Selfstudyhistory.com’s Interview of Grandhe Saikrishna [Rank 293, CSE- 2022, History Optional]

Profile of the Candidate

Introduction

• Tell us something about yourself. 

My biggest strength during this journey was perseverance and patience that helped my overcome obstacles which were many times unexpected.

Questions Related to History Optional

Why did you choose history as your optional subject?

• I was interested in History as a subject from my school days

Kindly mention positive and negative about the History Optional for those who what to take history optional.

• Positive  : There is a flow about it that makes it easier to read, remember and is helpful in Prelims and GS1 as well
• Negative : Syllabus is large

Kindly mention booklist and sources which you followed for History Optional.

• Self Study History PYQ Solutions
• Baliyan Sir History Material
• Modern India – Bipin Chandra

In Paper I and II, you answered 3 questions from Part A or Part B?

• Paper I – A
• Paper II – B

How did you prepare for Map Portion?

• Regular revision and dividing map into sectors for identification

How much time per day you used to give the history optional during your preparation (both before and after prelims)?

• During Prelims – 1 hour per day
• During Mains – 3 hours per day

Did you do answer writing regularly? If yes, what amount of time you devoted to it and how did it help you?

• I did two papers individually for each part and 2 full length tests
• It helped me improve upon my shortcomings and manage time, structure

Did you maintain self-notes? If yes, how did it help you?

• Yes
• They helped in quick revision and better memory retention due to the presence of my own handwriting

Have you solved previous years papers of history optional? Did it help you in the examination?

• Yes
• Understanding how question will be asked enabled me to plan for answer writing better and focus preparation better

In your views, how the nature of questions asked in history optional changed in recent years?

• I feel that opinion based and analytical based question are being asked more frequently than previous years

Were you asked questions related to History in interview? If yes, kindly mention those.

• Yes – 60 % of my interview based on History
• Who is your favorite Modern Indian Historian and why
• Is History important enough to study, invest time and money by government
• What are specific and immediate reasons for British granting India independence in 1947
• Difference between History, Mythology and a story
• Why periods of History are classified based on wars rather than long periods of peace before or after
• Is it important to rewrite history
• Is it true that South Indian History is neglected by our historians

How did selfstudyhistory.com benefitted you in your History Optional Preparation?

• Material was very comprehensive – PYQ Solutions
• Probable Interview Question helped in forming an idea and perspective

Any specific thing you want to share about history optional?

If one is interested in History, this can be a good optional especially if one’s preparation can be structured with regular practice