Don't pay heed to non-serious suggestions.

This among all the replies being made here on the post, is the one which people should get an idea out of it.

This comment has made my coming day, and I don't know how.

He has said this ironically. He didn't mean that one could do whole preparation in 4 days, so please guys don't get annoyed over the comment he made.

I'm telling every new aspirant from my personal experience that there is no such thing as shortcut mind that no Shortcut to success.Furthermore, css is indeed not a matric exam but when it come to oprionals consider it as an matric exam. I also followed a blind suggestion from friend and did not prepare it thoroughly, in the end I know what will be the outcome. So, prepare optionals like you are in school and for compulsary prepare it like you are in university.

One can sail through this exam with one month preparation on the other hand 10 years of preparation can't guarantee the success in this competitive examination.

We can't determine the ideal time duration for this exam because it varies from person to person. However, i am convinced that an average mind, under proper guidance, can Ace this exam with preparation of 4 months

How do you define an "average mind", and what skills does one need to jump right into that category?

Visit any class room of a university, Ask the teacher to grade their students on a scale one to ten on the basis of their writing skills ,clarity of thoughts, ability to absorb concepts and problem solving approach, now take the average and whoever falls on that average, according to my understanding, is fit to sail through CSS written part with 4 months of preparation.

Nothing is impossible in this world. Ordinary people do extra ordinary things.

__________________
Luck means (Labor Under Correct Knowledge).
Attaining the impossible now

Best Post of the Thread!

The stage you are at right now might be too early to consider the kind of things you are considering. Reach the bridge first, as they say. Once you grab a good slot, say in PAS (DMG) you might be able to make significant contributions to administration and development at the grassroots level to begin with, and policy level later in career.

But obviously this kind of argument is not incontrovertible. Any CSS officer may get kicked out of the service for locking horns with idiots in the government. So there are tricks to the trade... No definitive answer to your actual implied question is possible.

About the books, these are the ones suggested to me by an Ex-CSP and are quite motivating. The authors have narrated their contributions to their country in capacity of being CSPs.

Hope I answered some part of the query(ies)

Best!

Bilal, the Monk probably thinks of him/her-self as an 'Average'. His humility might be part of the confusion he is creating. As for MORNING LARK, you should be at least fractionally above the 'average', even by Monk's definition. And Monk, thanks for the great contributions. I agree with you wholly - save for your conception of the 'average' !