It was a tough paper.
That is not to say that it was a low scoring paper. I found it to be scoring if you are a regular follower of the newspaper and the static portions (Both of which which you are expected to do while seriously preparing for the Exam)
I found it to be a very intellectually stimulating experience. It tested my memory, my reasoning skills and my analytical ability. For the first time in the past one year of attending mock examinations, I had to put my brain to work for the full 2 hour duration.
Some of the criticisms that people are throwing include UPSC completely ignoring static portions and favouring current affairs. I think it is people who completely ignored certain sections of their preparation who find resonance with this view. Putting all their eggs in a single basket, when the syllabus clearly puts equal importance on all topics, was in itself a risk that these people took. It is only just that they should score accordingly. Imagine the opposite scenario. The paper would have made a mockery out of people who diligently prepared every section for the past one year and made them pay for their hardwork and all those newspaper notes. I think a wise student would have given equal attention to all topics. After all, UPSC is trying to select a generalist, aren’t they?
To give a comparison on the hardness of the paper, I think it was tougher than 2015. However, it was almost of the same difficulty level as the 2014 paper. What made the 2016 paper interesting was its stress on every kind of mental ability along with your persistent effort.
Consider this question.
Recently, for the first time in our country which of the following states declared a particular butterfly as “State butterfly”
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Himachal Pradesh
- Karnataka
- Maharashtra
There is no analytical ability needed here. You either know it or you don’t. I had read this item in Hindu some time back. There was a picture of the butterfly and I had thought to myself whether I had ever seen that butterfly. I did not note it down. I did not give it much thought than that. I forgot the whole thing then and there.
Imagine my joy when I saw this question. The image that I had seen and though forgotten came rushing back to my mind. I smiled to myself at how amazing a feeling it is when bubbling the OMR sheet. If you had read your newspaper every single day for the past one year, this experience could very well have been yours.
Or imagine the question on who deciphered the Ashokan edicts first. There are just two things that was needed to answer this ( if you did not know it from reading elsewhere). You had to know that the question setter had Brahmi inscriptions in mind. You should have read the NCERT chapter titled “Princep and Piyadassi”. I had read the whole thing like a story and I was pleasantly surprised to see this question.
It is snobbish to consider such questions beneath your intellect. These are very much things you should know as a well read person. It is an incorrect attitude to think “ I would learn only things that need analytical ability or some questions that stir me intellectually”. This is an exam with a well defined syllabus of which everyone is expected to know the basics thoroughly. If you have erred in mastering it, you will be punished justly.
Let me reiterate what I said. It was a tough paper. Or was it?