Zinnia Aurora, AIR 6, CSE 2025

स्वतंत्रता दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं🇮🇳 जय हिंद, जय भारत!

मिशु मोर देह ए देश माटिरे,   देशबासी चालि जाआन्तु पिठिरे। देशर स्वराज्य-पथे जेते गाड़,   पूरु तहिं पड़ि मोर मांस हाड़।  Let my body dissolve in the soil of this country,   Let the countrymen ride on my back and go.   All the potholes that are there in the country’s path to independence,   Let them all be filled with my flesh and bones. - Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das. (Ref: Anshul Bhatt, IAS).

Goodhart's Law (Interesting Concept) Goodhart's Law is the idea that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. When you use a specific metric to reward or punish people, they change their behavior. They stop focusing on the actual goal. Instead, they focus only on maximizing that metric. This often destroys the original meaning of the data. The concept comes from British economist Charles Goodhart, who wrote about it in 1975 regarding monetary policy. Real-World Examples Education: Governments judge schools strictly on standardized test scores. Teachers stop teaching general knowledge and focus only on test-taking tricks, which lowers overall student learning. The Cobra Effect: Colonial rulers in India offered a financial reward for dead cobras to reduce the snake population. Locals began breeding cobras to get more money. When the reward stopped, they released the snakes, making the problem worse. Software Development: A manager tracks how many lines of code developers write to measure productivity. Developers respond by writing long, messy code to inflate their numbers. The software gets worse, but the metric looks great.

I had mentioned Goodhart’s Law in my Indian Express article. Explained very well by Sir:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_HUWy1pNBXH3xspOTcSRxtRGOqXir14/view?usp=sharing Here are the 2 answers mentioned.

Those of you writing Mains, this is all that is relevant for you. No need to open the link.

https://zinniaaurora.blogspot.com/2026/08/you-me-psir.html Lots of you asked for PSIR, here it is. Hope it’s helpful. All the best🌻

Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. A week or so before mains, full focus on growth instead of questioning your abilities. 🌻

https://youtu.be/T3pD-d0eVw4?si=LhpFMGOer0lPJ2u-

Something to ponder…

The vibrancy, the culture, the energy that Indian handloom brings is unparalleled. Make sure your next purchase is handloom-coded!

https://x.com/narendramodi/status/2085397848154345956/video/1?s=46

And a suggestion, as someone who has been a bhugatbhogi of the coaching side of things, here are a few steps I think anyone should take before deciding to buy any courses: 1. Focus on the faculty. Find the best one: narrow down 2-3 names for whatever subject you’re looking for. Use reviews, posters, word of mouth etc. 2. Listen to the said faculty. Find their YouTube videos or any other way to first see if their style of teaching is suitable for you. 3. Go through the plan of the classes. Do they match your timeline? Are they useful for the exact want as you have or have they created/manufactured a need to get you to buy their material? Be smart. Money isn’t free (you know it, but some of us still don’t). 4. Buy it. 5. This is where toppers come in. See how they used the said course and maximized ROI. I bought courses in the start of my prep which turned out to be nothing but parasites on my money. I hope this sieving test can help you avoid the mistakes I committed. Too many people will lurk for your money, be smart enough at the very start to not fall for the fancy but for the genuine. Good day🌻

https://youtu.be/8qtUBT_xtjg?si=6YzT4nrHIIMYVxkl

Hi all, My basic sources, academies used, tangible strategies employed are all discussed in my DKT interview. That’s why it is longer than usual. Again, it is not as if it’s the solution to all problems. It’s just what worked for me, kindly hear everything in that spirit. I do not endorse the advertisements of academies played in or around the video (or shorts made from it). Opening my YT channel was a medium to stay away from that cacophony. On this channel itself, if you scroll up, you’ll find messages on subject-wise strategy. Kindly use those.

First mains, crackling nerves, midnight dread, post-midnight sleeplessness- it’s all common. In my case, it involved pattern-building. I would close my books and watch the leaves of the tree outside my window dangle to the wind’s direction. Felt relatable. Life is happening, and I’m just getting tossed along. I found this picture while looking through my gallery. It is from September of 2024, the month of mains. Carrying a billion expectations, in addition to the uncertainty of one’s preparation is commonplace. Anyone who has gotten anywhere has been through that exact same thing. There’s no solution that I can think of except just having faith. That, maybe one day, those dangling leaves will signal happy-dancing instead of dreadful tossing. Keep the hard-work going. Those 2AM doubts make the journey worth it. 🍃

https://youtu.be/DVoUyQ2pTkA?si=sHgxk7wycxZDQkh_

Couple this with the IE Letter, and you’ll have a new package of ‘thinking’. It’s a slow video, I’ve tried to simplify (sometimes oversimplify). This is typically for mains/reading/mental models. I have also added a ‘mains tête-à-tête’ for those writing it this month. All the best.🌻✨

https://internship.mospi.gov.in/

In the eyes of the beholder…