IAS Nandini Maharaj Biography: Click to Know the Story of Top UPSC Educator

There are very few people who are good at multitasking. Nandini Maharaj is one of those people. She cracked UPSC in two attempts and secured the rank of 42 without the help of any coaching institute. In this article, we will discuss Nadini Maharaj Biography. Read the article till the end to know about Nandini Maharaj IAS journey.

Who is Nandini Maharaj?

Nandini Maharaj is a UPSC Civil Service Examination candidate who was able to secure All India Rank 42 in her second attempt in the year 2018. She is also one of the top educators on Unacademy. Nandini loves history, arts, and dancing.

Nandini Maharaj Biography

Civil Services was always in the blood of Nandini Maharaj, as her mother and father both are civil servants. Her mother is an Indian Revenue Services officers.

Nandini has a strong academic background. Nandini loved history since her childhood which is why she pursued graduation in B.A. (Honors) in History from Lady Shri Ram College for women, Delhi University. While studying in college she also followed her hobby of dancing. For a while, Nandini did dancing professionally with the “Danceworx Academy”

Life after Graduation

After graduation, Nandini Maharaj went to do post-graduation in Applied Human Rights at the Sheffield Hallam University in United Kingdoms (U.K). Besides her love of history and dancing she also loves teaching. She has taught students from slums in south Delhi’s Kalkaji area. According to her, there aren’t many good teachers in our country. Nandini has lived in many cities like New Delhi, Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi, Patna, Faridabad, Nagaland, Nagpur, Srinagar, etc.

One of her students in Lucknow scored 20 out of 20 in the unit test. This was one of the happiest movement in her life. When she was teaching at a school in Lucknow the students in her class didn’t have basic knowledge of maths and couldn’t read or write properly. That is why she started teaching at Unacademy to maximize the reach of her teaching.

Nandini Maharaj IAS Preparation

She was not thinking of Civil Services until after her post-graduation. It was only after she realized that she was a socially aware person and want to do something for the betterment of society. She started her UPSC preparation in 2016.

While preparing she didn’t make in huge goals like to clear prelims, or to clear mains, or to secure rank as the matter of fact. There was only one goal in her mind which was to study each and every day and plan her day accordingly.

Her Preparation Method

Nandini didn’t join any coaching institute for preparation but she did follow many test series. These test series guided her in organizing her studies and plan out her preparation strategy. She heavily relied on NCERT for her preparation. Her plan was to have a complete understanding of each and every subject. She was also teaching history which helped her understand things more clearly. Nandini used her own course lectures for the purpose of revision.

One of the subjects that troubled her was Geography. But she didn’t let it stop her and finally she managed to have a good grip on the subject. Nandini Maharaj insists aspiring candidate to read newspaper daily.

Nandini Maharaj Notes

Nandini Maharaj didn’t make notes for every subject like most aspirants do. She revised the whole book ten to twelve times for subjects like polity and geography. She made notes for comprehensive understanding so that it becomes easy for her to write answers in Mains. But she did make notes on current affairs. Apart from the newspaper she also relied on monthly current affairs magazines. Her optional subject was History. Which she failed to prepare properly in her 1st attempt.

In her second attempt, she prepared her optional beforehand.

Nandini Maharaj Blog

Nandini Maharaj in her blog shared her strategy to prepare for History optional. One should start his or her preparation by understanding the UPSC CSE. In order to do so, have a look through at the syllabus and previous year question papers. Try to analyze the trend and what the paper setter is expecting from you.

Make separate notes for maps. Draw thematic maps that follow the timeline of history. Memorize the sites carefully. For this information to retain for a long time in your mind what you can do is once you memorized the sites. Two days after this,  make someone quiz you on each site randomly. This will help you understand where are you lacking exactly.

Solve the previous year’s question on Maps. UPSC asks map questions mostly from Ancient History, therefore try to focus on the same. Read NCERT and revise as many times as possible.

Also Read: IAS Dr. Renu Raj Biography: Here’s  How Dr. Renu Raj Cracked UPSC in Her First Attempt

Marksheet

Subject	Marks
Essay (Paper-I)	140
General Studies (Paper-II)	106
General Studies (Paper-III)	105
General Studies (Paper-IV)	98
General Studies (Paper-V)	127
Optional-I (History) (Paper VI)	141
Optional-II (History) (Paper VII)	149
Personality Test	176
Total	1042

Also Read: Best IAS Officers in India: Check Out Who is the Best IAS Officer of India?

Conclusion

Nandini Maharaj has more than 26,000 students and more than 50,000 followers. A question that might have popped in mind: “is Nandini Maharaj currently working as an IAS officer?” Yes. She has been assigned Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Her journey proves that one needs to organize his/ her studies differently and better than others to make him/ herself stand out in the crowd. If you also learn to manage your studies in an efficient manner then there is a high chance you can become an IAS officer. But remember it took her two attempts of hard-work and sacrifice. You will also have to work and show dedication in the same way.

If you find her story inspiring and it helped you, then let us know in the comment section below.