IFS officer Vikas Singh Meena shattered a number of stereotypes about Hindi medium aspirants via clearing the UPSC-CSE 2023 exam, with an All India Rank of 672.
On 12 June 2023, the result of the initial degree of the UPSC-CSE had been scheduled to be introduced. Not like lakhs of aspirants looking forward to the effects, Vikas Kumar Meena had already believed that he would no longer make it to the checklist. He used to be so hopeless that he bought the route for any other aggressive exam, mins sooner than the effects had been to be introduced.
“I had no self belief that I’d transparent the prelims. I used to be so unmotivated that I attempted moving my focal point to the SSC-CGL examination. I used to be busy fixing the former yr questions for it when my pal requested me if I had checked the effects. I used to be so scared that I questioned how I’d face my circle of relatives and family,” he stocks.
“After a couple of extra mins, I by some means accrued braveness and located my title at the checklist. I checked my roll quantity a minimum of 20 instances. The happiness of clearing the UPSC prelims offers a unique stage of pleasure altogether than clearing all next phases,” he provides.
One of the vital causes at the back of his fear, Vikas says, used to be his Hindi medium background. He went directly to shatter the stereotypes via clearing the UPSC-CSE 2023 exam, clenching an All India Rank of 672.
He’s now all set to go through coaching as an Indian Overseas Officer (IFS) in Delhi. We sat down with the IFS officer to know the UPSC exam throughout the lens of a Hindi medium aspirant.
Misconceptions and pointers for Hindi-medium aspirants
Whilst pursuing his B.Tech in a Delhi faculty, Vikas had made up our minds to seem for the exam. In 2019, he got here to Mukherjee Nagar for a demo magnificence.
“I noticed masses of aspirants popping out of categories. I become hopeless seeing this crowd and questioned how I used to be going to live to tell the tale right here. I felt like a small insect and feared shedding my identification if I walked into that crowd,” he stocks.
After finishing his commencement in 2021, he began getting ready for the exam. He clears a couple of misconceptions and stocks useful pointers for aspirants in line with his enjoy.
1. Mental obstacles
Vikas says that at the beginning, a large number of Hindi medium aspirants are informed to enroll in training institutes as a result of with out it, they received’t have the ability to be triumphant.
“There are a large number of mental facets which get affected because of senior tradition within the lanes of Mukherjee Nagar. New applicants are anticipated to hunt steerage from those that have already given more than one makes an attempt. So, it’s like bhaiyaji and sirji tradition. They put blind religion in them and believe those that cleared the examination as god,” he stocks.
“Secondly, a lot of these Hindi medium aspirants come from low source of revenue backgrounds. There’s immense monetary rigidity on them. I’ve observed lots of my different aspirant pals operating in libraries, ATMs, and catering services and products. They might conceal their face and step out for paintings with the intention to come up with the money for their price. They by no means felt assured,” says Vikas.
2. Restricted learn about subject matter
But even so, Vikas issues out that in comparison to English, there’s a restricted learn about subject matter for Hindi medium aspirants. “Whilst there are same old books to be had in each languages, there’s a loss of just right learn about subject matter for topics like Setting and Ecology. I attempted studying booklets introduced via different training institutes, however I felt that they had vocabulary and grammatical mistakes,” says Vikas, who ultimately referred to the booklet via the Shankar IAS academy.
3. Optimise resources
Vikas says that many Hindi medium aspirants are not able to transparent the prelims degree itself. He says that he joined a training institute and handiest trusted training notes. “I didn’t learn the usual books like Polity via M Laxmikanth and Trendy Historical past Spectrum. Learn how to optimise your notes,” he says.
“You want to know what you don’t have to review. Behavior a pattern research of the type of questions which might be requested in each prelims and Mains. Get ready accordingly. Don’t waste your time mugging up from quite a lot of resources. When you be told filtering out necessary knowledge, then the syllabus received’t be huge,” he provides.
4. Don’t overlook present affairs
Typically aspirants are recommended to learn The Hindu or The Indian Specific newspapers – each to be had handiest in English. Vikas says, “If you’re not able to appreciate the language, then frequently observe YouTube channels that organise editorial discussions. As an example, take a look at Harshit Dwivedi and Prashant Tiwari who supply present affair notes on Telegram as neatly.”
Highlighting the significance of maintaining oneself up to date about present affairs, he says, “Your first activity of the day must be to review present affairs however aspirants overlook this phase. They really feel studying Imaginative and prescient 365 mag on the final minute can be useful. However you want to observe information articles day-to-day and stay privy to day-to-day happenings.”
5. Don’t overlook qualifying paper
Civil Services and products Flair Check or CSAT is GS Paper-2 within the initial exam. It’s carried out to judge an aspirant’s comprehension, logical reasoning, common psychological talent, and elementary numeracy talents. As this is a qualifying paper requiring at least 33 %, Vikas says, Hindi medium aspirants have a tendency to overlook it.
“In 2023, the CSAT paper used to be very tough. Lots of the Hindi medium aspirants come from BA and BSc background and a few lack reasoning and arithmetic skills. They lose their self belief in CSAT. In spite of this, they focal point on different topics extra. Consider to offer equivalent weightage to such topics as neatly,” he provides.
On the finish, Vikas advises aspirants to set weekly or per month goals to stay constant in research. “I’d no longer sleep if I wouldn’t entire my goals even though it used to be 3 within the evening. On the other hand, have in mind to take an afternoon’s damage once in a while to really feel rejuvenated. Finally, it’s only an examination.”
Edited via Padmashree Pande.