Abhinav Pandey, UGC NET 2019 qualified for Assistant Professor wants to become a research scholar

Abhinav Pandey qualified UGC NET 2019 History paper for Assistant Professor with a total score of 166. Know what prep strategy he adopted and books he read to qualify the exam.

Paper-wise scores of Abhinav Pandey in UGC NET 2019 exam include 64 in paper-I and 102 in paper-II.

An extremely dedicated student, Abhinav always wanted to clear NTA UGC NET in the first place. He never took any coaching to prepare for the exam but relied on his self-study to crack the paper. He has completed his post-graduation in History from IGNOU.

Apart from taking the UGC NET exam, Abhinav also appeared for CUCET 2019 and cracked it. His father is a retired government officer, mother is a homemaker and elder sister is PGT History in Kendriya Vidyalaya.

In a candid with interview with Shiksha, Abhinav shares how to he prepared for UGC NET 2019 exam, which books he read, what are his future plans, and more. Go through the complete interview with Abhinav below:   

Yes, I expected to qualify the exam as I was confident about my preparation.

For History, I studied books of various writers because one can't solely be dependent upon the findings and interpretation of a single writer. Also, in history objectivity is desired but not always possible, therefore every student should read or atleast diversify their reading materials.

For Ancient History, I read the following books:

• A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century by Upinder Singh
• Ancient India by RC Majumdar
• An Advanced History of India by RC Majumdar
• Prachin Bharat ka Itihas Tatha Sanskriti by KC Srivastava

For Medieval History, I read:

• A History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra

For Modern History, I read:

• Spectrum's A Comprehensive History of Modern India
• A New Look at Modern Indian History: From 1707 to the Modern Times by BL Grover & Alka Mehta
• India's Struggle for Independence: 1857-1947 by Bipin Chandra

Apart from the above, I also studied the following books and solved previous year UGC NET question papers for preparation of the exam:

• A Textbook of Historiography by E Sreedharan
• Research Methodology by CR Kothari
• Trueman's UGC NET/SET General Paper I

I focused on reading History books with critical outlook because in UGC Net questions are analytical. Reading bibliography is also an important part of UGC NET preparation, as it not only enhances the sphere of knowledge but also provides in-depth information about the research sources, which help in Net exam too.

I tried to keep myself motivated as I am quite impatient. Exercise and yoga helped me in maintaining tranquility.

Students should avoid reading too much and getting overboard.

NTA (National Testing Agency) has introduced some changes in UGC NET exam from this year onwards. One of the important changes introduced by NTA is no time gap between paper-I and II due to which students get ample time to finish the exam within the stipulated duration.  

Questions which draw your inference, especially in History section are quite difficult.

Be calm and relaxed, there will be questions which you may not understand at first but you figure them out once you apply your logical thinking.

Go through the UGC NET syllabus thoroughly, check the UGC NET pattern and you will be able to have a fair idea of the examination.

In future, I aspire to be a research scholar and hope my research contributes to the society in a meaningful way.