SECTION A
Essay
125 marks
Ships do not sink because of water around them, ships sink because of water that gets into them.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The metaphor says external pressure rarely destroys a person, organisation or nation; what destroys it is weakness allowed inside, such as fear, corruption or division. The examiner wants a reading that applies the image to individuals and to institutions and states.
ThesisIndividuals and nations survive hostile surroundings as long as they guard their inner integrity, so the first line of defence is character, cohesion and sound institutions rather than control of circumstances.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Individual: negativity, self-doubt and addiction sink people faster than poverty or setbacks, which many overcome when their inner resolve holds
- 2Corporate: firms rarely fail only because of competition; internal fraud and poor governance usually open the hull
- 3Nation and security: internal divisions on caste, region or religion give hostile powers an entry that external pressure alone could not
- 4History: great empires often decayed from within through corruption and overextension before outside invaders finished them
- 5Society: misinformation and hate entering homes through phones are modern leaks that weaken trust from inside
Counter-view
- One can argue that some forces, a pandemic or a war, overwhelm even the strongest ship. The essay should concede this and show that inner strength decides whether a ship is damaged and repaired or lost
Open and close
- Open: Open with the image of a ship riding out a monsoon storm in the Arabian Sea, then contrast it with a vessel lost in calm water because a small crack was left unrepaired
- Close: Conclude that we cannot calm the ocean, but we can keep our hulls sealed through integrity, unity and self-belief
Where marks usually go
- Writing about shipping, ports or maritime security literally
- Saying external circumstances never matter, which is an absolute claim examiners mark down
- Limiting the essay to personal motivation and missing institutions and the nation
Examples that fit
- StoryArunima Sinha lost a leg after being pushed from a train in 2011 and climbed Mount Everest in 2013, showing that outer catastrophe need not enter the mind.Arunima Sinha, Born Again on the Mountain (2014)
- CaseSatyam Computer Services collapsed in 2009 after its chairman confessed to falsifying accounts, a company sunk by internal fraud rather than market forces.SEBI orders in the Satyam matter; Ministry of Corporate Affairs
- ThinkerEdward Gibbon traced Rome's fall to internal decay, loss of civic virtue and corruption, long before the final barbarian invasions.Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- HistoryThe Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 without military defeat, weakened by economic stagnation and loss of internal legitimacy.Archie Brown, The Rise and Fall of Communism (2009)