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Anthropological Perspectives on an Army station

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During our Bharat Darshan,  we got to have a week long attachment with Indian Army. We experienced the life in a typical army camp at frontier locations. Being student of anthropology, I noted down some points from anthropological lens. My mentor Karandeep sir helped me in framing and organising my learnings and insights. Anthropological Perspectives on an Army Station : Sub-Culture: An army station forms a distinct sub-culture within the larger societal framework, governed by its unique rules, regulations, and morals. Though embedded within the broader culture, its insular nature and specialized functions set it apart, creating a unique identity. Bada Khana: This communal dining experience, where officers and jawans eat together, challenges the strict hierarchies typically found in military settings. Radcliffe Brown's structural-functionalist lens might interpret this as a temporary suspension of rigid roles, fostering informal interactions and personal connections. Caste Regime

More than a tourist!

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Amidst uncertainty about my future, I came to Yanam, which is a small urban settlement on the coast of Godavari, close to Eastern Andhra District, near the ancient port city of Kakinada. I received a warm welcome at the airport as I joined as commissioner of the of the municipality, the second person responsible for the area. It was a short stint when I was looking between my preparation for the UPSC interview for my next attempt, the demands of the people from a young officer, and the field visits I got to explore the town, which is not more than 30 square km. While knowing (though with uncertainty) that I would be here for a short time, I got to explore this serene setting with a tourist heart. The town is breathtaking on its own, as are the surroundings, the roads lined with coconut trees, the calming atmosphere, and the sound of the river. Even just an official visit can rejuvenate one's connection to nature. During one such visit, I passed through mangroves and observed the en

GS4(Ethics) Strategy !

 Hello everyone,  This is Dwij Goel ,AIR 71 UPSC CSE 2022. Ethics has been my strong area in all my three attempts at UPSC CSE. In 2020 I got 107 marks, in 2021 I got 111 marks and in 2022 I have got 113 marks in ethics paper.  Here is my strategy:  Basics : I read lexicon at first to get used to ethics as I was not aware much about it. But, I won’t recommend that book, as it is outdated now.  Thereafter, I watched some of free lectures of ethics by Awdhesh Singh sir, they are free short videos of 7-10 minutes each and available on unacademy. From both of these I made some of my short notes. Value addition: Forum IAS red booklet for ethics , OnlyIAS prahaar booklet for ethics.  Other sources : I used to collect examples from newspaper in a file and used them in my answers after revision. When you read newspaper try to think in ethical terms, you can identify many news which somehow gets linked to the syllabus. For ex: Russia- Ukraine conflict , it is linked to Ethics in Internationa

How to score 300+ in Anthropology Part 3

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  I improved my marks from 232(in 2020 attempt) to 273( in 2021 attempt) to 315( in 2022 attempt).  Here are the learnings of answer improvement:  How to score maximum marks in each question  First and foremost satisfy the demand of question. It is very important to understand the core demand of the question and write accordingly.  In 10 Marker, I used to write in points. More points , more marks. Also, subheadings should be more to score more. For example, if I’m writing about one concept , then subheadings would be : concept, background, example/illustration, criticism, application, way forward / work of any other scholar.  In 15/20 Markers, I used to write in points usually except there are questions which are analytical and require analysis. In such questions, some paragraphs should be included to show your analysis. So, I used subheadings and paragraph format along with bullet points in such questions. If one covers one answer holistically then there are less chances of cutting ma

How to score 300+ in Anthropology Part 2

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 Part(2/4) : How to do answer writing of anthropology  Format of answer writing : section wise  Socio cultural : Paper 1 Basic introduction is essential, some scholarly definition can be quoted. For instance if you are writing about Religion, quote Durkheim.  Basic content should be written first, supplemented by examples . For answering this section command on Chapter 6: theories/ schools of anthropology is very essential. Use these theories and scholars in answering questions. Interlink : sydnemic was in news article during pandemic , I used that in my answer.  Linkage with paper 2: if you are writing about religion, kinship etc why not include scholars of ppr 2, write work of MN Sriniwas ( Religion and society among Coorgs of south India), about SC Dubey and Irawati Karwe ( kinship ).  Genetics & allied( Chapter 9) Here questions are very objective and should be answered as such with a tinch of organic content as well.  Everyone would write same content here, it is important to