Balaji (Read his story Here) got 70 marks in his Essay paper in his first Mains (first attempt). In his second attempt, after writing many essays before the exam, he has got 138 marks. He has doubled his marks through rigorous practice. Essay plays an important role in deciding one’s rank. Please practice essay regularly. You can get up to 160 marks in Essay paper, whereas in single Optional or GS Paper it is difficult to cross even 100 marks (barring GS-4 where one can get good marks). As each mark is crucial, it is better to write 15-20 essays before Mains and get the extra edge. Same applies for each paper, but Essay requires minimum effort compared to other papers. Many do not even write a single essay before Mains. That’s actually a biggest mistake one can commit.
On Sundays we post an essay topic every week. Please write an essay on it either in your notebook or on the website. You can write for any other topic also. But do write at least one essay every week.
We hope following essay by Balaji helps in providing you some pointers.
Sample Essay of D.K. Balaji IAS, Rank 36 CSE-2014
