[Toppers Interview] Neha Nautiyal (AIR 185/CSE 2011) working professional cracks

UPSC and shares History Booklist and study tips

ptional Subject #1 and #2

Instead of reading many books I mainly relied on reading single book many times.

Public Administration

Paper I

Sharma and Sadana

Some topics from Mohit Bhattacharya
Thinkers from Prasad and Prasad
Notes of R.V. Varun Kumar (which I got from IO forum)

Paper II

Indian Administration from Arora And Goyal

Report of 2nd ARC
Selected topics from IIPA journals
Some topics from internet also.
Some of the topics for both papers from IGNOU notes.

History

Paper I

 Ancient India: D. N. Jha

 Romila Thapar
 Medieval India: By Satish Chandra (Both Parts)
 An atlas (Spectrum)
 IGNOU notes mainly for the pre historic period.

Paper II

For Modern India

1. India’s struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra

2. Modern India by Grover and Grover

For World History

1. From Jain and Mathur

IGNOU notes for selected topics

The major focus of History preparation was on society, Art and architecture, culture. This helped me in writing quality answers.

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Sociology preparation strategy for beginners
simplesum Civil Services Exam, Sociology April 19, 2019 3 Minutes

Hello everyone. This time I was able to fetch a descent score of 329 in sociology optional. Interestingly it turned out to be
highest marks in sociology optional this year. I got multiple request from those who are appearing in Civil Services
Examination 2020 or those who have only recently ventured into civil services preparation to write on how to prepare
Sociology optional. In this blog I’ll discuss the same.

First of all I congratulate you on taking Sociology as an optional. This optional offers several advantages which I have written
about in my telegram channel (link- https://t.me/sociologybyvishal ). Coming to strategy I suggest you do the following
steps:

Step 1: Start with class XI NCERT books of Sociology. Read it thoroughly and try to answer the questions asked at the end of
the chapters.

Step 2: To check your understanding of the above NCERT book you can try the questionnaire that I’ll post in the telegram
channel and attach a link here too.

Step 3: By now you should be familiar with some basic definition of terms used in Sociology. So it’s time to move to a source
to cover the prescribed syllabus of Sociology optional. In my case I used Tusharanshu Sharma Sir notes who was AIR 72 in
2014 and is now in Indian Foreign Services.

Step 4: Memorize well the notes mentioned above. It’s very important because you need content to write answers.

Step 5: To ensure your answer writing has appropriate keywords and terms I suggest selective reading of Orange book of
Sociology. That will bring an impression that you are a well read candidate. I’ll share which specific parts I read from this
book.

Step 5: As and when you end your one reading and memorizing of notes selected above start with previous year paper. You
can use any previous year solved paper available in the market for Sociology.

Step 6: Study the chapter-wise questions and try to either recollect or find their answers from the notes.

Step 7: Start practicing answer writing in complete format that is introduction, body and conclusion.

Step 8: After 2-3 iteration of answer writing and revising the materials used please make a very short notes which can be
easily revised before exams.

Voila your optional is complete.

FAQs:

1. Should I memorize or understand concepts? One should try to understand concepts as it will help in reducing the
amount of data you have to memorize. Also understanding will make sure you can give good example/case studies
from current affairs. But you have to be able to recollect appropriate phrases so that you can compose a good answer.
So please do not choose between memorizing and understanding concepts and go for a balance of both.
2. How to do current affairs for sociology? Once you have read the materials well and that too multiple times you’ll
gradually develop that talent to find sociology based current affairs. Have faith and do not rush. Rest I’ll train
candidates on Sociology current affairs on my telegram channel. So stay tuned.
3. Should I use any other materials than Tusharanshu Sir notes? Yes there is no problem in that. Only one thing you have
to ensure is that whatever sources you choose please see that if it covers the entire syllabus or not.
4. What about Nitin Sangwan sir book? Please forgive me but since I have’nt gone through this book I can’t review it here
in my blog. The rule remains the same. Any sources which covers the syllabus is alright.
5. Can you share the link for Tusharanshu Sir notes and class XI Sociology NCERT? yes its here-
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tPCbSLq1KzDPC2j5ssKBRKJ_novO2MKW?usp=sharing
6. Which previous year book should I use? Any one that you get in the market. But make sure it’s solved one as that’ll add
to your content.
 7. What should be the time frame of this entire exercise? It should take in total 3 months in which you should be able to
gain strong hold on the subject. Stay positive and determined in the process.
8. What about sociology for state examinations? For that I will suggest follow this same strategy. Just replace UPSC
syllabus and previous year papers with respective State Examination Syllabus and previous year papers.
9. Should I take coaching? It’s a personal call. Honestly if you have problem in understanding any concepts you can start
with YouTube. At the end it’s your call. I did with slef-study only.

I’ll add other FAQs based on the queries I get either in the comment sections or elsewhere.