She took so much pain in preparing
Work hard with
notes for me. Luck is an important
factor in ones success. I thank God
for being kind to me.
PDWhat preference in services
have you opted for ?
BishnuIAS, IFS and IPS
PDAny suggestion/advice
you would like to give to the future
aspirants ?
BishnuTry to encourage your-
self with a positive attitude in life.
Have faith and confidence in yourself
MY STRATEGY FOR THE SUCCESS
FOR PRELIMS
It was mainly intended to test the
retention capacity of the candidate. I
tried to memorize as much as
possible both for GS and Sociology.
For GS one needs to see what GS
comprises. How many questions from
Indian Polity, History, Economy,
Geography have come in last 5 years.
I started a humble beginning by
reading NCERT books. Side by side I
was reading two national dailies i.e.,
The Hindu and Times of India and
magazines like Pratiyogita Darpan
and Frontline. I started solving model
GS papers in the magazines. Both in
GS and sociology only reading books
is not sufficient. One has to evaluate
ones performances by solving as
many questions as one can.
Time Management
Definitely, I had faced lots of
problems regarding time as I was in
service. During the night I used to
study a lot. During holidays I tried to
study for more than 10 hours. The
average time to be devoted for
preparation throughout the year
should be 45 hours per day. I think I
was fulfilling that condition.
FOR MAINS
It is the toughest and most
important stage of CSE. The examiner
evaluates ones writing skills and
presentation styles. One should very
well distinguish between analytical
PD/August/2007/243 He conquers twice who conquers himself in victory.
and God.
determination. All my best wishes
and love for you. I want you to join
me to make our country a prosperous
nation free of poverty, unemploy-
ment and illiteracy with respect for
women, the aged and the
underprevileged.
PDThank you very much and
wishing you all the best for a bright
future.
BishnuThank you very much
sir, and wish all the best to PD for its
future endeavours.
Society in India and Social problems in
Indian Tradition and Social Change in
Brilliants Mains Materials, Chronicle
mains guide on Sociology (Q & A)
and factual questions, as they need
separate answers. The important
points should be kept in mind
through some notes. One should
follow time management and word
limit. One should leave the question
unattempted whose answer he/she
does not know. Never try to bluff.
Main exam requires intensive
preparations.
Study Sources for General
Studies
Prelims
Two national dailies i.e., The Hindu and
Times of India and magazines like
Pratiyogita Darpan, Civil Services
Chronicle and Frontline.
Mains
Same as in Prelims.
Criterion for Subject Selection
Prelims I, took Sociology, as it
was a natural choice for me since I
have done B.A., M.A. and M.Phil in
that subject. I never thought of any
other subject than this.
Mains (1) Sociology was the
natural choice.
(2) I took Public Administration
as I had Political Science as my pass
subject during B.A. Moreover, I had
the perception that the knowledge of
Public Administration is very essen-
tial for a Civil Servant throughout his
career.
FOR ESSAY PAPER
I never prepared specifically on
selective essays as people do it.
Study Sources for Optional
Subjects (Prelims & Mains)
Sociology
Penguin Dictionary on Sociology, Socio-
logy by Horton and Hunt, Introduction
to Social Anthropology by Madan and
Majumdar, Brilliants Prelims materials,
Spectrums Guide on Sociology,
Manavendras guide on Sociology.
Mains OptionalI
Sociology
Sociology by T. B. Bottomore, Sociology
by Michael Haralambos, Sociological
Thought by Abraham and Morgan,
India by Ram Ahuja, Modernization of
India by Yogendra Singh, Caste and Its
20th Century Avatar by M. N. Srinivas,
Mains OptionalII
Public Administration
Public Administration by Rumki Basu,
Administrative Thinkers by Prasad and
Prasad, New Horizons on Public
Administration by Mohit Bhattacharya,
Indian Public Administration by Arora
and Goyal, Indian Administration by
Shriram Maheswari, Laxmikants PT
Guide, Materials of Synergy Coaching
Institute by M. K. Mohanty.
Everytime there is an essay of
sociological nature, i.e. modernisa-
tion, women, globalisation, education,
religion, poverty, etc. Being a student
of sociology I have no problem in
writing essay of this kind. This time I
wrote essay on Sustained Economic
Development because I wanted to
use my knowledge and experiences
of working in the Parliamentary
standing committee on science and
technology in the Parliament of India
for 20 months. And my M. Phil topic
of Tribal ecology and development
helped me a lot to write the essay.
FOR INTERVIEW
It would be better if we call it
personality test rather than interview.
It tests the overall aspects of
personality of the candidate, his
attitude, level of alertness, sensitivity
towards happenings in the society
and knowledge of the academics
he/she did and the state he belongs
to. I prepared on my bio-data (home
state, hobbies, education, etc), current
affairs, previous services etc.
P.Darpan