CAT 2009 experiance

This is a post which I have been wanting to write for a long time. Now that the CAT results are out I don't want to delay this any further.

I gave my CAT on November 30, 2009 in Bangalore. This was the first time cat was being conducted in an all new avatar. It was the first computer based test not a computer adaptive test as GMAT or GRE. Being a software engineer my eyes were sufficiently trained to stare at computer screens for a long time, I didn't have as much trouble in adjusting to this new version, though I found solving reading comprehensions and DI questions based on graphs a touch difficult. I had managed to give around 30 mock cats in the on-line format as part of my preparation so I felt fairly confident of putting up a good show.

The test was scheduled at 10:00 AM in the morning and candidates were asked to report at-least two hours prior to the scheduled time to complete the security procedures. I budgeted for Monday morning Bangalore traffic and reached the centre by 7:45 AM. We were then directed to a waiting hall and made to wait for about an hour before candidates were called in groups of ten for fingerprint scanning and our photographs was also taken. We were then given a 15 minutes break to refresh and the test started at around 10:00 AM. I was so happy that things were proceeding without any glitches and we could start on time. I had read enough reports of technical snags in the previous days so I was elated to start on time. Candidates had to sit through a 15 minutes tutorial before they could start with their test. The tutorial was the same as the one which was uploaded on YouTube, so I just glanced through it without paying much attention. At 10:15 all of us started the test. I started with VA , my strongest section and things were progressing well. I had managed to finish off about 10 questions when misfortune struck. An error got displayed on my screen and soon the application delivering the test collapsed. My initial reaction was that it was a problem with my system alone but I soon found out that the whole centre was facing the same problem. It apparently had something to do with the server delivering the test and we soon had frantic prometric staff running around, making calls to their seniors finding out how to resolve the whole issue. I was praying that the whole thing be resolved asap as I had to go back to work once the test was over. I was looking helplessly at the prometric staff and I soon got bored and started feeling sleepy. I then started having a conversation with the guy next to me to shake off my sleep and bingo a prometric staff intervened and cautioned us against talking to one another inside the testing hall. Faced with no other option I decided to dose off and had a reasonably good nap only to be woken up by an announcement by a prometric staff that if the issue was not resolved within another 20 minutes our tests would be rescheduled. I felt like a thunderbolt had been delivered. The problem with rescheduling is that its done according to prometric's convenience and their is a high probability of the test being held in Lucknow or Bhopal at a time which may not be convenient to me.Fortunately the issue was resolved within the deadline and we got to proceed with our test by 12:30. Before proceeding we were offered a break of 15 minutes and I quickly went to the restroom and splashed some water on my face to shake off the sleep. My test was completed by 2:30 PM and I found the difficulty level of the test to be quite low. The conundrum with such a test is that it narrows down the line between students who have prepared well and those with reasonable preparation. There were also some many uncertainties involved this year like the normalization of scores of people giving their tests in different slots and there were also reports of questions being repeated which conferred an advantage to people giving their tests at a later date . This was the time I decided that there was no use worrying about all these things and told myself that I have given the test and there is nothing I can change so let me better concentrate on the upcoming exams.

Everyday there were reports of people facing technical snags in different centres and I decided not to give much hear to them. The most disturbing news however arrived during the third week of January. A good month and a half after the testing window was closed and at a time when results were expected to arrive. The IIMs had arrived at a set of criteria on which the tests would be conducted again based on complaints received by candidates who faced glitches during their test. One criteria was that tests would be rescheduled if the the total time exceeded 140 minutes. I very much fall into this category as my testing time took a total of more than 250 minutes. The retest was to be conducted on 30 and 31 st of January just a day before my IIFT Gd/pi which was scheduled on February 1. This news just drove me crazy. I needed to put in a great deal of preparation for my interviews and if I were to take CAT again I had to start revising them again as I was pretty much out of touch in solving CAT questions. I then decided to call up prometric and by god's grace they informed me that there was no need for me to give the test again and my scores of the test I wrote on November 30 would be considered. I was very much relieved after hearing this news and started off with full swing for my IIFT Gd/pi preparations.

Then came the endless wait for the results. The results were originally scheduled to be declared on January 22 but were postponed to third week of February and then again postponed to end of February. Eventually the results were out on February 28 though only IIM Ahmadabad and Shillong had declared their lists of shortlisted candidates for the next phase of the admission process. IIM Calcutta and Lucknow came up with their respective lists by March 3,IIM Bangalore,Indore and Kozhikode are yet to come up with their list though. After rejects from Ahmadabad, Shillong and Calcutta on account of low scores in quants ,I was extremely elated to find my registration number in Lucknow's list. I hope to get a call from at least one IIM out of B,K and I. Fingers crossed.

Why Telangana?

The demand for a separate state of telengana is an issue that has been hogging the limelight for the past couple of months. It all started with the TRS chief Mr.Chandrasekhara Rao going on a fast unto to death until his party's demand for a separate state of telengana, to be carved out of Andra Pradesh is not met.The whole issue gained ground after the demise of YSR. So why did Chandrasekhar Rao who had had his mouth shut during the reign of YSR suddenly rake up the issue of a separate telengana.People who had been following politics would easily call his bluff. He was simply trying to capitalize on the leadership vacuum created with the sad demise of YSR.

A look into the various reasons for people espousing the cause of a separate telengana makes interesting reading.The major reason for the clamour is the lack of development in the Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh. At the outset this demand sounds ridiculous. A brief look across the country and one can find most of the regions irrespective of whether they are part of a large state or a smaller one, do have despicable levels of development. Granting statehood for Telengana will increase the clamour for such small states to be formed and the associated movements are bound to get stronger. At present there are demands for a separate state of Bundelkand, Gorkhaland,Vidharbha etc..This would drive us towards a pre-independence scenario and the idea of a united single nation will undergo a heavy beating. This would leave us extremely vulnerable to extremism and affect us in all possible ways. India would then be like present day Afghanistan, where localised regions are controlled by tribal warlords and thus leave us extremely vulnerable to control by foreign hands. This lack of unity was one of the most significant reasons for the takeover of India by the English.People would do well not to repeat the same mistakes.

The second reason being offered is that small states are easy to govern and administer, hence benefits would ripple down to people faster and more efficiently. This would also accelerate development thereby narrowing regional imbalances. One just needs to have a look at all the north-eastern states to counter this claim. If the above claims had a modicum of truth behind them, then the north-eastern states would have been the most developed states in our country.

The third reason being offered is the cultural differences between people from Andhra and Telengana. India is an extremely diverse country and even within a region we have people belonging to different cultures,religions etc.. living together in harmony. Granting a separate state for people from different cultures would split apart the social fabric of our country thereby disrupting the harmony that exists. Its claimed that because of these cultural differences people of Andhra have always discriminated people from Telengana and this is also being projected as the purported reason for the backwardness of the region. Supporters of telengana point out to the fact the all chief ministers of AP have come from either Rayalseema or coastal andhra. Leave aside the Chief minister. What about the other ministers or the elected representatives. Telengana has definitely had a fair share of representation and people would do well to look into why their representatives have failed so far.

The most dismaying aspect of this whole issue is the way different political parties are trying to use this issue to further their gains. Everybody is aware that YSR never espoused the cause of a separate Telengana, however he managed to win the assembly elections and that too by a huge margin. This is definitely not a people's issue. The politicians have also managed to coax the minds

of the young students and are using them as a tool to project this as a people's issue.The agitations by both the pro and anti Telengana groups has brought life to a standstill in all parts of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad,which was being looked up as a valuable investment hub all these years has lost its promise and people now are looking elsewhere.

The various political parties must come together and try to resolve this impasse asap. This brooding has already lead to invaluable loss of life of many a young students apart from valuable loss of property and investment. The people of Andhra Pradesh have coexisted peacefully for the last 50 years and politicians must not try and disrupt this harmony. It is this unity that has helped them so far and

People would do well to remain united and advance to greater heights.

My new found love...

Who or what is my new love? For those of you who guessed it as who am sorry people I am yet to find someone.I am single and ready to mingle. So what is it? Its carnatic music. So what brought about the turnaround?What made me shun A.R.Rahman, Illayaraja etc.. and start listening to Sesha Gopalan,Sanjay Subramanium, Bombay Jayshree, T M Krishna etc. I just dont have an answer.May be it has got something to do with my genes. To those of you who don't me, my family has a rich heritage of music and many of my forefathers were musicians by profession. My grandfather used to tutor a quite a few number of students in my childhood and may be its influence is slowly rubbing on now. Though I did learn music for quite a few years I was never really interested in it.I was coerced into learning music to keep the heritage alive and running but the interest never really kicked in. Whatever learning I did was to satisfy my parents' wish and never took it seriously, naturally once the pressure of academics started to trickle in, I never ventured further.

The turnaround came around a year back and I would like to thank my job for facilitating it. Since I was into a production support type of work I had a lot of time to while away at work. Since we were also working on macs, we enjoyed unhindered access and could install or download etc...I casually borrowed a few discs from my uncle to listen to in my work in addition to the zillions of arr,illayaraja songs which I had managed to collect through my college days. The music was so exemplary and it got me hooked on to it instantly. The few discs soon became many and I also started collecting from various other sources and soon I had a decent collection of songs.Film music no longer impressed me.Listening to film songs didn't quite invoke the same feel as a kambhoji alap or a kalyani ragam thanam pallavi.

The challenge to identify the raga was so immense and this drove towards listening to more and more compositions.I would even create play-lists of one particular raga and listen to it till I got a grasp of the raga.

The Chennai music season arrived at just the right time to further my interests. This presented me the opportunity to move away from listening to recorded music to listening to live concerts. The experience of listening to musicians live was stupendous and I ended up attending most of the concerts in music academy. This was again made possible by my job. I was in bench then and faced with no proper alternatives to spend time I decided to go sabha-trotting to attend various concerts and to taste the myriad dishes that were being served.

This whole experience has rekindled my interests and I am contemplating to learn carnatic music in the near future.I may not turn out to be a Seshagopalan or a Sanjay Subramanium or a T M Krishna but it would definitely help me in understanding this heirloom heritage better.

Is Climate change really an issue?

Those of you who would have read my previous post it would be pretty clear that I am a big sceptic.But I do have reasons, a hell a lot of them to be sceptical especially with regards to climate change.Before I list out the reasons let me acknowledge the people in TIME who helped me come into the "matrix" the real world.Those of you who wish to join us in the "matrix" continue reading and people who think that I am writing something sacrilegious please do read further and bring forward your arguments, it will help me to analyze and find out the flaws if any with my views.

Why is it I am sceptical about it? The first and foremost reason is that I believe in the fact that data represents nothing. Data is like molten iron they take the shape of the things which they are moulded into.Therefore the same data can either be used to support a view or oppose it. So this whole issue of global warming is based on certain data collected by IPCC, the same organization whose reputation is under stake after the theory they had put forward about Himalayan glaciers,hence the authenticity of this study is under question.

The second reason is based on climate gate episode. The emails of the various scientists involved in the study to determine global warming have been hacked recently and the exchanges revel that data has been doctored to support the theory of global warming.

The next reason is based on a statement made by Russian president. He sees the whole issue of climate change as a ploy by the western nations to impose their green technologies on the other nations thereby reducing the clout enjoyed by the major oil producing nations. In an interesting editorial published in the hindu on january 5 th, a parallel is drawn to the Y2K scenario. That Y2K turned out to be no issue at all ,however the vested interests pocketed more than 300 bn USD by raking it up.

The next reason is based on historical precedents. The globe by nature may have phases of warming and cooling. In the 1700, the Vikings have cultivated crops in places like Greenland.This must have been during the warming phase as there was no industrial revolution then and co2 emissions were very less.Then we had ice age which could have been during a cooling phase. Even during the 1970s there were discussions among scientists about global cooling. So if indeed global warming is happening how much of a role does human beings play in it.

These are some viewpoints we need to ponder upon before we embark on cutting emissions and embracing green technology. So does that mean we continue with our emission spree and care little about our environment? Definitely not. It would be better if we leave it to the markets.If green technology is as good as our current technology and if its available for a much cheaper rates people would definitely embrace it. Just to drive my point further, if a car which is running on solar power or wind energy is as good as the cars which runs on petrol or diesel and is available at a much lesser price why wouldn't people use it. The same goes with any other technology as well.

But what has going green done to us. The use of agriculture farm lands to cultivate bio-fuels and diversion of corn from food to fuel lead to a spiralling of global food prices and thereby increasing hunger and poverty.

The whole issue of global warming needs further understanding and till there are enough facts to prove me to the contrary I would remain a sceptic.

IIFT Group Discussion and interview experience

Before I dwell into my experience let me let people know what IIFT means. Contrary to popular belief IIFT is an abbreviation for Indian Institute of foreign trade and not fashion technology. Its one of the top 20 b-schools in India and offers a specialised MBA in International business.

I had my essay writing, group discussion and interview process which comprises the second phase of the admission process, on 1 st Feb 2010.( It was my birthday). Though I did attend a few mock interviews and participated in a lot of GDs as part of my preparation, I wasn't particularly confident and the desperation to convert this call as I had no other calls made this exercise extremely nerve wrenching.

The interviews were held in coffee board,Bangalore and though we were supposed to be at the centre by 9:10 ,I reached by 8:40 as I didn't want to take a risk with Monday morning Bangalore traffic. To my surprise I found a lot of aspirants had arrived much before me. I took a newspaper with me just to while away my time and to know at least the day's headlines as I have heard interview panellists do quiz people on it.

The first step was essay writing. They gave us a high school level topic to write on, pretty weird as IIFT's topics are reputed to be on the lines of the current happenings and I was expecting something on telengana or Climate change or Recession etc..We had to write an essay of about 300 words on " Domesticated Animals are man's best friends" in about 20 minutes. I did take a while to get a grasp of the topic and wrote a few interesting points about how man has domesticated animals from his early days, what is current scenario etc.. I also dwelt into the ego aspect of man-man relations etc.. I touched upon the exploitation of animals for material gains. All in all a fair amount of points though in hindsight I wasn't happy with logical flow of ideas. I couldn't conclude the essay too as I had exhausted the time and the paper was snatched away. :(

The next stage was the GD. We were divided into 4 groups and despatched to various halls according to the group allocated. IIFT gds are quite different from the normal ones. Here each participant is given about 2 minutes initially to express his/her views and then there is an open discussion and then each participant is given a chance to summarize his/her views. Since it is well structured the fish market scenario was avoided to a certain extent. The topic was on Climate Change a topic which I was praying to get since I had prepared a awful lot on it. Thanks to the radical views thrown to me during my preparation phase at TIME I was able to give an all new perspective to the GD. I did took the stand of a sceptic and since I had prepared well I did have valuable points to contribute. I was surprised to see me being the only person speaking something contrary to the established beliefs. Everybody was taking about Kyoto,Bali, Copenaghan,IPCC etc...That I took a different stand is a big advantage but at the end of the day it depends on how the panellists view it. That I had to speak 2nd during the initial introduction was another advantage as my views sounded original. Thank god the guy before me wasn't a sceptic like me. In the open discussion I did chip in for 5-6 times though I felt I was a bit aggressive.The GD really helped my confidence though and it rubbed on to the interview as well.

The interview was a very cool process and the panellists were extremely amicable and tried to make us feel as comfortable as possible. It was very general and most of my questions were related to my father's business(I had written a awful lot about it in my CV form) and how would I compare it with my experience in TCS. There were questions like important learnings from TCS, what are certain things in TCS that can be implemented in my father's firm,how can they be done etc...Since I had also taken up a certification on stock markets I was queried about what are shares,bonds,stocks etc...The whole interview lasted about 10 minutes and I felt really good.

Since I was the second person to be interviewed all the process was complete by noon and I had the rest of the day to roam around Bangalore.

I do feel I have put up a decent show but looks like everybody has had a similar kind of interview. So no idea of what to make of it. Just need to wait for the results, a long wait as results are likely to come by 3 rd week of march.

End of the season....

With me giving my NMAT on Feb 6 th marked the end of my long season of exams. I gave a whooping seven exams spread over three months. This is just one phase of the admission process and if I happen to qualify in any of these tests I then have to slog again for the next phase comprising of essays, GDs and interviews which I have heard from people who have been there before are a whole lot tougher than the written tests. No wonder that management career is tough.

The season started off with the IIFT test in mid november and it was a dream start as I managed to qualify which I wasn't expecting to because of my poor score in one of the sections.Then came the mother of all exams CAT. Any exam in which more than 3 lakh people compete for a meagre 1600 seats is challenging irrespective of the syllabus, quality of people competing etc..The challenge got tougher as CAT was presented in an all new avatar for the first time this year.Though I did slog for over 8 months with my preparation and being a software engineer I was reasonably comfortable with the on-line format, still there were a lot butterflies in my stomach before the exam.The phone calls from my friends wishing me luck and the media reports of the technical glitches faced contributed to increasing my level of nervousness. In the end it turned out to be a damp squib. The paper was so easy that any body with a decent level of preparation could have cracked it. Now this decimates the line between the people who slogged their hearts out and the ones who just gave it a shot.Add to this the fact the most of the questions were repeated from previous years papers and previous slots and about 8000 had the option of giving CAT again( some 1.5 months later), CAT has in effect turned out to be a big lottery. All that I can do is hope that by divine grace I do manage to get a few calls.

After a lull of about 2 weeks after CAT I had to give JMET then followed by SNAP a week later. Given the fact that these exams are a lot more easier and I was looking to get into any of the top 2 or 3 colleges which accept these scores, an extremely good performance was required. I did put in a decent performance in SNAP, JMET though I felt I could have done a lot better. Then XAT followed a couple of weeks later and then FMS and then NMAT a month later.

In the first week of January the results of all these exams started to trickle in and I was faced with one disappointment after another. It was all a case of so near yet so far. The biggest disappointment was SNAP where I missed the boat by a mere half a mark and then XLRI which was again by a similar margin. JMET was another disappointment though I very much expected it. FMS and NMAT given my horrible show I am not even willing to check the results.

So what does the future holds for me now? I had quit my job too hoping to get a few calls and convert at-least one of them. So far the calls have been from IIFT and XIM B and I am expecting calls from a few IITs. A good result in CAT and a convert from any of these institutes is all that I can hope for as of now. Fingers crossed.

A Tribute to a true Legend...

When i was checking the scores of the Ind-Aus test match at Adelaide i was a taken aback when i saw an article on Adam Gilchrist's retirement. When i explored further i came to know that he has decided to retire from all forms of the game after this tour.It came as a rude shock as i had expected him to go on for another year at least. After all he is still limber and his performances in recent times though a bit on the downside are not something which arouse a call for his head.So with his retirement passes an epic which changed the way the game is being played.
He is someone who has revolutionized the world's perception of a wicketkeeper. Before his era a wicketkeeper was considered as somebody who was exceptional in the task of guarding the wickets and could chip in with the bat too. The runs scored by him were always considered to be a bonus. But with his arrival he has transformed this perception.The magnitude of his impact is so high that today teams are preferring to select guys who are good with bat and are decent behind the stumps to those who are exemplary behind the wickets but are not so good when it comes to batting.
Besides being an awesome wicketkeeper batsman Gilchrist is an exemplary sportsman. He is someone who has always played the game in the true spirit and the way he walks back to the pavilion when he knows he is out without waiting for the umpire to raise is finger is quintessential of his sportsmanship.That he walked even during the world cup semifinals even though his team was in a precarious situation speaks volumes about his character.This is probably the prime reason why i adore him so much.To be candid he is the only current Australian cricketer whom i revere.
Gilchrist deserves every bit of the accolades being showered on him.If one takes a look back at his career he has been a prolific run scorer for Australia in all forms of the game.His show behind the stumps has been equally good. Recently he passed Mark Boucher to set the world record for the maximum number of dismissals in test cricket by a wicketkeeper.He also holds umpteen number of records which include the second fastest century in test cricket,the best strike rate in test cricket for batsmen who have scored more than 2000 runs. Criticized for his lack of ability with the gloves he has proved his detractors wrong by putting in some remarkable show behind the stumps especially to the likes of Warne and Mcgrath.
Gilchrist has always been a big match player. He has been part of 3 world cup winning squads which in itself is a great achievement and his performance in all the three have been magnificent too.The innings he played against Srilanka in the 2007 world cup finals was an outstanding one. The timing of the innings couldn't have been better.It was the finals of the world cup and it required a great start as the match was already truncated. Given that he had been a bit scratchy throughout the series, he choose to strike form at the best possible time.There are numerous other innings including the one he played against India in Mumbai,which corroborate his appetite for big time. He is such a kind of a player who can turn a match on its head in a jiffy.
Gilchrist has also been a good leader throughout his career.His leadership skills were to the fore when he lead Australia to a 2-1 series victory in India,a task which even Steve Waugh couldn't manage to.He was never made a full time captain though as he was already inundated with the tasks of opening and keeping.
Gilchrist has been truly an awe-inspiring player. He is one of the greatest entertainers the game has ever got to witness. But more than anything he has been a true sportsman.He is an ideal role model for all the aspiring young cricketers.His retirement will definitely create a huge void which Australia are going to find very difficult to fill.Gilchrist has been truly a legend.