Bell The CAT

Like 2,30,000+ other hopefuls, even I filled up the application form of CAT 2007 . CAT is one of the toughest exams in the world and is required for admissions into the IIMs and other premier institutes in India. CAT '07 was held on November 18,2007.

After, sweating it out for 2.5 hours in the examination hall and trying to bell the elusive 'CAT' ,I came out with lots of butterflies in my stomach. I didn't know how I had fared off? The paper of CAT'07 was way tougher than that of CAT'06. I came back to my hotel room in bangalore with my anxiousness peaking, not knowing what the result would be... The Answer Keys were put up by various coaching institutes on their respective websites. While the Quantative Aptitude(QA) and Data Interpretation (DI) sections' answers were consistent in those keys, The answers to Verbal Ability (VA) section swinged wildly.

I had a decent idea of where I stood in two sections:

QA-42/100

DI-60/96 ( 1 question was scrapped)

But in VA- it was 12-54 /100

So, my fate, just like that of the Indian Cricket Team, was in dark and dependent on a single section-VA. And this increased my anxiety all the more..

On Jan 8th 2008, when the results were announced, I tried desperately to open the site and to end the whole suspense . But it wouldn't open. I,finally sent an SMS to the Result service of Rediff... And in came the message:

Overall Percentile: 99.79. Total Marks: 134/296

I was through the first stage!!! I finally managed to open the site in the evening and there flashed the result-- Shortlisted for Stage-2 of : IIM-A,C,L,K and I...

My 10th board marks had played a spoiltsport and IIM-B didn't shortlist me.Anyways, I had 5 calls and was very happy after the debacle of IIT-Jee 4 years ago...

I had managed to Bell the CAT,though not as successfully as my friend Rahul Jalan who scored a perfect 100 percentile ( A Herculean effort which made the whole NIT,Trichy proud of him)..

But still, 99.79 was no mean fete... And with this on Jan 08 2008,my journey of CAT moved on to the next phase....

UFOs: My Trysts with Cupid--Part III

NOTE: Kindly read PART 1 and 2 before reading this...

So will I ever find UFO-5, my first love? That is a question, only time can tell.

Apparently, Cupid has put me on the back-burner after 4 failed attempts and thinks its better to utilise his time and efforts on those souls who can be successfully engaged in a romantic tryst.

So, all the people out there, with whom cupid has been successful, value the person in your life and cherish every moment you spend with him/her. Our generation has developed a culture of "Pakdo,Aish Karo aur Chhodho" (Meet, Have Fun and Leave).

But I would request you to enjoy the bliss of a beautiful relationship because Cupid might not be successful the next time around...

UFOs: My Trysts with Cupid--Part II

NOTE: Kindly Read UFOs: My Trysts with Cupid -- PART1 before reading this...

UFO-3:

When I was in my second semester at NIT,Trichy, I became friends with UFO-3. On my birthday, she asked me for a treat/date and wasn't ready to dine in a restaurant below those of the 4-star hotels in Trichy. Running low on cash, I was in a fix. It was the first time that a girl had asked me out and I certainly didn't want to let this opportunity go. But the bill of such a treat would have burnt major holes in my pocket and my father would have surely crucified me. So I called up all the 4-star hotels and asked the rates of the buffet which I thought would be the cheapest way out.Also, I asked if there were any 'Happy Hours' in these restaurants where the buffet rates would be lower than the usual. Luckily, one restaurant came to my rescue and I took her to a lunch there in , as you would have guessed,'Happy hours'.

It was my first date and I was abysmally nervous. Nervousness is really not your best friend when you are on a date because:

1. You become tongue-tied and speak NON-SENSE.

2. Your mind and tongue don't go along and you end up speaking NON-SENSE.

As a result, UFO-3 wasn't very happy and her demeanour was confusing. While on one hand she sent me SMSs late nights , on the other she started back-biting about me. So I decided to end matters, but in a unique peaceful way..

UFO-3 didn't believe much in stable relationships, so I did something which she hated the most-I went ahead and proposed her.

My intention was not to woo her but just to end matters with her, which I was able to achieve successfully. So all the potential relationship evaders out there, in case you want to end matters, don't start a fight. There are other non-violent and peaceful ways too of doing so...

UFO-4:

I met UFO-4 in the summer of 2005 at delhi in a reunion of the winners of a competetion. For over a year, was in touch with her as friends over e-mails. I went to IIIT-Hyderabad in the summer of 2006 for my research project. I decided to visit Tirupati on a weekend. UFO-4 was a resident of tirupati,so I called her up to tell her that I would be visiting her city. She said that being a localite, she would show me the place around and I agreed.

I reached tirupati on a saturday morning, and saw the city with UFO-4 during the day and finally went to a restaurant for dinner before taking the night bus back to Hyderabad.

Now, when you are having dinner with someone for the first time , what is the most unexpected thing you can hear from him/her??

Well the words which came out from UFO-4's mouth were,"I LIKE YOU. Will You Marry Me??"

My jaw dropped on hearing these words. I believe that marriage is not a decision that you take over your first meal with someone. You have to first lay a strong foundation with a good stable relationship over time. That too, I believe, one must commit to someone when he/she has a good stable career in hand and is no longer dependent on his parents for bread and butter. I told UFO-4 that I needed some time to think on it and hurriedly ate my food, though my apetite was already obliterated. I boarded the bus and during the whole journey was trying to digest her words, which kept on ringing clearly in my ears.

As if the marriage proposal wasn't enough, UFO-4 dropped another bomb on me. She called me up and told me that if I agreed to her proposal, she will reward me by telling me the name of our future children. I was left shell-shocked and told her honestly that I wanted to first complete my post-graduate studies and only then commit to marriage. So she had to wait for 6 more years(which she wasn't ready to). And thus ended this tryst with UFO-4..

UFOs: My Trysts with Cupid-- Part I

Am I an Alien-Buff and a conspiracy theorist???.. No, absolutely not.

Then, you might be thinking that why is this post titled "UFO...." . Well UFO here is not your Flying-Saucer. UFO stands here for Unfortunate Feminine Object--- Those poor souls to whom cupid tried desperately to link me up with and came close to succeeding also, but he couldn't.. 

After attempts at 4 different souls, cupid threw his hands up in the air and said," Boss! Tera to Kuch Nahi Ho Sakta!!!" (Nothing can be done for you)

My love life so far can be summarised in a line," Those, whom I have liked, haven't liked me, and those, who have liked me ,I haven't liked them"

So, today let me tell you about my 'Close Encounters with the Feminine kind'.

Out of UFO-1,2,3 and 4 (as I shall be referring them to), experiences with UFO-1 and UFO-2 were rather boring and uninteresting.So i will tell about them in a brief  manner and then move onto experiences with UFO-3 and UFO-4 which will make your reading worthwhile..

UFO-1:

I was in a boys' school till class 8th. So when I shifted to a co-ed school in class 9th, I was very shy while interacting with the girls initially. I kept my interaction with them minimal and spoke to a select few, one of them was UFO-1. She became a good friend by the end of class 9th and I  was able to share a lot of my thoughts with her freely. But then came along class 10th and the accompanied BOARD exams. As a result, the relationship was left hanging between friendship and romantic affection. After class 1oth, UFO-1 moved to jaipur and I also changed my school. That was pretty much the end of this tryst and haven't heard from UFO-1 in past 6years.

UFO-2:

When, I was travelling to delhi for a national-level competetion in class 11th, UFO-2 was also a fellow participant and traveller.  After having dinner, I engaged in an interesting conversation with UFO-2. Now at the end of this, UFO-2 confessed her affection  for me. Now you might be thinking that all is well , then why didn't this fool go ahead and accept it. There were two main reasons:

1. UFO-2 already had a boyfriend with whom she wasn't ready to break-up and is going strong till date.

2. She was 3 years younger to me,and I wanted to go around with someone of my age, a year younger at the most. Certainly, going around with a 13-year old kid wasn't my idea of a relationship.

So with that,the curtains dropped on UFO-2.

To be continued.....

Schooling in India: A Child's Tormentor....

I was lucky to have two wonderful people as my parents, who never pushed me into the mad rat-race, which so many parents today subject their children to. I was given complete freedom to pursue sports and other extra-curriculars. Though i was never forced to compete with my classmates, I was also never allowed to take studies lightly. My parents were happy with me scoring 80-90%. 

The schooling in India is a very burdensome and tormenting experience for children. I implore the parents to not to make the life of their child more tough by pressurising him and telling him," Why your friend scored 95 and you managed just 90??" . True, a competetive spirit is necessary to stay ahead of the ballooning population, but let him enjoy his childhood too. So many of my friends here have confessed to me that since they were kept on such a tight leash during their childhood , they couldn't take up other activities like sports and arts , and have ended up as nerds. Its very difficult to pick up these things as one enters college and gets submerged in the sea of academics and later on , in the hectic work routiene.

Many of my such "nerd" friends have not been able to maintain their sheen , once they entered college. They were tired and worn out due to the constant pressures of childhood and wanted to ease off now. On the other hand, many others who had a more pleasant and less-pressurized childhood, have responded responsibly to this new found freedom and a new drive is infused in them to go that extra-mile to achieve their goals. 

If you haven't watched the movie,"Taare Zameen Par", DO watch it. Its not only one of the most beautiful films made in a long time by Bollywood, but also an eye-opener for the society as a whole, to the plight of the children today...

The Journey Begins...

welcome...

you might be thinking that here is another addition to the million or so blogs out there. Moreover the title "The Times of Shwet" has such a narcisstic tone to it. So why should i spend my precious time going through this piece of writing?This blog is my retrospection and introspection on my life and my take on the world around.

Have you ever pondered on an instance , a past occurence in your life , which you now feel embarassed of? Have you ever wondered that why in your moments of glory, there is no one to witness it? And why whenever you go through a low phase in life and things are not just going right, you find that the supernatural power above sets a stage for you to display your idiocy and the whole world is your audience???There are so many instances in life that you may feel ashamed of. Though you may not admit publicly, but whenever you look back, you curse yourself for being a complete fool and so childish..

Don't worry. Even i have made a complete fool of myself on numerous occasions. 

Dear readers, this is a medium through which i will share with you some anecdotes of my life. 

I hope you enjoy and have a pleasant time going through my moments of idiocy and of glory. And maybe, some where, carry some miniscule part of my writing alongwith you as i sift through the sands of time...