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Narayan Amit (AIR-70, CSE-21) Anthropology Strategy

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Hi All,

Anthropology is one the most popular subjects in UPSC CSE. However, its scores and performance has gone down off late after years of success.

In this post, Narayan Amit, who secured AIR-70 in CSE-21 with 306 Marks in Anthropology, tries to decode the way to higher marks:

Hello All,

I am Narayan Amit. It’s really a privilege to be writing this post. I got AIR 70 in UPSC CSE 2021. I’m 24 years old and graduated from IIT Kanpur in Chemical Engineering in 2020. I’m from Hyderabad. This is my 2nd attempt. I had got AIR-289 in UPSC CSE 2020 but was fixated on getting IAS/IPS/IRS so I wrote again. My optional is Anthropology:) I got 166 + 140 = 306 marks in Anthropology this year which is one of the highest.

I’m grateful to Mudit Jain Sir to give me this opportunity to reach a wider audience with this post. Since Anthro is currently a very popular optional I hope that many will benefit from my Anthro strategy.

I have referred to over 20 toppers notes, videos, copies, etc. over the past 2 years in making my notes which I have uploaded on my telegram channel. All things I mention in this post are available in this channel.

In addition, please watch following videos: Koya Sree Harsha, Aashima Mittal,  Akshat Jain,  Shubham Kumar & Ishant Jaiswal on YouTube. The most comprehensive notes I have found so far are of Mandar Jayant Patki. These are the giants of Anthropology.

I will recall a short story from Kung-Fu Panda Movie which relates to so called ‘secret’ for UPSC: “Po (The Panda) keeps on trying find what is in the secret scroll !!!!!! He annoys Master Shifu day in day out …..Ultimately he realizes there was no secret. It was just himself.”

Similarly many try to find that one secret book, pdf…..that would magically change their life. I would turn the question on its head. If such a book existed then it would be known to all. Thus what matters is having trust and belief that whatever source you referred is sufficient and revising it again and again. Thus in Anthropology also patiently improving your notes is most important.

The most persistent question I have been asked is how did I improve my marks from 257 (2020) to 306 (2021). This is very relevant as many are stuck in ~220-260 range. I will try my best to answer it:

1)  Completed entire syllabus. Hence interconnections among different topics were stronger & also gives freedom in which question to attempt.

2)  Attempted more questions from Theory, Fossil, Primates and Archaeology which are more scoring than Physical/Social. Since my entire syllabus was complete I could pick & choose the questions.

3)  Added more unique things to each answer. What I mean is that in each answer I wrote 3-4 things which would always stand out. It could be an application of concept, case study, good example, personal example, diagram, flowchart, scholar, book, theoretical dimension, interconnection of topics, contemporary relevance, current affairs, etc. All need not be there in every answer but 3-4 things give edge. Don’t write GS type answers in Anthro.

4)  Due to further vast reading I could add content from more diversified sources such as Ember & Ember, MoTA Report, EPW, Down to Earth, DK Bhattacharya Videos, BD Sharma Letters, Peoples of India, Examples of Civil Servants(OP Choudhary), Abhay Bang, NCST, Idate Commission Report, etc.

          Also in addition, MoTA annual report helps us understand what actions the Govt has taken for tribal welfare. But you don’t need to as I already have read and made summary also. This is 2019/20 data which is more than ‘latest enough’. If I would have written mains in 2024 also I would have used same.

Join here for free guidance from Mudit Jain, IRS CSE-17 (IPS CSE-14 & 15), Author of Decode Civils – Philosophical Essay Writing, Decode GS2, Decode Ethics 4.0 & Decode History Books

Ethics book referred by CSE 22 Toppers: AIR –76, 91, 176, 189, 249, 288, 297, 299, 326, 356, 476, 541, 611, 616, 700, 737, 739, 746 & others

History book referred by CSE 21 Toppers: AIR – 44, 212, 572, 653 & others

Sample PDFs of Books: Decode Civils – Philosophical Essay Writing, Decode Ethics 4th Edition,  Decode GS2 & Decode History

5)  My time management was iron-clad. I would take 14min for 20 marker, 10min for 15 marker and 7 min for 10 marker. The remaining 6 min were for choosing questions. Actually if revision is done before hand and all the facts are memorized then writing paper is relatively easy. I didn’t find much stress in writing Paper 1 in which I got 166/250. I had whiteboard at home on which I would scribble main points of answer.

6)  My answers were very dense & data rich. My opinion is that even if demand is ‘slightly off’ (only slightly) still marks are given.

7)  My command over PYQ’s of 2013-2020 was very strong.

8)  As Shubham Sir has already said: “Innovation & Uniqueness is highly rewarded in UPSC as it differentiates your answers from others. Write like an Anthropologist”. We need more Anthropologists in bureaucracy. This is called ‘Administrative’ dimension. Ex: Shubham Sir said, “Show your understanding through better analysis- I used to write ‘As student of Anthro I also observe..”.

9)  Attempted 500/500 unlike last year where I left ~50 marks.

10)  Also don’t BLUFF. There is huge difference between bluffing & writing broadly. Please bear this in mind. In addition, don’t take any gamble in initial few questions as it can cost heavily if examiner develops negative mindset.

PS: Anthropology has no current affairs AFAIK❤️

So far I have ‘given/going to give’ the following talks about Anthropology. I have tried to avoid repetition so that I can cover maximum content so I have liberally referred one talk in another talk. So please watch all the talks to get a holistic picture about what I have conveyed. This is the order in which I have given the talks. Some are going to be uploaded soon.

The detailed micro-level strategy for each subtopic such as Theories, Fossils, Primates, Physical, Indian AP, Archaeology, etc. is already in my notes on the channel. Whenever I upload any notes on my channel then on Page Number 2 I give all my insights about that particular topic and how to score maximum marks in that.

Thanks a lot for your patience in going through this post.

For any further doubts feel free to post your queries on this backup chat channel which I use for discussion or The main channel.

You may reach him at his Instagram Profile or LinkedIn Profile

Jai Hind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Other CSE 21 Topper Strategies:

One response to “Narayan Amit (AIR-70, CSE-21) Anthropology Strategy”

  1. Chandana Avatar
    Chandana

    Thank you sir

    Reply

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