What is Meditation? Why I Meditate? How to Meditate?

Since time beyond my memory, my father has been associated with a spiritual organisation. I remember  seeing him attending spiritual discourses on every Sunday. Spiritual discourses are called Satsang in common language but I refrained using the common term as it might have irked many of the youngsters like it used to irk me when my father would ask me to come along with him for a Satsang Spiritual Discourse. Every now and then I used to find every possible excuse to avoid boredom of a Satsang. Excuses Excuses and another excuse and one more excuse and again some other excuse.

My first encounter with the idea of meditation began with a greed. Greed to improve & greed to excel. 

The Week That Was

This post is entirely dedicated for 'Control The Week - Nhi Hoga Freak' pillar of my UPSC framework.

'Control The Week - Nhi Hoga Freak' is mainly designed to achieve target setting, giving direction to studies as well as taking a weekly follow up which is the least cared about step by people making targets & goals. Without follow up, one never realizes his mistakes timely and forget about correcting them.

Here, I will document each & every week within this post itself.

WEEK 17  - 10 August to 16 August

• ECONOMY   ( Ques of the week : What is meditation, Why I meditate, & How to meditate)
• Following Chapters
  

  Date	Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  10 Aug	Mon	For the Week Land Reforms, Industry, Forex, WTO Indian Geography (2 days)  + Geomorphology (3 days)
  11 aug	Tue
  12	Wed
  13	Thu
  14	Fri

  15 Aug      Sat               Revision of Week (Static + Current)
• Test & Noting Mains Topic 
• 1 country IR & Int Org

                    16 Aug    SUN            CA of June - monthly booklet

 

• Revision
• 1 hr - first thing in morning - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• doing daily disturbs static base - which you missed in past as well. So, less attention to CA - just cover in one day on weekend. --- not working coz bored of doing back to back CA
• TEST
• PTS-02 of Economics (Basic) & PTS-14 (Agriculture & Economic Reforms ques)

Actual Results                

Date	Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
10 Aug	Mon
11	Tue
12	Wed
13	Thu
14	Fri
15	SAT
16	SUN

Eliminate These Mistakes

1. Taking target leniently. Kal - kons kal- kab aaega wo.
2. Not disciplining on same routine.             

WEEK 17  - 27 July to  02 August

• ECONOMY   ( Ques of the week : What is meditation, Why I meditate, & How to meditate)
• Following Chapters
  

  Date	Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  27 July	Mon	1) Land Reforms 2) Endogenic , Mountain 3) CA Mon Print & News
  28 July	Tue	1) Land reforms & Forex 2) Rocks & Rock Cycle, C M C 3) CA Tue Print & News
  29	Wed	1) Investment Models 2) Plate Tectonics 3) CA Wed Print & Newspaper
  30	Thu	1) Industry & Inflation 2) Exogenic Processes 3) CA Thu Print & Newspaper
  31	Fri	1) Industry 2) Exogenic Processes 3) CA Fri print & Newspaper

  1 Aug      Sat               Revision of Week (Static + Current)
• Test & Noting Mains Topic 
• 1 country IR & Int Org

                    02 Aug    SUN            CA of June - monthly booklet

 

• Revision
• 1 hr - first thing in morning - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• doing daily disturbs static base - which you missed in past as well. So, less attention to CA - just cover in one day on weekend. --- not working coz bored of doing back to back CA
• TEST
• PTS-02 of Economics (Basic) & PTS-14 (Agriculture & Economic Reforms ques)

Actual Results                

Date	Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
27 July	Mon
28	Tue
29	Wed
30	Thu
31	Fri
01 Aug	SAT
02 Aug	SUN

Eliminate These Mistakes

1. Taking target leniently. Kal - kons kal- kab aaega wo.
2. Not disciplining on same routine.             

WEEK 16  - 20 July to 26 July

• ECONOMY
• Following Chapters
  

  Date	Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  20 July	Mon	Blank
  21	Tue - Fri	4 Chapters of Eco + Geomorphology
  	4 days
  26	SUN	Weekly Test Monthly Booklet //// CA of Previous Week

• Revision
• 1 hr - first thing in morning - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• doing daily disturbs static base - which you missed in past as well. So, less attention to CA - just cover in one day on weekend. --- not working coz bored of doing back to back CA
• TEST
• PTS-02 of Economics (Basic) & PTS-14 (Agriculture & Economic Reforms ques)

Actual Results                

Date	Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
22 June	Mon
23 June	Tue
24 June	Wed
25 June	Thu
26 June	Fri
27 June	Sat
28 June	Sun

Eliminate These Mistakes

• Being lenient with Target & tired after evry topic.
• Improve on sitting capacity. 4 hrs sitting mode use.

WEEK 12  - 23 June to 28 June

• ECONOMY
• Following Chapters
  

  Date	Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  22 June	Mon	Blank
  23 June	Tue	2) Agriculture
  24 June	Wed	3) Investment Models 4) Industry; 5) Infrastructure
  25 June	Thu	6) Indian economy & planning 7) Economic Reforms in India
  26 June	Fri	8) Money &  Banking
  27 June	SAT	7 Days of CA + Blog planning topic
  28 June	SUN	Weekly Test Monthly Booklet //// CA of Previous Week

• Revision
• 1 hr - first thing in morning - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• doing daily disturbs static base - which you missed in past as well. So, less attention to CA - just cover in one day on weekend.
• TEST
• PTS-02 of Economics (Basic) & PTS-14 (Agriculture & Economic Reforms ques)

Actual Results                

Date	Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
22 June	Mon
23 June	Tue
24 June	Wed
25 June	Thu
26 June	Fri
27 June	Sat
28 June	Sun

Eliminate These Mistakes

• Playing cricket everyday - do you want to become a cricketer or an IFS Officer.
• Playing Chess games one after another - it's an addiction just like Snooker.
• Being lenient with Target & tired after evry topic.
• Improve on sitting capacity. 4 hrs sitting mode use.

WEEK 11  - 15 June to 21 June

• ECONOMY
• Following Chapters
  

  Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  Mon	1) Industry; CA video (own quick note)
  Tue	2) Investment Models 3) Infrastructure
  Wed	4) International economics 5) WTO
  Thu	6) Indian economy & planning 7) Economic Reforms in India
  Fri	8) Money &  Banking
  SAT	7 Days of CA + Blog planning topic
  SUN	Weekly Test Monthly Booklet Own CA Doc Revision Foreign Relation Noting Noting for essay from CA Remaining free time = Blog	3 hrs 2 hrs 1 hr 2 hrs 1 hr

• Revision
• 1 hr - first thing in morning - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• doing daily disturbs static base - which you missed in past as well. So, less attention to CA - just cover in one day on weekend.
• TEST
• PTS-02 of Economics (Basic) & PTS-14 (Agriculture & Economic Reforms ques)

• Actual Results                

Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
Mon	60%	Exit Policy, Labour reforms	improve on sitting capacity & long breaks
Tue	40%	IBC etc	Did well on routine thing & showing strength. Need to improve on sitting to finish it.
Wed		International Economics	Felt very sleppy during & slept for 3 hrs; Did revision very well. Controlled cricket & family fun syndrome.
Sat		Nothing	Bua Ji Passed Away early morning - whole day spent in taking care of papa.
Sun		International Yoga Day	Day started with Yoga & learnt editing a video but later part went again in tensions  related to Bua's sad demise.
Mon		Planned to finish CA of the week

• Eliminate These Mistakes

• Playing cricket everyday - do you want to become a cricketer or an IFS Officer.
• Playing Chess games one after another - it's an addiction just like Snooker.
• Being lenient with Target & getting tired after one topic.

WEEK 10  - 9 June to 14 June

• ECONOMY
• Following Chapters
  

  Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  Tue	Industry
  Wed	Planning Economic reforms in India
  Thu	Investment Models
  Fri	Agriculture
  Sat	NIA
  SUN

• Revision
• 1 hr - first thing in morning - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• print, watch & minimize method - try in 1.5 hr thing   --- post yoga
• TEST
• PTS-02 of Economics (Basic) & PTS-14 (Agriculture & Economic Reforms ques)

• Actual Results                

Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
Mon	60%
Tue	40%
Wed

• Eliminate These Mistakes
• Playing cricket everyday - do you want to become a cricketer or an IFS Officer.
• Playing Chess games one after another - it's an addiction just like Snooker.

WEEK 8  - 27 May to 31 May

• POLITY & GEOGRAPHY
• Following Chapters
  

  Day	Time	Chapter
  Wednesday	upto 12 pm	President Chapter
  	post lunch	FR
  Thursday		Centre- State, Inter State,  Parliamentary System. Federal System
  Friday	upto 12pm	Geography - notes of videos
  	post lunch	Parliament
  Saturday	upto 12 pm	Geography - videos of air masses
  		Parliament, Citizenship

  
  
• Revision
• 1/2 hr before sleeping - active recall on paper  ----- not done
• 1/2 hr after breakfast - active recall on paper --- done 
• Current Affairs
• print, watch & minimize method - try in 1.5 hr thing ---- tried on sunday -- took 2 hrs +

• Actual Results                

Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
Wed	30%	just 80% of Prez Chapter	low focus & concentration due to less sleep & 4 am rising
Thu	10%	Geo Air Masses etc	Bhai Bhabhi came after 3 months- so & again late sleep ,, hence active only during early hrs
Fri	10 %	Early hrs Prez Notes	low focus & sleepyness -- Ashwagandha effect probably
Sat	0%	nothing	Full day slept & moodyness - Ashwagandha effect probably
SUN	No set Target	Geo Climatology consolidation, Blog Week Review, Strategy work, CA Print CNA done	Slept Properly, Ashwagandha tiny qty - did not felt brain fog during 10 - 2.

• Eliminate These Mistakes
• Yoga routine only for 1 hr - don't extend - few asanas are enough for active energy.
• SLEEP on time - minimum 6.5 to 7 hrs of sleep time must at night
• Revise post dinner.
• Don't experiment every now & then with different things on your body - whatever works & provide stability to system is good enough to let you focus on prime item i.e studying
• TEST lgao Warna Bhul Jao -- atleast once a week on topics you studied.
• Put a daily work review on blog before you sleep.

WEEK 9  - 1 June to 7 June

• POLITY & GEOGRAPHY
• Following Chapters
  

  Day	Topics	Pages	Speed
  Mon
  Tue
  Wed
  Thu
  Fri
  Sat

• Revision
• 1/2 hr before sleeping - active recall on paper 
• 1/2 hr during breakfast - active recall on paper  
• Current Affairs
• print, watch & minimize method - try in 1.5 hr thing   --- do it post lunch

• Actual Results                

Day	Target achieved %	Actual Output	Reasons + or -
Mon	0	Just CA	slept, perhaps due to ashwagandha effect, then watched videos on phone ---- keep it simple, don't experiment with lifestyle

• Eliminate These Mistakes
• Yoga routine only for 1 hr - don't extend - few asanas are enough for active energy.
• SLEEP on time - minimum 6.5 to 7 hrs of sleep time must at night
• Revise post dinner.
• Don't experiment every now & then with different things on your body - whatever works & provide stability to system is good enough to let you focus on prime item i.e studying
• TEST lgao Warna Bhul Jao -- atleast once a week on topics you studied.
• Put a daily work review on blog before you sleep.
• Less Chess

Drawing Board

Fundamentals of Life

One may not be able to hit a six in a cricket ground, but if one takes care of these 6 fundamentals - he may hit a six in life's play.

1) Nutrition 

2) Body : Yoga, Evening Workout & Suryanamaskar; Hygiene & Cleanliness

3) Mind : Pranayama, Meditation & Enquiry; Cleanliness; Not doing 2 things at same time

4) Money : Multiple Sources

5) Professional Excellence: Knowledge + Revision + Application & Networking

6) Personal Relations

        Note your key experiences & learning of what works for you and what doesn't, here only under 6 headings

Does education truly empowers you?

We all have, not once but multiple times, come across this quote - "Education is empowerment."

Last week this quote caught my attention. Does it really hold true? Does education alone can empower us? Is this the only ingredient powerful enough to empower? Is an uneducated farmer not empowered for life? What about
And many more questions followed.

To truly enquire this, first we have to define 'Empowerment'.




Physical Health

Mental Health

Money/ Wealth

Skill/ Knowledge/ Education/ Literacy

Source: Oxbridgeacademy.edu

Koi Guide Kr Do Yaar?

14th April 2020

When you jump into the UPSC preparation, soon you realise that this is the 6th Ocean of our Planet Earth. The other 5, for which there's this mnemonic PAISA, do have a limit. But this one is endless or atleast appears to be so. And you will be sailing around here & there for long, untill someone shows you the path.

In 2018, Indian Navy's Women Officers circumvented the the globe on INSV Tarini in 254 days under Navika Sagar Parikarma. Their feat was celebrated widely throughout India. So, if they can carve out their path in those massive real oceans, why can't we? But they didn't just embarked on their journey and steered their ship all around randomly. There was a plan and most importantly there was guidance. Captain Dilip Dhonde, India's first solo circumnavigator trained them. You see a guide may not walk the path for you, but can prepare you what you are most likely to come across on that path.

Now, we know the importance of guidance but unfortunately we all may not know the right person to guide us. Though there's abundant guidance on Youtube and other mediums, but that provides only a broad understanding of approaching the exam. No doubt, they are highly useful and even tells you the exact way but misses on details. Details - that you might have talked to a friend/college senior/relative cum UPSC topper. Details - that you might have tackled on time and saved a lot of your effort.


Nevertheless, no need to worry. Perhaps the wind is not entirely in our favour but we can adjust the sail. Some guidance from Youtube videos and some inputs from our own stumbles - we will create a new recipe for acing this exam. Instead of asking - 'Koi Guide Kr Do Yaar?', there's a more beautiful way of doing it. There's more joy in learning the craft than having born with it. It will not just help us get past this challenge but will prepare us for many more to come. I have this poster on my room's door, which says it all.

Affirming to this beautiful thought, I am here trying to create a system where all my mistakes, learning and their follow up can be documented and tracked at one place.
This one blog will be edited and reviewed, time and again to minimize mistakes and do only what is needed for this exam.


So, I will be dividing the entire framework in some broad points.

• Past Mistakes - Learnings - Corrections
• Subha Shaam nhi krni UPSC k Naam - SMART Daily Timetable
• Control the week - nhi hoga freak
• Resources, Approaching Them & note taking
• Revision Kro Ya fir End me Mro
• Test Lgao Warna Bhul Jao
• Jo tu LIKHTA h wo hi DIKHTA h

25/03/2020 - India under Lockdown - a time to introspect

You know what's common between 8 November 2016 and 24 March 2020? Don't tell me both are leap years and even the dates are perfectly divisible by 4. So, both these days, Modi Ji came live at 8 pm to address the nation and banned something.

First time he banned notes to fight the virus of black money (a experiment that failed as well as succeeded - different people, different opinion - based on the news channel they follow 😉).That time we weren't ready and he caught us out of the blue. The respite came when I asked my father about the cash at home, and he, with a super tensed face, blurted just a 5 digit number (thanks to the ever sinking business since last 6-7 yrs and some major help from shrewd backstabbing by relatives and a father lenient enough to not raise his voice against their wrongdoings - a case with most middle class joint family businesses). 

However the next time, I had my shoes ON, all family gold collected at one place, all Rs 2000 notes ready to be deposited in bank, my cousin ready with motorbike's ignition ON and my father been given a blood pressure tablet in advance. Unsurprisingly, this time he banned the movement of people outside their homes to fight the Chinese virus (Donald Trump giving me a high five on that) - Covid 19. A decision taken precisely at the right time. The sad part being what about the daily bread earners and the happy part being I declared it a day before itself that India will go under lockdown till 15 April. Yes ! my great prophecy came true and  I boasted about my words coming true the entire next day. When you are preparing for UPSC, you have to cherish even the tiny wins.

All that I am telling you above has little to do with the main thing I have to discuss, and that's a lesson in Essay Writing - stick to the topic instead of writing unnecessary details like I did above. 

Now, let me quickly narrate the timeline & come to the point. Three events are worth mentioning.
1st - On 22 March 2020 - PM Modi asked countrymen to observe Janta Curfew - for the people, by the people. By evening, lockdown was imposed in many states and several districts. Two days  later, we have India under lockdown for next 21 days i.e till 14 April 2020 (which I predict will be extended even further and again Nishant you are getting off the point man. But it's so much fun to tell all what's going in your head).

2nd - Earlier this March, my health deteriorated. Doctor suspected me of getting infected with Swine Flu and recommended to get it tested. You know what's the Pvt cost for a H1N1 test? Somewhere between 4500-6000 bucks. So, me and my father went to the city's Govt Medical Hospital instead. You know what's the cost there? A coin of one rupees plus a lot of frustration and time to find the right building plus reluctance of employees to give satisfactory answers. In some other post, we will discuss solutions to this grim situation of government hospitals. But they really are a vital healthcare support system to the not so privileged. Thankfully, reports were negative but the fever and cough continued till March end.

3rd - Last month, I unintentionally attended a seminar of BYJU's IAS and again unintentionally gave a scholarship test there and again unintentionally got a scholarship for their Tablet Program. Hurrayyy!! Now, taking classes was not at all on my cards from the beginning of my preparation. But their mentorship guidance was what I found interesting. It's been about a year now I am into preparation and the biggest realization is that guidance is very crucial for this exam or else you will keep running here and there. I asked them if I can just get the mentorship for tests and answer writing as I already have read my books. I was in no need of Tablet Classes and the additional books. They told me it's a complete package. I didn't mind as mentorship plus test series at such low cost (thanks to the high scholarship) was lucrative enough to me. Anyways I had to buy Test series. So I opted for their program as plan was to begin practicing Mock Tests by end of April.There books, tablet & mentorship support was received by me in beginning of March. Kept most of the books packed - no point proliferating the sources now.   


Resting time due to health coupled with lockdown gave me a lot of time for introspection. I also wrote a few things here & there. All this made me realise that I am more happy when I express more. As they say - 'Work not to impress, but to express.' So I decided to keep posting a blog on every Sunday where I will write about - my quantifiable Target for the week; what documentary I watched; what books(non-upsc) I read; my mistakes during the week & so on. This I believe will help me track my progress and also limit my mistakes made till date. And you never know, on becoming an IFS Officer, all these chronicles may take shape of my first book amongst many that I will write in future.

Also, overtime, I will learn how to write more creative & attractive blogs.

So, let's end it here. Next blog will be on mistakes done till now & the action plan to ace this exam.