CSAT 2026 Comprehension, Set 1: Kalagram, Sport, Double Deflation and HMPV

Passage 1: Kalagram at the Maha Kumbh (Q6–7)

The passage describes Kalagram, the cultural village set up at the Maha Kumbh Mela. It presents the village as a mosaic of India's regions, laid out in seven crafted 'Sanskriti Angans', with thematic zones inspired by temples such as Dakshineshwar Kali and the Brahma Mandir. It names Bengal's Pattachitra paintings, Assam's bamboo crafts, Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur paintings and Madhya Pradesh's tribal sculpture, shown in 'living galleries' where 230 master artisans worked with age-old techniques, 'shaping India's ancient history into creations'.

Passage 2: Sport as a way of life (Q11–12)

A short passage arguing that sport is more than medals or sports-quota jobs. It notes that young people struggle with depression and anxiety and that parents complain their children are inactive and rarely leave home. Sport, it says, teaches time management, fitness, teamwork and coordination, and the country needs a culture in which sport is a way of life and a path to a healthier, happier society.

Passage 3: Double deflation (Q16–17)

The passage explains 'double deflation', the method most countries use, in which input and output prices are deflated separately. Its example is a manufacturer that imports oil: if oil prices fall while output prices and quantities stay the same, real value added should not change. If one deflator is used for both inputs and outputs, as in India, the manufacturer would wrongly appear to have become more productive.

Passage 4: HMPV and SARS-CoV-2 (Q26–28)

The passage contrasts SARS-CoV-2, a truly novel virus in 2019 to which nobody had been exposed, with HMPV, to which people have been exposed for decades and which is well studied. The two belong to very different virus families with different characteristics and epidemiology; HMPV is strongly seasonal, unlike SARS-CoV-2. They differ in severity, especially over the long term, and affect populations that only partly overlap. HMPV generally causes milder illness, deaths are very rare and there are no long-term post-viral symptoms.

This page summarises each passage in our own words. Read the full passages in the official UPSC CSAT 2026 question paper (Series A), using the question numbers in brackets.