Rekulwar Shubham (CSE-23 AIR-790) Motivational UPSC CSE Journey

Hello, I am Rekulwar Shubham. I secured AIR 790 in UPSC CSE 2023. I come from Telangana. I did my graduation from IIT Guwahati in Civil Engineering. It was my 4^th interview. Optional is PSIR.

You can connect him on Instagram and Telegram

Journey

First Attempt, First Interview: Though cleared Mains with good margin, I got very less marks (140) in interview. Missed the list by 12 marks. (In hindsight, it took me six years to bridge this gap of 12 marks).
In 2^nd attempt, I couldn’t clear Mains.
In 3^rd attempt, I went on to interview stage, but again fell short of marks in interview.
Later, I went back home (during Covid times), and appeared in two consecutive Mains. But could not clear Mains both the times.
Last year (CSE-22), I appeared in interview, but poor marks in PSIR, I missed the list again.
This year (CSE-23), finally, I found my name in the list.

Coaching

Foundational coaching at Vajiram did help me. My hand written notes at Vajiram are still my primary books of reference for basics of core subjects (Polity, Economy, Modern History, Geography and Art and Culture).
Later, during Mains I took, Dipin sir current affairs classes for last 2 years mains. For Ethics and Essay I took Peeyush sir lectures, which I believe helped me.

Shubham is member of DecodeCIVILS Mains and Interview Telegram Groups

Prelims Strategy

I cleared all the prelims I appeared. I’ll give the strategy in detail.

Firstly, your basics of core subjects shall be strong. No matter which Prelims paper you pick, this core will help you sail through 40% of the paper, some directly and some indirectly.
Second, role of PYQs. I solved 20 years prelims papers before starting the test series in my first attempt. This helps immensely to understand demand of UPSC and also prioritise topics/ themes for study. Solve them topics wise, not year wise. You can purchase any book available in market with solved prelims PYQs.
Third, current affairs. Pick any Prelims magazine and revise it at least three times. Once you do PYQs, prioritising current affairs becomes very easy.
Fourth, role of test series. Pick any institute’s complete test series package (I did Vision’s 35 test tests every time). Doing complete set is important because, the test series package is designed such that it helps you to finish entire syllabus and current affairs, along with proper revision.
Post-test, proper analysis is very important. Divide questions into 3 categories.
- Those which you attempted correctly,
- Those where you attempted incorrectly, and
- Those where you have no idea. For this category, go back to original source material and revise it again. By this you can fill the gaps in your preparation.
Also, time management of the 2 hours in exam hall is very important. After first round of going through entire paper (which will take around 1 hour or so), bubble all the questions where you identified answers. After that, bubble each question individually.
Also, how many questions you are going to attempt decide by analysing your accuracy level in mock tests. Also, difficulty level of paper in actual prelims you should analyse and attempt accordingly. I use to attempt above 85-88, where question paper is not very tough, and 75-82 where question paper is very tough.

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Interview Strategy

My scores in 4 interviews were 140, 145, 157 and 198.

In my first interview, my idea with respect to interview preparation was that it is not the test of knowledge and I don’t have to be thorough with the content. So, I was very ill prepared, and it reflected in my answers and hence in marks.
This year, I did my DAF properly, preparing topics in Q&A format.
Also, I used to have daily discussions on google meet in groups created by Study IQ. These discussions helped immensely in framing answers, structuring opinions and learnings from each other. Attended around 10 mocks, which also helped to analyze my preparedness.

How Shubham Dealt with Recurrent Failures?

Firstly, I was fortunate enough to have very supporting family. Then, as I was working as freelancer in the UPSC industry, that helped me to continue preparation for long.

And, I started reading books. I always had this interest in reading books, but I started doing it more regularly. This journey, perhaps I would have never sustained without the books I read. (You can find some of my readings and reviews on my Instagram or LinkedIn page).

Books ensured that I never lose faith in myself. Most importantly, I always believed that I am so close to clearing this exam. And throughout my failures, I know was growing as a person. I have seen the darkest phase, which was unbearable while it lasted. But once I sustained through it, I knew I could handle any failure, I can bear any setback.

The most important lesson I learnt was, as long as you link your happiness to outcome of this exam, or any external aspect for that matter, you will never be happy. Even if you clear the exam, you will be searching for that happiness. Happiness is a choice you make every day. This is the biggest lesson I learnt.

As I read books, there are many quotes which inspired me. I’ll add one such quote here.

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”

Haruki Murakami

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