[Essay Tip for Newcomers] What to Write & What Not to Write in Mains IAS Exam_ - Mrunal

8/12/2019 [Essay Tip for Newcomers] What to Write & What Not to Write in Mains IAS Exam_ - Mrunal

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2/8/2014 [Essay Tip for Newcomers] What to write & What not to write in Mains IAS exam? - Mrunal

http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html 1/17

Mrunal

Tips| 131

3 years ago

[Essay Tip for Newcomers]

What to write & What not

to writein Mains IAS exam?

CSAT

1. Think

for

Thirty

Minutes

2. What *NOT* to write in an Essay?

3. Provokative Essays

4. Dont get Personal (Cong.vs BJP)

5. Quoting the Famous Quotes

6. Padding with Fodder Material

7. Suggested Reading

8. Reading Books as a Hobby

9. Related articles

This is what I learned from my seniors and

toppers.There are plenty of articles on internet on how to

prepare the essay (=read

editorials daily etc.) Im writing one about how to

days

23

hrs

03

mins

09

sec.

21

SEARCH B4 ASKING!

Search

LATEST COMMENTS

D{ Translation of steel

plant in google translator.

http://forumias.com/uploa

ds/FileUpload/95/5b36649

64a431267108c2e1f88d237.png } UPSC uploads

hallticket for CSAT-2014,

No change...

Economy

CurrentArticles

Studyplans

Download

Toppers

Forum
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actually write it inside

the exam hall.

In the Essay paper, they give you 4-5 essays and

youve to

write only one. Time limit -3 hours, Max-

marks=200.

In a 2 marker question, UPSC specifically

mentions that answer it in 20 words. So with that

logic, youre expected to write an essay containing

around 2000 words for the 200 marks.

Tip#1: Think for 30-45 minutes

before you start the Essay writing

Take this example.

They asked an essay on Gandhi, I start writing it. I

write something like

After 1 hour of writing, I realize that I forgot

mention about Champarans Indigo Struggle when

Gandhi got actively involved in Indian Freedomstruggle for the first time! Now I cant add it.

Because there is no space in initial pages.

However I can still try to add it in the conclusion

like

But when Examiner doesnt find the mention of

Champaran in the initial pages, then he gets an

Gandhi was born in Porbandar &then He went to Englandafrica..come

backfreedom struggle..Gandhi-Irwin..2nd

round table.partitionetc.

in 1947 Gandhi won the fight he started

with Champaran

TULASI KUMAR{

friend, economic survey

lecture videos by mrunal, u

can share it in forum ias or

else i will give my mail id.

hello mrunal sir,... } UPSC

uploads hallticket for CSAT-

2014, No change...

LATITUDE31 { ge

mrunal sir, u said its

difficult to cover gs

singlehandedly,i could

practically understand and

feel the point since i havebeen working my full... }

[Economic Survey] Ch13

P3: Rural & Urban...

GOUTHAM RAM{ Sir

I am jus a 4 month old

subscriber to your site but i

was awestruck with your

deep rooted analysis and

lucid explanation. I... }



VK{ Im a regional

medium student, but not

complaining about

CSAT(lost my chance last

year due to bad

performance in CSAT paper

only)....but im adapting to...

} UPSC uploads hallticket

for CSAT-2014, No

change...

VAKKODA{ I am alsoready to learn latin if it is a

part of the syllabus... Why,

committment we show, is
http://mrunal.org/2014/07/upsc-uploads-hallticket-csat-2014-change-exam-date-structure.html/comment-page-11#comment-227649http://mrunal.org/2014/07/economic-survey-ch13-rural-urban-infrastructure-reits-smart-cities-rurban-gram-jyoti.html/comment-page-1#comment-227650http://mrunal.org/2014/07/economic-survey-ch13-rural-urban-infrastructure-reits-smart-cities-rurban-gram-jyoti.html/comment-page-1#comment-227655http://mrunal.org/2014/07/upsc-uploads-hallticket-csat-2014-change-exam-date-structure.html/comment-page-11#comment-227659


3/17

2/8/2014 [Essay Tipfor Newcomers] What to write & What not to write in Mains IAS exam? - Mrunal


impression you forgot it = less marks. Hence

everything has to be written in its place.

Thats why you must..

Think for 30-45 minutes before you start the Essay

writing

Youve 3 hours to write the essay. Dont

immediately start

1st try to recall everything that you can

remember / want to say about the

essay.

Take a pencil and write them all (in very brief)

on the end of the answer

sheet

See if there is any chance of adding some

diagram or table in it?

Do you remember any?

1. any famous quotes?

2. Current events

3. People

4. Historical events

5. Laws /

Administrative polices

related to it

*Related to that

topic, What are the

1. Positive

2. Negative sides

3. obstacles

4. Reforms you

suggest?

Once youre done adding everything

that you can think about, regarding the essay-

then give those topics, order of

preference. 1.2.3.4.The order is very important, just like in wedding

parties you start with Soupdal-roti andIce

not possible by these

protesters?... } UPSC


2014, No change...

QWERTY{ rightly said }

UPSC uploads hallticket

for CSAT-2014, No

change...

LALIT{ sir plz suggest

me study material, books

for ugc net-jrf for subect

commerce. } [Strategy]

UPSC Civil Service Exam

(Part 5...

ABHI{ Sahi kaha :p }



ABHI{ Sir will u resume

video series after prelims

?? } [Economic Survey]

Ch13 P3: Rural & Urban...

MEGHNA{ Mrunal...

your clock on the upper

right corner of this page is

running too fast and my

heartbeat too :) }



ASHWINI{ Excellent

explaination through those

videos, Thanks for ur hard

work mrunal sir. }



LOK{ same here willlearn anything to clear

it...kidos... } UPSC

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4/17


http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-w hat-to-write.html 4/17

cream in the end.

The order

should be

1. Introduction

2. Background / History related3. Main concept / theory / what the subject is

about

4. Current scenario related to it.

5. Good sides

6. Negative sides / obstacles

7. Suggested reforms

8. Conclusion

everything has to be written in its place.

Gandhis Champaran must come in the beginning

not in the end.

Now SOME DONTs

Tip#2:What not to write in essay

1. Autocracy is better than democracy. (know that

its the democracy thats allowing you to criticize

it) so you should never justify certain solution to

Indias problems.

2. Excessive criticism of Govt. / administration (I

mean the frontline and The Hindus stand)

3. Seeing negative sides with out suggesting

reforms in

it.

Tip#3: Provocative Essays

Sometimes the essay topics are given in such a

way, that you want to agree all the way. E.g.

2014, No change...

LATESTARTER{

which site ? and what all

lecture videos ? } UPSC


2014, No change...

SANAT{ thnxz } UPSC


2014, No change...

SANAT{ From what i

understood from

Laxmikanth ( Chap 10 on

constitutional amendment)

simple majority = 50% of

present and voting

absolute = 2/3 of total... }

UPSC uploads hallticket for

CSAT-2014, No change...

RECRUITMENT

Exam Dates

IBPS:11 Oct to 2 Nov

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CAT:16 & 22 Nov

CDS:26 Oct

MAT: 7 & 13 Sep

Halltickets uploaded?

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RBI Officer: YES

UPPSC: YES

Banking

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On 2013 RRB score

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5/17



1. Panchayati raj is wastage of tax payers

money. (yes it seems so, just like NREGA but

when youre writing an Essay you need to

maintain some balance)

2. Poor people are their own enemies.

In such cases just because he gave you

statement doesnt mean youve to sing in his tune

throughout the paper.DO NOT forget to show the

other side of the mirror.

Its Easier to criticize a non working things than to

fix it. (Remember this all time during essay.)

Donot give filmy solutions to real life problems.

(Munna Bhai MBBS / Slum Dog Millioner.)

Tip#4: Donot get personal

Dont go naming individual politicians their

achievement / scandals (Kalmadi, Raja,Amar

Singh etc.)

(except in the foreign policy related essay,

where youve to analyse from entire Nehrus

Panchsheel era to Vajpayees Lahore Bus visit

and current affairs.) our Foreign policy has

changed with every prime minister so their

names need to be mentioned.

Never write essay talking like

Congress did

this and B JP did that.

Its the trait of a

common man, not of a future officer.

Give a balanced answer With out getting into

hero-worship or mud slinging

If criticizing Govenrment in the essay alone

was going to make you IAS officer, then every

journalist of Aaj Tak would be an IAS officer.

An officers trait is to remain anonymous,

faceless and neutral- meaning your essay

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Uttar Pradesh

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(2yrXP)

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Oil India direct

interview

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18-Aug: CDS (II)

09-Aug: Airforce

Meteorological

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6/17



should look like it has been written by a

graduate.

Same applies for

1. Religion / culture/ language-literature (in

philosophical essays)

2. States (in polity / federalism / Development)

Im not saying you should transform into a sterile

person writing the essay with out having any

personal view/ opinion or righteous anger but,

you mustnt become too much passionate about

certain things.Im saying all this because you can never be sure

about what will be the political / ideological /

religious / regional alignment of the examiner.

This suggestion also applies while dealing with

Public Administration (optional subject).

Tip#5: Quotes

1. Dont make mistakes in writing who said what.

E.g. you quote Abraham Lincons sentence and

write George Washington said it. nothing will

make you look more stupid in the eyes of the

examiner than that.

2.Quote Exactly as it was said. Mao said Power

flows from the barrel of a gun so you should not

write it as

You must quote the quote verbatim. If youre not

sure then dont quote it.

barrel of the gun contains power

or

muzzle of the gun flows the power

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BCom/HR/MBA

01-Sep: ICAR account, admin

30-Aug: Accountant NIFFT

Ranchi

25-Aug: CPET Chennai

25-Aug: EIL Delhi

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yrXP)

31-Jul: HUDA account

31-Jul: UPSC Specialists various

Medical /All ied

19-Aug: Haryana Dental

19-Aug:

Raj.Medical

14-Aug: AIIMS

09-Aug: SAIL Doctors

09-Aug: SAIL Paramedics

28-Jul: Chandigarh Paramedics

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clerk,review officer

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7/17



Tip#6: Padding & Deviating from the

subject

Even in the worst case, youre supposed to write

1200-1500 words for a 200 marks essay.

Padding means, you dont know the exact answerso you just beat around the bushes and write the

garbage stuff to fill up the pages, while this tactic

does work in the school and college exams but

dont try it in the

essay paper.

Dont write too many proverbs / quotes/

(invented) case studies/examples per page. It

makes the examiner think that youve no input of

your own so youre just filling up the pages.

Donot pick up the subject where your idea or

thought content is very low.

Ex. you picked up Do we need nuclear power So you start with how thermal power-

stations create pollution, there is huge

demand and low supply of electricity, nuke

power is cheap, and

then the dangers such as Japanese Tsunami

etc.

After 4 pages, your thoughts and ideas are

exhausted-youve nothing more to say and

assuming that you write 100 words per page,

you realise that only 400 words wont get you

any marks ! now you cant scratch those pages

and write a new essay on new topic, youve

wasted enough time on this one.

So you decide to continue with this nuke-

power essay and start rewriting the same stuff

you already stated in different ways and then

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Op

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01-Aug: MECL:

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Faculty Jobs

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Online Form Part-1 stops

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DONOT wait till last date.

DONOT forget/misplace

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8/17



youll deviate from the main topic- like nuke

power is unsafe as we saw in Japan

so we need to switch to renewable energy

source like Sun, Wind and Water -> then 4

pages on advantages of renewable energy as if

this is an essay on the benefits of Non-

renewable energyand not on nuke power,

you write about the pro-cons of hydro-

electricity like dams and displacement of

people.

Then you realise omg, displacement of

people also applies while making nuke-

powerplants like in M aharashtra so you

come back to the topic -half page written but

still youve not filled up enough pages so you

start talking about to land-acquisition policy

and start writing the pro-cons..another half

page on it. Then you thinkoh i mus t talk

som ething about the Indo-US nuke dealsoyou go on talking about how we havent signed

the CTBT and yet N.S.G gave us clearance and

China-Pakistan couldnt stop it so we are a

global power now and we deserve a

permanent seat in UNSC! This kind of padding

goes on until time is up.

Youve messed up the whole thing, you totally

deviated from the subject. Your essay doesnt

have any flow of thoughts or proper rhythm.

The seasoned examiners immediatly sniff out

this padding and they dont give much marks

for it, your expected score for this kind of

garbage writing is less than 50/200, meanseven with decent score in all other papers,

your chances of getting interview call is close

to zero. Youve jeopardised your chances


9/17



of selection in IAS, youve digged your own

grave. Thats why

1. take great care in picking up the subject

2. first 30-40 minutes for thorough thinking.

3. stick to the subject

Same applies while dealing with the big 60 marker

question in GS and optional papers. (not 30

minutes of thinking but atleast 5-7 minutes!)

Suggested Reading

Essay is not something that can be learned

reading one book or reading for 1 month.

Its a continuous and long process takes some

diverse reading before youve enough content to

write something decent and something big

enough to fill 20 pages to fetch 100+ marks.

1. Editorials of english newspapers ( but dont get

swayed about by either leftist

or capitalist stuff preched by both sides)

2. Magazines like Frontline,

yojana, Kurukshetra. (it gives you the fodder

material: statistical data to quote like how

many % illiterate and so on but again dont

use too much statistical data for paddingand

most importantly dont invent your own case

studies and stat.data)

3. Watch English news channel discussions /

debates.

4. See the old question papers and try to make

an outline of each and every Essay asked sofar.

Reading Books as a Hobby


10/17



To increase your idea and fodder-material for

brain storming, you can read some books outside

studies, related to Indian culture, democracy and

Development, just for time-pass for example

Imagining India by Nandan Nilekani

India 2020: A Vision For The New Millennium

by Dr. Kalam

India After Gandhi: The History Of The Worlds

Largest Democracy by Ramchandra Guha

Buy The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal

Nehru

Me and my ruined essay

In 2009s mains attempt, I got only 20/200 marks

in the Essay. It was about are we a soft state?. Iwrote it only from the foriegn policy and law-n-

order point of view, without seeing the cultural -

historical contexts. It was a monotonous essay

without any spark. Moral of the story: do try to see

different angles of the subject and give a

thorough thought before you start writing.

Some veterans are in opinion that you should pick

up the essay on technical subject, example space-

technology, advances in medical science, how IT

has changed lives and so on. Because only a few

people attempt them, and due to technical nature,

your ideas are unlikely to be in conflict with the

examiner so youll get more marks.But then again you need enough content to write

1500+ words else the padding route=digging your
http://www.flipkart.com/india-2012-8123017677/p/itmd79b4yhhxwmhp?pid=9788123017679&affid=mrunalrugmhttp://www.flipkart.com/discovery-india-0143417932/p/itmczyrzxnspm5ng?pid=9780143417934&affid=mrunalrugmhttp://www.flipkart.com/india-2012-8123017677/p/itmd79b4yhhxwmhp?pid=9788123017679&affid=mrunalrugmhttp://www.flipkart.com/india-after-gandhi-0330505548/p/itmczymz5hjjjwyh?pid=9780330505543&affid=mrunalrugmhttp://www.flipkart.com/india-2012-8123017677/p/itmd79b4yhhxwmhp?pid=9788123017679&affid=mrunalrugmhttp://www.flipkart.com/india-2020-0140278338/p/itmczyr6ppthszyt?pid=9780140278330&affid=mrunalrugmhttp://www.flipkart.com/imagining-india-0143067079/p/itmczyrhrxag2gz4?pid=9780143067078&affid=mrunalrugm


11/17


12/17



MRUNALS RECOMMENDED BOOKLIST

Mines regulation bill)

Are our traditional handicrafts doomed to a

slow death? (2009)

From traditional Indian philanthropy to the

Gates-Buffet model-a natural progression or a

paradigm shift?-2010

The focus of health care is increasingly getting

skewed towards the haves of our society-2009

International relations

Preparedness of our society for Indias global

leadership role. 2010

Are we a soft state? 2009

Good Fences make good neighbors. 2009

One more bad news: in 1997 to 2006 era, UPSC

gave 6 subjects and you had to write one essay, in

2009: five options and in 2010 : only 4 options.

Previously in this category

[PIB] 2014 March Week 1: What to Ignore,

What to read? Schemes, Speeches,

Conferences, Corridors, Mock Questions

[Tech] Shifting from Google Reader to
http://mrunal.org/2013/05/tech-shifting-from-google-reader-to-feedly-how-to-keep-track-hindu-other-sites-important-for-upsc.htmlhttp://mrunal.org/2013/05/tech-shifting-from-google-reader-to-feedly-how-to-keep-track-hindu-other-sites-important-for-upsc.htmlhttp://mrunal.org/2014/03/pib-2014-march-week-1-ignore-read-schemes-speeches-conferences-corridors-mock-questions.html


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131

Feedly, How to keep track Hindu & Other

sites important for UPSC

[Tech] Using Microsoft Onenote to

organize your study-notes: Image to text,

Audio notes and more

[Tech] How to read The Hindu Online,

Efficiently via Google Reader

[Tech] Mrunals Auto NoteMaker for The

Hindu & PDF files: Grab Data by Mouse,

Make Notes without typing

chirag patel 05/01/2014 at 18:23

Reply

thanks a lot sir.

Lavanya G 12/01/2014 at 19:22

Reply

Hi sir am lavanya from Bangalore, Thank u so much for

essay information which was helped me to prepare for

essay

ANONYMOUS 21/01/2014 at 13:12

Reply

Hats of thanks to you Mrunal Sir. Requesting to share

few essays with me.

neeharika

28/01/2014 at 22:51

Reply

sir, can u please provide me a model essay, because im

new to this. so please provide it
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saikrishna 03/02/2014 at 23:52

Reply

sir thanks for u are infobut everybody are telling the

same but no one is giving an sample essay how to

write.sir,please provide an model essay which could

help us in digging the difficulties in essay paper.

dayanand 04/02/2014 at 15:47

Reply

sir, tips on essay writing enriched my confidence level to

write essay. thank you very much sir.

JITESH VERMA 12/02/2014 at 19:36

Reply

Hi ,

As you said that the essay must be properly structured.

That is, there must be a proper orderly fashion in which

we frame it like, Introduction> Background / History

related>Main concept / theory / what the subject is

about> Current scenario related to it> Good sides>

Negative sides / obstacles>Suggested reforms >

Conclusion.

But we also need to think in multi-dimensions right. SO

we need to evaluate a topic historically, culturally ,

politically, economically , and so on. That brings in a bitof confusion and the order seems crumbling when we

have to write 20 pages! Any suggestion?

naazia 11/03/2014 at 18:37

Reply

thank you sir

shikha supriya 11/04/2014 at 20:37

Reply

About eassy to give minetuly differto each part for this I

always remain thanks to you

Narsingh 26/04/2014 at 11:44

Reply

Dear sir, any list of topics for 2014.

amrin 26/04/2014 at 17:07

Reply

thank you sir
http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=180013#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-180013http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=179421#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-179421http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=156424#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-156424http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=149456#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-149456http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=145073#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-145073http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=143176#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-143176http://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html?replytocom=142931#respondhttp://mrunal.org/2011/09/essay-tip-for-newcomers-what-to-write.html/comment-page-3#comment-142931


15/17



Mehdi naqvi 03/05/2014 at 14:50

Reply

sir jo sbi po essay wala paper hai use kewal eng m h

likhna hai.sir mai hindi medium student huplz aap y

btay k abjab june m exa. date hai tobche hue time me

tayyari kase k jay sir first time exam d rha hu

Shijoy Varughese 25/05/2014 at 20:38

Reply

hi mrunal n fellow aspirants..ive a general doubt

regarding essays..pls clarify..for topics like say crony

capitalism-a threat to democracy are we to assume

that the question is with respect to India..I am askin

since in 2013 mains i attempted the essay sci n tech are

the panacea for growth of the nation..n i wrote

exclusively with respect to india..is it the right thing to

do or should we write in general which would b true for

any nation n not just india..esp while givin examples to

strenghten our arguements can we use say an

american example of scientific innovation or may b

british example of democracy and crony capitalism

Shubham 21/06/2014 at 06:50

Reply

Thanx a ton sir, for the great piece of advice.Thank u.

Bidyut 28/06/2014 at 14:46

Reply

This website only highlights the major mistakes

committed in the examination. Thanks a lot Sir,

akbaragariya 30/06/2014 at 11:14

Reply

how to count word in upsc mains exam or for 10 marks

que how many page (include both side) should we write

plz explain clearly

sunny srivastava 07/07/2014 at 11:51

Reply

Thank you sir

m pradeep 08/07/2014 at 13:39

hi sir ,,this is pradeep..I will be wrote assistant

commandant exam on 13 july 2014.i am not very well in
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1 2 3

Reply

English. comming to the essay point of view,i am

tentioned.i am fit for that or not.please suggest me.how

to attempt the essay.please thanking you sir.

nagendra 10/07/2014 at 06:21

Replyhats off Mrunal, are you a journalist ???

waghmode ganesh vyankatrao 17/07/2014 at 18:28

Reply

Your suggestion about eassy writting

Is very imp & good &also other material about upsc is

very important & be specific.

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[Essay Tip for Newcomers] What to Write & What Not to Write in Mains IAS Exam_ - Mrunal