Modern Indian History
Book(s)
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1. Spectrum by Rajiv Ahir
2. Bipin Chandra old NCERT (one quick reading)
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Strategy
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Being a commerce student, history subject had its challenges for me. Sticking to one main source really helps. Reading Spectrum and revising it countless times was the key. With each subsequent revision, the time consumed must reduce with eventually coming down to revising the whole book in 1-2 days. Moreover, picking the right portions of the book to spend time on is very important. Hence, a good knowledge of the pattern of the previous years' questions is crucial.
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When it comes to making notes, I did not find making them out of Spectrum of much use as the book itself is written in a crisp and concise manner.
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Mock tests were a crucial part of my preparation of the subject. Revising the incorrectly marked questions time and again helps to revise random concepts. Any good test series can solve this purpose.
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Ancient, Medieval and Art & Culture
Book(s)
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1. R S Sharma - Ancient India old NCERT
2. Satish Chandra - Medieval India old NCERT
3. Fine Arts 11th standard NCERT
4. Tamil Nadu NCERT - Buddhism and Jainism chapters
5. Vajiram and Ravi Art and Culture Book - quick reading
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Strategy
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I was never comfortable with mastering the subjects of Ancient, Medieval and Art & Culture. So I decided to do the minimum possible in these areas. I thoroughly read the sources 1-4 mentioned above and made comprehensive offline notes (attached herewith). I used to complement them with the material provided in the Vajiram and Ravi Booklet. Subsequently, I did not refer to these books ever again and all my revisions were from the notes made initially.
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Making diagrams of temples, stupas, and other architecture in one's notes helps in remembering the key facts, and also making a rough sketch in the examination shows conceptual clarity and understanding.
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I know Nitin Singhania's Art and Culture is considered a must-read, but I haven't seen that book in person ever. Needless to say, if one feels comfortable with the subject, the book must be a definite read.
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Geography
Book(s)
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1. Certificate Physical and Human Geography - GC Leong
2. Principles of Geography - Class 11 old NCERT
3. India: Physical Environment - Class 11 NCERT
4. India People and Economy - Class 12 NCERT
5. Fundamentals of Human Geography - Class 12 NCERT
6. PMFIAS Website
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Strategy
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Understanding Geography, especially, Physical Geography is very important to do well in this subject. The above-mentioned sources, when complemented with Atlas and map reading serve as comprehensive ammunition to ace the subject. Only source 2 demands old NCERT. The others must necessarily be the latest editions for accurate facts and figures.
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For prelims, geography is concentrated on facts and figures. However, to solve the physical geography questions, conceptual clarity is important. The notes one makes for Mains GS-1 can be effectively used to revise topics for Prelims.
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Regular map reading is important — especially on areas which are in news in the past year — to have a thorough understanding of various seas, gulfs, straits, etc. and the countries/regions contiguous to them.
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Polity
Book(s)
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1. Indian Polity - M Laxmikanth
2. Monthly Insights Current Affairs Magazine
3. Vision IAS PT 365
4. PRS Website
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Strategy
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Polity as a subject is considered a scoring one by the majority of the aspirants. Hence, doing well in this specific domain becomes imperative. A thorough reading along with multiple revisions (I did more than 10 times) of Laxmikanth's Indian Polity is key. It covers almost all the static portion required for the Prelims. Reading Laxmikanth is also an art. Not all parts/chapters are equally important from the perspective of the Prelims examination. Being aware of the pattern of previous year questions is important to divide one's time proportionately.
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Polity is generally current affairs heavy and hence, keeping track of Constitutional/Legal happenings in the country is required. These can be comprehensively done from the sources 2-4 mentioned above.
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I did not make notes out of Laxmikanth's Indian Polity, even when a lot of aspirants do. I found the book too important for it to be reduced into notes. This is a call every individual should take.
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For topics of Governance and the like, a comprehensive reading of the Government Schemes Compilation of any institute and revising notes made for similar topics in Mains Examination should suffice.
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Economy and Social Develpoment
Book(s)
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1. Notes prepared for Mains
2. Sriram's IAS Economy Material (one quick reading)
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Strategy
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Being a Commerce and Economics student, I did not pay much attention to this area of the syllabus and hence, did not prepare it in a structured fashion. However, a quick reading of Sriram's IAS Economy material can do no harm.
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For topics of Social Development like Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, etc. the current affairs material should suffice. Keeping track of new reports being published by various national and international institutions and India's standing in those in important as each year, 1-2 questions are being asked from them. Maintaining an Excel sheet helps to prepare them in a crisp and concise manner.
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Environment, Climate Change and Biodiversity
Book(s)
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1. Shankar IAS - Environment
2. Vision IAS PT365
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Strategy
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The weightage of questions from the topics of Environment has been increasing in the Preliminary Examination for a few years now and so adequate focus is important. Shankar IAS' Environment can serve as a good base material. The book requires selective reading and multiple revisions.
Given the Current Affairs heavy nature of the subject, monthly magazines and Vision PT365 material was an important source for me to complement the static portion.
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I did not focus much on theoretical aspects of the subject like memorising lists of which animal falls under what category of the IUCN list but on conceptual aspects. Again, keeping track of the latest reports published by various national and international institutions becomes helpful.
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General Science
Book(s)
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1. Monthly Insights Current Affairs Compilation
2. Vision IAS PT365
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Strategy
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Against much-received advice, I did not go through the NCERTs of Science from classes 6-10. I simply did not find the time spent to value derived ratio to my advantage.
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Having seen the previous 6-8 year questions from this domain in the Prelims, I decided to focus only on the current affairs. The above-mentioned sources were my go-to material.
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CSAT - Paper II
Book(s)
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1. Previous Year Question Paper​
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Strategy
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I had no particular strategy for the CSAT paper. It is a paper of qualifying nature and the minimum marks required are 33% i.e., 66.67/200. I attempted the 2018 paper as a mock and scored 140+ and hence, did not practice for it.
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If any candidate faces difficulty in securing the minimum required marks, appropriate strategies of different toppers can be followed. However, it is important to keep in mind that CSAT should not receive more attention than it demands. Once you reach a safety score of 80+ in mocks, the focus should be on Paper I - General Studies.
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