The UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam is regarded as one of India’s toughest competitive exams. Every year, hundreds of hopefuls put in a lot of effort in their preparation to get a coveted position in the prestigious public services of the country.The top four female competitors are Ishita Kishore, Garima Lohia, Uma Harathin N, and Smriti Mishra. Student from Buchar Garima Lohia, who came in second place in the fiercely tough Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) test 2022, has won the respect of Bihar. The AIR 2 and a final score of 1063 were awarded to Garima Lohia (roll no. 1506175). For further details about the Garima Lohia UPSC Topper 2023, read the post.
Garima Lohia strategy and approach for the essay paper
The essay paper in CSE Mains comprises two essays carrying 125 marks each.
This paper has the potential to decide your rank given the marks differential lying from 70s to 150s.
The changing pattern of the paper which is now shifting more towards writing philosophical/ inference driven/interpretation based essays on the one hand gives an upper edge to candidates to reflect their creative side and showcase their true personality, thoughts and vision . On the other hand it has become challenging for some candidates as well.
In the CS Mains 2022, I secured 131 marks in the essay paper .
I would like to share my approach and strategy for this paper.
Garima Lohia Resources for essay paper
UPSC essay papers 2017 onwards
Model solutions of any institute
Read topper essay copies of previous years like Vikram Grewal, Anudeep Durishetty sir
Collection of examples, anecdotes and quotes
Garima Lohia Approach for essay paper
I started breaking down any essay topic of the previous year in a 30 minute time frame. Instead of writing the full essay in the beginning I relied on deciding the structure and flow of the essay .
For instance,
2020 section b -There can be no social justice without economic prosperity but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless
Let’s try creating a structure for it –
We can start with an anecdote or a story like- in a big urban city there were a lot of sky high buildings and economic prosperity of a few sections of society was at its peak. Despite that, everything was not very happy because the news of robbery, strife, etc happened everyday making the environment tense.
This is what is also called social banditry
Here in this first para itself we have summarised the essence of the essay that no matter what is the level of economic prosperity , if there is inequality, lack of social justice it is all meaningless.
Then we can simply start with breaking down parts of the essay
What does economic prosperity mean ?
What does it actually mean
Comparisons to other countries
How economic prosperity is a prerequisite to social justice – the logic being the overall pie increases
In the later part of the essay talk about how economic prosperity is not enough. It needs to be accompanied with social justice, inclusion schemes.
In conclusion, we can link it back to the story of the city we started . how the scenario would change if people also think about social justice, there would be enough for everyone.
2022 CSM Section A Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence.
We can start with an anecdote which summarises what the topic is all about –
A bamboo plant remains as a small bud for around 3 years of its life and then suddenly blooms into a tall shoot.
Such is the effect of investment and capital formation in an economy.
The fruits of infrastructure development are not seen in the immediate future but over a long period of time .
What really is a case study ? Let’s understand.
Anything that provides us an analysis into what can be the outcome based on the inputs.
How similarly situated scenarios will plan out in the future .
Economic excellence- growth or development?
Are forests really the best case studies for economic excellence??
Now start with illustrations-
*) Tiny self sustaining forest fires are healthy for a forest ecosystem because it rejuvenates , gets rid of the pests
Similarly small shocks like the COVID pandemic for example forced industries to innovate – go online
*) Canopy in an evergreen forest is essential to ensure the harmony between multiple layers such that each layer get appropriate sunlight
Similarly MSME ecosystem needs to be such that it forms a larger value chain but what we face is DWARFISM
So can draw inferences from forests.
*) Excessive fluctuations in forests in terms of human intervention, or exploitation disturbs the balance of ecosystem
Similarly any excessive fluctuation in an economy in terms of currency rate volatility, govt regulations, monetary policy changes are also harmful
Key Takeaways for essay paper by Garima Lohia
Choice of the topic is very significant. So take sufficient time to decide. Decision of choosing an essay should be primarily based on how many ideas and dimensions can one think of on a cursory reading.
In the beginning start with brainstorming any essay in 20 mins maximum and creating a structure for it.
Read model solutions of the essays from any institute/ discuss with friends and seniors as to what would have been their approach to break down the essay. Also refer to Editorials and Op-ed articles to understand how an article is written with coherence and well roundedness.
Once you are comfortable with this exercise, practice writing essays in a time bound manner
Prefer sticking to the word limit. Short and crisp essays are anyday preferred over essays which are really long and not coherent. Do not write more than 1000 words even though UPSC prescribes a different limit.
Use examples, quotes and anecdotes liberally as long as they are relevant to your essays. For this, whenever you read model solutions keep collecting examples and quotes in a thematic fashion.
For instance, i had my set of value addition for the topic- WOMEN, ENVIRONMENT, POVERTY, VULNERABLE SECTIONS, DEMOCRACY, etc
Also try a question / answer format in your essays- like? What do you really understand by economic prosperity- let us try to explore in this essay.
Don’t write in excessively long paragraphs.
Always make sure that you don’t lose track of the topic while writing. Make sure every paragraph gives the essence of the essay, and ensure relevance is given priority. For example: In the essay, “Technology is the silent factor in International Relations”, it is very important to focus on the word “silent”.
Don’t make it too mechanical with lots of data, reports etc. instead make it very interesting using references to pop culture/ books/ recent events etc.
For essays, i only wrote 3 tests ( 6 essays ) between prelims and mains
Tried to write an essay on alternate sundays before prelims and practice structuring essays whenever possible.
I am uploading a few essay copies for your reference.
Gs 1- HOW DID Garima Lohia APPROACH THE PAPER ?
I scored a 104 in gs paper 1
GS 1 COMPRISES OF
10Q *10 MARKS EACH = 100
10Q*15 MARKS EACH = 150
TOTAL OF 250 MARKS
The sources that i mentioned here were the ones that i used as per the availability but they are not very rigid, can be substituted.
Now let us break down the entire syllabus into identifiable sub parts and tackle each one of them individually.
Indian Culture – Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
GS 1 Sources of Garima Lohia IAS
UPSC PYQ 2013 onwards ( to get a fair understanding of what are the type of questions and not miss out on any repeated questions )
Nitin Singhania sir’s book of art and culture. – only the chapters i did for prelims but more specifically the chapters on LITERATURE, DANCE, ARCHITECTURE, COINS, TRAVELLERS, BHAKTI AND SUFI ( i am attaching my notes i made out of the book for pre and mains here itself on the channel)
Referred to notes of Vision ias for the architecture part which included ample diagrams. ( have included those as well in my hand made notes )
How Garima Lohia prepared GS 1?
Once i was done reading the basic material for ancient and medieval
(I referred to RS Sharma for ancient and complemented it with ONLY IAS PDF and Satish Chandra (very selectively) for the medieval portion) then it becomes easier and more coherent to understand the art and culture part of it.
I went through the important chapters of Nitin Singhania and made notes out of it. Since it’s a bulky book it becomes difficult to revise again and again.
Practised diagrams like stupa, Temples, Coins.
Practised pyq
2) Modern Indian History from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
Sources
Spectrum, pyq, test series
How to prepare
went through spectrum once and then took tests.
Did PYQ
This is one part which we tend to do really well for prelims so it doesn’t take a lot of time to quickly revise Spectrum once more for the mains.
This time I focussed less on the facts and more on the analysis and understanding.
I also made sure to use quotes given in the book itself.
I am attaching a list of quotes I had selected out of the book.
3) Post-independence Consolidation and Reorganization within the country.
Sources
Vision IAS notes for post independence
Pradhanmantri series( watched it only because found it interesting )
Approach
After analysis of pyq. I found out that a maximum of 2 questions were being asked from this section so tried not to devote a lot of time
How to prepare
went through notes available for post independence. Practised PYQ. I believe not more than 2 days shall be given to this portion.
4)History of the World will include events from 18th century such as Industrial Revolution, world wars, Redrawal of National Boundaries, Colonization, Decolonization, political philosophies like Communism, Capitalism, Socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
sources
Vision ias notes
Approach
Not more than 1 question being asked that too not every year so though the cost benefit was poor, I found this portion interesting and a lot of content could be used in essays and ethics. So I did this part thoroughly. Yet a maximum of 4 days should suffice
How i prepared
went through each word of the syllabus, practice pyq, test series
5) Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Role of Women and Women’s Organization, Population and Associated Issues, Poverty and Developmental issues, Urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
Effects of Globalization on Indian society.
Social Empowerment, Communalism, Regionalism & Secularism.
sources
Vision ias material
Quotes, newspaper articles,data and reports collected
MAINS 365 society- SOCIAL ISSUES
Dipin Damodran Sir’s current affairs classes
(i had taken his course but mains 365 also equally covers the current affairs )
Approach
This was one part of the GS 1 syllabus that I took a lot of interest in. so apart from doing the basic notes i supplemented it with a lot of newspaper articles, quotes, reports, indices, data.
Used to keep revising it so that i could write a really interesting answer
How i prepared
Apart from this, i practised pyq and wrote tests
6) Salient features of World’s Physical Geography.
Sources – PMF IAS GEOGRAPHY
Distribution of Key Natural Resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
A cursory reading of economic geography part of pmf ias but only to identify the pattern of distribution of resources, such that rubber would be found in tropical climate etc.
Made sure that I drew a world map in such questions and label the map.
Did pyq and tests
Important Geophysical Phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
For this part again did the relevant reading from pmf ias , Supplemented these answers with environment mains 365 content
Pyq and tests as usual
Overall approach to attempt the GS 1 paper by Garima Lohia
In the initial minutes given to read the paper, i started with Question 11 ( 15 marker) and tried to frame its answer in 2 mins
Did the same for at least 2 more questions.
As soon as the time to start writing began i jumped to writing the answers to Q11, 12, 13 which i had thought how to attempt and tried to write really good answers taking 11 minutes each.
Then with the same 11 minute rule, would attempt Q14- Q 20 (11MIN *10 questions= 110 MINS )
I used a digital timer watch to make sure i am precise with the timings, however if i exceeded the time limit in 1 or 2 question by 1 minute or two, i didn’t panic,
But make sure to stick to the 11 minute rule.
By the end of 1 hour 45/50 mins your 15 markers should be done,
Now i started with q1 – q10 giving 7 minute each (10 questions *7 min= 70 mins
So the plan was to finish the paper exactly on time
And this comes with a lot of practice
Initially when i started to write full length tests, i could finish 13-14 questions
But it went on increasing till the day of mains examination.
How to attempt a question you have no clue about ? – try covering that aspect of the question you know something about, give any recent context regarding the same, and in the end after you have written 1 page, move ahead, leave the question instead of writing things that do not make sense, save 4 minutes there and use it to write some other answer.
Tried to use simple diagrams in GS1 especially culture, geography, and society.
Tried to make answers solution oriented, in the end write a WAY FORWARD after giving this heading
Wrote at least 3 points
This wasn’t my conclusion. After this i also wrote a 2 line conclusion in para format.
I am also attaching tests of gs 1 that i wrote.
Garima Lohia Biography
Garima Lohia was up in a business family and is a native of Buxar, Bihar. She likes listening to podcasts about self-improvement. Garima studied in Kirori Mal College of Delhi University, where she graduated with a degree in accounting in 2020 and earned the second place in the UPSC CSE 2022. She, unfortunately, failed this crucial test on her first attempt. Additionally, in her second attempt at the 2022 UPSC exam, she received a second-place finish. Garima’s father sadly passed away eight years ago.
Garima Lohia Journey Towards UPSC
Garima made the decision to work in the civil service because she wanted to alter society. She began working hard and paying close attention as she prepared for the UPSC. Garima put a lot of effort into her studies, reviewing previous year’s test questions and having informative conversations with mentors and other candidates.
Garima’s journey wasn’t without its share of difficulties. Tenacity, mental toughness, and continual diligence are requirements for the UPSC test. Although Garima faced self-doubt and setbacks, she never allowed them to keep her from accomplishing her ultimate goal. She persisted, learning from her mistakes, and consistently modifying her approach.
Garima Lohia Notes Preparation & Strategy
Garima developed a complete study strategy that encompassed familiarity with the UPSC syllabus in-depth. Garima Lohia was preparing for the UPSC prelims 2023, according to her, up until the results from the previous year were made public. She described her preparation for the UPSC and said, “I used to study for 8 to 9 hours someday.”Garima meticulously followed a routine, dividing her time between studying the essential courses, reading the newspaper, and practising her essay-writing. During her fictitious interview, Garima emphasised the necessity of self-help organisations when asked how she would encourage women’s empowerment in Bihar. She continued by describing how teaching women about the existing programmes could increase their economic power.
Garima and her family experienced great happiness and fulfilment on the day the UPSC exam results were announced. In a statement to the media, she added, “During the Covid-19 lockdown, I decided to start preparing for the civil services in 2020. I started self-studying after I got home and also used online study resources. I was unable to pass the preliminary exam on my first try. I redoubled my efforts and passed the exam on my second try. I anticipated passing the exam, but I did not anticipate receiving a second rank. Garima Lohia’s outstanding performance in the UPSC exam has served as a ray of hope for numerous hopefuls throughout the country.
Garima Lohia has gained the chance to participate in the nation’s governance and policymaking because to her exceptional achievement on the UPSC exam. She is a potential asset to the administrative machinery because of her commitment to and love of the public good. Garima seeks to improve the lives of disadvantaged groups in society by implementing constructive reforms at the local level.
Garima Lohia Age
Many UPSC candidates are curious in the qualifications and age of the UPSC 2nd rank winner. The age of the UPSC 2nd rank achiever, however, is still not clear. Later updates will include these specifics. She was able to acquire this noteworthy rank in this exam thanks to her perseverance, hard work, and drive. Her entire hometown as well as her family are pleased with her performance in the UPSC CSE exam.
Garima Lohia UPSC Topper Biography
Garima Lohia received the second-best score in the UPSC 2022 exam. She was raised in the city of Baxar and was academically gifted from the start. She chose the optional subjects of commerce and accounting for the UPSC. She began preparing for the UPSC exams after graduating.. She, however, was unable to pass this important test on her first try. In addition, she achieved the second place on her second attempt in the 2022 UPSC test.
Her mother raised her after her father Narayan Prasad Lohia passed away in 2015. Garima is trilingual, speaking Marwari, Hindi, and English. An article on women’s empowerment authored by Garima had previously won the UN Forum’s prize for best essay. She enjoys listening to different podcasts on issues relating to self-improvement. She has two siblings and is not married.
Garima Lohia State
Many people are interested in her hometown and state after learning more about the UPSC exam candidate who received the second-best score. Garima was born and raised in the city of Buxar, Bihar. She stands 163 centimetres or so tall. Her family members were proud of her for her significant performance on this difficult exam.She stated during an interview that she wants to work on empowering women. She also wants to support women’s education. The second-rank achiever was getting ready for the 2023 UPSC preliminary exams before the results were announced.
Garima Lohia Education
The UPSC 2022 candidate who earned the second-highest rank is from Buxar. Garima graduated from Woodstock School with a secondary education. Her hometown is where this school is situated. She then chose to finish her higher secondary education at the Sunbeam School in Varanasi. She therefore completed her studies at institutions in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Garima attended Kirori Mal College in Delhi to further her study after completing her higher secondary education. She received her accounting degree from this college. She later began preparing for the UPSC exam. But because of the pandemic, she was forced to learn using online resources.
She studied independently for this exam using the online resources that were made available to her. She worked extremely hard and was committed to succeeding in the UPSC CSE exams. The accomplishment of Garima can serve as motivation for many other UPSC hopefuls.
Garima Lohia Cast
Garmin practises Hinduism. This test was passed by 933 applicants across all categories. Garima thanked her mum as being her biggest motivator for passing this important exam with fantastic results. She used the information and learning tools available on many internet sites, including YouTube.She occasionally used to spend 8 to 9 hours a day studying for the UPSC CSE exams. But despite all of the difficulties, she placed second in the UPSC exam. She also participated in a UPSC Mains test prep programme to get ready for the September Mains exam.
Garima’s initial attempt to pass the UPSC prelims was unsuccessful. She put in a lot of effort, was committed, and was determined, and it paid off because she scored extremely well on this important test.
Garima Lohia Marksheet
The Mains answer copies and Marks Analysis of Garima Lohia, who impressively earned an All India Rank (AIR-2) of 2 in the UPSC IAS Civil Services Examination 2022, are presented in this post with great excitement. Aspiring candidates might learn insightful lessons from these answer copies to improve their own preparation methods. Students can obtain a greater grasp of the expectations and requirements of the UPSC Mains test by analysing the thought processes, structure, and substance of these model responses. Let’s explore the fascinating details offered by Garima Lohia Rank 2 answer copy.
Garima Lohia, the extraordinary performer who received the second-place ranking in the UPSC 2022–23 examination, chose Commerce and Accountancy as her elective subjects, reflecting her academic background and personal interests.
Garima demonstrated excellent competence in the areas of commercial operations, financial management, and business concepts, which are all essential components of the discipline of commerce and accounting.
Her exceptional accomplishment was made possible by her profound knowledge of and mastery over subjects including cost accounting, strategic financial management, and financial reporting. Garima made a calculated decision, drawing on her prior experience in the area to highlight the potential of Commerce and Accountancy as rewarding optional subject options for UPSC aspirants.
It emphasises the significance of selecting an elective course in line with one’s interests and strengths even more.
