Mnemonics are effective memorizing tools that help IAS aspirants to recall larger pieces of information in an interesting manner. These tricks are a type of short-hand for recalling certain data. UPSC candidates should try to create their own Mnemonics according to their convenience and creativity.
Types of Mnemonics
There are nine types of mnemonics which are:
- Music
- Name
- Word or Expression
- Model
- Rhyme or Ode
- Note Organization
- Image
- Connection
- Spelling
Mnemonics can be immensely useful for remembering facts and figures. Here are a couple of illustrations:
Remember Who fought 1st Anglo-Mysore war
MEN vs Hyder Ali
- M-Maratha
- E-English
- N- Nizams
Remember Kings who followed Buddhism
“Bapu Ka hath”
- B– Bimbisara
- A-Ashoka
- P– Prasanjeet
- U-Uday sen
- Ka- Kaniska
- Hath-Harshavardhana
Remember Sessions of Lok Sabha
B.M.W
- Budget (February to May),
- Monsoon (June to September)
- Winter (November to December).
Remember the Writs
CPM Head Quarters
- ‘C’ for Certiorari
- ‘P’ for Prohibition,
- ‘M’ for Mandamus,
- ‘H’ for Habeus Corpus
- ‘Q’ for Quo Warranto
Remember the three principles of Jainism
KFC (Kentucky fried chicken)
- Right Knowledge
- Right Faith
- Right C
Remember the Five Great lakes
“HOMES”- The lakes give HOMES to numerous types of feathered creatures and fish.
HOMES -Here’s what each letter stands for:
- H for Huron.
- O for Ontario.
- M for Michigan.
- E for Erie.
- S for Superior.
Remember lakes according to their flow from West to East
“Superman Helps Every One”
The first letter of each word in “Superman Helps Every One” stands for the lakes. It lists the lakes according to their flow from West to East, which can come in handy if you are marking it on map.
- S is for Superior.
- M is for Michigan.
- H is for Huron.
- E is for Erie.
- O is for Ontario.
Remember Australian cities
BSC, MA, PhD
- B- Brisbane
- S Sydney
- C- Canberra
- M-Melbourne
- A-Adelaide
- Ph- Perth
- D- Darwin
Remember the oceans
PAISA
- P-Pacific
- A-Arctic
- I-Indian
- S-Southern Ocean(Antarctic Ocean)
- A-Atlantic
Remember the planets in order
“My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Noodles”
- M-Mercury
- V-Venus
- E-Earth
- M-Mars
- J-Jupiter
- S-Saturn
- U-Uranus
- N-Neptune
Remember the taxonomy
“Keep Pots Clean, Otherwise Family Gets Sick.”
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
UPSC aspirants can use mnemonics effectively while preparing for the Prelims exam. For this exam, a large number of disparate topics have to be covered in a short time. It is very difficult to remember all the information that forms a part of the UPSC Syllabus. This is where mnemonics would come in handy. Mnemonics work best when used along with previously known facts.
For example, when you want to remember the sessions of the parliament, construct the mnemonic using the following tricks:
- Remember the first letters of the names of those sessions.
- Arrange them in the chronological sequence, and associate this with the car that the Prime Minister and the Vice President of India use for commuting, which is a BMW.
- Even if you forget the sequence of sessions, you will still be able to remember this mnemonic and work backwards to the names of the sessions which are:
- Budget (February to May),
- Monsoon (June to September)
- Winter (November to December).
The relevant letters to remember would be BMW, a car that the Prime Minister drives to the parliament. This is an example of a name mnemonic.
IAS aspirants can construct more efficient mnemonics in this way by associating previously known and interesting facts and figures with information that is useful for the Civil Services Exam.
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