FACE OF THE BUDGET

The Union budget has been a bag of mixed fortunes and disappointments. There are neither big ticket reforms nor populist adventurism. It could be called as a lacklustre exercise in futility. The aam aadmi has been given a raw deal except some lollipops here and there. It could be a budget of hope for India Inc. while the budget is anti-aam aadmi. Some would hail it as growth oriented; land mark piece would – be- legislation augurs well for high growth etc. but devoid of reforms.

The Finance Minister vehemently claims that the Fiscal Deficit has been brought to 4.6% of the GDP. He is excessively optimistic about the inflation being brought to 5% which is really unrealistic. The long way to conquer inflation is to shore up agricultural productivity. The FM seems to subsidize the farmers to produce more and subsidize the consumers to consume more which is totally paradoxical. Pranabda’s Optimism prevails against Pessimism. He thunders that the Economy has achieved 6% to 8% GDP growth which finds a mention in the world capitals. Some of the people tend to think that Pranabda has done a highly commendable job while the common man has been deprived of his bare minimum necessities of life such as employment opportunities and easy to access articles of daily life. The heavens would not have fallen down if he had taken some measures to arrest or rein in the demand pull galloping inflation.

The aam aadmi might have some sort of apprehensions in his mind in the form of some questions which he wants to address to Pranabda who is the chief trouble shooter of the UPA II^nd. Hence it would be long haul for him to get the answers. Could any body mitigate his doubts? Please…….

The doubts are as follow……..

1        Does this budget fuel galloping demand pull inflation?

2        Does this budget stress on growth?

3        Does this budget meet the inflation concerns?

4        Is the growth target achievable?

5        Is this budget for reforms or mid-term poll oriented?

6        Where does the money come from?

This budget generates no sense of excitement across the country. How do you rate this budget?

ο   Excellent      

ο   Good   

ο   Average     

ο   Bad

Please do post your comments. Your kind gesture of goodwill will be highly appreciated.

P.A. VARGHESE

I am from Hindi Medium

English is a big deal in a country where it is a secondary language. Yet, this is not the best excuse NOT to learn it. In the same way having a Hindi (or any other language) background is not the best excuse for not working hard on English!

‘Sir, I am from Hindi Medium’, comes with much humility from the student who feels bogged down by the presence of ‘English Medium’ candidates competing against him in the MBA-Entrance race. The other day, this guy from my morning CAT-11 batch shared with me his frustration about not being able to do much progress with reading comprehension.

So I decided to make him see the real picture. I posed a few questions which now I wish to pose again for all those who are reading this.

1) *Is having a Hindi Study background a sin? (And even if it is, how does it matter?)

2) *Does belonging to Hindi Medium mean that you are dumb?

3) *Have you never come across English even once in your life before?

As my student tried answering these questions, he also realized that this was exactly how he was looking at it. And he needed to change the attitude first before he practically started working on his English. Before spilling out my share of gyaan on how to work on your English, I want to tell you my dear students that somehow you are dearer to us than those who have an English medium background. The reason is that you are more open to learning and don’t suffer from complacency (self-satisfaction) about Verbal Ability. Always remember:

1) * Hindi Study background DOES NOT mean that you are less intelligent than those belonging to English Medium.

2) * If you deal with English just like the way you deal with a tougher subject, you can still master it.

3) * English requires something that any other difficult subject does: PRACTICE!

4) * Everything seems difficult at first. It gets manageable ONLY by spending more time with it and paying more attention to it.

Yet, you don’t have to believe me. Instead, believe in a logic. I shall give you my own example here. I am not an engineer, have no other technical degree. Till last year, I used to be a freelance writer who wrote mainly website content of consumer goods and services or scripts for walk-throughs and corporate films. A company asked me to write their technical content including their product/service portfolios. This company creates several softwares for e-business and websites; designs websites with high-end technology facilities and increases traffic on client websites through social media marketing and search engine optimisation. My first reaction was a big NO. I am not a trained technical writer. I have no certificate or degree in instruction design (one level up of technical writing). There was no way I was doing it.

But the company CEO made me start working with him. He said I don’t need any technical degree to write their website content or edit their technical documents. I started with simple re-writing and grammar corrections of their content. Steadily, I started asking questions like : Is Ajax a software or a framework? How does PHP programming different from Zend? A few questions were obvious, some stupid, others intelligent. Yet I ASKED THEM. I didn’t shrink from the thought of making a total fool of myself. Today, I am confident I can edit any part of their content, technical or non-technical.

So what’s my point? My point is that a year before, technical writing seemed to me the way English seems to all of you from the Hindi medium background. And just as I refused to give up and kept writing, you need to do that too. That’s because unless you do, you can never think of crossing this language hurdle ever in your life.

I would suggest that you too start with some basic practice. This includes solving all the grammar concepts/exercises and get your doubts solved. I would say start with Subject-Verb Agreement. Do the following on a regular basis:

1) * Read a few English pieces from newspaper or concepts books aloud for 15 minutes daily. Why? So that you improve your pronunciation and develop a comfort level with English speaking.

2) * Read two RC passages in a day, even if that takes you half a day. Find out word meanings, write them. Solve questions, find out why a few went wrong. Analyse your progress.

3) * Write a Daily Journal. Write in English how you spent a day, what you did, where you went etc. Get it checked from a VA faculty at CHEM. Pay attention to the corrections made. Then next day, write the day’s work again. Track your progress. Then read that piece over and over again. Then keep your notebook aside and now repeat what you read from it. Next time when someone asks you to tell your daily routine, you will easily answer that in English.

4) * The above point also means that once you learn to speak ‘rehearsed’ matter confidently, it will boost your confidence manyfolds and then you will be prepared to deal with unexpected situations. Makes sense?

5) * Pick an easy English novel or a non-fiction. Try to finish it in a week’s time. Write a summary of it and get it checked by a VA faculty.

6) * Create your own sentences from the words from the wordlist. Maintain a notebook. Revise old words weekly and read at least 10 new words daily. ( Also read my blog: A twist in the wordlist tale. )

7) * Learn to love English. When you love something, you don’t get bored with it, you truly enjoy it.

Sounds difficult? You are not mistaken. So now I want to tell you how I, as a sixth-grader learnt to comprehend Sanskrit. At first when we came across Sanskrit in school, we were dead sure that even if we cram the shlokas, we will never be able to comprehend the Sanskrit passages. But our dear teacher Mrs Neeti Dwivedi gave us a rule: It’s a language. Lets start with basics and then the way you learnt Hindi, you will learn Sanskrit too. Six months after she said this, I found myself easily comprehending Sanskrit passages. How did I do it? I just followed three simple rules, that you may now follow if you want to learn English:

1) READ: Read aloud in that language. Try to make sense by breaking bigger sentences.

2) WRITE: Write regularly in that language. At times, a quotation you liked or simply a small paragraph in that language.

3) LISTEN: Listen things in that language. In case of English, watch one Hollywood movie (not the Hindi-dubbed) in a week. Download English songs. Watch motivational English videos online. Watch English news channels.

Why should you do this?

1) * You want to compete in MBA-entrance race. No B-school in this country has MBA course books in Hindi or any regional language. How will you understand them?

2) * You want to have good communications skills. Speaking good Hindi is not enough, you must be able to speak in English too.

3) * You want to be like that smart English-speaking guy or gal who looks so confident.

I am not saying this is easy. But that doesn’t mean you must not attempt it. This process is going to frustrate you, bother you, leave you sleepless and restless. It would be like a dark tunnel on a railway track. You won’t see much unless you go half way through it. Then you shall see a beam of light entering it and then before you knew it, you would be out of it as a winner. So get set and get started. For queries, we are always there to help you. Feel free. Speak to us. Share your problems. We promise to help you. God Bless.

muktimasih@yahoo.com

Do comment on what you feel about what I wrote. Feel free to share your problems, apprehensions even insecurities here.

Group Discussions and the Expectations of the Companies

It is a talent developing, ability enhancing and an instinct espousing exercise that are inculcated in students where their communication and knowledge skills are tested.

It helps to identify you with qualities of dimensional leadership and moderation application. The features high-lighted for better GD performance is:

1.  Confidence 

Self- confidence, assertiveness, involvement and determination develops your confidence. The determination of the mountaineer, the fighting spirit of the captain of a ship on a troubled ocean or the nerve-taking decisiveness of a pilot is examples of showing confidence.

2. Content

Understanding the subject and forming of an opinion on  the same and present the ideas with proper analysis and with insight into the pros and cause and clarifying them with reasoning and substantiation and possibly with examples or analogues where in other words one needs to be conscientious of the topic and with the inside feelings of same.

3.  Competitiveness and contribution.

The Spirit of competition, applying lateral thinking articulating fresh thoughts, attributive positive critical expressions and availing the delight of the appreciation by the group will add to the GD presentation.

4.  Enthusiasm

Alertness, energy, punch, and stress with consistent powerof expression and conviction need to be maintained. Voice modulation and application of various connectors should be adopted. We need to be conversant with practice of using methods of WPM and ERP to grab opportunities for expressing our views.

5.  Assertiveness

Expression of facts with a strong will and conviction is essential in vocal presentation. The points dealt with need to be of substance and could be corroborated with facts and figures. While quoting data and information one needs to take care to give reference of sources. 

6. Thought process

Full concentration and a sustained mind-set will help initiate Comprehensive and cohesive thought process. The expressions will therefore be spontaneous and meaningful.

7. Speaking and Listening

Both these features are equally important. A speaker will project fresh points and give dimension to the discussion while listening will help him to add value to others points ensuring proper interventions.

8. Body Language and Eye-contact.

An alert and straight posture will add to your participation. The hands should be free, the feet on the ground having the eye-contact maintained properly while speaking as well as listening are the points to be noted. Along with verbal expression non-verbal communication need to be effectively implemented.

9. Group Skill and Peoples Handling.

One must remember that GD is a group activity where Individual is measured. Group consideration is valuable as the participant should act a speaker as well as as a listener too. Interventions should be at the right interjection of the expression like when the speaker is at the verge of PR(E). One should take care not to interfere and cut other’s point While should be considerate allowing others to speak.

10. Communication

GD is after all a test of your communication skill. What should be said and how should be said and what way it should be projected will depend on your selection. While all the qualities discussed above are relevant for making an effective communication, the other points to be noted are such that, one should maintain clarity and completeness of expression, proper fluency and flow, and grammatically error-free with right pronunciation. Long pauses and repetition of words should be avoided. Humbleness and humility will be added qualities. The communication need to be absorbing and receptive. The facial expression should bemaintained soft and cheerful.

While on the subject it is imperative that one should observe certain Don’ts.

They are:

• casualness and callousness
• Hasty and speedy expression
• Dominance and Superiority
• Obstinacy and Cavalier attitude
• Nervousness and passiveness
• Wavering with thoughts and repetition of words
• Personal criticism and extreme stand
• Reacting and repulsive
• Parasite approach and blunt expression
• Lacking in focusing and direction
• Ignorance avoidance
• Aggressive gesticulations and extending arms and Reluctance and delaying tactics and non-stop-speaking.

The GD actually reveals your personality and the eligibility to be selected.

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