IFS officer Vikas Singh Meena shattered a number of stereotypes about Hindi medium aspirants by clearing the UPSC-CSE 2023 examination, with an All India Rank of 672.
On 12 June 2023, the outcomes of the preliminary stage of the UPSC-CSE have been scheduled to be introduced. In contrast to lakhs of aspirants awaiting the outcomes, Vikas Kumar Meena had already believed that he wouldn’t make it to the listing. He was so hopeless that he bought the course for an additional aggressive examination, minutes earlier than the outcomes have been to be introduced.
“I had no confidence that I might clear the prelims. I used to be so unmotivated that I attempted shifting my focus to the SSC-CGL examination. I used to be busy fixing the earlier 12 months questions for it when my buddy requested me if I had checked the outcomes. I used to be so scared that I puzzled how I might face my household and family members,” he shares.
“After just a few extra minutes, I one way or the other gathered braveness and located my identify on the listing. I checked my roll quantity a minimum of 20 instances. The happiness of clearing the UPSC prelims provides a unique stage of satisfaction altogether than clearing all subsequent levels,” he provides.
One of many causes behind his fear, Vikas says, was his Hindi medium background. He went on to shatter the stereotypes by clearing the UPSC-CSE 2023 examination, clenching an All India Rank of 672.
He’s now all set to endure coaching as an Indian Overseas Officer (IFS) in Delhi. We sat down with the IFS officer to know the UPSC examination by means of the lens of a Hindi medium aspirant.
Misconceptions and suggestions for Hindi-medium aspirants
Whereas pursuing his B.Tech in a Delhi faculty, Vikas had determined to seem for the examination. In 2019, he got here to Mukherjee Nagar for a demo class.
“I noticed tons of of aspirants popping out of lessons. I turned hopeless seeing this crowd and puzzled how I used to be going to outlive right here. I felt like a small insect and feared shedding my id if I walked into that crowd,” he shares.
After finishing his commencement in 2021, he began getting ready for the examination. He clears just a few misconceptions and shares useful suggestions for aspirants primarily based on his expertise.
1. Psychological obstacles
Vikas says that firstly, quite a lot of Hindi medium aspirants are advised to affix teaching institutes as a result of with out it, they gained’t be capable to succeed.
“There are quite a lot of psychological elements which get affected resulting from senior tradition within the lanes of Mukherjee Nagar. New candidates are anticipated to hunt steering from those that have already given a number of makes an attempt. So, it’s like bhaiyaji and sirji tradition. They put blind religion in them and think about those that cleared the examination as god,” he shares.
“Secondly, most of those Hindi medium aspirants come from low earnings backgrounds. There may be immense monetary stress on them. I’ve seen a lot of my different aspirant mates working in libraries, ATMs, and catering providers. They’d cover their face and step out for work in an effort to afford their charge. They by no means felt assured,” says Vikas.
2. Restricted research materials
In addition to, Vikas factors out that in comparison with English, there’s a restricted research materials for Hindi medium aspirants. “Whereas there are normal books obtainable in each languages, there’s a lack of excellent research materials for topics like Surroundings and Ecology. I attempted studying booklets provided by different teaching institutes, however I felt that they had vocabulary and grammatical errors,” says Vikas, who finally referred to the booklet by the Shankar IAS academy.
3. Optimise sources
Vikas says that many Hindi medium aspirants are unable to clear the prelims stage itself. He says that he joined a training institute and solely relied on teaching notes. “I didn’t learn the usual books like Polity by M Laxmikanth and Fashionable Historical past Spectrum. Study to optimise your notes,” he says.
“It’s essential to perceive what you don’t have to check. Conduct a development evaluation of the form of questions which might be requested in each prelims and Mains. Put together accordingly. Don’t waste your time mugging up from numerous sources. When you study filtering out necessary info, then the syllabus gained’t be huge,” he provides.
4. Don’t neglect present affairs
Normally aspirants are suggested to learn The Hindu or The Indian Specific newspapers – each obtainable solely in English. Vikas says, “If you’re unable to grasp the language, then repeatedly comply with YouTube channels that organise editorial discussions. As an illustration, try Harshit Dwivedi and Prashant Tiwari who present present affair notes on Telegram as nicely.”
Highlighting the significance of protecting oneself up to date about present affairs, he says, “Your first activity of the day needs to be to check present affairs however aspirants neglect this part. They really feel studying Imaginative and prescient 365 journal on the final minute could be useful. However you should comply with information articles every day and stay privy to every day happenings.”
5. Don’t neglect qualifying paper
Civil Companies Aptitude Check or CSAT is GS Paper-2 within the preliminary examination. It’s carried out to guage an aspirant’s comprehension, logical reasoning, basic psychological skill, and primary numeracy expertise. As it’s a qualifying paper requiring a minimal of 33 %, Vikas says, Hindi medium aspirants are inclined to neglect it.
“In 2023, the CSAT paper was very tough. A lot of the Hindi medium aspirants come from BA and BSc background and a few lack reasoning and arithmetic talents. They lose their confidence in CSAT. Regardless of this, they give attention to different topics extra. Keep in mind to present equal weightage to such topics as nicely,” he provides.
On the finish, Vikas advises aspirants to set weekly or month-to-month targets to stay constant in research. “I might stay awake if I wouldn’t full my targets even when it was 3 within the night time. Nonetheless, bear in mind to take a day’s break generally to really feel rejuvenated. In the long run, it’s simply an examination.”
Edited by Padmashree Pande.
