Aman Aloon, AIR 295

Doston, Based on the numerous requests on my earlier post, I'm glad to share that Sir has agreed to conduct a 90-minute session for us. Peak Attention: Cultivating Focus Through Mindfulness Success in competitive environments requires more than knowledge.…

26 waalon, how's PSIR prep shaping up? Kuch pressing concerns?

Phew. Three hours. Countless tangents. Hopefully a handful of useful insights :) Now it's over to you. The real score booster is what you do with them over the next few weeks!

See you all at 9 PM today! If possible, do come after watching the open workshop posted on YT. That way, we can skip the basics and double-click on the finer aspects that actually move marks :)

Elated to read such emails as I end my day. I'm really happy that so many of you found the session with Mudit Sir meaningful. 🙂 In this prep cycle, one thing is true. Our finishing lines may be the same, but the starting points rarely are. We all carry different circumstances, privileges, struggles, and experiences into this exam. Every journey is unique. Looking back, I realise how fortunate I've been to have mentors who stepped in at different stages of my life. Sometimes they offered direction, sometimes perspective, and sometimes simply the confidence to keep going. That's why I value conversations like today's so much. Sometimes, a small nudge at the right time can change the direction of an entire journey. I hope to continue bringing in such experienced people from different walks of life—especially from beyond the confines of our prep ecosystem—to share their perspectives with all of you. If even one person finds a new direction because of these conversations, I'd consider it a great success :')

​Hello everyone, ​As promised, the live session is scheduled for tomorrow at 7:00 PM. ​I am incredibly grateful to Mudit Shukla Sir for sparing time for our community. He is a corporate veteran, a leadership coach, and a mindfulness expert, all rolled into…

​Hello everyone, ​As promised, the live session is scheduled for tomorrow at 7:00 PM. ​I am incredibly grateful to Mudit Shukla Sir for sparing time for our community. He is a corporate veteran, a leadership coach, and a mindfulness expert, all rolled into one. ​On a personal note, I was fortunate to meet him back when I was a young college student. Since then, my journey has taken me far and wide: from engineering to liberal arts, management consulting to public policy, teaching stints... to finally UPSC prep. Through every transition, I often relied on our conversations to navigate the choices. ​So, I thought it would be invaluable to have him speak to the aspiring candidates here, and share his thoughts on cultivating Peak Attention in prep times—something I often learned firsthand via our conversations over time. Feel free to join and make use of this opportunity! 12 July, Sunday 7.00pm - 8.30pm https://zoom.us/j/5616464478?pwd=kya0XKO88FHCJtTRaGYGrJkbIcoq5h.1 Meeting ID: 561 646 4478 Passcode: MBSR

Doston, Based on the numerous requests on my earlier post, I'm glad to share that Sir has agreed to conduct a 90-minute session for us. Peak Attention: Cultivating Focus Through Mindfulness Success in competitive environments requires more than knowledge. It demands the ability to focus, manage distractions, recover from setbacks, and stay composed under pressure. This live session will explore how these mental capacities can be systematically trained through practical exercises grounded in contemporary neuroscience and mindfulness research. Facilitator: Mudit Shukla | Leadership Development Professional | MBA (IIM Lucknow) | Mindfulness Teacher (Brown University) Drawing on over 20 years of corporate experience and evidence-based mindfulness training, Mudit sir helps people strengthen attention, resilience, and performance. If you're interested, do register using the link below. The session is tentatively scheduled for 12 July (Sunday). Further details, including the joining link, will be shared in your inbox after registration. https://forms.gle/imGa8GMysPeNczcM8

A small update from my end Over the next week or two, I'll gradually become less active here owing to a few personal commitments. As a result, I may not be able to engage as actively with PSIR exercises, answer-writing discussions, and day-to-day queries…

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/utkarsh-shuklamma_department-of-social-and-political-studies-activity-7476315606930120704-fzVI?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=android_app&rcm=ACoAACqGQzABwxPAqGiAcm93AsIlhnQ1SMgaqxw&utm_campaign=copy_link PSIR STUDENTS ASSEMBLE

For those requesting for an online meet, feel free to register!

Also, not to forget the Chandigarh offline workshop on 17th June that we managed to conduct during the Telegram suspension days! The day began with the UPSC Prep 101 workshop, where we had two sessions. Mindset Matters and Hardwork: a Vector Quantity. Mindset Matters was about the intangible traits that shape tangible preparation. I spoke at length about courage—the courage to commit, the courage to look in the mirror, and the courage to write your own story. Much of the session drew from my own preparation journey, the mistakes I made, and the lessons they left behind. The second session, Hard Work: A Vector Quantity, revolved around a simple idea: effort alone is insufficient. Like a vector, hard work derives its value from both magnitude and direction. The challenge is not merely to work harder, but to keep aligning one's efforts with the evolving demands of the examination. The second workshop was dedicated to PSIR. We began by asking what really separates a 218 answer sheet from a 282 one. From there, the discussion gradually moved to the backend of answer writing. Content coverage is only the starting point; what matters equally is content aggregation, consolidation, and, ultimately, content application through regular answer writing. As I've often said on this channel, topper-copy-based, regular answer writing was one of my biggest cheat codes. It wasn't about collecting more content—it was about learning how to use the content I already had. That theme has been recurring through the YouTube workshop recordings, the Reddit AMA, and several posts on this Telegram channel over the past few weeks. The Chandigarh workshop was an opportunity to bring those threads together in one place. Six hours, plenty of questions, engaging discussions, and hopefully a few useful takeaways for everyone heading into the next phase of their preparation. P.S. Caught up with Shekhar Sir after the six-hour marathon workshop :)

Phew, the impromptu meetup was exactly one Dhurandhar long :') Here's hoping it helps create a few PSIR Dhurandhars in '26 and '27!

https://share.google/adCvCoW43kPtwvrSj Indian Coffee House I'm here. Coffee home is jam packed. Uske samne hi hai yeh.

How about CP sometime around 4? Suggest some places in comments, please :D

Delhi walon, shaam mein milna aaj?

27 waalon, kya chal raha aajkal? Restarted PSIR prep after Pre? Kaise plan kar rahe ho next few months for optional? Feel free to type out any challenges you're facing