Preparing for prelims is best done by keeping a habit of wide reading. There is no need for stress on retention/ratta, but focus should be on recognition. Meaning, I may not remember all of the over 100 national parks in India, but if you name a certain national park, I should be able to faintly recall which state it is in, flora, fauna, landform related to it. In prelims, the options are there right in front of you, so if you are able to say with confidence that a certain thing is right or wrong, is enough.
So, what we need to do is to put our mind through lot of material, so that much of it sticks and the dots get connected in exam hall.
Broadly, prelims prep involves covering 6 broad heads.. History, polity, economy, geography, environment, sci-tech. Point where history syllabus ends(making of constitution), is where polity begins, and latter part of polity(budget, finance commission) has overlap with economy(public finance). So, the first 3 topics have sort of a synergy. Similarly, geography has relation with environment. Environment involves much of sci-tech. So, the other 3 too have interconnections.
This helps to study these subjects in parallel, to save time and for better understanding.
1. More than often, people ask about which books to refer. But, eventually, they digress from this book list and then later settle down to a set of books. I too did the same. So, it is not wrong to read up from many books, but it is not good to take time in doing so. One should quickly move thru various books and then find a book that they feel covers the syllabus fairly, matches the questions asked in previous year questions, and is suited to their style. The more time one takes in deciding, hesitating, switching between books, more one will be left vulnerable.
So, decide on good books and stick to them.
2. Before we go to the book list, I want to emphasize on planning aspect. I like making plans. So much, that I often spend 50% of time on planning and have to hurry through the execution. But a good plan works well, accounts for unforeseen situations. So, one should plan with balance between high ambitions and practicalities. Also, most importantly, your plan should be visible to you and you should be accountable for it. I recommend use of stationery for it. We as kids use to make so many charts and stick them on the wall. I felt we should go back to that crude method instead of a note made on smartphone or an excel sheet on laptop, which is not visible all the time.
So, standard procedure for me was.. chart1 has broad heads to be covered, within them, subtopics. For each subtopic/topic, I scribble the source/material I am going to stick to.
chart2 has time plan.. normal calendar sort of a thing..but with enough space to write down task for the day in a box.
Aesthetics apart, it is important to decide on study cycles. For ex. for beginners, I recommend that they go for 2 week cycle. Meaning, 2 weeks for each topic, so 6 times 2, 12 weeks to cover whole syllabus. Repeat it, and we cover 2 rounds of reading in 24 weeks or 6 months time. So, a basic foundation is established for prelims in 6 months(max). Next, we shorten the cycle down to 1 week per topic, so we finish syllabus in 6 weeks or 1.5 months. Next revision we go for 3 days per topic(or 2 topics per week cycle), so in 3 weeks we cover whole syllabus.
Last stage, before exam, we can use interconnections between topics. So, we take up 3 topics and run them in parallel for first 3 days of a week and take next 3 topics and run them in parallel for next 3 days. So, we cover whole syllabus in 1 week and we are ready to take the exam.
3. Now, another thing that bugs people is number of hours to study in a day. I think it is pointless to count the number of hours as long as you are able to keep up with your plan. No point sitting with book in front, for 12 hours while the mind is drifting in sea of random thoughts/tension. I think one needs to develop stamina to sit for at least 2 hours(min) at a stretch with 1 topic. So, one can then plan 2 hour slots whenever one wants in a day or night. 3 slots then 6 hours of study or more, whatever the constraints one has(job/ghar ka kaam, etc). One good thing about making a good plan is that, you can then go on autopilot. You just follow the plan without worry and you complete syllabus on time. But beware, do not make frequent changes in long term plans, else one ends up not completing syllabus again.
4. Now the last part, is execution. So, the book list. I've gone through many sources and have switched many times, before narrowing down to the following set of books. I say with full confidence that if the following sources are tapped thoroughly, there is no stopping one from clearing prelims.
But, I must also clarify that most of these books/sources act as an index/guide for the right material distributed across the internet. So, always search whatever you come across in these books on the internet. From wiki page, go to the See Also pages at bottom, make habit of speed reading thru tons of text and see how your knowledge level will expand in the right direction.
It is like optimization, if one starts with a seed in a wrong place then one can never reach the optimum solution in a mathematical solution space. That is why, NCERT text is the north pole that takes one towards optimum point. Most of the old NCERTs and much more has been put up Mr Mrunal Patel at https://files.secureserver.net/0fHCh0CLd6Az63 the website mrunal.org is also quite good for simple explanation on many topics.
History has 4 major parts:
Ancient India: old NCERT by RS Sharma
Medieval India: old NCERT by Satish Chandra
Modern India: old NCERT by Bipin Chandra + Struggle for independence by Bipin Chandra for more factual info
Art and culture: ccrtindia.gov.in("Resources" dropdown list), 11th Fine Arts NCERT, Crafts NCERT
The above act as index and give bare minimum required to be covered. Further, one can see that these days questions are coming based on small pictures in new NCERTs. So, one must after completing old NCERTs, go thru new NCERTs and look up on internet and wiki on these places/arts/events/personalities/etc.
Most importantly it is important to get an idea of the general timeline and stage of development of society, polity, economy, technology and trade in different times.
For modern India, it is useful to study history as two way chess game between British and freedom fighters, to understand the situation, action and reaction.
Polity is pretty straightforward. Mr Laxmikanth has done a commendable job bringing all relevant material into a single book. So, thats there to fall back on. But, it is better to take it from horse's mouth. I feel more comfortable reading actual text of Constitution. Any bare act book will do.
Having gone thru actual text of constitution, one cant get confused in exam hall with twist of language.
Next Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites, FAQ sections are quite helpful in understanding certain procedural complexities.
To keep up with latest legislations, one can look up provisions on e releases on pib.nic.in or on PRS legislative research website.
Economy can be understood quickly by going thru NCERT 11th Macroeconomics
It covers all basics--national accounting, public finance, markets, regulation, external sector.
Same flow can be seen in govt official document like Economic survey which helps in getting good understanding of the economy. Survey is a bit deep for prelims, but as it comes out in Feb, it is good to give it one reading. Besides it helps understand budget in a better manner.
NCERT is too basic and survey too deep, the middle ground can be covered by referring to a standard textbook or to any certain classes notes on economy, but it is important to make sure that that source covers all one requires. I personally only had Ramesh Singh as backup. Otherwise most things on economy are covered by FAQ of RBI, various govt websites. arthpedia.in is one such good source of authentic info on Indian economy.
Geography is very straightforward. Only 4 NCERT texts to cover. India physical and human, World physical and human. If done thoroughly with use of net and atlas, is enough.
GC Leong is alright as a book for recap of world geography.
Environment--I went through NIOS notes and found them too basic, lacking in technical terminology. Initially, I did not like Environment by ShankarIAS Academy as it goes way too deep into each topic. But later, I felt it is good to have all material you need in a single place. Besides, it is so comprehensive that if one goes thru it completely, it is difficult to miss out on anything. So, I would say go for it, but use internet in parallel.
Sci-Tech is an area where I find it difficult to recommend any book. Physics, chemistry had always been my strong areas(prelims level), so I only had to cover Biology for which I found 11th 12th Bio NCERT a bit too deep. But I took only those parts which seemed to be coming in the prelims exam, the remaining deep technical stuff I left. But one can go for well researched sci-tech books which give relevant material. Do not go for random fat books that put in random excess irrelevant material into the book too ex, Spectrum book on Sci-tech. If I HAVE to name a book, I would say Arihant Magbook on Sci-tech is sort of alright. This one also goes too deep in some areas, but overall it is atleast relevant to upsc prelims.
Last but not the least, India Year Book is a good book to wrap up on prelims preparation. It covers geography, polity, economy, environment and even sci-tech. It has good returns ratio.
Now, in many places above, I have recommended a book and also have asked to use internet along with it. One might say, what is point of book then? I want to clarify, that most of the books are to cover bare minimum, but the extra bit of coverage one can get by following on net along these lines.
Now jumping on net means drowning in sea of info, so when to stop? For this, one must always keep going through previous year questions. Say, you start going thru certain concept in science tech and you got too interested and went thru many research papers and TED talks and put in whole evening. Then you feel, youve missed your deadline on the plan. You can go back to previous year questions on sci-tech and see if what youve studied has been relevant to upsc level. This check will keep prep grounded and strongly rooted to basics. Also, if you are going too shallow, then looking at the questions, youll know where to deep dive. I cant emphasize enough on importance of previous year questions in prelims preparation.[Ive made some run thru posts based on the questions topic wise, links below]
Geography NCERTs
Geography previous year questions
Economy previous year questions
History previous year questions
Polity previous year questions
Polity for prelims
So, what we need to do is to put our mind through lot of material, so that much of it sticks and the dots get connected in exam hall.
Broadly, prelims prep involves covering 6 broad heads.. History, polity, economy, geography, environment, sci-tech. Point where history syllabus ends(making of constitution), is where polity begins, and latter part of polity(budget, finance commission) has overlap with economy(public finance). So, the first 3 topics have sort of a synergy. Similarly, geography has relation with environment. Environment involves much of sci-tech. So, the other 3 too have interconnections.
This helps to study these subjects in parallel, to save time and for better understanding.
1. More than often, people ask about which books to refer. But, eventually, they digress from this book list and then later settle down to a set of books. I too did the same. So, it is not wrong to read up from many books, but it is not good to take time in doing so. One should quickly move thru various books and then find a book that they feel covers the syllabus fairly, matches the questions asked in previous year questions, and is suited to their style. The more time one takes in deciding, hesitating, switching between books, more one will be left vulnerable.
So, decide on good books and stick to them.
2. Before we go to the book list, I want to emphasize on planning aspect. I like making plans. So much, that I often spend 50% of time on planning and have to hurry through the execution. But a good plan works well, accounts for unforeseen situations. So, one should plan with balance between high ambitions and practicalities. Also, most importantly, your plan should be visible to you and you should be accountable for it. I recommend use of stationery for it. We as kids use to make so many charts and stick them on the wall. I felt we should go back to that crude method instead of a note made on smartphone or an excel sheet on laptop, which is not visible all the time.
So, standard procedure for me was.. chart1 has broad heads to be covered, within them, subtopics. For each subtopic/topic, I scribble the source/material I am going to stick to.
chart2 has time plan.. normal calendar sort of a thing..but with enough space to write down task for the day in a box.
Aesthetics apart, it is important to decide on study cycles. For ex. for beginners, I recommend that they go for 2 week cycle. Meaning, 2 weeks for each topic, so 6 times 2, 12 weeks to cover whole syllabus. Repeat it, and we cover 2 rounds of reading in 24 weeks or 6 months time. So, a basic foundation is established for prelims in 6 months(max). Next, we shorten the cycle down to 1 week per topic, so we finish syllabus in 6 weeks or 1.5 months. Next revision we go for 3 days per topic(or 2 topics per week cycle), so in 3 weeks we cover whole syllabus.
Last stage, before exam, we can use interconnections between topics. So, we take up 3 topics and run them in parallel for first 3 days of a week and take next 3 topics and run them in parallel for next 3 days. So, we cover whole syllabus in 1 week and we are ready to take the exam.
3. Now, another thing that bugs people is number of hours to study in a day. I think it is pointless to count the number of hours as long as you are able to keep up with your plan. No point sitting with book in front, for 12 hours while the mind is drifting in sea of random thoughts/tension. I think one needs to develop stamina to sit for at least 2 hours(min) at a stretch with 1 topic. So, one can then plan 2 hour slots whenever one wants in a day or night. 3 slots then 6 hours of study or more, whatever the constraints one has(job/ghar ka kaam, etc). One good thing about making a good plan is that, you can then go on autopilot. You just follow the plan without worry and you complete syllabus on time. But beware, do not make frequent changes in long term plans, else one ends up not completing syllabus again.
4. Now the last part, is execution. So, the book list. I've gone through many sources and have switched many times, before narrowing down to the following set of books. I say with full confidence that if the following sources are tapped thoroughly, there is no stopping one from clearing prelims.
But, I must also clarify that most of these books/sources act as an index/guide for the right material distributed across the internet. So, always search whatever you come across in these books on the internet. From wiki page, go to the See Also pages at bottom, make habit of speed reading thru tons of text and see how your knowledge level will expand in the right direction.
It is like optimization, if one starts with a seed in a wrong place then one can never reach the optimum solution in a mathematical solution space. That is why, NCERT text is the north pole that takes one towards optimum point. Most of the old NCERTs and much more has been put up Mr Mrunal Patel at https://files.secureserver.net/0fHCh0CLd6Az63 the website mrunal.org is also quite good for simple explanation on many topics.
History has 4 major parts:
Ancient India: old NCERT by RS Sharma
Medieval India: old NCERT by Satish Chandra
Modern India: old NCERT by Bipin Chandra + Struggle for independence by Bipin Chandra for more factual info
Art and culture: ccrtindia.gov.in("Resources" dropdown list), 11th Fine Arts NCERT, Crafts NCERT
The above act as index and give bare minimum required to be covered. Further, one can see that these days questions are coming based on small pictures in new NCERTs. So, one must after completing old NCERTs, go thru new NCERTs and look up on internet and wiki on these places/arts/events/personalities/etc.
Most importantly it is important to get an idea of the general timeline and stage of development of society, polity, economy, technology and trade in different times.
For modern India, it is useful to study history as two way chess game between British and freedom fighters, to understand the situation, action and reaction.
Polity is pretty straightforward. Mr Laxmikanth has done a commendable job bringing all relevant material into a single book. So, thats there to fall back on. But, it is better to take it from horse's mouth. I feel more comfortable reading actual text of Constitution. Any bare act book will do.
Having gone thru actual text of constitution, one cant get confused in exam hall with twist of language.
Next Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites, FAQ sections are quite helpful in understanding certain procedural complexities.
To keep up with latest legislations, one can look up provisions on e releases on pib.nic.in or on PRS legislative research website.
Economy can be understood quickly by going thru NCERT 11th Macroeconomics
It covers all basics--national accounting, public finance, markets, regulation, external sector.
Same flow can be seen in govt official document like Economic survey which helps in getting good understanding of the economy. Survey is a bit deep for prelims, but as it comes out in Feb, it is good to give it one reading. Besides it helps understand budget in a better manner.
NCERT is too basic and survey too deep, the middle ground can be covered by referring to a standard textbook or to any certain classes notes on economy, but it is important to make sure that that source covers all one requires. I personally only had Ramesh Singh as backup. Otherwise most things on economy are covered by FAQ of RBI, various govt websites. arthpedia.in is one such good source of authentic info on Indian economy.
Geography is very straightforward. Only 4 NCERT texts to cover. India physical and human, World physical and human. If done thoroughly with use of net and atlas, is enough.
GC Leong is alright as a book for recap of world geography.
Environment--I went through NIOS notes and found them too basic, lacking in technical terminology. Initially, I did not like Environment by ShankarIAS Academy as it goes way too deep into each topic. But later, I felt it is good to have all material you need in a single place. Besides, it is so comprehensive that if one goes thru it completely, it is difficult to miss out on anything. So, I would say go for it, but use internet in parallel.
Sci-Tech is an area where I find it difficult to recommend any book. Physics, chemistry had always been my strong areas(prelims level), so I only had to cover Biology for which I found 11th 12th Bio NCERT a bit too deep. But I took only those parts which seemed to be coming in the prelims exam, the remaining deep technical stuff I left. But one can go for well researched sci-tech books which give relevant material. Do not go for random fat books that put in random excess irrelevant material into the book too ex, Spectrum book on Sci-tech. If I HAVE to name a book, I would say Arihant Magbook on Sci-tech is sort of alright. This one also goes too deep in some areas, but overall it is atleast relevant to upsc prelims.
Last but not the least, India Year Book is a good book to wrap up on prelims preparation. It covers geography, polity, economy, environment and even sci-tech. It has good returns ratio.
Now, in many places above, I have recommended a book and also have asked to use internet along with it. One might say, what is point of book then? I want to clarify, that most of the books are to cover bare minimum, but the extra bit of coverage one can get by following on net along these lines.
Now jumping on net means drowning in sea of info, so when to stop? For this, one must always keep going through previous year questions. Say, you start going thru certain concept in science tech and you got too interested and went thru many research papers and TED talks and put in whole evening. Then you feel, youve missed your deadline on the plan. You can go back to previous year questions on sci-tech and see if what youve studied has been relevant to upsc level. This check will keep prep grounded and strongly rooted to basics. Also, if you are going too shallow, then looking at the questions, youll know where to deep dive. I cant emphasize enough on importance of previous year questions in prelims preparation.[Ive made some run thru posts based on the questions topic wise, links below]
Geography NCERTs
Geography previous year questions
Economy previous year questions
History previous year questions
Polity previous year questions
Polity for prelims
Thanks for the information...
ReplyDeletethank you sir
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