Once one of my seniors informed me that she was
planning to visit Switzerland and I spontaneously suggested her to visit New Zealand
as I assumed that they are close. She dismissed it as one of my lame jokes. But
I was serious.;)
Till a few years back I was unaware that
Chennai falls in the eastern coast of India. Till three months back I had no clue that
Pondicherry consisted of four islands and a part of it, Mahe is in the western
coast of India. Some find Geography easy and interesting and others find it
intolerable and till March 2015 everything about geography scared me. Apart
from the theoretical part, Maps were my all time weakness. One day when I was
struggling with the NCERT books of Geography in the library, a person sitting
next to me who till then never talked to me offered me a book by a local author
for Indian geography and I will always be thankful to him as it definitely made
Indian geography easier and interesting.
We will talk about the sources for world
geography and then proceed to Indian geography. Both are very important.
Sources:
For geography in general:
1. Go through Class XI NCERT textbook, ‘Fundamentals
of Physical Geography’. Once you are done with this please buy a book named ‘Certificate
Physical and Human Geography’ by Gohcheng Leong.
For Indian Geography:
2. There is this book called ‘Periyar Geography of
India’ by Arvind Kumar. Do read it anyhow. My friend had suggested this and it
worked wonders. This book isn’t available online and can only be ordered from book
shops in Delhi. In my previous write up I had mentioned the phone number of a
book shop located in Old Rajinder Nagar, so kindly order from them.
3. I am attaching a link to the handouts given by Manocha Sir of Vajiram
& Ravi. Definitely one of the best teachers one can come across.
4. For videos that cover everything about
geography (World and India) please go through the videos of Rajtanil Solanki
working with Mrunal. It is very in-depth and if you cover the 57 videos, you
will master geography.
MAPS
5.Please buy the large size wall map which will only cost around 30 Rs. and
paste it in your room wall. Start with world political and India political. Know the
different seas, the oceans, major places.
[Get acquainted with places as if it
is going to be your next vacation destination. I hope many such places will be
visited in the future. J]
6. Buy an atlas. Usually ‘The Orient Black Swan
School Atlas’ is preferred. Get the latest edition. I am attaching a handout
with important places.
7. Start your Map reading from the list by Manocha Sir.
Whenever anything in geography scares you, try
to see videos connected to the topic in YouTube. Suppose you are reading about
Monsoons in India and are unable to understand the several factors behind it,
check the following video.
Or say you are studying about El Nino or LA Nina,
do go through this video
Some Questions asked in Prelims 2015
Which one of the following
countries of South-West Asia does not open out to the Mediterranean Sea?
a.
Syria
b.
Jordan
c.
Lebanon
d.
Israel
Solution: b)
[All these places were in
news. So try to make an elaborate list of all places in news and at least see
their location, seas/oceans near to them]
Each day is more or less
the same, the morning is clear and bright with a sea breeze, as the sun climbs
high in the sky, heat mounts up, dark clouds form, then rain comes from thunder
and lightning. But rain is soon over. Which of the following regions is
described in the above passage?
a.
Savannah
b.
Equatorial
c.
Monsoon
d.
Mediterranean
Solution: b)
In India, in which one of
the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species?
a) Tropical moist
deciduous forest
b) Tropical rain forest
c) Tropical thorn scrub
forest
d) Temperate forest with
grasslands
Solution: a)
In India the steel
production industry requires the import of
a) Saltpeter
b) Rock phosphate
c) Coking coal
d) All of the above
Solution: c)
Consider the following
statements
1. The winds which blow
between 30 degrees N and 60 degrees S latitudes throughout the year are known
as westerlies.
2. The moist air masses
that cause winter rams in North-Western region of India are part of westerlies.
Which of the statements
given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Solution: b)
Tides occur in oceans and
seas due to which of the following?
1. Gravitational Force of
the Sun
2. Gravitational Force of
the Moon
3. Gravitational Force of
the Earth
Select the correct answer
using the code given below
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2, and 3
Solution: d)
Consider the following
States:
1. Arunachal Pradesh
2. Himachal Pradesh
3. Mizoram
In which of the following
states do “Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests” occur?
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Solution: c)
Which of the following
pairs of States of India indicates the easternmost and Westernmost State?
a) Assam and Rajasthan
b) Arunachal Pradesh and
Rajasthan
c) Assam and Gujarat
d) Arunachal Pradesh and
Gujarat
Solution: d)
Do not panic with the amount of information. Despite
geography being my weakness, I could answer all the questions correctly in this
year prelims due to the above mentioned sources. It is always easier to start
with the videos, get rid of your fear and then proceed to text books. Love.
