Let’s begin with a recent happening in Bollywood – release of Kesari Movie. Many of you would have gone to cinema for the movie and many during the preparation time are the ardent supporter of piracy so they prefer watching on the laptop screens.
Point is not to discuss copyright infringement here. First let’s give a brief reference of the story:
KESARI is based on the true story of one of the bravest battles that India ever fought – the Battle of Saragarhi. Fort Saragarhi, in the NWFP (North Western Frontier Province) was a small post used to relay messages between two major military Forts – Fort Gullistan and Fort Lockhardt.
Ishar Singh , a proud warrior who prefers to live by his community rules, is often found in direct conflict with the orders of his British officers. As a punishment, Ishar is sent to Saragarhi where a bunch of 20 unruly, undisciplined Sikh soldiers await him.
Ishar leads into the battle when an army of 10,000 Afghani Pathans turn up at Saragarhi on the 12th of Sept 1897. So the story shows how 21 soldiers took on the army of 10,000 and keep them engaged.
Having destroyed Saragarhi, the Afghans turned their attention to Fort Gulistan, but they had been delayed too long, and reinforcements arrived there in the night of 13–14 September, before the fort could be captured. The supreme sacrifice of 21 soldiers is remembered till date.
No doubt, the movie gives the goose bumps but just forgetting the covert message that it carries would be unkind and unwise on our part.
We would like to focus your attention to three points from the history of the Saragarhi battle :
- undisciplined Sikh soldiers
- 10,000 Afghani Pathans
- 21 soldiers took on the army of 10,000
Changes that took place in due course :
- Undisciplined soldiers became highly organized and disciplined
- When the opposition seems tough , you have to be tougher
- There is no alternative of courage and the force called “will power”
So , what is stopping you to give birth to a warrior inside you who can take any challenge head on. You have studied complete year/s –
- Then what is that puts you in a state of fear ?
- What is it that can provoke anxiety in you ?
- Can you be made nervous because you feel that you could have done more ?
- Do you feel that your competitor has solved more papers than you and has come from other planet?
- What is that is stopping you to break the chains that exists in mind ? (Read https://chromeias.com/chains-are-in-mind/)
For a moment , just visualize 10,000 people marching and on the other side there are 21 individuals waiting to take them head on – Is it difficult to imagine the fate of those 21 – not at all. It’s true that 21 soldiers could not survive but see the larger purpose that they served – they had a PLAN to engage the enemy and did it successfully.
Now the same situation you are going to face on 2nd June 2019 :
On the day of exam it’s a battle for you wherein you are going to face:
- 100 questions
- 120 minutes
- 1 individual
Let’s dwell on numbers once and see if we can reach to any conclusion:
Ratio:
10,000 : 21 – 476.19 (Saragarhi) – To prove the mettle – each soldier had to take on 476 enemy soldiers.
Where as, in UPSC exam , if we go by crude numbers:
50,000 ( Competition is among 50,000 at max not 5,00,000 ) : 13000 seats for Mains – 3.8 – that is 4 serious candidates are competing for every seat in Mains.
Which of the two situations looks manageable?
Remember you just have to clear the cut-off – play till the time you feel ( after analyzing the paper on the spot ) – that I have reached a secure point – after this take minimal risk. But before that you have to be little offensive in your approach – you can compare it with a situation in cricket where in – one side needs 36 runs in 6 balls to win the match – The batsman will have to make an attempt to hit 6 in every ball irrespective of the nature of the ball – bouncer , yorker etc.
We can overcome any adverse situation or any form of hardships in life provided we are focused on Solution and not the Problem. Though it is common observation but few things must be reminded again and again – and one of the most important factors to overcome in Prelims Exam is Cognitive Narrowing. It’s a common sight after the exam people discussing questions and then saying – ‘Ohh , what a silly mistake I made? ‘ . So, it would be wise to act smart and do the paper with utmost concentration. Now let’s see few of the challenges that one will face:
- Paper could be very tough – anxiety and nervousness.
- The mercury is on rise, which makes it difficult to perform.
- Centre could be far off – if you reach just on time – it doesn’t give you time to relax.
- Government schools generally are in a dilapidated situation. (Some aspirants don’t even fit properly in the seats provided).
- One is not keeping good health.
- Overburdened with the revision which leads to monotony.
- Lack of sleep – leading brain to work at sub-optimal level and reducing attention span.
These, more or less, are common for majority of the aspirants – but the winner is the one who identifies and acknowledge his/her challenges and takes adequate steps to minimize them if not eliminate.
We would like to bring to your notice certain facts:
- Remember, you can go as far as you think you can – be determined to write MAINS (Interview ka baad mai sochenge !)
- Remember, you can see only what you want to see – be careful while reading question papers – Not reading the In-correct , not-correct is fatal.
- Remember, you can answer even those questions that you don’t know – be patient and calm – read every word of the question and the options – pick the odd one out or the extreme statements – eliminate them and try to reach answer with street logic. (it works)
- Remember, you are as good as you think you are – don’t undermine yourself – as a human we have untapped potential – if you lose confidence you are already out of race.
- Remember, Failure is as close to you as you think it is – If you indulge in negative thoughts – it will have negative consequences. Remember the Law of Attraction – you attract what you think.
- Remember, that near the cut-off there are 300-400 people on every mark – So give DUE IMPORTANCE to every question – even one more attempt or one less negative can save you at times.
- Remember – more than absolute knowledge it is the game of most appropriate answer.
Remember –Those 21 soldiers knew their destiny – still they put on their brave side and achieved the highest form of martyrdom. It is the courage that makes one stand out, So be focused on your DUTY rather than on the RESULTS, as , if one focuses too much on the consequences he may not do justice with the process.
To conclude , two lines from Bgagvad Gita , which almost have the answer for any query which grips you at this point :
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥
“You have the right to work only, but never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction”.
