suggest for them? I would say if you look at the headlines there are many social issues easily recall like the George Floyd protest in the youth stage racism, marginalized section whatever headline you see they can easily be linked on social issues like Fridays for Future or Greta Thunberg and youth active climate change it works in such a way especially in the current discussion that can be very useful now let's talk about your own experience in politics and governance in constitution what is your base study of books? I thought I will start with NCRT but I saw it very soon that it already knows what is the concept I went to Laksvikan and I think most of the almost everything was covered I think that is one book which I would say unless you have a strong reason to reject it then you should use that book and you can link it with current affairs like issues like anti defection or article 142 all of these are covered in current affairs you can link Laksvikan or any other book current affairs is very repeated anti defection all of these come every year I have started our weekly current affairs program in the name of R1 we have uploaded a discussion on special anti defection because the question is repeated now the purpose of this program is to so that the student gets a lot of information what happened in the last one week plus one topic which is the main point of view you should know you will be invited to that discussion an international relation which is a subject in two main points so you have done some special studies and what you want to suggest I will tell you in a brief that this slightly prelims point of view is a little bit important but it is covered in current affairs for example the protests in Belarus so if you are looking from the point of view of prelims you should know where Belarus is on the map which country is their neighbouring this is international this is the main point of view international affairs was interesting for me that's why I had thought of a preference so this is a very easy topic because although it comes in the newspaper but actual content doesn't change it changes very slowly if you take Indo-US ties H1B visa, intellectual property tariffs you don't have to work so hard you can easily get topics from one source they can they can link history with anyone for example when you ask about Indo-US it becomes a good introduction to all these democracies so they will think holistically about the past present issues and future potential it's not a very difficult topic again the audience who are listening tell us Indian foreign policy today I am going to make a video an ambassador and a presently currently serving officer who is also going to have a discussion with Nepal Indian foreign policy right from the beginning from the point of view of our H1B program the next episode is going to be there the current is very important and this is a very interesting topic that what is going on in the world what is happening with each other and there is a kind of very interdependent relation also all over the world today and in today's world it is not just the military superpowers it's a lot of cultural exchange economic exchange so in today's world the international relations have become very important especially when we are looking at the corona how the whole scenario of international relations is changing one has to keep interest of that Prathish, do you want to say anything? I will add one more thing that if I have used all my answers in the sub-dimension of the frameworks in the international relations in the economic, cultural, political international organizations if you will keep it in mind then under every dimension you can easily remember one or two points by writing that answer if you will only remember 15 or 20 points India, Pakistan, India, US it gets very hard if you will break it under these fields then you can easily remember 3 or 4 points on every topic what is interesting is that you have given a very good attention to the questions they define it in their own way like we talk about WHO or that there are a lot of economic forums cultural exchange forums they talk about it there are different units of the United Nations so the things that students have to keep in mind so the dimensions of international relations will be getting more clarity what is all the development happening in this respect there are some topics which are not highlighted in the course material but let's keep it in mind the psychology environment for this you have done something different and it was all based on current affairs if you will look at the feelings then the ecological environment is a very important topic because it is very heavy in fact I would say that in the term of Mars in 2019 in the old papers they always they always have a static component like wildlife act environmental protection act and a current component especially the current component is very important the current doesn't mean that one year or two years the current means holistically if you will look at the changes of EIA so now EIA is changing the old EIA and the old environmental protection act that also gets included in the current because the issue doesn't start it doesn't end similarly if you look at the plastic issue then there was a question in 2019 and this issue was also in the news repeated by 2020 to India saying single-use plastic phase out was also happening in the U.N so with one issue you can find other skills and focus on what is important keep in mind historical perspective because environment it is going on what is going on in that what are the steps taken what have you done and if you want to suggest any sources for this current affairs in the news compilations most of it happens I can't remember the static but I think I think the notes used in this mostly because if you look at the topic of static it is very generic what is pollution harm everyone knows the ideas of tackling pollution are very common it is just a little specific what are the acts the information used in the prelens will be written in the main answers so preparation becomes very easy so this is also something related to currents again now talking about economy let's talk something economy your interest in economy is also a product of IM what is the requirement in economy is it economics something theoretical or it is just relevant to the working of economy so microeconomics so I think it is not relevant for the exam I don't think I have seen any question macroeconomics I have seen that in the prelens there is a question but there is a high probability that the money supply has an impact this is conceptual it has an understanding then there is no effort since my economic background was very familiar then there is no effort then in the economy you have to link with current affairs how in the 19th paper you will see the bank board bureau inter creditor agreement it is linked with governance again it was not especially for prelens it was economic news for the mains there is no economic theory economic theory is not so important like mostly it is about what is going on in the country's economics working of economy but how things are in different sectors but as such economic theory there is no mind in it what this means is that there are policies programs what we are taking up in 5 year plans what changes are going on in the economy in the industry in the banking in the culture sector what is the main process and from issues fiscal deficit GDP growth but specifically the Keynesian theory I think it all came together but it was less important they get an idea when they learn a lot they don't have much time and current issues we are talking about NPA we are giving interesting information last week we uploaded a full discussion on NPA about what is NPA classes I have also called two bankers as well as the technical in recent to we have talked about it so we invited two retired senior officers of the bank basically the idea is that the current and the burning issues they are going to be very relevant if we talk about NPA then like a generalist there is no need to know what are NPA what are NPA why are they happening why are they harmful how can we stop them if you break your 250 words preparation gets very easy you don't need to memorize your preparation will get very fast generalist view which is looking more as a civil servant rather than an economist as a civil servant what will be your dimensions and the subjects are very interrelated they are not very separated because the issues and problems there is no vertical thinking there should be original thinking and there should be inter-disciplinary thinking which is very very important general science means science and technology so overall science and science and technology what was your experience and what would you like to say for those who don't have a science background science and technology I felt this was one of the best topics because it is very conceptual if you don't have a topic because you can come to the right answer if you are thinking a little from that point some issues science and technology are very in which comes in every year gene editing, so gravitational like breaking it not that every invention needs to be read by a university it is not absolutely required important and some topics related to science related to biology environment, space should be focused more on them means not to read all the news which is important which keeps repeating in the news not that a random university made a new invention will remember that material gets infinite basically the current situation is more in discussion and previous year paper was right because paper 2 and paper 3 in general studies it gets extraordinary when we are discussing it in internal security in chapter 3 we will discuss what are the expectations of the candidates and what is the source you would like to suggest for internal security I think I got some notes on google of the second administrative reform commission I used it but there are many topics which have already been heard situation in Kashmir North East these are limited topics specifically from google or from any compilations on specific topics if we read them separately we get specific points what new operations North East play question operation sunrise if you will write less generic I think it helps for main skill you can link internal security you know that internal is not always internal and I would recommend to use maps on these topics because making maps adds value to the answer international relations and internal security gives a lot of scope to show maps don't lose this opportunity after this paper 4 this is a different nature this is integrity aptitude three broad terms are used in this paper how to use these things in your administration examiner wants to see what is your value system and how to balance these things in your administration so that you don't have a lot of orthodoxy and rigidity plus integrity in service is very important and aptitude you have certain quality required which is a problem solving approach and making quality this kind of thing there but these are broad terms what should be done and how did you do this tell me the thick paper how much effort to mark this is the least effort in this paper but you can get good marks if you think about it so I would recommend take a book I think I used lexicon the definition of terms it is not necessary to give exact definition but as far as possible give it as much as you can because if everyone starts their job it becomes very hard because these terms are very big so in this paper I tried to make standard flow answers there will be an introduction if there is definition then give definition what are the values what are ethics what are morality if someone remembers a quote relevant then they can write it examples especially but examples should be strong examples preferably related to work should not be childish example someone in a school I have pened someone this means I am on this person try to make it more serious from work or if not work at least college examples and explanation again in this paper there is another difference and in other paper committees can easily cite unless it is a very pointed question then avoid it because it becomes factual it is ethical paper you have to show your ethics especially about case studies do you want to say how to develop a human for handling that case studies one thing usually one particular or maximum two values are the chiefly tested they should identify the value usually my company is doing river polluting should I stay in this company or should I leave the company what value is being tested after studying it helps to frame the answer then there are few frameworks which can be used stakeholder approach who is affected ethical dilemmas what values are being sponsored after that it is not necessary to use the same framework if you keep changing you will see a monotony then option analysis always there is not one option you have to choose one it is the hardest the whole point is people don't know easily what is ethical course of action explain all the options tell them what values are linked if I do this my value will be conflicted then best option after that this option is available then best option more importantly if you want to use this then link it with the value what are the values the chief value test link your chosen option right in this if you remember last exam you handled it would you like to discuss it one example I am not sure in this year but he is the sole breadwinner he is afraid of leaving the job in this case what are the values integrity and compassion I am polluting the city water for my living I would say introduce the case in a brief summary in this case this case involves the person working here she is the sole breadwinner whether to stay on her job or to do something about it right then what are the ethical dilemmas in this case support your family or the village the people who are affected by this help them another possibility is loyalty to the company so if you take out these two or three dilemmas then you will get options one option is do nothing do your job one option is go directly to the media complain to the police third option is raise your senior tell your colleagues fourth option is try yourself to minimize the pollution with a new efficient technology what will be the consequences of every option if I stay on my job then the people who are suffering will continue to suffer but will be able to support their family so in every option there is a positive and a negative that is why we choose options I would say when you give an answer even if this option is not successful then what I will do will be the best case if I can convince my colleagues to raise the issue and reduce the pollution but this is a very simple answer reality is very complex it is not necessary that it will succeed if this does not work then I will take up the issue with maybe the the second case will be and this is because I value doing the right thing that I cannot let other people suffer because of me so give this option value mentioned and justification if you break it then the answer will be slow the examiner's job will be easy so basically the idea is that whatever you make balance it and how convincing you will be and then ultimately it comes out that you are not in a survival mode you are doing something under compulsion which is not good for society and for this you have to make it we will keep it a little realistic not that new technology will be developed and all these issues will be solved it does not always happen so to make it a little realistic we should keep a backup option and realistic answers the entire ethics paper will be defeated right there should be more on the realistic which is really doable I want to thank the staff that they have helped us throughout the journey thank you now quickly we will talk about this all the papers we have tried a lot of subjects to get the audience to understand you have done a lot of in depth understanding from this there are 200 words both are different that is more one quotation or say a general hypothetical more facts oriented did you do anything on your own or did you take it up reading and writing are my hobbies specifically I did not prepare much beyond the courts I remember it was online in 2017 there were courts there is one thing you write 2,400 words in 3 hours and in the rest of the papers 4,000 words in 3 hours which means your speed can be less because you will make time structure without an idea that 1,200 words will be approximately unwise the same concept applies that it is a generalist not a specialist for example in 2019 it was like will AI take away jobs or create new opportunities specialist it was about in depth AI in this case you will have to cover other dimensions standard could have been economic environmental topics but if you actually look at the papers you will not be allowed to apply a standard framework in AI if you take an AI job or not it is not a social or political relevance if you apply a framework marks will probably be poor in this case just look at the framework like I did I prefer this because stories are more interesting you can do facts but facts are also an interesting way for example instead of saying 33% saying 1 in 3 is a little more interesting instead of saying 1 lakh road accidents saying 1 road accident every 15 seconds I say it all about being interesting because 1,200 words are enough if you want if you read it yourself you will have to make it interesting then break in dimension like I said artificial intelligence taking away jobs yes artificial intelligence will take away jobs no artificial intelligence will not take away jobs then one will be after these two there will be a balanced conclusion and you can write about artificial intelligence if you break it then 1,200 words easily fit how much let me tell you there is another thing that out of the syllabus books as such are very useful and I will tell you in full preparation so most of all I got a book by Yuval Noah Harari it was about artificial intelligence there were a lot of examples and I used a lot of examples in my essay so you know when it will be useful then I would say from the point of view of essay it's a good idea to read other things also extensive reading is also useful and in the syllabus you get a lot of content and there are some topics like artificial intelligence climate change, social media these are very in topics almost every year one topic will come out of them this means that you can keep some topic in your interest on what kind of topic you have to do an essay related to that maybe scientific issues maybe some philosophical issues social issues you can give more importance to these topics and the second abstract homework is not possible usually if you look at it there are a lot of standard frameworks social, political, economic personal, society, national international past, present, future but the topics that come don't fit that easily often you have to mix and match and make your own structure through questions like how I think success and courage both are needed in the lines of the key to success first again a small story that I started then I told what is success what is courage and determination are needed courage, determination, success about them why are they both needed how can you get success if you break it then it becomes an easy flow just one big block of 1200 words don't look at it very good very good how is the starting how is the middle and how is the end and if you are reading someone new then it should be fun to read something important your thought process will be meaningful you can show some disciplinary things how to select an optional is always a challenge and you are an engineer and you have taken a subject why is that I had this doubt I had 5-6 options civil engineering management both were studied both were good sociology and philosophy I used to read for interest and in fact in my undergrad I gave courses of sociology and philosophy so I thought I have to study the same thing again so I left civil engineering and management and in the end I was only thinking in sociology and mathematics what was it leaving mathematics what was it at that time I was interested in sociology when I was in college and I saw on the internet the sources of mathematics I had to collect a lot of books I didn't have time and I guess I was influenced that I had heard that it is very long so I would recommend not to talk about other things if the topic you think you can do you can read it for a few months and you can see every year if you look at the list if people have selection then it is not because of optional it is not selected you should not go to this point that if there is a lot of selection then take it overall your interest in the subject and you have provided that now tell me that you have a sociology after being a subject then clear it from a fundamental and the people who want to take sociology subject then what should be done how can they build confidence in sociology subject and take it to the level of civil services I would say there is no familiarity subject you can start with a basic book just read it you have to make not necessary notes in my undergrad I had one or two courses so I was familiar with sociology in fact what subject is that is the main thing from basic conceptual books just understand sociology specifically for content I think it is not very important that you are on this book and not on this I had seen the notes of previous year and I had seen the notes of previous year and I had seen the notes of previous year and I had seen the notes of previous year and there was not much difference more or less all the thinkers and others are in the same book whether you are reading from X or Y just basic idea and basic content tell us some fundamental books in paper one, paper two I referred to a new book for paper one and I think previous year talked with Shah Ransho note and other than that googling occasional topics which I felt I did not get you will search on google often one site yourarticlelibrary.com usually gets paper two there are two parts Indian thinkers which are quite small and the rest is just generic generic means the same content in fact almost exactly same topics come violence against women, marginalized sections different topics fashion, ecology Indian thinkers you can read the rest of the topic for that you will know the content but you have to search the name of the thinkers in this I found the solution of test series there were always many thinkers quoted in the solution of test series I saw the same point what the thinkers have said and in the exam the names of the thinkers as much as possible you mean there is no rigid source where from google you cover different topics to score well what is the basic approach because some case studies and especially we did reference you should say something sociology and GS structuring I followed a standard structure for sociology I started an introduction with a possible definition question if religion or deviance will come on a sociological topic then introduce a definition of standard sociological then explain the concept to explain as far as possible the names of thinkers as much as possible you will get a lot of functionalist, Marxist Weber, Durkheim, Robert so I tried to have maximum thinkers and if there are no thinkers then it depends on the demand of the question some questions are elaborate or discussed examples are used some positive features when analysed usually analysing doesn't mean criticising positive is also negative if you think then you will see that all thinkers are interrelated if you come to question functionalist you can use Marx or Phenomenologist to criticise them then you will know the names of the thinkers and the answer is more depth very good Pratiyush civil society personality test every candidate's ultimate goal is to reach an IES interview you gave one attempt all through and you got 21 results so first I want to know that civil society personality test that you crossed what exactly do you think that in that test what people want to see from the interview members I think both civil services as well as placements where interviewers see that can I work with this person my colleague my junior how would I feel but the thing is if they think that they will give you good numbers this is the one test the basic parameters what do they check so knowledge is not tested because knowledge has already been checked in this case I would say wisdom check wisdom means like I had asked about capital punishment so if you write in the mains the law commission report the supreme court case but in the interview give your opinion and justify it this is the wisdom but that is not your view what is your opinion how will you utilise it how can you use it let us know what you are going to do what is the psychology of an interview who was the chairman of your board Mr. Iron job right so an overall it is said that according to psychology a mindset is that we have to go to the interview like the result of the mail we have to go to the interview so what is the psychology how did you start your journey for civil services after the mains I was working to prepare for the interview and I also felt that I do not need to wait for the result of the mains I would say that if you have feelings if you have the mains if you feel that you are done then what is the need to waste time just assume that you are done you can prepare for the next stage I knew that I will get less time so I had already thought what are the topics you were confident that my interview will be done right if you are not confident just look at this either you have wasted time or think about what to do when the result came you started thinking that you have to prepare so what were you continuously doing interviews I have already given I think the least effort in this exam I would say in the interview physical effort mental effort you have to think about yourself in every interview it is true that you have to give your answers you can give the answers but it is the same thing that the board interviews a lot of people they will only have one more face if you want to be the same so there are two options either you show your face or you can wear a mask and pretend to be someone else so I have already decided that I will go into the interview and for that I have tried to give my own answers wherever possible not the standard answers which are expected which I think are expected it is not a complicated answer it is not a complicated answer which is very natural in the interview there are some other topics there are some broad categories it is personal about yourself about your hobbies about your motivation about your education it is not necessary to remember all the degrees in 3-4 years just don't go that you don't even know the basics just these are the maximum basic tests you should not go that you have only studied for degrees you have forgotten everything apart from that what cities you have lived what you are aware of then current affairs I would say job related if you are in this situation then how will you handle it in this case give a practical answer standard policies all these names are not useful for example I was asked what steps would you take to develop a district simple 3 priorities education, health care, employment and education let's say small schools when they are there it is hard to control quality but if you can aggregate then quality can improve or monitor basically practical things and then current affairs now you should understand that the main thing is not necessary for an interview and vice versa is also true for example if a democrat or a republican president better for India it is unlikely but in an interview it is possible to be asked especially if any president is ISS so time for interviews are more important but do I agree or disagree or why what is your opinion on this and the main topics are not necessary and again in the interview it is not necessary to cite all these they add value in the interview you can give a general answer you need to be very technical when you said in this experience the mock interview of Chanakya how did it help you when Chanakya's mock interview I found Chanakya's mock interview very good for two reasons one is that I was very impressed with the professionalism like I said in this talk time was kinda I don't like and I was extremely impressed that I was given a particular time over time sort of years and everything went as smoothly as possible next is the interview itself feedback was very good for me for several reasons that I got feedback I was not aware that for some questions I give a very quick answer it's better to pause even if you are sure of the answer it still gives a more reasoned sort of view that you thought about the answer apart from that I liked the fact that the interview experience was holistic in a particular field it was not concentrated I was asked current of education about degrees about studies about personal hobbies in every field there was some touch in the interview actually we have studies of last 30 years around in training the interviews as you must have seen the board members in Chanakya they are quite wide range so you will get variety of questions right so in that whole process what did you think what benefit did you get that you got saved from mistakes in the interview so two feedbacks that I liked which I used one was that don't rush to give an answer even if you are sure of the answer and the other was you should think about eye contact it is there are 5 members in the board and sometimes there is a tendency that the questions you are asking all the time the eye contact is maintained while you all should do it more especially these two points I made you thank you very much for appearing in this program today with me this program has helped many in the past and I hope you have benefited from it due to it the way you have shared your feelings and also experiences with the other aspirants of the future I will take advantage of it because it will help to make a strategy thank you very much for being a part of this program and being in the success fix program today God bless you with a wonderful career ahead ok don't forget to like share and subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon to never miss an update