By Manish Kumar AIR:5 Civil Services Exam 2004 exam whose final results were declared on 11th May, 2005.
The journey just begins…..a topper’s tale generally talks about the vital elements of winning strategies with an eye for self-kudos. Yet, this tale from me is more about failures and one spectacular success as someone rightly remarked that …failures are stepping-stones to the success.

First of all, I wish all the best to all people of mettle (even metal) who desires to be the part of great Indian Dream- to be a civil servant. This journey is wonderful and it is now a well known fact that after the experiences a person undergoes through this exam- the person is bound to do well in any walk of life-whether in India or in abroad or at both places.

I start with certain well devised strategy to follow in the mind:

• Any optional is scoring.
• UPSC- for every Nine Myths-. There is only one reality.
• The exam tests three C’s: Competence, Commitment and Character.
• Each of us who decides to take this exam has the first C i.e. Competence in abundance and during the process other two C’s develops.
• Conceptualize the requirements of this exam clearly because it is a traditional exam.
• This Exam is more about EQ i.e. Emotional quotient rather than just having the IQ i.e. Intelligence Quotient as some other exams are like CAT etc.
  Now, I suggest some Do’s and Don’t s to all of you to be one of successful candidates and in more effective manner-at lesser cost and time and going to service at relatively younger age.
  
  DO’S
  
  1. Every candidates must do his/her SWOT analysis i.e their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to honestly assess themselves.
  2. Focus more on conceptual clarity rather than trying to intellectualize the exam.
  3. Luck does play a role and it only comes into play after the hard work .e.g. someone may have cleared it in first attempt but that person may be focused about this exam from their childhood age and may have sincerely started to prepare after class 10th and 12th and would have got good guidance because of family upbringing and conscious modeling of their personality by their family and others.
  4. Focus on Syllabus and only Syllabus, rest will definitely follow.
  5. Pray to God or elders and that may be the catalytic factor in your success.
  6. Deep sense of conviction that you can definitely make the difference in the services may probably make a big positive difference between your performance and results.-OPTIMISM
  
  DON'Ts
  
  1. Choosing optional based on seasonal flavour that this year this optional has worked and so it should be the formulae.
  2. Making a bias that this exam is biased towards English medium or any other vernacular medium.
  3. You can carry the burden individually. Good books, right guidance and God’s grace also matters.
  4. Work in a Shallow manner that can only accentuate your difficulties.
  5. Reading simultaneously for prelims and Mains- Take one challenge at one time as requirements at each stage are different.
  6. Focusing in one or two areas in GS –it can be your Waterloo.
  UPSC is a great leveler, so without any doubt with some sense of innocence you can crack the exam with flying colours and about motivation-there is only one thing that count i.e SELF MOTIVATION.
  And last but not the least is the passing thought……
  Life is too short for those people who never waged a great battle for a worthy cause and too long to be bogged down by a single failure….. BON Voyage for Civil Services….
   
  MY DETAILS:
  
• 3rd Attempt
• Optionals: Economics and Management- Same optional in all attempt. Economics for Prelimns stage.
• Centre of Exam: Mumbai
• Marks details: The chart is given below
• Used Internet, Newspapers, Coaching and notes also.
• Weaknesses about which yet to find solution:
• Laziness and Interview-never able to crack it properly(about interview- I also attended the Indian Economic Service interview in Oct 2004 in same board- and the person(board Chairperson) knew me by face as the board was same. Therefore, similar marks-138 in Oct 2004 and 144 in April 2005 interviews, though performance in later one reasonably good.)
• A snapshots of my Marks across three years.
  

  Civil Services (Main) Examination			2004	2003	2002
  Subjects		Maximum Marks	Marks Obtained	Marks Obtained	Marks Obtained
  Essay Paper		200	110	125	110
  General Studies (Paper I)		300	171	156	165
  General Studies (Paper II)		300	213	125	163
  Optional I Economics (Paper I)		300	175	131	108
  Optional I Economics (Paper II)		300	184	179	173
  Optional II Management   (Paper-I)		300	178	157	154
  Optional II Management  (Paper-II)		300	178	195	163
  Penalty Marks		-	0	0	0
  Written Total		300	1209	1066	1036
  Interview Marks		300	144	126	170
  Final Total		2300	1353 R	1191 NR	1206 NR

  
  R: Recommended.; N R: Not Recommended NR: Recommended only in Second List.