LOST IN TIME

Thinking back on the time gone by.
Wondering exactly where things went awry.
Detesting that I just could not see
That I am the one who brought this affliction upon me .

Desiring so much to just move on ,
Wanting so badly for the pain to be gone.
Hoping endlessly that I could just forget you,
Realizing at last , nothing you said was ever  true.

Quietly  questioning why it had to be me;
Did I really deserve your cold cruelty ?
Sitting alone with my thoughts tearing me apart,
Why did you aim your arrow straight at my heart ?

What does CAT-2010 results say - first view

 

So CAT-10 results have been declared. Many journalists asked me the other day - what is your analysis of these results? So, what should be my answer? This is what I think

First, The results are on expected lines. No major surprises. 
This statement surprised many students - specially those who had followed various post CAT analyses and were expecting a different outcome (at least for themselves). Some of them were in for some real shock.

I have met at least five students after the results, who expected very poor results, based on all the analysis they had heard, read & believed. Quite sadly, they are now sitting with 97-98+ percentiles and they have not applied to some important B-schools assuming a much poor show for themselves. 

On the other hand there are quite a few who did not perform as well as they expected themselves to. The list includes

A very bright girl who took test series of three leading coachings and I know that she took each of those tests quite diligently

A consistently bright boy who had been the star performer this year. It was widely believed that he would undoubtedly crack the CAT this year.

Many, who believed that they just needed to clear cutoffs of their weaker sections - rest will be taken care of by their strength areas.

However, cold blooded as it may sound, this is not new neither surprising. 

I wish to attract your attention to what I had written immediately after CAT2010 here. Every CAT-10 aspirant must read it and propagate it to their junior batches to help them prepare better, because I believe that you can now relate to this post better.

Second, it strengthened my belief that consistent and steady prep works to get you selected.
As a matter of pride, I had four with 99.5+ percentiles & two top scores of Indore sitting besides me the same day as results were announced. Just look closely at these students and you find that they were quiet workers who were consistent & sincere at their preparations. They cut through the hype around them, were focussed and worked through their weaknesses as they cruised through their preparations.

"CAT is one exam where it is quite possible that you deserved a selection but you might not make it. However, it is extremely rare that you did not deserve (ie did not prepare well for) it and still you cracked it."

So next time some "Gyani" tells you that he/she cracked the CAT in a couple of months by simply appearing in some test series - simply ignore the advice.

Third, Yet again the results set to rest, the theory that getting IIM calls requires work experience. Believe it or not out of eight odd students that I met on day-1 with 98 plus percentile - just one had work experience (one year).

By IIM's own criteria as published on their official sites - the weight to work experience is approx. 5%. In fact many give more weight to tenth and twelfth results.

All fresh graduates - remember you can crack the CAT. Just ensure that you give yourself some time and regular effort. Somehow, this is not a test to be cracked with a super human effort in a couple of months.

More than anything it establishes the importance of performance in 10th and 12th class. Students in our area often spoil their future by too much focus on IITJEE prep and hence compromising on their high school and higher secondary results.

Fourth, Engineers seem to be ruling the charts.
However, it needs mention that somehow not many non-engineers in our area seem to carry the patience to live through the steady and often torturous grill that they require to bear for performing. Their graduation and school studies generally never exposed them to the required tenacity levels.

Of course, there are bright exceptions to this and so take my statement with a pinch of salt.

End Note :
Since CAT is now a CBT (Computer Based Test) - I appeared in the CAT after almost 15 years from the last time when I was myself an aspirant. It was satisfying to achieve a 99.1 percentile despite the fact that my academic head had categorically asked me to focus on the verbal ability part of the test. Damn him, I could have achieved a 99.9 had I focussed on Quanta (which by the way is my known strength.) 

Aim. Learn. Achieve.

Wish to share an incident with you all. It occurred yesterday only when I was taking Introduction batch of some CAT preparing Students. When I asked about their dream B-school, I got some interesting responses. Few of them replied, “It would depend on our CAT Score”, one of them said, “IIM Bombay” and few of them, “No Idea”. Such an irony, before starting the journey they even don’t know where they are heading. As they say, “If you don’t know where to go any road would take you there”. Believe me guys Success doesn’t come by chance but by a plan.

You don’t get what you Desire if you don’t Aspire…

Dreams do take shape of reality… But, if you don’t have dreams what will happen to reality…

Simple Suggestions:
1. You can’t hit the target, if you don’t have a target. have AIM before starting
2. You can’t hit the target, if you don’t learn the way to hit it. LEARN the tricks-of-the-trade
3. You can’t hit the target, if you aren’t prepared to try it. ACHIEVE – Don’t just Desire, Deserve

That’s why we have kept Punch line of CHEM

Aim. Learn. Achieve.

Take Charge
Sourabh Sharma

Spreadout to grow in height but to measure it grow in depth.

Spread out, to grow in height, but
to measure it, grow in depth.

It is life and is like a tree. Tree takes deep rooting down and spreading branches sideways to grow. It is that it ventures into Nature to attain growth. Its survival is subsisted by Nature and for this; it has to merge with Nature. So, it branches out covering space around while penetrate deep into earth through its roots to gain strength to grow up. However, the truth is that it doesn’t grow only for its subsistence but always to contribute its fruits, leaves or flowers for the needy otherwise and also it engages itself to provide photosynthesis to release oxygen to other flora and fauna.
Nature wants us to live and to live for others and other species too.

Ascendancy is the truth of life - it is the imperative truth, an unavoidable truth. Unless the tree adopts itself for growth, it meets with a natural death – a premature death might be. Birth is the momentum and life is the acceleration on which you have no control and death is the salvation. Life gets dwarfed if fail to grow or get stagnated to face the inevitable – the death. Nature destroys own liabilities, hence one has to contribute however trivial the share might be to sustain with life and one can not escape it. There is no substitution for participation and one has to absorb and adopt the environment and release and distribute his might too back. Trees and plants absorb fertility and contribute to add fertility to soil and this compensatory factor is the truth of life.

Man can not disassociate himself from taking part in life as he has indulged himself in through birth. He has embarked on a journey and he has to complete it in spite of traverse conditions and complications. The main purpose with the journey is to create goodwill and not animosity. Contradictions are inevitable but reconcile to the situations is where man scores. The trees too faces tsunami, Katrina, tempests and storms but survive and continue contributing with no complaints. Continue to grow, is the call of Nature and one has to comply with the command.

One can not retreat from life as there is no alternative provided to him. He has to cover pits and pitfalls to catch up to the mountain – the fulfillment. However, fulfillment is not a mirage for him but he can not choose to be in the oasis ever as he has to move forward. Fulfillments are not specific and static as ‘time’ interferes with them every time with expanding its range. Man, however, has either no control on time. Hence, life is a conflagration of fulfillments which represents what you have released and not what you have safe-guarded. Therefore, you need to part with things in life to give back to the Nature and never try to hoard things for yourself

Contributions can be trivial or tiny and not necessarily gigantic. The squirrel helped Ram to build the bridge to Lanka carrying grains of sand. Each grain was the full weight for it. Within oneself one has his reach and one might not fail himself in sharing with, his part. A simple sip or a bite turns often tastier than a gulp or devouring. Conversely a simple slip may turn out to be fatal but a big fall inconsequent. Donation of a rupee coin by a daily wage earner might be more valuable than a gold-coin by a rich man as the relevance is the affordability and not the gift.

Spread you wide and deeper you penetrate, give you strength to stand straight and grow and falter you to do so, befall you with no fulfillment and the life turn disdainful.


M.S.Kumaran

Resolutions for 2011

A very happy new year to one and all. Celebrations are already in the air. Hotels and bars, lounges and discotheques are already booked by energetic and cheerful youths. Just a thought of all these has filled my heart with excitement and enthusiasm.

I am feeling the freshness of the new year. All the hopes are falling on my heart like the snowfall of the season. The footstep of the new year is making the sound of Christmas bells. 2011 is the beginning of a new decade. We are moving towards becoming the superpower by the end of the decade. To make this dream true, it is time to wake up and make up our minds. I am committed to make my life better and in turn making the country and the world a better place to live. There are certain resolutions which will help me to make my celebrations a year long or even life long. I am mentioning my top 10 resolutions here.

1. I will keep myself well informed about the current events - It is always required to keep oneself updated on the happening of the world around.

2. I will serve others - I can recall the lines of a famous hindi song here, "Tum besahara ho to kisi ka sahara bano, tumko apne aap hi sahara mil jayega".

3. I will serve mother nature - I see a lot of people posting their photographs standing in front of a luss green mountain, a waterfall, a river, a sea beach or along a tree. They look so beautiful. The reason: Nature is very beautiful. I will try to keep the mother nature beautiful by whatever little way I can do.

4. I will be kind to others.
5. I will read books.
6. I will be cool at head and warm at heart.
7. I will always be optimistic.
8. I will be puctual.
9. I will be organized.

and most importantly

10. I will be honest to my work, my family, my relationships, my country, my words, my commitments, my hopes, my resolutions and above all to myself.

Dessehra- the festival

Shakti in three manifestations - DUSSEHRA

Dussehra is the festival of devout devotees who indulge in purity observed during ‘nine days’ of penance practicing abstinence and renunciation from the materialistic pleasures of life.

Wealth, wisdom and valour are the driving forces of humanity where wealth provides you with status, wisdom the prominence and valour the power. The legend refers to the domain of these powers if resting with one ‘supreme power’, that is the goddess of ‘shakti’ in her three manifestations - Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga, each representing the respective sphere of action.

‘Navarathri’ is synonym with nine days of darkness but in reality the conceptual relevance is the ‘nine days of purity’ The ‘nine days of darkness ‘symbolizing nine evils of humanity pointing out to :
Lust, Anger, and greed
Ego, jealousy and Sarcasm
Ignorance, Irreverance and Irresponsibility
Which engulf man, influence him, incite him and make him indulge into committing crimes and sins. The festivities on these days presumed to be relieving the performers of the bad effects of these evils on them and purifying them for a fresh start with virtuous deliberations.

‘Dussehra’ is ritual to thousands, realizations to more thousands, repenting on past sins to many more thousands and fulfillment to lakhs – the fulfillment of being divested of the stains of the past perversions. Clarity and purity are the ruling forces of humanity which gives it the vision and mission for a sinless life.

‘Dussehra’ is penance for many. It encourages them to observe abstinence and renunciation from the pleasures of the ‘five prime organs’ (‘panchendriya’) of the body. The performers are drawn to spirituality away from the materialistic burdens and clear the path to help attain peace and solace to the mind. It impounds into them the message:
for the eyes to the right
for the ears to hear the right
for the mouth to say the right
for the hands to do the right and
for the legs to conquer the right
and ultimately the head to judge sensibly.

Let ‘Dussehra’ bring us peace and prosperity to life with enlightment and knowledge.



M.S.KUMARAN

SUN SET

She looks at her world , the tears fill her eys .
She thinks she should be happy , yet still she cries .
Theemptiness fills herand thatthat she can' thide .
She tries to bury the longing down deep inside .
She tries to get along through another long day .
Yet she wonders ,there just hasto be another way .
Is this all  that life was supposed to be .
She knows there is much  more that she truly needs
Yet she  remains silent until the very end .
The broken dreams she just can 't seem to mend
The Sun is setting , it 'sgetting very late .
She prays to GOD ," Please don 't let  the love turn to hate ."

Compiled by P.A. Varghese