Mangoes or Prelims ?

It's that time of the year when people who  have taken to recluse venture out for a day out to bubble a 100 (*2)  times on the neatly ironed and presented OMR . Yes it's the season not of just mangoes but also of UPSC Prelims . 

There are many factors beyond one's control in Prelims .

When I was taking the Exam , after solving around 25 questions , I had applied a lot of mind and I was happy and comfortable . I usually solve the paper in three or four rounds . Round 1 - Absolute sure ones , Round 2 - 50/50 etc .This paper ( UPSC 2019 ) was excruciatingly time taking .

I checked time and I had consumed 25 minutes already . On extrapolation it would mean 100 minutes for 100 questions and 20 minutes for bubbling which means second round of reviewing questions doesn't exist anymore .

I went into a dilemma if I must increase my speed or continue with the flow . Paper was lengthy but at the same time I was happy with the way I marked and came at conclusion on what's the right answer.

At this point there began  a  loud noise of  band music from outside ( My centre was in the middle of the city - Bangalore) , a small PU college surrounded by busy streets ( A perfect example of what an examination centre must not be )  and simultaneously two women from adjacent buildings started their loud gossip while washing clothes  ( That's their daily chore while we were the intruders this time ).  I got nervous for a few minutes , I lost focus and the noise subsided only when I reached the 40 th question .

This paper needed high focus but with that kind of noise and disturbed, agitated mind , I thought Game Over - Khallas . But I regained my composure back and carried on and fortunately after around 15 minutes ,things came to normal .

The ladies continued but by now my brain differentiated their noise and filtered it out for me ..

I continued my Paper and I couldn't come back for Round 2 . There was no Round 2 .I had just 20 minutes to Bubble and I panicked a bit and was bubbling , my hands were shivering as I am a slow Bubbler ( Apart from being a slow Witer ) .

That's how I marked all of the 100 questions .

I found my name in the Mains Eligible list but missed IFoS Cut Off.

This time I was sure I would clear CSE Pre and was in border for Ifos Pre.

Probably I lost 5 to 8 marks due to the noise and missed IFoS cut off and I had got 22 of first 25 Questions right this time !

My learnings :

There are many factors around Pre , anything may happen. Thing is we must not lose our cool . This is really really important .

I was overall in a surprisingly relaxed mood before Pre, this helped me sail easily .

Edit : And I haven't included Invigilators' Speech Orgy and an aspirant who was shouting all the time asking for help from invigilator , as to how to fill OMR etc (I Guess he wasn't that mentally sound ) and at one point I felt like telling the invigilator to call UPSC and get that person out as he was disturbing the whole class . She didn't handle him well and attended all his queries . He didn't even possess a pen .Two or  three aspirants in my class told invigilator in a loud manner , to ignore the person . There will be many people like this irritating you in the real exam scenario and you can't do anything about it.

The afternoon paper  invigilator scolded him and he behaved as he should .She handled him well .

Because of all the above distraction , one may lose 5 to 10 marks and the whole game changes ( Mostly because if things not under your control ) . In my case I believe I missed Ifos Cut off because of this .

The main takeaway thus is that the Exam is highly highly Uncertain . Don't make it a question of Life and death . Develop other skills which you can monetise . Stay healthy . Stay Happy .

If life doesn't give you UPSC , enjoy the Mangoes Instead . 

Go Corona Go

While the emotional mind says " Let's panic like never before " , the Logical mind agrees and searches for some space to rest in the Home of Minds .

Today , As I see  , although the number of   people  inflicted with Corona overall has crossed 5 K and apparently the number of cases detected doubles every 4 days . It doesn't mean case count shall reach 10 K in another 4 days or 20 K in the next 4 .

This is primarily because we are now under Lockdown and the ability of disease to transmit has been curbed severely .

The number of people who were inflicted with the  virus during pre Curfew period are now showing symptoms and are part of 5 K odd count .

This number shall peak in the next week and after that there shall be a gradual decrease in count .

The graph of Case count which initially loved ascendance , shall flatten out and learn to descend as new cases stop coming in and recovered cases increase.

We may need another 45 days of strict lockdown  before we allow public movement .

This is when the logical mind has to take over and foresee what path we must now take in a post Corona situation .

So is Corona gonna be the be all Virus , Certainly not . If it's a Virus , it loves mutation .

Just like ethical hacking where we discover ways to hack the system just to find a loophole and then fix it , we must ethically try and devise the most virulent of virus or atleast theorise it using Artificial Intelligence  so that when such form of virus actually emerges , we are ready with a solution /medicine /vaccine.

Venice has changed from a sewage city to one loved by dolphins ( So are Himalayas visible from Jallandhar !! )
The air is cleaner   and the due respect that environment deserves must be provided post Corona too  and International Environmental  agreements are not junk ofcourse .

Bonding amongst family has increased and there is a happy break from things we thought or was projected as   important.
Probably we would appreciate nature , hills , play and sport more .


The governments around the world and their incompetencies have been exposed .

South Korea could test its entire population for Corona but we couldn't . If we imagine each Indian district as a nation , then each of these districts must have the ability to deal with such pandemics independently. By that I mean testing kits .

They must be self sufficient .

Free healthy food outlets must have  cropped  up in each nook and corner and must precede declaration of Curfew .

Hunger is a far greater disease than Corona . But hunger is a poor man's disease unlike Corona which affects the rich aswell. We can very well say Corona is a socialist disease .

We need our Police to be more humane rather than  just swing their lathi at free will . People have needs.  People are hungry People need water . People are poor . People are homeless .

Lest these homeless be beaten up by some rogue policemen .

Lighting of Lamps doesn't drive Corona away but it does strengthen community bonding and is a psychological solace .

At the end of it all , one must urge our representatives /politicians to spend atleast 5 times more than what's being spent now on education  and thus also research .

People are slowly being retrenched from Jobs , Unemployment gazes at the populace . People living hand to mouth are frozen , some my have to look at PDS ( Ration ki dukaan ) . Businesses without cash may close down.

This is the right time for government to first issue an order that there be no retrenchment for the next 6 months . A minimum salary of 20 K in the organised sector must be mandated and 50 % of the salary must be compensated by government  for  salary component above  20 K . The government must pay for 25 % of expenditure of all companies for the next 6 months . UBI ( Universal basic income ) must come into force and each family in unorganised sector must receive a minimum of 15 K INR.

Now people would ask what about inflation ?

Is it better to buy an apple costing 100 Rs for 300 or not have any money at all ( Applies to the most vulnerable ) .Inflation is fine when a pandemic like Corona tries to beat us down badly such that we never rise back again . Government must use its last resort of printing Currency .

Corona for a few of us  atleast has  made us realise who our real friends are at tough times and who aren't .

Whilst we all hope to see the sun from the tropics and greet each other in the real world and not just from screens  , we do atleast sometimes in our heart whisper or shout          " Go Corona Go " .