Eating the Elephant

The part which freshers to civil service preparation find difficult is CURRENT AFFAIRS (C/A). Like myself, these freshers did not watch news till then with an orientation needed for CS Exams. The GS papers of Prelims, Mains and most of the Interview have a lot to deal with C/A.

For first attempters, managing C/A can be like eating an elephant. Yes, we cannot avoid this huge mammal and have to eat our way through it. Wise old saying keeps telling us -

"EAT AN ELEPHANT ONE BITE AT A TIME"

This is precisely the technique you need to follow in handling C/A. First, do a SWOT analysis and identify the areas where you are strong and relatively weaker. Strengthen further your strongholds. Eliminate all doubts regarding the weaker ones. A balance between both is what you need.

Select each section of C/A - Regional, National, International, Sports, Cinema, Books/authors, Awards/prizes, Institutions, Agreements/pacts, Ethnic/religious/social/economic crises, etc. & study them individually. (One piece at a time)

Yet, remember the whole thing constituted the single elephant of Current Affairs. So be open-minded enough to correlate facts and opinions amongst the sections.

Like how Rome wasn't built in a single day, Success too doesn't come all of a sudden. It is the fruit of a long-endured onerous journey.

A bee recognises its success in finding honey with a characteristic "8-shaped" dance. Only that bee knows how long it travelled to reach a magnificient flower.

A spider succeeds every time a prey falls into its web. Only that spider knows how many times it slipped and slid while building that artistic web.

A rock wins when it becomes a statue. Who else other than the rock knows how many hits it received from a chisel?

Even mud succeeds the minute it turns into a brick. Only it knows how much heat it endured.

These bees, spiders, rocks and mud do not think of their success when at duty. They are rewarded for their hardwork. They do not always celebrate success, but definitely do not mourn during failure. This is what separated them from humans.

Think to win!!