Dear Aspirant,

What did you get done this week? - Elon Musk

The above phrase has become quite famous after a supposedly leaked conversation between Elon Musk and Parag Agrawal.

Irrespective of whether this actually took place, the question is a powerful pause and review statement. I feel it is extremely important for Aspirants like you and me who are on a long journey towards cracking the UPSC exam.

Sometimes weeks just whiz past us, leaving us wondering how did the time go so fast. That leads me to my question for you.

How to prepare for Mapping Questions in Prelims?

Map practice is an integral part of UPSC preparation both in Prelims and Mains. While many of us give dedicated time for the major subjects, the time to be given for map practice slips through the gaps in our preparation.

And in the last month, we get flooded by links to telegram channels, crash course YouTube videos and many other quick-fix solutions.

What if we prepared differently this time? What if we identified the subjects from which map-based questions could come and list the potential places?

Major Subjects that Involve Maps

1. Geography - Need to prepare separately for India and World. (Greater emphasis on Water Bodies - rivers, glaciers, dams; Places in news;)

2. Environment - Majorly India-based topics ( Protected Areas - National Parks, Wild Life Sanctuaries,

3. History - Ancient, Medieval, and Modern ( Temples, Cities, Inscriptions, monuments etc)

Different Ways to learn important Map Points

1. Only Read/See - This includes glancing through Atlas, NCERT books, and materials by coaching institutes.

2. Read + Write - This involves having a plain outline map of India or the World and marking the important places by yourself. This method is much more effective than the first one.

3. Read + Write + Recall - This could be done through quizzes, by practising PYQs linked to mapping, or taking a blank map and listing down the places related to a theme Eg: Passes in the Himalayas

Either the second or the third option will be quite helpful for you. Map Practice is an underrated topic that has a multiplier effect on your preparation (thinking of economics multiplier huh?!)

Now you might ask me where is the comprehensive list of places to be practised. While I don't have one for all the subjects, I had made a collection of important places in the world. You can use the below link to access the same. In a similar manner, you can make a comprehensive list for each subject.  

Checklist of Maps - UPSC Notes

List of Important places in the World to be practiced.

Daily Quiz Scores

Scores have dipped a bit this week. Mainly due to CSAT and RTM. The ideal scenario is to do every day's quota on the same day itself. The moment we postpone, it starts piling up.

How have your scores been? Have you started subject-wise or comprehensive mocks? I am planning to start giving them from next week onwards. I will also add a tracker of the number of PYQs I am writing.

At times this journey gets really hard. We tend to get thoughts about giving up. I have felt the same way. I am glad to have a motivated set of friends in my peer group who help me to recharge myself. That is why I believe that peer group makes a huge difference.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

Best Regards,

Satya

P.S: You can count me in your virtual peer group :)