I do not find myself to be the competent authority to guide anyone regarding preparation for GS. My score in GS has not been good enough to inspire anyone. Lets see them 202(2009), 229(2010), 250(2011). But the silver lining is that its constantly increasing!
Having said that, I must confess that I kept on changing the strategy, study pattern and material throughout, as 4 years’ span is long enough to be confused.
It will be naïve if I say that all the material which I glanced should be regarded as “serious study”. I read and referred much while retained very less. So lets divide the list in two broad sections viz. “Core n Peripheral”.
The “Core (C)” was revised repeatedly n was almost learnt by heart. The “Peripheral (P) ” was read n revised if time permitted. Hereafter I will be writing (C) for the CORE to indicate the importance attached by me, for revision purposes.
I have never studied GS for Prelims separately, only revision was based on that. So its an Integrated Approch I m putting here, for both pre and mains.
Before we discuss it section wise, lets be clear that
* I joined ALS for GS and followed their study material and class notes for every section, if not stated otherwise explicitly. (C)
*studied lots of NCERTs, both new and old, even wasted my valuable time in reading some. Still I rate them the best to install solid foundation of the citadel. Its not possible to name them, the list of NCERTs provided by ALS is well thouhgt of. Please refer to it. I dnt have it right now.
Now lets do it section wise-
Indian Polity-
*Started with not less than DD Basu. When I was in third yr of my engg. Then Subhash Kashyap by NBT.
*Then “Perspectives On Indian Constitution” edited by Subhash Kashyap.
*Indian Constitution At Work (NCERT Class XI textbook in political science, newer syllabus)
*Politics in India since Independence( NCERT Class XII textbook in political science, newer syllabus)
*Democracy in India: Issues and Challenges (NCERT Class XIIth textbook in Political science, older syllabus)
*Democratic politics (NCERT Class Xth, newer syllabus)
*Finally I landed on Wizard Polity By Jojo Matthew n stuck to it till 4th may 2012. (C)
Modern History-
*Started with not less than Bipan Chandra’s moti wali book, The Struggle For Independence or Indian Freedom Struggule whatever the name be.
*But due to sea change in the pattern n declining importance of History in mains I landed over Spectrums Modern History by Rajiv Ahir (C). It’s a good book. Seems to be short but I failed to complete it till date!
*Its worth mentioning here, an NCERT by Bipan Chardra for class 12th is must read. (C)
Geography-
Wizard Geo by Jojo matthew is comprehensive (C). Khullar I referred here n there. Obviously apart from NCERTs.
Map is essential part. Be very thorough with both India n worlds Nadi-Pahaad-Naale (C). I had Orient Longmans atlas and a friend to help me… thanks to Raj Prakash Singh J
In my second attempt I read the magazine “Geography And You” and used the material thereafter where ever I found it suitable.
Indian Economy-
*It was the most difficult part of GS for me being an engineer. Relied wholly on ALS class notes by Arunesh Sir (C).
*Economic Survey n Budget Speech are important documents to substantiate n update (C).
*Indian Economy Special Issue by Pratiyogita Darpan is also well to go through, especially for prelims.
*For reference- Indian Economy by Mishra and Puri.
International affairs/ Bilateral Issues-
*Contemporary World Politics( Class XIIth NCERT)
International relations chapters in the book *Democracy in India: Issues and Challenges (NCERT Class XIIth textbook in Political Science, older syllabus)
*I found Frontlines World Affairs to be very useful, even for this mains it was very relevant. (C)
*I simply love following C. Rajamohan’s Blog. Plz do find associated scholars’ notes of Indian Foreign Policy Reseach Institute.
Science and Tech-
Wizard SnT by Jojo sir (C) Put together internet etc. I failed utterly to do justice with this section in all my 3 attempts. No gyan to be delivered on it.God save me!
Current affairs-
Newspapers-
The Hindu or Indian Express.
Magazines-
Let me admit at the very outset that I hate reading competition magazines except Toppers’ Interview Section which I used to read since the “Stone Age”…hehehe.
When I was in 6th standard, I used to buy Pratiyogita Darpan (Hindi wali) used to tear off the Toppers’ Interview Section. Put it secured in a file n throw out the rest of IRRELEVANT PART of magazine. Silsila dilli tak jaari raha ;)
*Jokes apart, Initially I used to read Yojana and Kurukshetra. Later on I stopped it due to paucity of time when I changed one of my optional.
*Competition Wizard we used to get free at ALS. Then Chronicle then PD for some time.
*I used to like “South Asia Politics” edited by Sh Subhash Kashyap n read it for almost one and half initial years.
*Apart from these, its important to brush up the material, u have studied throughout the year, right before the exam, for this material/ notes/ current affairs books by Vajiram and Ravi and Wizard (moti wali current affairs book) are very handy.
*You may yourself search on the book stalls @ Mukherjee nagar or Rajinder Nagar because its possible that a better publication is there this year!
To conclude, I think I have reproduced what all I did last four years for GS. At the same time my memory’s vulnerability is also to be appreciated. As and when I recall anything worthy I will surely update. Its also to be repeated time and again that there is NO ONE BEST WAY to get it done, its subjective and explanations vary considerably. I think its good enough to start with towards our cherished dream ie IAS. Go and get it!
With best wishes,
Swarochish Somavanshi,
AIR-49, CSE-2011.
