With regard to my marks in the Prelims that year - I don't know.

I did read the NCERTs though, I wasn't a complete idiot.

Didn't know current affairs magazines existed.

Didn't know Laxmikanth and Spectrum existed.

To give you a clear picture of what my preparation level was at the time I had also assumed that having had a decent academic record up until then, this would be another one of those exams which I'd study for for just a few days before and sail through.

So my first attempt can be encompassed in these words - 'Try kar lete hai. I did not have a clear idea on what being a civil servant would mean or what they did day in and day out as part of their jobs. As with most people, I was very clear on what I did not want to do in life. I didn't have an inherent passion to be a civil servant and fix all of my country's problems. As hinted earlier, the decision to take the exam wasn't really my own. I was a reluctant and awfully arrogant candidate in my first attempt. My philosophy was more like - if I did something, I'd do it well. Ultimately, I didn't spend a lot of time finding the perfect strategy. During the time between prelims and mains, everyday would feel like I'm doing something wrong. Choosing to do one thing, meant choosing not to do other things. Choosing to write an essay test on a particular day would mean not being able to do my optional, or ethics, or GS, or Hindi. But it is true that I wasn't ever a 100% certain about the way I had chosen to prepare. What I'm trying to say is this - It's not as though I didn't know what I was doing AT ALL and somehow stumbled into the rank list.

What people generally call a strategy, is more often a highly-customised, loosely-held patchwork of hit-and-trials that ultimately worked out. As and when I update this page, I'll make sure to notify people on my channel (on telegram).

I won't be able to complete this page in one sitting. Then I halfheartedly began my UPSC journey with (and probably because of) ample doses of motivation and blackmail from my parents. I took two years off to figure out what I wanted to do in life. I completed my graduation in Zoology from Hindu College in 2014. Most of the anthropology pointers I'll be adding here will be a copy-paste of my posts from the channel. I've basically shared a few things on how to prepare/how to make notes etc. I've been running a telegram channel for Anthropology optional (t.me/everythinganthro). I'll be mentioning what all coaching and/or test series I've taken with short reviews at relevant places. This was my third attempt- 2016 (did not clear Prelims), 2018 (gave the interview but did not obtain a rank) and 2019 (rank 32). On selecting Anthropology as my optional subject

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