Post By Abu Mathen George, IFS (Batch of 2009)

Dear All,

It gives me immense pleasure to introduce Abu Mathen George as our guest blogger. Abu is my batchmate from NLS, Bangalore and a very dear friend. He is currently undergoing training as IFS (probationer) in New Delhi. Abu is one of the finest mind I have come across. We are grateful to him for taking time out to write for the blog.

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I cannot but begin my first post on this blog without a salutation to the person who made it all possible, and who is now enjoying the fruits of his hard won labour. Ever since our time together in law school when we used to meet to ostensibly discuss ‘strategy’ I have been constantly inspired and motivated by my good friend Ashutosh Salil’s passion for the civils. Without his constant encouragement, his good humour and endless hours of nonsensical ramblings that would take the edge off an otherwise mind-numbing preparation schedule, I doubt that it would have been possible for me to get through the grind successfully. Let me also congratulate Cyril and Tanvi, the other contributors to this blog for their success. It has been my privilege to know Cyril well and his accomplishment this year is truly extraordinary.

Perhaps most importantly, my long conversations with Ashutosh helped answer the ‘why’ of the civils, and that is why I have chosen this as the topic of my first few posts. For those who have even involuntary trespassed on the minefield that is civils preparation will understand that arming yourself with the right reasons to write this exam is crucial. So without further ado, let me begin.

The Indian Civil Services - Answering the Why - Part I

Whenever someone asks me for help on writing the civils, I am tempted to give the same response that the English writer G.K. Chesterton did when approached for advice on marriage: Don’t! Why on earth would you want to write an exam that drags on for so long, that is outrageously maddening in the knowledge/skills that it claims to test, and is completely random in the results it produces. One often jokes that the Indian Civil Service Exam is really a test of your karma, in the classical Indian tradition. Did you do any good in your previous life? Yes, well then great! You can join the great Indian Civil Services in this life, proceed to amass assets disproportionate to your known sources of income, and become a worm in your next.

Often, when candidates are quizzed about the reasons for appearing for the CSE at the famed UPSC interview, they are suddenly possessed with sudden realization. This is, no doubt, the moment that they have all been waiting for (of course, apart from the moment when they will be interviewed by Barkha Dutt after securing the first rank). The ‘correct’ answer will gain them entry into the job of their dreams. So what is the most favoured answer? More or less, almost all variations of the following themes:

I wish to serve the nation.
I wish to make constructive and compassionate interventions at the field and policy making levels so as to bring the fruits of development to those who have traditionally been excluded from the mainstream of growth so as to serve the larger interests of the country and make India into a superpower.
And oh yes, I wish to serve poor people.

Does anyone recall that lighted thing they put on top of white ambassador cars? Or sprawling bungalows in every district headquarter from Kollam to Kohima? Or fawning men and women for whom the three letters after your name connote the appearance of a living deity?

I exaggerate, but lets get the basics out first: Any good you purport to do in the Civil Services can easily be done many other walks of life, sometimes more efficiently, sometimes with far more impact. Sure, being an investment banker with Goldman Sachs may not be the most conducive way to serve the ‘people’ but one often wonders whether more than sixty years of a glorious and independent civil service has really done any service to the nation at all, especially when one compares it to the last two decades after the initiation of reforms; something that the bureaucracy opposed tooth and nail. Extraordinary work is being done today by ordinary men and women who continuously challenge traditional notions of social service and how it should be performed. The most visible example that comes to mind is that of Aruna Roy, who left the IAS to begin a grassroots movement that transformed how people access information. One of my friends who contemplated writing the civils asked her once why she left and whether she had any regrets. “Let me put it this way,” she replied, “I drafted a law that my batchmate, the Chief Information Commissioner, now implements.”

So why does one really write this exam? Do you believe that your personality type is suited to be a bureaucrat? What does a bureaucrat really do? Let me leave you with these final thoughts, some of which I hope to answer in my next post.

On why law graduates should consider law as an optional.

Over the course of my preparations, I have come across the notion that most law graduates prefer not to take up law as their first optional, let alone an optional for the mains. Further, queries from various law graduates like whether law was a scoring optional, has finally given my some food for thought, as a result of which here is my first blog post.

I had taken law as my first optional for the prelims and as an optional for the mains. Even I had a fair share of my doubts before taking law but they were quickly dispelled after I spoke to my seniors who had taken law and qualified with good ranks. There are good reasons on why law graduates should take up law, and I would like to clarify some of the issues regarding the same and the reasons why I took law.

Foundation and Conceptual Clarity: The most important reason to take law is because you have studied law in your graduation. No matter how badly you may have done or how well, the important point to remember is that you have a foundation in law and at least some sort of conceptual understanding for most of the topics. This is a very important aspect many students ignore while choosing some other subject, because the next question is: if not law what else? Is there a better alternative? For me, I could not think of any other subject other than law because I felt that the five year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) course, provided me a good foundation in law. Even though I enjoyed humanities subjects like sociology or history, I felt that I was stronger placed in law compared to these subjects, on the basis of which I could decide on law an optional. Hence a lot of time may be wasted in trying to understand the basics of a new subject, which could have been better utilised in revisiting law and studying it from the civil service exams perspective (as opposed to trying to build a foundation in a new subject). I prepared law on my own and did not take up coaching. I only enrolled for a law test series for the mains.

Further, for the Prelims, the law syllabus is well defined and not very vast. There are six topics and only jurisprudence is not common to the mains syllabus. Hence, it made sense to take law because it is scoring and most of the topics covered in the prelims would also be covered in the mains.

There is a misconception that law is not scoring. There are many who make it to the merit list with law as an optional. It is true that law is not a popular optional say unlike geography or public administration. But this is because only law graduates would choose law. Thus the low numbers of persons taking law should not lead to the conclusion that is not very popular, and hence not scoring. Many who are pursuing a three year LL.B. degree in law after their graduation may also opt for another subject or their subject of graduation, which may explain why many law graduates do not take law. However, the success rate of persons with law over the last few years would suggest that law has as good, if not better success rate compared to other subjects. The latest annual report of the UPSC for 2008-09 publisehd on the website shows that law has a success rate of 5%. This is good considering the fact that most subjects which had around 200-300 students appearing for that subject in the mains (law had 280 persons in 2008), had a success rate of around 5-6%. Even most popular subjects like public administration and geography had a success rate of 8.4% and 6.9% respectively. Hence it is no more or no less scoring than any other optional, provided you work hard for it and follow the right strategy. Even though the exception proves the rule, one can take encouragement from the fact that one of the highest scores for law secured by a successful candidate has been 389, obtained as recently as in the 2008 mains exam.

Another reason many maybe dissuaded is that the syllabus for mains is vast. I would agree that the syllabus is vast but at the same time it is manageable. Also like I said before, one has to approach this issue in context of other subjects. Hence, when compared to studying a new subject, the vast syllabus of law would become manageable given the fact that more time may be spent in studying, analysing past year papers, making notes and learning, all with a view to cracking the exams. Further although it is advisable to cover all the topics equally well as the exam papers try and cover all portions of the syllabus, analysing past years papers, the syllabus and the way questions are divided section wise in both the papers, would suggest that a focussed approach makes the syllabus much more manageable.

Most people are dissuaded because of the number of cases and sections from bare acts that one has to remember. How does one remember so much? This is a problem faced by many. I faced this dilemma because five years can be a long time. I had forgotten many of the topics like constitutional law and contracts, which I had done in the first two years of law school. I was also overwhelmed by the fact that I had to memorize so many sections of the IPC or Contract Act, being so used to open book exams. The only way out is thorough study and constant revision, which is greatly enhanced if notes are prepared. While I agree that it is not easy to remember so much at one go, making notes and revising them, would over a period of time ensure that you have the important sections and case law at your fingertips.

I must admit that for most of the topics, especially constitutional law, I enjoyed learning again (in most cases learning for the first time!). As I started reading books like V.N. Shukla and the Constitution Bare Act, I realized that I missed a lot during law school. This discovery of the nuances of the constitution made me realize that it is very beautifully and meticulously written document which really makes sense. So, if you like law and like reading law, I would definitely recommend that you take law as an optional. While it is important to study law from the point of view of cracking the exam and scoring good marks, enjoying the process, would help sustain your interest and motivation, over a long period of time, which this exam demands.

So to summarize:
1. Take law because you already have a conceptual understanding and a foundation. This way you do not waste time figuring out a new subject, and spend your time more fruitfully towards cracking the law paper getting a good score. Since you have to take another optional subject anyway, you can balance your time accordingly and give more attention to learning one new subject, compared to two.
2. No matter what optional you choose, you have to work hard anyway, so you may as well work hard towards something that you enjoy reading (if not for all the topics in law at least a substantial amount of the syllabus).
3. The syllabus can be managed with a good strategy and careful analysis of past years question papers.

What are the other advantages of taking law?
1. Overlap between the Constitutional Law syllabus (Paper I) and the Polity portion of the General Studies Paper I. Even recently added topics on ‘Contemporary Legal Developments’ for Law Paper II, like Right to Information, Competition law and IPR are relevant and could be asked in the General Studies papers.
2. Even though one may choose different subjects, a law graduate may be asked questions on law during the time of the interview. So it makes sense to be in touch with all the legal provisions, especially constitutional law. I had read an interview of a candidate (a law graduate) who had not taken law as an optional but was asked many questions on law during the interview.

Getting Started: Mistakes You May Avoid

Ashutosh

One needs at least 10-12 months to prepare well for this exam. The first few months of the preparation are the most difficult one. This is more so, when there is no one around to guide and show the way. One is likely to get lost in the vast syllabus and umpteen books prescribed for the exam. I was thoroughly lost, when I started with my preparation. Committed several mistakes in the course of preparation; learnt from them and ensured that they were not repeated next time around.

Tanvi

I totally agree with Ashutosh,a year's preparation is a must especially for students who take up optionals which are completely alien to them.I picked up Sociology and Public Administration despite my graduation in Engineering and believe me it took me soooo loooong to learn what had to be read in what manner and how to express the same in lucid language :).....I kept floundering in the dark till by consistent trial and error I learnt the same...The mistakes committed by you in these initial few months would push you back by a few months to even a year(ask me,I wasted an attempt 'cos of this!)....to avoid a tragedy of such magnitude :).

Try to avoid the mistakes that we committed in the course of our preparation. To help you do so, we have tried answering some of the questions that many of us grapple with in the first few months.

1.Is collecting study material a good idea?

Ashutosh

Do not be in a hurry to collect all possible books available in the market on a particular subject. Reading few standard books well, is likely to fetch more marks than reading several books. Try and speak to some of the successful candidates (or read their interview) and based on your interaction with them, you can make a detailed list of the books to be studied. You must further narrow down this list to include only such books that have been recommended by a majority of the successful candidates. My enthusiasm led me to buy several books, some of which I did not even look at in the course of preparation.

Tanvi

Its true,collecting too many books in the initial stage will be intimidating and might make cracking cse seem like an insurmountable task.A basic booklist should be prepared before you start based on guidance given by seniors who have qualified.Though, I do suggest reading a few books thoroughly in the initial stage and then to expand your reading to cover a few relevant chapters(in accordance to the syllabus)from other books or reference material .

2.What to sudy and how to go about it?

Ashutosh

Start your preparation with the standard text books, especially, when you are a studying a subject for the first time. Get your concepts clear, and then you can gradually move on to the next level. For instance, for main-2008, I began my pub ad preparation by reading Mohit Bhattacharya’s “New Horizons of Public Administration”. While, it is an excellent book, it might be more useful for the beginners to start with Laxmikant on Pub ad, which is an easy read and explains concepts much more simplistically. I learnt from my mistake, and for the main 2009, relied heavily on Laxmikant. It rekindled my interest in the subject and reading Mohit Bhattacharya now made more sense than before.

Tanvi

Well,there are three kinds of civil services aspirants, the kind who read only chaalu notes, the kind who read as if there is a phd to be done at every topic of every subject and the kind who stick to standard textbooks only...my advice is that you would have to be each one of these at different points of time :)

Start as Ashutosh says from a basic textbook esp if the subject is completely new to you...for eg,in Sociology and most of General Studies portion,the basic textbooks would be NCERT class XI,XII....then you would proceed to a standard textbook for eg Bipan Chandra for Modern Indian History....then you would look at the syllabus and the kind of questions asked...and its only then that you would refer to these notes in the market,study material but be careful do pick and choose,do not buy randomly...I did buy books like a maniac so,now I have this huge collection of stuff most of which I touch only to remove the cobwebs ;)

3.Is making notes important?If it is,how should you do it?

Ashutosh:

I was in the habit of making notes. However, I did not do it very smartly. My suggestion would be: Do not make any notes in the course of your first reading. Use first reading to familiarize yourself with the topic. In your second reading, you can start making notes. Your notes should be concise and preferably in points, so that you can do few quick revisions before the exam. There is absolutely no point in reproducing everything you have read, in the form of notes. Leave ample space at the end of each topic, so that you can add on more information that you might collect from various sources.

Tanvi:

Note Making is important especially if you are from a science/engg background and have completely switched over to humanities 'cos its important to inculcate a writing capability specific to the demands of your optional.But like Ashutosh says , dont make it in your first reading,preferably it should be done in your third reading(yes, you would have to read the same stuff at least three times!)....some of the topics can be in the form of exhaustive notes like Thinkers and Theories because only when you know them well can you apply them to the analytical questions so popular with the upsc nowadays....for others see the syllabus ,see the questions asked and then make pointers...for some other topics that were say completely given in a book I would xerox it and put it my notes...this made my notes organised and in one place,so I didnt have to sift through the 100 books that I had during revision time!I also used to make it in A4 size punched white sheets with margins on both sides (just like a upsc mains answer sheet) and put everything in an organised manner in a spiral folder...this would ensure that you know how much you are writing and also let you add more stuff easily....Let me give you the format for more clarity...

FIRST PAGE

Paper 1,Topic 1

List of sub topics -books/material referred,(I put big question marks next to topics I had no idea about :) )...Its important in case you want to refer back to the book esp when you cant understand your own pointers after giving prelims ;D!

SECOND PAGE

Topic

Sub topic 1:

List of questions asked from past years question papers with the year/(s) when they were asked and whether they were asked in the form of short notes and/or long answers alongwith arrows interlinking subtopics in case a question relates to more than one issue.

(This will help you understand the trend and hence , its here that you will truly understand what NOT to study !)

Sub Topic 2:

The same thing........

THIRD PAGE:

If it related to the few topics that you are going to cover exhaustively...write down a framework of how you aim to do so for eg who's name would come under what theory,who criticised what and what future trends if any

If its amongst the topics(dont worry,majority of the topics fall under this!) that you aim to cover through pointers do that say with an intro,body and conclusion all in bullet form

This note making process is only with respect to an optional like Sociology or Law(in the case of Ashutosh),with a subject like Public Administration a wide reading with pointers should suffice.

In the case of General studies please donot attempt the mistake of trying to make notes...you cant possibly tame an ocean right!Make 3 things as your starting point: 1.NCERT books,2.a standard textbook for each portion,3.Vaji Ravi Ram or some other dependable coaching notes of GS as your base,then make pointers from or cut out relevant articles from The Hindu alongwith with print outs of appropriate online resources,like Wikipedia ;)

3.So much to do ....how do you manage?

By sticking to Schedule:

Ashutosh

Make a balanced schedule and try to stick to it. Allocate time for each subject. We tend to focus more on topics that we are already familiar with. Doing so might be alright from the prelim perspective, but avoid doing that for the main preparation. Both the optional and the GS carry equal weightage in the main examination. Therefore, it is important to do well in every paper rather than just one paper. I did not enjoy reading pub ad much, especially paper-I, but I had to force myself to study it. Similarly, as much as I hated Science and technology, I had no option but to study it. My aim was to do reasonably well in every paper rather than scoring excellent marks in just one of the optional.

Tanvi

A schedule of study is a must esp after the prelims...your aim should be to identify the short(weekly),medium(monthly),long(till 15-20 days before the exam) term goals for GS and the two optionals and try to stick to it...have a daily target(realistic!) with a little flexibilty thrown in for eg if you dont feel like studying History for General Studies take up one optional instead....and please don't judge your progress by the number of hours you put in on a day to day basis...everyone has their own way of studying with varying outputs for the same number of hours put in....remember no one here is a study-robot,everyone takes breaks just make sure the break is not as long as your study hour :)

Also,I agree with Ashutosh, you have to do average to above average in every subject including GS so,please don't ignore any subject esp if you dont want to appear again for the prelims ;)

By studying smartly:

Ashutosh

Clearing the exam with a good rank was my only goal throughout. Pursuit of knowledge was only incidental to my primary goal. Please remember, you are not studying for a doctorate but for a competitive exam. You will have to be very clear about what to study and how much to study? In depth study of the entire syllabus is extremely difficult and time consuming. Therefore, it is important to delineate the important areas and pay great attention to them in the course of preparation. However, this is not to suggest that you should not cover the entire syllabus. I am only suggesting that your efforts should be directly proportionate to the importance of the topic.

Tanvi

Ashutosh is right, you should be able to identify what's important and what's not...the next question would be how to do that?

There are no short cuts here,it will take you some time...you would have to read the basic material,have a conceptual understanding,then you could look at the old question papers(before doing the spadework if you look at a new optional's question papers you would definitely end up feeling like a loser!) ...it's only after this, can you reorient yourself to whats more relevant and important.You also need to understand that you can only delineate important topics in your optionals,GS on the other hand needs wide reading where you should have a "general" overview of everything under the sun with a special focus on current news items.

4.Is joining a Coaching Institute absolutely necessary?:

Ashutosh

Join an institute only after you are convinced that you will get the best possible guidance there. I did not join any institute for law and pub ad, since, I did not see any value being added to my preparation. You must talk to as many people as possible before zeroing on to any institute. There is absolutely no point in wasting your time and money on third class institutes.

Tanvi

I have unfortunately wasted alot of my parent's money on coaching which were well,disasterous for me....so , now I see my name splashed across ads for coachings some of which in effect pulled me down,and then there are some others that were encouraging in the sense that, I felt I knew more than the teacher himself!....its sad the way I was mislead as a newcomer by pictures and ranks of qualified candidates...now others would be too :( .....so if you are really underconfident that you won't be able to manage your optionals and GS(I was!) and you need the kind of discipline and study group that a coaching can give you...do meet the teacher under whom you intend to study,see his communication skills as well,also ask other students who already have studied under that teacher,check out the pros and cons before joining a coaching...remember a poorly exercised choice would not only result in wastage of your parent's hard earned money but also waste something which is priceless,your time.

The only full fledged coaching which really helped me was Vaji Ravi and Ram's Mains coaching for GS which I took for my first mains....also,I do believe that a good Test Series can prove to be a blessing,I think it worked for me.A "good" test series would be:

one which is regularly held so that your preparation takes place in a time bound manner,

which is of upsc ie not too high(too demoralising) nor too low a standard(can make you overconfident),

which evaluates you in such a comprehensive manner that you can identify and improve upon your weakpoints ....

I know that I am repeating myself but do ask around before you join any coaching institute...its placing your career at risk,good guidance can push you forward and a bad coaching can well,place you at a sub-zero level where first,you would have to unlearn then, relearn the same thing , all on your own...How I wish that I was as smart as Ashutosh was :) (point to be noted: smartness here credited only wrt decisions regarding coaching ;D!)

Interactive Session on May 25, 2010

Dear All,

My friend Rohit Vadhwana, who runs FEM IAS institute and with whom I did the Test Series (Law) for main-2009, wants me to attend an interactive session with his students/future aspirants. Cyril, who has also made it to the services, will be there too. I am giving below the details of the session.

Date: May 25, 2010
Time: 5 PM
Venue: B-18, Top Floor, Above Tata Indicom,
Opposite Aggarwal Sweets, Mukherjee Nagar
New Delhi
Contact No: 9871526960

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Dear All,

My friend, Tanvi Sundriyal, (AIR 6) has also kindly agreed to attend the interactive session on May 25, 2010.

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