Quarter-life Crisis

Am I suffering from quarter-life crisis? Well, to some extent, 'yes'.

Wait and watch for longer and more meaningful posts. I'll edit this post and will make it more relevant son. Right now, it's too late and I've to reach office in the morning tomorrow.

Life's fantastic? Well, it absolutely is, at least now.

Girgaum Chowpatty

I like this pic very much and hence have set it as wallpaper often.




It's Girgaum Chowpatty, my favourite hangout here in Mumbai. Actually the pic has been taken from the Chowpatty itself and the few large building that are mainly visible are on the other end of Marine Drive. That area is Nariman Point. Well, the chowpatty is supposedly not as famous (and crowded either) as the Juhu beach, probably because families esp with kids with them don't seem to prefer Girgaun. Anyway, it's the place I probably love the most and will miss very much when I'll leave Mumbai.

I wish to have a digicam some time soon.

PS: The pic isn't taken by me. It's just taken from an email.

My interview

So, let me post my interview on my blog too. It was basically taken by one of the members called abhi1max1 at Pagalguy.

For those who're unaware of Pagalguy: Pagalguy.com is a site with a discussion forum mainly for MBA aspirants. The link for discussion forum there is here.


My first public interview:

What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?

I guess there's nothing that satisfies both the criteria, at least as of now.

How do you tackle stress and define stress?

Well, stress for me is the dilemma of choosing between two when I want to leave neither. Stress is also when I've to fight with myself. This happens quite often with me. I just tackle it as it comes by dealing it with the best way I can.

What would be your first question to the people of Antarctica?

"Can I stay here forever?" :D

What is the strangest/funniest experience you've had here at PG?

Had many. Difficult to point out one.

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

Haresh - just another person.

What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?

A teacher.

Did a thought ever came in your mind that you missed something in life.. Tell us please..

I no more think that I missed something. I'm satisfied with whatever I am, I have and I had :)

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

I couldn't understand what is being asked :?

What was the funniest incident in your college life?

Well, it was the time when I used to sit in computer lab of the college for almost the whole day making projects and at times playing games. Well, I wasn't obviously expected to play games in college labs during this period. Once I was playing a game on a PC (a game similar to AirXonix) and someone put his hand on my shoulder and uttered 'Good'. I said 'Come and sit near me' as I thought the person behind me is my friend. But, voila! He was our HOD. Well, my friends started laughing and I couldn't stop laughing either as we shared good relation with HOD anyway.

Mention some incidents when you laughed yourself out?

Well, there are a couple I can recollect now. Both are during my undergrad days. Asking someone out, and blah blah blah ;)

Do you miss anyone right now?

Yes.

Do you spend a lot, or you define yourself as a saving person..

I'm somewhere between these two extremes, a little closer to the saving side.

Your Dreams for future India.

A country with communal/cultural harmony :)

Ethnic or westrn wear.

Ethnic (I guess Tee and Jeans comes under this category :| )

your favorite puy -male n female

One is too small a number

Male: swagatsinha, vishalv, STALWART
Female: medulla, ishacool, sweetgalshruti

if u r arrested on account of crime ,waat it wud be

Crossing railway tracks at a station.

Your idea of perfect meal and drink.

Ghar ka khana... esp Chapati and tea. It's most-missed meal for me :)

Rate in order of Importance : FAME, MONEY, POWER..

Power, money, fame.

Your first crush was on whom and when?

A girl in my tuition class. At the age of 14 :D

Your definition, MBA

a highly over-rated degree which many of us want to have without knowing what it really is

Most valuable thing to you is..

Character.

Your Retirement dream

Working for and with under-privileged children.

Is there a philosophical side to you?

Yes, very much.

How do you celebrate your happiness..

Well, I share it with friends or just roam around alone celebrating it with myself.

PS: Here's the link to my interview's post on Pagalguy.

Life's fantastic

Life is going fantastic now. Am very happy. Have been placed for summers and that too outside Mumbai exactly like what I wanted. Want to write a long post. Will write soon. And yes, thanks for visiting my blog :)

Don't know how to title this :|

Came across this while surfing. Something that happened last year. Please read the warning as mentioned in that article:

http://ballyblog.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/iraqis-stone-girl-to-death/

As the title suggests, it's an article about a girl being stoned to death for loving and running off with a person outside his sect. It happened somewhere in Middle East and is called 'Honour Killing' :|

What do I mean by love?

In a step to discover myself, I was thinking about love and all at odd hours ;-)

Is it a desire for support? Well... not for me.

Why do we, rather I, crave for someone to be there? Well, I'm not 'craving for'

Love, or the lack of it, can drive people crazy. Did the same happen with me? Well, no. Whatever happened was normal, weren't they? (And does it really matter much whether they were normal or not?)

Love... what do I mean by 'love'? Is it a feeling that I happen to experience whenever I make a female friend? :P Of course not :D. Is it the urge of caring for someone? Well, I care for many. But, love for me does mean caring for a person, even in smallest matters.

Love for me is thinking about that someone and smiling. It's in taking her as a source of inspiration. It's in making love with her. It's in watching her smiling. It's in taking utmost care not to make her feel sad.

It's in discovering her. It's in discovering myself.

A poem I wrote...

I am posting a poem which I wrote some 10 months back.

I miss you.

I miss you, in it's true sense I miss you
I remember your words on chat "Can I kiss you?"
I wish you also tell me "I miss you"
I wish you sit silently beside me
I wish you say someday "Kiss me"
I miss those moments when we were together
I miss those talks when we were idiots together
I miss your stopping me because you felt shy
I want to be stupid when you are around me
I want, yet, you to believe that it's me
I, on a beautiful day, could tell you I love you
I miss those moments when I heard the same from you
Now, you are far but your memories are with me
They are what make me feel you are still with me
In photo or in dreams, whenever I see you
I get an image of a lovely and beautiful you
Your memories fill my days and nights with joy
Just like a kid has found again his favourite toy
My love-story is small but very beautiful, it's true
Because in it, there is none other than you.

And the transformation begins...

Just want to put a very positive poem here:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

starting life anew

She's there. No, it's illusion.
"I am no more." I don't know what prompted me to write so as status in facebook. I am
lost.

Don't know how these lines I'd read somewhere came into mind

And the mask falls
Like a picture off a wall
No life to live
No heart to love, at all.

Time stops for a moment. Flashback. All those moments. Those kisses. That warmth.

Why I am still lost?

Not any more.

EQ - Am I a dirty liar?

Your EQ is 160

Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar. Seriously though, your whole "Don't Worry, Be Happy" philosophy is really what defines emotional intelligence. You're warm, open, and very optimistic. You know how to act appropriately, even if you don't feel like it. You are a good communicator, and you have little difficulty with personal relationships - even when you're dealing with difficult people. In general, you are successful, capable, together person. You get what you want out of life.

What's Your EQ?

Video : Modi interviewed by Karan Thapar

I came across this video while surfing. This is an interview of the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi by the famous interviewer Karan Thapar. The interview makes me recall a similar interview from the Hindi movie 'Nayak'. Anyway, enjoy it...

The original link of the video on the IBN site is here

Finally in Sydenham-MMS

So, I've finally landed in Sydenham. Missed JB by 4 ranks and 0 mark. JB didn't deserve me :P

Jo mil gaya usiko mukaddar samaj liya
Jo kho gaya main usko bhulata chalata gaya...

CET : GDPI scores out

The GDPI scores of CET are just out.

My GD score is 15/17 and PI score is 14/17 (which means an improvement of 81.25% over last years total GDPI score :D )

Now, I have to wait for a month before final merit list is out.

JB or not JB?

May MAT :|

May-MAT results out : 99.98 again.

VA : 99.81
QA : 99.58
DI : 99.7
CR : 99.88

Not getting 99.9 + in any section cost me that 0.01 percentile, I guess.

Anyway, will have to wait till the CET GDPI scores are out.

My CET GDPI Experience

(Click here to find mine and others' CET GDPI exeriences on Pagalguy)

Here is my experience:

Center: Commerce Faculty, Shivaji University, Kolhapur

GD:

The panel told us to select one topic.

GD Topic : (1) *I don't remember * (2) Quota in private sector

There were 12 people scheduled to come in my group but only 5 turned up . After the panel said that these two are the topics, everybody started saying that we want to discuss the second topic without discussing among ourselves .

The panel instructed that first we need to speak on the topic for a minute and then we should start the discussion and then one of us should give a conclusion.

After that the GD started and I was almost the only person speaking . But I did stop and give others chance whenever others tried to speak, but unfortunately only two ladies speak and that too only 3-4 lines. I continued to speak for almost next 4-5 mins. Then I stopped, because I thought I had spoken enough. But, even after that the others didn't speak at all.

But then there prevailed silence . And the panel intervened and said that we need to maintain continuity. There shouldn't be gap in between .

I again started speaking but nobody except me spoke after that at all (except that 2 of them could speak a single sentence each which they could when I gave them a chance when they tried to speak when I was speaking). After 7-8 minutes, I stopped and the GD ended. (I could have continued but I thought it would be bad if I continue speaking as I had already spoken enough for about 5-6 minutes ). I stopped everytime anybody tried to speak. But unfortunately that didn't happen quite often. Except one girl, the remaining three people were not very comfortable with English.

After that, the panel told us to summerise. I told others if any of others want to conclude (as I had already got enough of air-time ) but nobody came forward. And I also concluded the topic. In all, I talked for around 6 mins out of 8 mins


PI:

There were two panelist in PI: P1 ~ 50, P2 ~ 60

Me: Good afternoon, Sirs.
P1&P2: Good afternoon. Please sit.
Me: Thank you, sir.
P1: So, tell me about yourself.
Me:
P1: So, you want to start a business?
Me: Yes sir, it is my long-term goal.

Then both of them asked me about how exactly I would start it, where will I get finance from and after how many years, etc. They kinda' grilled me here . But, I was prepared for all this

P1: That's good that you are determined and all that, but you mentioned that taking a lot of time in taking important decisions is your weakness? What exactly you mean?
Me:
P1: Any incident which made you feel so?
Me:
P1: Any other incidents?
Me:
P2: So, why do you think it's your weakness? How does it affect you?
Me: It wastes my time and occupies my mind for time-being and blah and blah and blah
P1: So, you can't be a good manager as you can't take decision quickly, right?
Me: No, sir. I have been working on it and have succeeded to a certain extent.
P1: What are you doing to improve over it?
Me:
P1: How did you implement it when you had to make decisions quickly?
Me:
P1: (looking at the answer-sheet) So, you've got 99.98 in MAT. What is MAT?
Me: Sir, it's Management Aptituted Test just like CET conducted by AIMA. And blah, blah...
P1: So, this is your percentile or percentage or score? (I'd forgot to write the word 'percentile')
Me: It's percentile, sir. And my score is 800/800
P2: Why is this exam taken? Why did you take this exam?
Me: Sir, this is a national level entrance exam whose score can be submitted to many colleges for admission into management courses. As an OMS candidate, I can submit this score to DTE and the higher of MAT and CET score will be considered for admission. This year the equivalent score would be 143 (courtesy: PG )
P1: You have good percentage in 10th and 12th. Why not the same in college?
Me: (I was prepared for this question)
P1: You are BCA. Why not MCA?
Me: MCA is more of repetition of BCA and blah, blah...
P2: Who told you so?
Me: I have a couple of friends in MCA in DDU, Nadiad. They told me. Even I have checked the syllabus and found the same.
P1: But why MBA?
Me:
P1: So you are working? Where are you working and what's your designation?
Me:
P1: So, you write diary? You write in English or Gujarati?
Me: I have been writing diary for last 4 years. I have been writing it in English. For the rist 2-3 months when I started, I used to write in Gujarati
P2: Even I am also Gujarati. I am from Baroda.
Me: Okay
P2: I am impressed with your determination. Though you still have a chance to improve in your speech, your English is quite good. I am impressed with your English.
Me: Thank you, sir. I have worked hard on it.
P2: I have not seen many Gujarati students from vernacular background with as good English as yours. What have you done to improve over it?
Me:
P1: When did you realize that you need to work on your English?
Me: In first semester of my college when I saw that some of my class-mates used to talk in English and I couldn't. In the starting of my first year, I realized it and started working on it.
P1: So, it's over. Thank you. You may leave.
Me: Thank you sir.
P2: (when I was just about to leave the chair) Keep your this spirit forever.
Me: Surely. Thank you sir



So, in all, GD and PI were the best ever I had in my life. I doubt whether my stopping speaking after 7-8 mins of GD was good or not. I knew that if I would stop, the GD will stop. But, I thought it's better to stop the GD in stead of continue speaking alone as nobody else was speaking at that time.

@all... Was it a good move? Or should I have continued the GD for 4-5 mins more?

May-MAT (perhaps last MBA entrance exam for me) is over

MAT was today. My sixth attempt :D.
I think I can safely expect 99.9+ in at least a couple of sections. And if I don't get very less percentiles in Verbal section, 99.99 is not impossible, I guess.

Dekhte hai kya hota hai...

Welingkar PG GDPI calls out!

I am selected for GDPI for Welingkar's GDPI programs. GDPI is held on first week of June.

I hope I make it into JB itself.

KJ : results out... me also out

KJ results are out. Me, neither in selected, nor on waitlisted...

So, CET is the only hope.

Haresh, gear up... maximise on your last chance [:)]

Final results

Final rejection from NM, TAPMI and Fore.

Waiting for KJ.

CET results are just out : 97.44 %ile with score of 114.

ATMA results :

My ATMA result :


Quantitative : 99.76
Verbal : 94.56
Analytical : 99.60

Total : 99.76

Much below my expectation.

Feb-MAT result : 99.96 percentile

Here is my score and percentiles... less than last MAT :

Language Comprehension : 99.29
Mathematical Skills : 99.79
Data Analysis & Sufficiency : 99.93
Intelligence & Critical Rsg : 95.42
Indian & Global Environment : 79.71

Overall percentile : 99.96
Composite Score : 800

Let's hope better result in ATMA

TAPMI selected

That means 4 calls as of now

NM - 18/2
TAPMI - 3/3
Fore - 7/3
KJ - 10/3

Fore : Selected :)

K. J. Somaiya : Selected :)

XAT result

XAT result, not a reason to cheer up :

Verbal Ability : 80.64
Quantitative Ability : 73.01
Reasoning & Decision making ability : 87.75

Total Percentile : 86.52

Waiting for a call from GIM :

Not seleced for SIBM :(

Cut-off for SIBM : 83.5

Not expecting call from SCMHRD, either.

SNAP result out

Here is my SNAP result :

English 20.25 /40
Quants 9.50 /50
GK 16.25 /40
Reasoning 25.00 /70
-------------------------
Total 71 /200

Let's see, whether I get calls from SIBM and SCMHRD. I am not quite optimistic for that.

NMAT results out : a reason to smile

NMIMS result are out and I am at the bottom in those who got selected.
Score : 69
Rank : 2517

Hope never dies... :)

My CAT-06 result : 91.24 percentile :(

DI/LR(Percentile Score) : 88.74
Verbal(Percentile Score) : 82.84
Quantitative Ability(Percentile Score) : 87.26

Total(Percentile Score) : 91.24

It's obviously less than my expectations. Let's see, call kaha-kaha se aate hai

MAT Dec-2006

It has been quite long since I posted. Koi baat nahi. Let me be more regular now. And yes, here's my MAT result :

Language Comprehension : 98.94
Mathematical Skills : 99.93
Data Analysis & Sufficiency : 98.3
Intelligence & Critical Reasoning : 98.56
(Indian & Global Environment : 84.74)

Composite Score : 800
Overall percentile : 99.98

How'll CAT look this year?

Here is the link to an article on PG on possible format of CAT-'06 paper by Munira Lokhandwala, an alumna from IIM Calcutta, batch of 1999. Her scores : Year-Overall percentile 2005 - 100 %ile 2004 - 99.99 %ile 2003 - 99.98 %ile)

IIMs, huh?

I am getting 90+ percentiles in AIMCATs. Much scope to improve. Though my overall percentiles are fluctuating, my marks are often even across different sections.

Koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti - a poem

A very inspirational song from late Harivanshrai Bachchan :

Lehron se Darkar nauka par nahin hoti,
koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti

Nanhi cheenti jab daana lekar chalti hai,
chadhti deewaron par, sau bar phisalti hai.
Man ka vishwas ragon mein saahas bharta hai,
chadhkar girna, girkar chadhna na akharta hai.
Akhir uski mehnat bekar nahin hoti,
koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti.

Dubkiyan sindhu mein gotakhor lagata hai,
ja ja kar khali haath lautkar aata hai
Milte nahi sahaj hi moti gehre paani mein,
badhta dugna utsah isi hairani mein.
Muthi uski khali har bar nahin hoti,
koshish karne walon ki haar nahi hoti.

Asaflta ek chunauti hai, ise sweekar karo,
kya kami reh gayi, dekho aur sudhar karo.
Jab tak na safal ho, neend chain ko tyago tum,
Sangharsh ka maidan chhodkar mat bhago tum.
Kuch kiye bina hi jai jaikar nahin hoti,
koshish karne walon ki haar nahin hoti.

CII confident about Gujarat Economy surpassing the growth rate of 16% in coming years

Here is an article on CII site about expected growth rate of Gujarat. Just read it.

Journey of a cat-taker called 'crisp'

This is a copy + paste from one of the most beautiful thread on PG. A person with username 'crisp' has posted it.

I came, I saw…I purred!
CAT: How I ruined it?

June of 2005. That was when I had made the brightest decision of my life (supposedly) - to take CAT. And, to crack it. Like a ‘black-belt’ cracks the marble slabs. I wasn’t kidding myself. I had always been a bright girl at school, in college and every which where. So it wasn’t a far cry for me.

November 20th was the CAT DAY. And I was determined to say to myself (when the results are out) – I came, I saw, I conquered!

I began my voyage.

I joined a coaching institute. Many kids and many of them not-quite-kids were catting. Catting? Yeah, that’s the term for the designation you get for about six to eight months when you are preparing for CAT, and more specifically when you have joined a battalion (of coaching institute people) to go to the CAT war and fight right.

They gave us a handful of basic fundas’ books to begin with, to be mastered in a month’s time. I brought them home, kept them on the study table, admired the look of them, chalked out a schedule (to be strictly followed) to accommodate all the knowledge that they contained, and was too tired after a long day of doing all this. So I dozed off.
Came July. And I found myself blaming June. For being such a lazy hot month, that I could not even master the basics. I said to my self – ‘It’s never too late.’

I had come. I had seen. I was yet to conquer. How could I possibly have given up?!
I designed another schedule, a stricter one; one that was meant to make up for a month’s loss of studies. First few days were in parity with the same, outlined by a constant struggle in the quant section. Mathematics was never my cup of tea. And there was I trying to smell the coffee. And while juggling with it, Coke and irritation were my constant companion. DI/DS behaved like the monsoon that year. It came late to me; and sometimes the questions would happen, sometimes they just wouldn’t. I couldn’t understand the pattern of DI/DS for many days. Weatherman couldn’t understand that of monsoon. I was not the one at fault as far as DI/DS was concerned. Its unpredictability was to be blamed. Plus the heat due to the delay in monsoons.

They say – ‘every dark cloud has a silver lining’. For me, it was the Verbal section. Except that when I began doing the Reading Comprehension, I would start appreciating the passage rather than concentrating on answering the questions. Then one fine day it occurred to me that passages appear in the test paper so that the accompanying questions are answered, and speedily. The verbal trainer at the insti was good, the only person I liked there perhaps. So I bought her advice – to concentrate on answering the questions, and leave the language appreciation part for the time after the 20th of November. I was on the right track.

By the day, my frustration curve grew steeper (thanks to maths) and learning curve flatter (thanks to maths again). Maths section tests were quantum disasters. DI/DS as unpredictable as ever. Sometimes way too good. At other times just as bad. My performance in DI/DS section on graphical representation would have looked like an ECG report.

And did I mention somewhere that it was August already. Time for mock tests. Needless to say, mock tests mocked at me really well. I checked the vital signs of my performance. Preparation - okay (okay?! I was trying hard to treat myself well!) Accuracy – directly proportional to percentile (which never exceeded 75). Speed – snail’s.

Now I had to work out a rescue plan. I could not have saved face. But saving grace was the need of the hour. I decided to limit the portion that I would focus on, to bypass the guys like trigonometry, progressions, advanced algebra, et al. and to give a go by to a lot of incomprehensible stuff in DI/DS. I was beyond them (or was it the other way round?) English was my forte. So I gave less time to it. It would just happen. And, then I started a race against time. The plan seemed to be working. My percentiles at the mocks improved. Still I was far, far away from Julius Caesar, from conquering. At the last but third mock test – 80 percentile. I said to myself, “Not bad”. And then, “Not good either!”

80 percentile. And, in subsequent tests, I got stuck there. Weather changed. My CAT prep status didn’t change much. Why? Because, you can only go so far when you have not polished your basics well. The coaching-insti people do not give you funda-books for decorating on the table and admiring their look. They are meant to be stirred well and digested.

The red letter day had arrived. By this time, I had become dispassionate. That’s what you do when the world looks materialistic with no meaning for existence! I went to the CAT center - feeling like a zombie. Found my place in the hall. Sunk in. My fate in the form of CAT question paper came. The invigilator gave a few instructions, which my mind did not register. Then he said, ‘Start’. I started.

I began with Verbal Section. Just to feel good. Handled the little ones first; sentence correction, contextual usage, parajumbles, and the like. Then I moved on to the RC; completed three passages in 17 minutes. Next took up the quant section. It did look bad in the beginning. Oh yes, there were a few suckers as expected. I took good care of them. Did not even care to take a peek at the questions which had their origin in my un-favorite and un-prepared topics. It was not a wise thing to do however. Because, suckers in a CAT paper are sometimes found in the most unlikely of places. After having a tough time there, I headed towards tougher times. The DI section. Time was flying, and I was almost crawling. Whatever I did in this section, I did it in 20 minutes. And, against anticipation, it was not all that bad. Decent, if not good.

‘Time’s up.’ And that was that. I had just wasted my first attempt at CAT. I wasn’t devastated. Just then I had become a stoic. And asked myself, ‘By the way, who was Julius Caesar?’

I came, I saw…I purred.

When I recovered after a week or so, I decided to reflect upon the whole drama. I could see clearly the mistakes that I had made, and the right things that I did not do. The list looked something like this:

·Study schedule – in one word - ‘funny’. It was downright unrealistic. Could have been more real and flexible.

·Consistency – nil. One day I studied for six hours. The next day I was partying. The third day, I dedicated to feeling guilty and making alternate study plans. Believing that the plan would work from the following day, I took a break that day (God knows from what?). Could have been consistent with three hours of studies everyday.

·Basic concepts - far from satisfactory. Could have spared some time in memorizing those formulae, and doing the less-challenging questions and thereby gaining confidence. And, then the switch to the tough ones would have been easier.

·Inability to identify my strong and weak areas. Consequently, inability to leverage on the strong areas and to convert the weak areas into comfortable ones.

·Time-management or shall I say ‘time-mismanagement’. Lack of a strong conceptual foundation never allowed me to keep a check on my speed. I kept struggling for accuracy that speed never got its fair share. Hence, ended up spending almost an hour on Quant section, and 20 minutes on DI/DS. Time-management is indispensable. I should have known.

·When it comes to CAT, practice or the lack of it makes all the difference. What more can I say?

·And every one should have one strong area to hold on to. That instills the feel-good factor in the entire CAT scene. Mine was Verbal. It really did help.

Most importantly, never idolize Caesar. He never took CAT anyway. Do not try to conquer CAT. Just bell it. Be real. Make real plans in real time. Adhere. Adjust. Attempt.

All that matters is performance. And that depends on preparation and a good attitude.
When you take CAT, only two things happen. Either you make it or you don’t.

I didn’t. You can.
Crisp

PS.: I forgot to mention the result. 80 percentile.

Inspirational stories

I came across a few very good collection of stories/tales in the thread for motivational incidents facts on PG. It's a must-read for those who loves reading such incidents/tales.

How am I ?

How evil are you?

Slow and Steady

Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy.They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder.It'd really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment.They expect you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then usually decide against it.

How Do People See You?

You Are 72% Open Minded

You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

You Are 68% Addicted to Love

Might as well face it, you're very addicted to love.But you're not really getting the deep love you seek.Short lived, dramatic relationships are more your style.Let go of needing someone, and you may find someone you actually want.

Are You Addicted to Love?

You Are 25% Selfish

In general, you are a very giving person who treats others very well.But at times, you insist on getting your way - when it matters most to you.

How Selfish Are You?

Your Brain is 53% Female, 47% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and femaleYou are both sensitive and savvyRational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headedBut you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 35% Conservative, 65% Liberal

Social Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

You Are 8% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm.Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

How Evil Are You?

You Communicate With Your Body

This isn't as bad as it sounds, it just means that you're a "touchy-feely" person.You need a lot of affection in your life. And for you, this means both giving and receiving little touches.Warm hearted, you bond with people easily. In fact, you often feel a little sad when you're not in the company of others.A little moody, you tend to be controlled by your emotions. But a bit hug always comforts you!

How Do You Communicate?

Why do love marriages result in failure...????

There is a thread on PG where discussion on the topic "Why do love marriages result in failure...???? "is running. I've also put my views there (post #36). Here is the copy of it :

In love marriages, we expect our partner to be as affectionate as he/she was in the starting of the relationship. (And we sometimes behave more nicely in the initial stage of a new relationship ). But it isn't often the case. It's quite common that when we are deeply in love with our partner, we often tend to overlook their bad habits. But, after marriage, we can't ignore them like we did in the past, because we have to deal them on regular basis. Now, unless they still love their partner, they don't try much to 'compromise'. And that's what we call 'failure' of love marriage.

In arrange marriage, in most cases, the guy and the girl don't know each other very well. So, they are kinda more 'ready' and open for bad habits of the partner. And they are also a bit more tolerant (may be because their marriage were arranged ones! Actually the basic meaning of arranged marriage is to 'adjust' with the partner we get - my personal view). So, even if they aren't very comfortable with each other, they try to adjust for their partner. They for some reasons(which we have to find out) feel more committed to each other. And so they compromise on many things and the marriage 'survives'. (One point I'd like to add here is that not all marriages which don't end up in divorce can be called 'successful' marriages.)

The below is the list of people gathered at Dadar CCD for second PG meet. This is just for the sake of keeping record
ID on PG Real Name
------------ ---------------------
Reachmonil Monil(He is one of the moderators at PG)
Amitnsitian Amit
Padfoot Abhishek
Mahip Mahip
Dushyant Bhatia Dushyant Bhatia
Abhishek s Abhishek
The assasin ???????
quagmire ???????
Haresh Hareshmandani (That's me!)

Preparation agenda for CAT

The preparation agenda is like this :

Completing most of the CL material and IMS material before AIMCATs starts(23rd June).
Completing BRMs of IMS and Funda books of CL is having the highest priority.
Not to forget reading other books for voc, newspapers for RC, calculation fundas like square roots and cube roots(I have made list of such things in a page).

How and how much to do from 'QA-AGuha' will be thought once I have a deep glance at the book.

IIMs don't seem to be that far now :)

Book for QA(as well as DI)

Just purchased 'QA for MBA ent. exams' by Abhijit Guha. A book must for all preparing for MBAs.

CET-GDPI scores are out! Time to gear up for CAT

GDPI marks have been declared on dte site.

I got 6/17 in GD. It's a real shock for me as I had thought I had expected much more than that. But you never know what they are thinking. I think I need to improve on my ability of guessing !!

In PI, it's 10/17. Nothing to cheer about. May be they may have cut my marks because of my not-working while preparing for this. But again, work experience marks are counted seperately. So, they can't cut it from the 17.

Nevertheless, no need to worry as I am already gearing up for next CAT.

Planning to join some job this week.

The truth about earning in dollars!

Today I went thru the blog of Theja (of course, I got his blog address from Pagalguy.com :)) and his wonderful 'tips' for those preparing for MBA. Here is the link to his gyaan on CAT and GDPI.

While going thru his blog, I got an article worth-visiting for those who plan to shift abroad. I think the title 'The truth about earning in dollars' tells enough what the article is all about. Here is the link to that page on Rediff.com.

My GDPI experience (for CET) at Welingkar

Here's my CET GDPI experience at Welingkar (June 3).

GD

We were, as usual, given two topics to choose from. First was 'Privatisation of educational institutions will help improve the quality of education in India'. All of us were in favour of the first topic. (And, that's why I've forgot what the second topic was!).

Before the starting of the GD, the moderator(there were three moderators) asked(or rather warned) us not to create fish-market and advised us to let everybody speak.

There were around 13 students supposed to come. But only seven turned up. We were given chits to write our points on before the GD started. The GD was quite peaceful. Nobody looked aggressive. And almost everyone spoke for 1-3 minutes. After around 20 minutes, we ran out of topics and the moderator asked us to summarise. And one girl summarised the GD. In all, the GD was more peaceful than I had expected.

PI

There were two persons in my PI panel. The PI went like...

Q : Tell me something about yourself.
A : *told*
Q : Tell me something about your family.
A : *told*
Q : You did your BCA in 2004, right? What did you do after that?
A : Prepared for MBA entrances.
Q : For two years? Why didn't you join any job?
A : *justified*
Q : Why MBA?
A : *justified*

Actually the most of the interview then was on 'why MBA?', 'is it actually necessary?' kind of questions . They asked me to justify it.
Q : What is your score?
A : 126

Q : What will you do now?
A : I'll go for the first four colleges of CET if I get selected. I'll go for CAT-06 otherwise.
Q : Which are the top four colleges in CET?
A : JB, Wel, KJ and Syd
Q : Will you go if you get selected for other colleges, say Chetna or MET?
A : No, then I'll appear for tests next year.
Q : Are you sure?
A : Yes

Then again, there were 'Gujarati are born managers (). Why MBA then?' kinda questions. It lasted for around 12-15 minutes.

I can say my performance in both GD and PI was good to very good .

The Hindu v/s The TOI

For MBA aspirants, I have seen a lot of people recommending The Hindu over TOI on pagalguy.com. Also, a few people like Rushikesh(IIM-A 2005-07 batch) whom I met personally recommend the same. Acc. to them, The Hindu would be better in terms of language it uses. Let me read it and check it myself !

MAT(May) for CET : results are out!

My result :

Eng - 97.38
Maths - 98.14
DI - 98.81
Rsg - 93.88
GK - 91.96 (not considered in total percentile)

Total : 99.56

Had attempted 195 questions out of 200 !!

Christians in India

Here is only a portion of the Pope's reply after being critisised on his comments on conversion and religious freedom in India.

"... ...The Christians in India number only 2.3% of the total population: of these 1.8% belong to the Catholic Church. Despite being such a tiny minority, the Christians cater to 20% of all the primary education in the country, 10% of the literacy and community health care programmes, 25% of the care of the orphans and widows, and 30% of the care of the handicapped, lepers and AIDS patients... ..."

Gujarat not 'Fanaa' on Aamir Khan!

Now, what is this? India is a democratic country(, or at least believed to be so). Everybody is free to give his/her views on different issues or support one or the other ideology. And so is Aamir. He favoured those and spoke for the rehabilitation. And people in Gujarat banned his movies !! How disgusting !! Now, any celebrity would have to think twice before making any public statement on such issues. Doesn't it violate the very right of freedom of speech?

Why protest only by medical students(and not by all the students) ?

One question raises in my mind is 'why there are protests only from medical students?' It's time that students from all other fields also join the protest. Because, if there is reservation brought into effect in medical now, the 'reservation trap' may spread to other fields.

LIFE...or something like it: ..To B school or not to B school...

LIFE...or something like it: ..To B school or not to B school...

I'm to IIM

At last, started preparing again. When started preparing a couple of years back, aim was GCET and not CAT, then decided to take CAT and appeared in CAT-04. Appeared again in CAT-05, messed up after some good mock results, but now it's time to go to some IIM for a two years' stay !! I would like to quote one inspiring sentence here 'The whole world steps aside for those who knows where he is going'.

It's quite true. We often either are unaware of or not very focussed on our goals of life. There are times when life is very easy-going, but nobody would like to lead to a life where you don't need to do anything. Life is the satisfaction that we get on our accomplishments!