Kunal Jain, AIR-356 CSE-22 Journey & Learnings

This is the 16th Topper Journey & Strategy post from the Batch of 2023.

Kunal Jain cleared CSE-22 in his 3rd attempt with AIR-356. Here he has shared his learnings and journey from not being able to clear Prelims in 1st attempt & Mains in 2nd attempt to how he could qualify Forest cut-off in 2nd attempt & clear CSE in his 3rd attempt.

Introduction

My name is Kunal Jain and i have secured AIR 356 in UPSC CSE 2022.

Let me share my UPSC journey, which was filled with challenges and valuable lessons that shaped me not only intellectually but also mentally. It taught me how to handle stress, remain resilient, and face adversities even during difficult times.

You can contact Kunal his Instagram Profile, LinkedIn Account and Telegram Channel

In my first attempt, I couldn’t clear the prelims in 2020. However, in my second attempt, I managed to qualify the forest services cutoff for prelims but couldn’t clear the CSE mains. I then cleared the forest services mains but couldn’t make it to the final list. Finally, in my third attempt, I achieved AIR 356.

I graduated from NSIT in 2019 and consciously decided not to pursue placements as I was determined to write the UPSC exam. In July 2019, I enrolled myself in the Vajiram and Ravi foundation PCM batch, which turned out to be the best decision of my journey. The institute provided excellent teachers who were experts in their respective domains. I religiously followed their classes, and by doing so, I became comfortable with General Studies. My study approach included rewriting the lecture after the class as writing helped me retain the information for a longer duration and establish connections between different topics.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the exam schedule got delayed, I utilized the extra time to focus on my Maths optional preparation. I started preparing for it in March 2020, earlier intending to cover the remaining chapters between prelims and mains since I had already covered some of them during my graduation.

Unfortunately, on September 9th, 2020, my father was involved in a severe road accident, and he remained on a ventilator for about 15 days. He was discharged from the hospital on October 8th, but the prelims exam was scheduled for October 4th, 2020. Despite these challenging circumstances, I appeared for the exam and missed the cutoff of 92 marks by just 1 question.

After my failure, I reflected on the reasons behind my unsuccessful attempt. I realized that I hadn’t solved enough previous year questions (PYQs) and had mistakenly marked a few questions that were repeated from PYQs. Additionally, I was unaware of smart guesswork techniques. At this point, my friend Sudhansu Saini recommended a YouTube channel called “ANSHUMAN RAJHANS IFS,” which helped me streamline my prelims preparation.

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

By January 2021, I had completed my math course for the first time and began practicing PYQs for mains in subjects like polity, economy, history, and geography. However, since the prelims were scheduled for May 2021, I decided to focus on prelims preparation starting from mid-February. Everything was going smoothly until April 2021 when my entire family, including myself, contracted COVID-19. I remember the entire month of April going to waste, and even after 21 days of recovery, I struggled to concentrate on my studies. Unfortunately, the exam was still scheduled for May, adding to the challenges I faced.

During this difficult time, I came across Awadh Ojha Sir, who stressed the importance of yoga and meditation. I began practicing yoga by following “The Yoga Institute” YouTube channel, and I would like to extend my special thanks to Dr. Hansaji (Dadi) for being a highly motivated personality and imparting valuable lessons for a better life. I also followed the Isha Kriya meditation technique by Sadguru to stabilize my mind. Both yoga and meditation not only helped me get back on track during that period but also became an integral part of my life.

I attempted my second prelims in October 2021 and successfully cleared both the CSE and Ifos cutoffs. However, I acknowledge my fault of not covering mains-specific topics such as ethics, internal security, governance, and society before the prelims. As a result, I paid the price by not being able to clear my first mains examination in January 2022. I couldn’t even write a single test for GS and Essay, and my preparation for mathematics also suffered due to time constraints. Additionally, I was unable to complete my papers on time and made several silly mistakes in the mathematics paper.

Then, for the forest service mains, I had to cover the forestry optional, and for that, I used Hornbill classes. I wrote the paper in March 2021 and fortunately cleared it. Later, I met with Yaksh bhaiya for the forest service interview. The interview took place in June 2022, but unfortunately, I was not able to make it to the final list.

On May 29th, 2022, the CSE 2021 results were declared, and Yaksh bhaiya secured AIR 6.

In June 2022, I appeared for my 3rd prelims and successfully cleared it. This time, I sought Yaksh bhaiya’s guidance for the mains exam, and with his help, I was able to improve my writing skills by incorporating more data, making it more multidimensional, and writing in a point format. He also advised me on presentation skills, such as using both black and blue pens. Moreover, he instilled in me the belief that hard work would lead to improved mains marks.

Yaksh bhaiya recommended “Decode Ethics” by Mudit Jain sir, and I relied on this book for this year’s mains. As a result, I was able to enhance my marks from 78 last year to 124 this year. I would like to express my gratitude to Mudit Jain sir for helping me improve my marks.

I cleared my mains, and once again my friend Sudhansu recommended me to join Anil Swarup’s interview guidance program associated with StudyIQ. I enrolled in the program, and Anil sir’s strategies helped me improve my interview marks. I became part of a small group consisting of 4-5 members, and we conducted peer mock interviews with each other every day. It was during this time that I met Sparsh (AIR 51), Pranav (scored 200 marks in the interview), and Naman. Through extensive practice, I was able to enhance my interview marks from 52% to 65.5%. I am grateful to Anil Swarup sir for his guidance.

In the end, I secured AIR 356 in CSE 2022.

So, this is my entire journey after graduation, which had its fair share of ups and downs. However, one thing remained consistent—I was able to navigate even through the darkest nights because of the belief and faith I had in my capabilities.