Expectations & Experiences of my Life

2010-07-05T05:41:00.001-07:00

Iam yet to post my first feelings after I stepped into IIM Calcutta

Longest Journey to IIMC

Probably I would be one of the few who have taken a long Journey to reach their destiny. When I say this Iam not talking about my 8 years of CAT preps, 4 CAT attempts, 3 PI rejects, missing IIMC call by 1 mark last year, getting an entry this year in the last waitlist movement & soon..actually I mean the distance travelled...

Chennai to Delhi by Train (28 hours), Delhi to Lucknow by Taxi (15 hours), 5 days stay at IIML & then Lucknow to calcutta by flight (1.10 hours)....

When I got into the Taxi, from that minute I was waiting, waiting, waiting to see the IIMC gate...

Finally after 2 hours I reached the campus..

First feelings

When I first saw the IIMC gate, I asked the taxi waala to stop the car before the gate & I got down of the taxi , starring at the gate for close to 2-3 minutes. Lot of things went through my mind & heart....1 feelig was dominant out of all, " so many years to see this place :)...Will try doing justice to this place & the seat"...

After all the formalities, went to the hostel dorm...4 guys were already there ..

Initially I was feeling doubtful about the next 1 year with those guys, but today they are part & parcel of my life & dont want to shift the dorm :) and want a life time friendship..

Its 3 weeks since I have come here.."Profs are GOD level", the statement I made in my IIMC PI is true by every milli meter :)...

Having stayed out of touch in case of acads, Iam pulling every day with lots of hopes ...

Believe me, even after a gruelling day, a sleepless night, a skipped dinner, this place rocks...and when I feel worn out after being awake till 3.30 am, when I get up in the morning at 7 am, "Man, so much to doooooo", the next second the other feel erases this feel, " Iam in IIMC finally & its worth it"

Will post more soon..

Dear aspirants, keep dreaming & the dream will be real one day..

2010-05-12T00:52:00.001-07:00

I don’t know where to start & where to end this post…My last post in this thread…
Most of you would have read my posts
2007 post: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-23.html
2008 post: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-31.html
2009 post: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-42.html
After the L debacle & XL sacrifice, I was left with no other option, except but to continue with my work. I wasn’t that sad because my JOB was very challenging indeed with lot of day to day problems which helped me as a professional to grow much more
But CAT 09 was already there in my mind. Now, mocks were going well. That was my only preparation last year & that too I was doing it without any emotional attachment.
I used to appear for the online Mocks & prepare from the hardcopy mocks. I never had the mood or patience to analyse online Mocks. This time around my partner was DonIIM an equally passionate guy. We use to solve papers & discuss over the phone.
Dec 6: for the first time, I felt I was under no pressure. 10 secs before the exam, I felt that whatever may happen to this exam Iam going to be happy. Started with Qa, moved to DI, then to VA & finally to Qa.
Total attempts: 53, QA – 16, DI-18, VA-19…Time Spent – QA – 105 mins, DI- 20 mins, VA – 25 mins
After the exam, I forgot about CAT & was busy with lots of other things in Life.
Feb 28: Results were out & I couldn’t check my scores. All I knew that time was I have a call from IIMA & I also felt that there is a high probability of an IIMC call as well as IIML call, which eventually turned out to be true.
IIMC came out with its GD/PI dates & I was called in on 22nd March. This time I didn’t want to join any coaching institute, so worked on my own. I almost had a strong feeling on the set of questions to be asked & I introspected myself to get the answers. Also, started working on the current affairs, which I fell may play a role in essay/GD/PI too. That’s the preparation I did for my next phase.
From March 16-21 , I had taken 6 PIs, 2 by Soham(IIMC), 2 by Prahalad (IIMB), 1 by Saini (IIMC) & the last one by Praveen Mantha(IIMC). By 21st evening, I was damn confident (unlike the previous here)
You can read my experiences here

IIMA: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51517-2010-2012-iima-pgp-essay-8.html
IIMC: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51812-2010-2012-iimc-pgdm-pgdcm.html
IIML: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51890-2010-2012-iiml-essay-gd-8.html
This is what my journey was this year…
There have been so many questions asked to me in this forum and I would like to answer all that today….
1.How do you feel after this convert????
If I have to answer in one line, I would say “This phase of my Life is called as Happyness”. If I just turn back & see, in these 8 by gone years , onething which was an integral part of my life was/is CAT. Every step I took I always had buffered a provision for CAT first & then anything else. Every time I failed, I stood up with a feel that Iam close, I can do it & next year I would be in an IIM. Infact for these 8 years ie (365*24*6+ 366*24*2 hours), this feel was constant. I always believed during the beginning of the season, that next year by now, I will be sitting in a classroom of some IIM (especially IIMC). Today, that dream is true and you can feel, how Iam feeling..
2.what gave you the motivation to hang on for 8 years??????
The sheer love towards my passion/dream. I always believed in onething, “Its my dream, if I don’t fulfill it, who will fulfill it for me”. I never attached any monetary benefits to my dream, its just a plain, simple & sweet dream & I hope , you will agree that, we all love dreaming & some of us take one more extra step to make of our dreams come true. Iam not a super being, Iam like any one here except but I sustained my injuries, lived with my routines & still kept on dreaming….
3.Why not a one year programme????
An MBA, I don’t know how much value addition it will be but, I wanted to go back to studies to do some justice. I was a good student till my 9th standard way back in 1992 & then disaster stuck in the form of our family issues & I could never do justice to my studies though I don’t have any issues with that now. I want to feel the college life now, which I could not.
4.Do you see any value in doing an MBA now, when you are already in a goodjob???
Value is a perception, an IIM degree is not going to hurt me. It’s the self satisfaction, its feel. When Iam in the death bed, I don’t want to say that “I tried something, couldn’t win over it, moved away with other things in life”.For me the greatest value is ,”I believed in something & I tried tried & tried and then one day I achieved it”
5. How do you find time for preparation?????
People say, “When you have will, there is always a way”. My complete struggle with preps & getting adjusted happened in 2005-2006-2007 (you can read it in my blog: http://www.catajourney.blogspot.com/). It wasn’t easy , handling a family, job, studies, part time teaching etc etc etc, but it wasn’t tough too. Mentally I was there, I was there , I was there in what role I played. Believe if some says, you need to sit down 2 hours every day & mug mug mug, that’s when you can crack, I would say he or she may not be 100% true. For me, I believed that, how much ever I prepared let it be even 10 minutes, I should feel happy, when I go to bed that,”yes I have moved atleast a few inches closer to my dream”. So don’t pressurize yourself, don’t feel bad if you cant prepare for sometime & please, don’t quit your Job for CAT preps. Believe me, Cat doesn’t need 8 – 10 hours a day & also quitting a Job would become an added pressure when you get into the exam hall. Secure your survival first & then think about doing justice to your dreams.
6.Whats your advice to future aspirants
Nothing, believe in yourself. Don’t go by what others say, listen to your heart & if possible your mind too. Never compare someone’s profile who has aced CAT & please don’t feel that you cannot crack CAT.
As you all know Iam 33 (first impediment), Married (second impediment), 58.4% BE, 61% 10th standard (third impediment), 10 years workex (fourth impediment), also not so great in Mocks –percentiles ranging from 12 to 99.9 (fifth impediment), not so great in english- Village background (sixth impediment) can convert an IIM call today, believe me – any one here can do so. All the above said are not actually impediments if you feel you can still ace & convince others about your dreams. Inspite of not having any of these impediments, you may not reach to your destiny just by one thought “I cant crack CAT”. ITS ALL WITH IN YOU & YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN TILL YOU ACHIEVE. One or two or three failures should change your thoughts & belief ie I was rejected by IIMA in 2007, still I believed, rejected by XLRI in 2008, I continued believing, rejected by IIML in 2009– I believed & converted XLRI-GMP in 2009, it added to my confidence that one day I can convert a 2 year programme. Finally in 2010, I have converted IIML, waitlisted at IIMC though I am rejected by IIMA.
Having said this don’t make your dreams your master, don’t get frustrated if it is delayed. Enjoy the process, go along the flow & believe, “ONE DAY IT WILL HAPPEN”
Use PG to make good friends (even for a life time).
Iam finally happy, because I used to preach & advice people a lot on the above said points (whoever comes to me), but there used to be an uneasy feeling that, yes Iam believing, Iam preaching but in reality Iam still a failure, I couldn’t convert a call. Today, I have a point that I was & am right.
The primary reason for my existence in PG was to set an example to people who are married, who have lots of responsibilities in life, who are out of touch, who are from a vernacular back ground, but still have a dream & also have a doubt whether they can pursue their dreams ie can they compete with fresh , young, strong minds. Now, I have done it, so can you..”Guide your dreams to destiny & you can do so, if you want”
As I used to say, today if anyone of you who want to quit your dream halfway due to any reason, just stop for a second & think….
As the “Do not Quit” poem reads, “And you can never tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems so far, so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, it’s when things go wrong that you must not quit”
This is the story of a normal person from an unknown village to an IIM..
All the Best….

2010-04-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

Here comes the best Essay/GD/PI experience of my LifePROFILE:AcadsX %,Board, year -61.84% (TN State Board, 1993)XII%, Board, year-89.08%(TN State Board, 1995)Undergrad Stream(BA, BE etc), Specialization(CS, mech etc), Percentage, Year, Institute. –B.E. (CSE), 58.43% ,2000, Vellore Engg CollegeWork-Ex:Sectors, Company - Number of months – IT Sales – 116 MonthsCAT (2009-10):DI-94.27%Quant-90.3%Verbal-98.98%Aggregate-98.26%(OBC)Extra acads : NILAny other special thing abt u:Social Intiative “Spurti”, College cultural club Secretary, Health Club Secretary, Lead Singer, Ball Badminton (2 silver & 1 Gold Medal)Interview & GD/ESSAYVenue: Luxury Monarch HotelDate : 07.04.2010Course(PGP/ABM):PGP
Reached the venue by 1.30 PM & the process was supposed to start by 2.00 PM.Got a phone call & when the call got over I saw my watch it was 1.58 PM & I was 100 mts away from the venue. I rsn ran & ran & got to my panel almost panting & that’s when the names were being called & I was the 9th person. I got into the essay/GD PI room with full sweat.Essay : Topic: It is destiny and not hardwork which guarantee’s hardworkNumber of Ppl present:9 out of 10 (1 absent)Time: 15 minutesBrief Snapshot of the essay:
Completed the essay in 13 minutes with both sides of the paper filled up. A good essay I would say
Rating: 4
GD: Same topic
For 5 seconds no body started & I started with the intro of the topic..
Spoke 8 times & the group carried forward all my points. In between when people were going high about Success, I came in & said success is perception & the group changed the course of the discussion accepting my point. I concluded the GD by saying how success has to be retained & all.
After the GD, 5-6 people in my panel said, boss you had an awesome GD J

Rating : 4.5/5
PI:Panel Members Intro:Old Professor (O), young Professor (P)Questions:
P: Sit down Prem, you have been working for 10 years, why an MBA now
Me: Blah blah blah
P: But you have a great profile, you don’t need an MBA?
Me: Blah Blah Blah
P: See Prem, if we take you, it would be like cheating you J
Me: more blah (ie I was sticking to my stand of education being an investment is an asset for life time)
P: But you are already a manager?, what will you learn more
Me: (I defined how my decisions are today & how my decisions will change in future once I finish an MBA)
P Your acads follow a sine curve, why?
Me: explained my mothers ailment & how I supported my family at age 14.
P: are you disappointed with what has happened, what did you learn from the disappointment?
Me: I wasnot disappointed, if I look back today, I would thank GOD, for giving me an opportunity to learn life at a very very young age, it gave me an opportunity to be a good human too ( explained about spurti & ended up saying, Sir, Iam proud to say that today, my student at spurthi is giving his interview in one of the other rooms)
P: Prem, you have almost done everything in Life, what will happen to your social thing if you join this course
Me: I explained how it can grow by doing an MBA & how I can pull people from my batch & how crucial they will play a role having gone through the process
O: Thank you, it was great meeting you
Me: sir, pleasure is mine
O: no, no pleasure is mine, sorry ours..

I got up

P: hey, you are a moderator of Pagalguy, what is special about PG?
Me: sir, it is the place where competitors help each other, infact lot of people from IIML whom I never seen, call me up & say, “Bhai, IIML aajavo”(I used the same language)
P: but why are they keen
Me: that’s the power of pagalguy & even we don’t know the erason J
O:Prem, don’t you think 10 years is too late for an MBA to be tought about, is it your first CAT?
Me: No Sir, my 4th one.
P: what happened in the previous attempts
Me: 2006, A reject?
O&P : is it, why
Me: Sir, 2006 Iam not sure whether mine was a straight forward rejected due to OBC stay Order
P: 2007?
Me: XL reject
P: 2008?
Me: IIML reject
P: why were you rejected, did you try learning something
Me: Sir, not a great GD & some noticeable mistakes inPI
P: that’s why you spoke a lot in GD (all 3 laugh)
Me: no sir, I thought the group was really good, which helped me to contribute
O: what other calls you have
Me: Sir, A & C
O: How did A go?
Me: okayish Sir
P: So, this time you are going to reject us then (all laughs)
Me: No sir, I have a great regards for L (explained about high workex batch & all)
O: tell me what if ACL reject you this year?
Me: I will try again sir
P: Don’t you feel bored after trying so many times?
Me : (my best answer in my life), Sir, I have been believing in my hardwork & I have been believing in the process too. Iam sure, if you reject me, I will try again & Iam very sure, one day or the other, some IIM will respect my ambitions & hardwork.
O: (with a broad smile)..Definetely, definitely, it will be.
Me :Thanks sir..
O: Thank you Prem, once again it was a great pleasure talking to you

Smiled, thanked & left.

Rate your preparation(0-5): 4Rate your performance(0-5): 4.75 J

VERDICT: I Hope you know what Iam expecting as the verdict J

2010-04-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here comes my date with my first love IIMA

PROFILE:

Acads
X %,Board, year -61.84% (TN State Board, 1993)
XII%, Board, year-89.08%(TN State Board, 1995)
Undergrad Stream(BA, BE etc), Specialization(CS, mech etc), Percentage, Year, Institute. –B.E. (CSE), 58.43% ,2000, Vellore Engg College

Work-Ex:
Sectors, Company - Number of months – IT Sales – 116 Months

CAT (2009-10):
DI-94.27%
Quant-90.3%
Verbal-98.98%
Aggregate-98.26%
(OBC)

Extra acads : NIL

Any other special thing abt u:Social Intiative “Spurti”, College cultural club Secretary, Health Club Secretary, Lead Singer, Ball Badminton (2 silver & 1 Gold Medal)

Interview & ESSAY

Venue: Luxury Monarch Hotel
Date : 22.03.2010
Course(PGP/ABM):PGP
Reached the venue by 1.20 PM & the process started by 1.45 PM.Happy that I met lot of puys there & to my surprise the guy who was interviewed before me & the guy who was interviewed after me were the same in IIMC PI J

Essay:
Topic: Is Information Technology a mixed blessing
Number of Ppl present: 9 out of 10 (1 absent)
Time: 10 minutes
Brief Snapshot of the essay:
Completed the essay in 7 minutes with 2 points to support (Indian GDP supported by Service sector & how people from remote areas use mobiles & TVs to keep themselves updated), 2 points against (Terrorists using IT, Cyber hacking-Obama’s twitter, Chinese officials GMAIL accounts hacked) & concluded decently

PI:
Panel Members Intro: Old Professor (O), Sr Professor (P)
Questions:
P: Sit down Prem; you have been working for 10 years?
Me: Yes Sir (Smile)
P: I hope you have worked in technical field & then you have moved to Sales?
Me: No Sir, for 10 years, I have been in Sales only
O was going through my form
P: But how come you have moved from CSE to Sales in such an early stage of your life
Me: Sir I would like to be frank with you, I wasn’t technically that strong as I could not balance my studies due to mother’s ailment. I had 8 offers in hand out of which 6 were technical. Since, I wasn’t technically that strong, I felt that it would be an injustice if I take up a technical role, that’s why, chose Sales
P showed my marks column to O
P: Are you successful in Sales (Smiles)
Me: Yes Sir, pretty much (Smiles), I would like to give an example (explained how my partner defrauded the customers) and how I went about taking additional responsibilities to rescue customers & how I eventually helped in rerouting an Order from IIMA J
P: Ohh, even IIMA has lost money?
Me: Yes Sir, but we have supplied free software & 2 days back it was installed (I also said to which Prof It was supplied & all & P said he is not a Prof but an IT purchaser)
P: You seem to have an interesting profile, Software to Hardware & back to software & that too a good company like X, how did you get that?
Me: explained how my 7 years IT software sales was & what I learnt from Hardware industry & how I have got into X & how implemented my learnings & how successful I was in terms of achievements, I also showed them my boss email J

O takes over

O: Do you know the technical part also?
Me: Sir, not too much, I understand the applications & suggest the tools & incase if you ask me technically, I would say, I will get back to you (All 3 laughs)
O: what is the difference between soap sales & software sales?
Me: Gave a decent answer (difference in customer base, soap sales- personal touch, Software sales – technical touch & looks more like a consultant rather than a sales guy)
O: But your software is good, but your company has not done much into allowing users to explore?
Me: tried defending saying you are right, but we do have a gecko system & we are in process of developing better systems and all
O: You are active in Pagalguy??(Mentioned it in form & had placed a certificate from PG)
P: why did you join PG & how did you become a Moderator?
Me: Explained how I was looking for people like me who had pursued their dreams & since I couldn’t find one, how I wanted to become an example for the future generation & how I was selected as mod.
O: oh, you sing isn’t it? Can you sing now?
Me: Oh sure sir, (Sang a song)
O: is it a Kannada song
Me: No sir, Telugu one
O: it’s all sounds the same (laughter around)
O: Prem, you are earning well right?
Me: yes sir (smile)
O: why do you want to drop such a good job & come to PGP?
Me: blah blah (half way through, O cuts)
O: but people like you come there & don’t get jobs of your choice? Why do you want to compromise on your salary?
Me: I explained him how I look at a job & money. I said Iam ok to take up a management trainee job & continue working forward towards my long term goal.
O: No prem, have you thought about the operational cost?
Me: yes sir. (before the next word O cuts me)
O: Can you draw a Parabola?
Me: Drew
O: can you write the equation
Me: thought…can’t remember
O: (smiles) see this is such a basic equation you could not draw one, people like you (high workex) struggle during the course?
Me: I don’t agree Sir (smile), there have been precedence..(Cuts me)
O: no, no you will come in, feel the academic pressure, develop soft skills & go out as a bad manager
Me: I don’t agree sir, I once I come in, Iam committed to (cut again)
O: No Prem, you could even solve basic maths & you feel you can do well?
Me: Yes Sir, even CAT has Qa & (cuts)
O: That’s very basic maths; you guys have not allowed people to explore your software too (!!!!Ab yeh kahan sae aagaya?)
M: Sir, we are working on (Cuts)
O: Prem, you won’t be happy if you do PGP & you won’t justify your operational cost?
Me: sir..(Cuts)
O: You people don’t allow users like us, infact even your previous company kept upgrading so fast that the old products were not supported (Againnnnnnnnn)
Me: Sir, in my previous company I didn’t had access to top management, but here I have. I will definitely take your feed back..
O: Prem, you will not do well there for sure, you haven’t dirtied your hands on your software, you could not answer a moths question, which is related to your software, so Iam sure you will not a perfect fit to PGP, Thank You.
Me : Thank you (smile)
P: shows his hand towards the toffee bowl

I took one & walked out…

Overall 27 minutes..First 20 minutes were awesome, but the last 7 minutes I thoroughly enjoyed (yes don’t be shocked), I kept defending with smile & the prof was saying that I was unfit with smile..

If they select, my intuition of a stress interview, well handled would come true..

If iam rejected, I would say that the prof was right that I may be a mismatch..

Whatever it is, the first 20 minutes they covered all relevant stuff & the next 7 minutes either O was stressing me or was venting off his frustration on me or on our company J

Request you all to PM me your views please..

Rate your preparation(0-5): 4
Rate your performance(0-5): 4

VERDICT: Love to see the outcome.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010-03-24T03:25:00.000-07:00

PROFILE:
Acads
X %,Board, year -61.84% (TN State Board, 1993)
XII%, Board, year-89.08%(TN State Board, 1995)
Undergrad Stream(BA, BE etc), Specialization(CS, mech etc), Percentage, Year, Institute. –B.E. (CSE), 58.43% ,2000, Vellore Engg College
Work-Ex:Sectors, Company - Number of months – IT Sales – 116 Months
CAT (2009-10):
DI-94.27%
Quant-90.3%
Verbal-98.98%
Aggregate-98.26%(OBC)
Extra acads : NIL
Any other special thing abt u:Social Intiative “Spurti”, College cultural club Secretary, Health Club Secretary, Lead Singer, Ball Badminton (2 silver & 1 Gold Medal)
Interview & GDVenue: Luxury Monarch Hotel
Date : 22.03.2010Course(PGDM/PGDCM):PGDM
Reached the venue by 8.00 AM & the process started by 9.30 AM
GD : Topic: IPL is a death knell to Indian cricketNumber of Ppl present:8 out of 11 (3 absent)Time: 10 minutes
Brief Snapshot of the discussion:
Came in as the second person & the group as such was not fish market. Every one spoke. I made five entries & 4 were towards the end L ie after my first entry I was quite for 3-4 minutes because the guys sitting to my left were dominating the GD
Points put across by me.
1.IPL gives a chance for the retired players to participate which will help young domestic players to learn a lot from the seasoned players.
2.IPL gives a chance for the local players to learn from domestic players
3.Coaches find it difficult to train bowlers as it is a pure entertainment game.
4.BCCI gains Rs.750 crores which can be used to enhance Test cricket (some body said Test Cricket is dying)
5.IPL can also look at ODI/test cricket & shuffle players across the country which can again draw attention.
I was the second person asked to summarise (:( )
(Sinchan told me that if you speak well you will be asked to summarise towards the end). Even the summary part I didn’t do well I feel (finished off the summary in 45 seconds or so)
Rate your preparation(0-5): 0 (No mock GDs)Rate your performance(0-5):2.5PI:Panel Members Intro:Lady Professor (L), Alumni(A), Professor (P)Questions:
L: Do you work? (was happy that she thought that iam fresher J)
Me: Yes Mam, in company X
L: What does your company do?
Me: Mam, we are the subsidiary of XX & we manufacture & sell software y
L: what does your software do?
Me: Gave the exact definition & applications
L:Who are your competiton?
Me: gave 3 names & in my vertical my software is my competition ie piracy
L: what are you guys doing towards Piracy?
Me: We are working on university wide licence and also on the student edition, currently they are available in US & unfortunately as the pricing is the problem, we are taking sometime
L:who are you customers?
Me: Iam working in a private company so I cannot reveal that
L: How is your software priced?
Me: I said I cannot disclose the price but gave them the pricing model overview
A: Ok Prem, you were saying about piracy & all, why don’t you allow students to learn in a subsidized way?
Me: (read about my competition doing the samething in yesterday’s), I said “Sir, I appreciate what my competitors have been doing (explained what they are doing), since we are just 14 months old in India, we are currently in the process of understanding the length & breadth of the Business, so we will take some more time to arrive at some thing similar to this.

Till here the interview was normal..Now starts the show J

A:Prem, you have worked for 10 years now, why an MBA?
Me: Sir, I have been working in Sales, in IT for 10 years & whatever decisions I take today its all primarily influenced towards maximizing the revenue. Now my longterm goal is to head an MNC. I have seen in my past, how management takes decisions at times which are not catering towards Sales.Thats what makes to think that beyond maximing revenues there are other aspects in a business which are equally vital. For me to be an efficient leader in an MNC, I need to acquire these decision making skills & where else,apart from a B School can I gain the expertise in a short time and also get to learn the Best/Worst practices of a Business from the professors who are GOD like.
A:GOD like or GOD
Me: Sir, GOD (everybody laughs), also I have started an intiative called spurti (explained in detail & also on the calls whatmy students have got), I feel an MBA will also help me in making SPURTI a national success
L: But Prem you have taken a long time to decide to do an MBA, is this your first CAT?
Me:No mam, my fourth CAT
L: What happened to the last 3 CATs
Me: Mam, 2006-IIMA reject, 2007-XLRI Reject & 2008-IIML reject. 2009- iam sitting in front of you (Laughter around)
L: What other calls do you have
M: IIMA & IIML
L: But even if I discount the 4 attempts, you have decided after 6 years of working?
Me: Mam from 1993 to 2002 I had to support my family a lot because of my mothers ailment. 2002 I wanted to appear for CAT, my dad said he cannot support me financially as we had spent a lot towards my mother’s hospitalization. 2003, I wanted to appear, but my dad wanted my help in supporting him financially. 2004, my parents wanted me to get married(Everyone laughs here).2005, I became a parent & in 2006, I thought I had addressed all my immediate responsibilities & started getting serious about getting into a BSchool & I have been trying mam
(there was broad smile in L’s face & she said Good)
P: OK Prem, do you know that we also offer PGPEX, why not that course?
Me: Sir, Iam not sure about the PGPEX time table, but having interacted with lot of friends, who have done /doing 1 year MBA from other BSchools, what I have learnt is that the classes start at 7 AM & go on till 9 PM. There are lot of things related to management which are learnt outside the class as well
P to A: This guy will not sit inside the class (Everybody laughs)
Me (after Laughing): its not that way sir, a 1 year MBA will give me an opportunity to learn from 60 odd peers wherein a 2 year MBA will give me a chance to meet so many people (I gave the nos also) from where I can learn a lot. Also,I feel that education is an experience & since Iam investing a portion of my Life, I would prefer a 2 year program.
P: Prem, incase of PGDM, you will be looked like a liability & might not get glamorous roles, anyway its just my opinion, you are a better judge.
Me (Didn’t reacted as he was not expecting an answer.
P: What else do you do apart from the social intiative.
Me: Sir, I spend time with my kids
P: if you get into PGDM you will not get time & also as far as the married people accommodation goes, our 1st preference is FPM, 2nd is PGPEX & then PGDM/PGDCM, so what will you do?
Me: Sir, not a problem, my dad is getting retired this year. So, I will be moving my family to Calcutta & even if I get 15-20 minutes time to meet up my kids that should as you are aware, Iam in sales ie a travelling Job, even now Iam managing time for my Kids.
P to A: This guy will definitely not sit inside the class (Everyone laughs again)
P: Are you a reader, do you read books?
Me: Not really sir
P:Don’t you feel, you are a stereotyped Sales guy who wants to talk & who doesn’t want to learn?
Me: Sir, I learn a lot through listening (Explained the problems I had at work & how patiently I listened tocustomers & learnt)
P:But you haven’t touched the reading part
Me: Sir, I do read papers & magazines whenever I get time, but I don’t want to proclaim myself as a vivid reader.
P: Prem, if you come to campus, we will give you huge books to read, how will you learn & assimilate?
Me: Sir, if I just request you to recollect one of my answers to Mam, you might understand that I have struggled a lot to reach this place & the primary reason was my Passion & commitment. If after getting into the campus, if I know that Iam supposed to study to achieve my primary goal. Iam very sure of doing that because Iam extremely committed to whatever I do.
P: Thank You
Me: Thank you Sir
A: Any questions to ask?
Me: Nothing at this stage sir

Smiled, thanked & left.

That’s it friends. It was a chill interview. Nothing to infer as most of the guys are having similar interviews. Your comments via PM are welcome.Overall 25 minutes

Rate your preparation(0-5): 4Rate your performance(0-5): 3-3.5 (cannot interpret much because of my previous rejects)MISC.
Go with a chill mind. Speak confidently. Worst case you might get a reject, but you will feel good, if you have delivered your best. All the Best
VERDICT: Million dollar question at this stage J

2009-03-25T18:41:00.001-07:00

It took me 7 years to see this day in life & write this post...

Many mocked at me,when I said I wanted to do an MBA.

Most of my batchmates said I cannot crack an exam like CAT or for that matter XAT...Everytime I gave the exam, I always use to feel, why dont people understand my aspirations..

2 rejects, it undermined my confidence..One guy wrote in blog as well that I might lack the quality...But today Iam happy that, some institute has finally understood my aspirations ....First MBA convert of my life...

.: !! CONGRATULATIONS !!:.

You have been selected in GMP Programme for which you have applied to XLRI Jamshedpur.Please wait for the official letter from the Chairperson, Admissions, XLRI Jamshedpur.
... Chairperson , Admissions

2009-03-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Transcript of my IIML PI :-)

March 25, 2009

Profile:Workex: 9 Years in IT Sales

Panel :1

Essay/GD topic: Money is a good servant but a bad master…20 mins Essay. No rough sheets are allowed..I explained why money was invented & wnet about explaining how money is important today. Also explained how money cannot buy things like affection, peace of mind etc etc..I also wrote how money is beyond servant as in how a person moves towards unethical things when he doesn’t have money & how money as master pushes a person to safeguard it…

GD: 20 mins

No of People: 12

Out of the 20 minutes, close to about 15 minutes it was an absolute fish market..More than 5 people were speaking at a time..I came in as the 4th guy..Even that time, 2 people started along with me. I increased my volume, pierced through & ensured the other 2 stopped totally. I entered 8 times J in equal intervals & my point was the last one to end the GD.Points I spoke:
I spoke about how unemployement forces people to go directionless & gave the article about Mangalore Pubs as an example where the author spoke about the unemployment as the prime issue.
I spoke about the Bernaud Madoff $60 Bn fraud.
I spoke how money can be utilized properly like Karnataka government spends 7 Cr for health Checkups for school going kids, Madhya Pradesh government has implemented Ladli Ladki project for the upliftment of Girl Childs & also in UP how the Government has spent the money for correcting the Sex Ratio (This complete things I spoke in 1 shot, 1-2 mins everybody kept quiet J)
When some body said about greed being the reason, I spoke about the recent Mumbai rape issue, where a father went about doing that atrocity as a tantric told him that his business will improve.
I spoke about how excessive money pushes a person towards insecurity ie forced to safe guard his money.
I also spoke about how animals survive .They don’t have money J (Somebody said Money is the atmost important thing for Life)
Somebody said our culture is corrupted. I replied saying that “We respect people from poor background in this country who have come up in an ethical way. Examples: 2006, an IIMA passout who is a son of an Idli shopkeeper. 2007, a railway clerk who got 6 IIM calls”.
Panelist said stop.

PI

Prof1:Prof.Saji.K.B.Nair, Chairman Admissions, Marketing Group
Prof2: Dr.Roshan Lal Raina, Communications Group
Me: Yours truly…

Prof 1 comes to call me in at 12.41 PM
Me: Good Morning Sirs.
Prof1: Its almost afternoon now (laughs)Me too laughed..
Prof2: Prem, what were you doing from 1995-1996 (I have a break after my 12th class)
Me:Sir, In tamilnadu, we have a provision to improve our 12th standard scores, if we want to. Hence I appeared for my Phyics, Chemistry & Biology exams & improved my total by 152 marks.
Prof2: What did you do from 2000 to 2004..
Me: Sir, I was working with M/s.Rolta India Ltd..Prof2: When did u get placed
Me: Sir, in May 2000..through Campus Placement
Prof2: Campus Placement, hmmm...
Prof1: (going through the file) Oh, you were in Sales from the beginingMe : Yes (Smile)Prof2: But you haven’t mentioned it in the form?
Me: Sir, Iam working in the fourth Organisation, but we have space to mention only 3 jobs.
Prof1: oh, but you could have mentioned below the box.
Me: Sir, I wasn’t sure if I can do that. Also it would have looked so clumpsy.
Prof1: That’s ok (starts marking the same with pencil in the form & starts going through the certificates)
Prof2: Your scores during Engineering seems very low (With a not so happy face)
Prof1: He would have been preparing for CAT then (in a mocking tone)Me: Sir, I didn’t prepare for CAT
Prof1: No no you would have, else why would have your scores gone down ??(Mocking with a sarcastic smile)
Me: Sir, actually I went through some problems in life.(Started with my moms hospitalization & told the actual issue).Along with studies, I had the responsibility of taking care of my family members.I was a day scholar travelling 120KMs + 120 KMs every day.
Prof 1: (stopped mocking) with an empathetic tone, “Are you the only kid?”
Me: Sir, Iam the only son & I have a younger Sister. I also had the responsibility of bringing her up.Prof1: Whats your dad???
Me: He works as a clerk with SBI
Prof1: From where to where, were you travelling?Me: From Thiruvallur to Vellore Sir
Prof2: Prem, you are working a good company, why do you want to do this programme??
Me: Sir, as you see , it has taken me 9 years to reach where Iam today.If I have look at my present organization itself, my next role would be to head the complete education business. Now for me to do well in this role, I need to understand the complete business dynamics & an MBA will help me do understand that well…
Prof1: Prem, hope you got the question wrong, what Prof 2 was trying to ask you was, why not a 1 year MBA, why a 2 year programme now?
Me: Sir, I actually thought about this, when I started my CAT preparations. During the process of understanding the course, I understood that a 1 year MBA is like a crash course. Focussed more towards on academics with strict dead lines. Since Iam coming back to studies after a long time, I want to start my studies from the basics and also want to balance my academic as well as college life including extracurriculars.Also as you mentioned, I couldn’t do much towards my academics during my college days. Now I really want to do academically well.
Prof 1: is this your only call???
Me: Yes Sir
Prof2: But Prem, you know the current situation, do you think it to be wise to leave such a good job now??
Me: Sir, You are right & even I have thought about this.After understanding the current situation, Iam sure after 2 years , things wont be this bad. Iam not saying it will improve drastically, but it would be better than today. Also Iam trying to work out a sabbatical option as a back. If you just look at my latest job shift, it happened in November, even that time the market was bad. I strongly believe that opportunities, though less are available & it’s the responsibility of an individual to find that & it also depends on an individual’s capability
Prof2: You did BE, CSE. Can I ask you some questions from Networks??
Me: Sir, its 9 years since I have done my BE, I hardly remember any subjects now(Smiles around)
Prof1: Prem, you work for Mathworks right??
Me: Yes Sir
Prof1: You report to Mr.XXXXXXX(I was shocked because he knew my boss )
Me: Yes Sir
Prof 1: You sell Matlab, Can I ask you questions on that???. You cannot sell a product without knowing it (Smiles)
Me: Sir, I have joined 4.5 months back only, I will try my level best (Smile)
Prof1: In Matlab, you guys say Matrices, what is that?
Me: Matrix is the representation of elements in an array , in rows & columns or in simpler words, it is the pictorial representation of Linear Equations
Prof1: What is a determinant?
Me: It’s the value of a Matrix
Prof1: (Draws a 3X3 Matrix) Find the determinant ??
Me: (started solving)Prof1: Don’t solve, explain me how to solve it.Me:Explained it properly
Prof 1: Tell me Prem, does MATLAB has any limitations on the number of rows & columns of a Matrix
Me: (wasn’t sure) No Sir, we don’t have (Which turned out to be true
Prof1: But OS will have limitations Me: Yes Sir, but we say that our product doesn’t have limitations & that’s one of our strengths & USPs (100% correct, which I found later)Prof1: What about Excel???
Me: (Wasn’t sure) No sir, even they don’t have (Which turned about to be wrong )
Prof 1: Are you sure???
Me: (confidently) Yes Sir.
Prof 2: What is this “SPURTI”
Me: Sir, Inspired by what has happened to my mom, I started participating in lots of social activities. I have been a regular donor of blood from college days..Sir, hope you won’t mind if I explain you from the past
Prof2: That’s fine, go on (Prof 1 &2 were listening seriously)
Me: We as a family celebrate our birthdays in Orphanages. Having done all this, I wanted to do something more, that’s when I met a person who has some disability due to Cerebral Palsy & his only dream is to crack CAT. Seeing his determination, I got determined to help him achieve his dreams.Thats when I started this institute called SPURTI along with my Friends & its running successfully..
Both Prof 1 & Prof 2 spontaneously said, “Thank You”I thanked them & walked out…PI lasted for 9 mins.....Iam happy except but Excel goofup…Looking at the process now, I feel I couldn’t have done any better than this. Iam leaving results to the destiny.

Your comments are welcome..

2009-03-03T01:18:00.000-08:00

March 1, 2009
Reached the venue by 8.30 AM (My Interview was scheduled at 9.40 AM). Couldn’t see even a single living thing inside the campus. Had a gutt feel that the Interviews might happen in the same building/floor like last year, hence went to that building & was waiting there. Got to see the banner near the building, which was speaking about LIBA’s event (not sure cultural or business fest) called Chrysantis and in the online partner column, could see “Pagalguy.com” :-)
My feel came true, when 2 Professors got into the building and to the same floor :-)
The PIs started on time (9.20) & I was the second guy..
The first guy came out and warned me of an aged Professor who was trying to stress him out :-(
Professors and their Profiles
1.Aged Professor -A. C. Jesurajan ,S.J. , B.Sc., L.Ph., M.A. (Leicester, UK), Communication,General Management
To be referred to as AP
2.Young Professor- L Gurunathan , B.Sc. Mathematics (Madras), MBA (Coimbatore), Fellow (IIM Ahmedabad), PM & IR To be referred to as YP
3.Smilling Professor- Ram Kumar Kakani , B. Tech. (Andhra Univ.), FPM ( IIM Calcutta), Finance,Strategic Management To be referred to as SP
And Yours truly
Sharp at 9.40 I was called in by SP.
Me: May I come in Sirs
YP/AP-Come in, Come in
Me: Good Morning Sirs (Smile )
AP/YP/SP: Good Morning (Smile)
SP started going through my file, YP was busy looking at my questionnaire, AP started the process
AP: Where are you coming from?
Me: Bangalore
AP: What do you do there???
Me: Sir, I work for Mathworks. I take care of the Sales of MATLAB software for the Education territory.
AP: How long have you been working there ???
Me: Sir , for the past 3 months
AP:Prior to that???
Me: Sir, I was with HP taking care of HW sales in Education Vertical
AP: So , you were again with Education (Smile)
Me: Yes Sir (Smile)
AP: Why did u leave HP???
Me:Sir, out of 8 years and 9 months of the Sales experience, around 7 years I was in Software Sales. I moved to HP to see how the Hardware industry is. I was with HP for about 15 months, but got to understand that more than Technology, it is a price driven industry. This was the time, when the discussion between me & Mathworks started. From the discussions, I understood that Mathworks is setting up an office in India & more than a Sales role, its going to be designing the complete business plan for the education vertical. Frankly speaking the role seemed interesting and as it was a software company I decided to move to the Mathworks
YP was nodding his head through out & AP looks convinced
AP:You should be drawing a good salary (Smile)
Me: Yes Sir (:-))
AP: Then what do you want to do after GMP????
Me:Sir, if you look at my career path , I have started my career as a trainee executive & have reached this stage after 9 years. Also I have worked only in IT sector but in 4 different Verticals. After this course, as of now, I would prefer to come back to IT industry. During this course, I hope I can know much more about roles available in IT as well as other Industries. If Iam convinced about some other Industry , I might take a role there. Basically it’s the learning & understanding of the various Industries what I want to know and frankly speaking,for sure Iam not hungry/desperate for money (I didn’t give them a lengthy story on why MBA, because it was already written in the questionnaire which was submitted online)
AP looks at YP..
I started wondering, the 1st guy said AP will stress me..But he looked cordial
YP: Who are your competitors???
Me: Excel
YP: Excel???
Me: Yes…
YP: Hmmm, true ..But Mathworks might not like you saying that??
Me: True, but frankly speaking that is the fact…
YP: Who else???
Me: C..
YP: Programming Language C..Hmmm Good…Whoelse???, whats your market share like
Me: Labview from National Instruments… Frankly Speaking , these softwares are competitors only for certain modules, but none of them can compete with our complete suite. Explained the user friendly applications, debugging capabilities, Interactive nature etc . For MATLAB, MATLAB is the competition
YP: what ??? (With Smile)
Me: Yes Sir, Matlab is such a wonderful package that everyone wants to own it & the easiest available option is the pirated version & for me to sell to a customer, these pirated copies are the major competitors
(Everbody Laughs including me)
SP: How about Statistical Packages like SPS, what does customer feel?Whats your market share like??
Me: Sir, SPS is one of the Statistical tool what a customer prefers, but many a times, the customer also has additional requirements based on pure Mathematical functionalities and more.In such cases, it becomes easy for us to bundle our Statistical Tool Box for better integration. Market share of ours is more than 70%
SP: The Statistical Tool box is in built in Matlab???
Me: No Sir,it’s a separate tool box.
YP: You told AP about some business model you have to create, Whats that???
Me: I spoke about Piracy & what we are doing to create a university wide licence, which is popular in US
YP: Like Microsoft academic version???
Me: Yes Sir
YP: Good…But you guys could have done it long back..
Me: Frankly Speaking..
YP starts laughing and says We know you are frank , every time you needn’t have to say that you are frank (every body joins the laughter including me)
Me: To put it straight (Again everybody laughs as it sounded like a replacement for frankly speaking)
But we have started our operations only 3 months back
YP looks convinced & looks at SP
SP: Prem, I went through your complete certificates, I am actually worried about 2 things, you have low marks + your extra curricular is running into pages (:-)), can you concentrate on the course???
Me: Sir, I had a problem when I was in class 9
SP: Iam perfectly fine with class 10 & 12….Iam worried about your engineering scores..
Me: Sir as I said, I had a problem from class 9 till my BE 3rd year. My mom was ill. I could focus on studies when I was in 10 and 12, because I was with her always. When I moved to do my engineering. I had attended college only on alternate days & whenever I went to college I had to travel 120 KMs oneway. Now coming to extra curriculars, I was undergoing so much of emotional stress at home. It was paining, I wanted to divert myself..So started participating in almost all the other extracurricular activities. Now when my mom started recuperating in my BE final year, I got 74% :-)..
SP looks convinced (Throughout AP/YP were nodding their heads).
SP: How is your mom now
Me: She is fine Sir :-)
SP: (Removes a mark sheet from my file)..Keep looking at this
SP(after 5 secs)Now you have this mark sheet which gives me some information about you, if I ask you to add/delete some data here and ask you to give me a new marksheet which gives me much more details about your performance, what modifications will you do????
Me: (looked at the marksheet from my school, meanwhile YP/SP were laughing without making any sound) Sir, I will….
SP: Hey, don’t reply me immediately, you can take your time, use paper pencil if you want..
Me : (Killed 20 secs, didn’t use paper pencil).Sir, I will introduce the Percentile concept here like XAT.
SP: Percentile???
Me: Yes,it will give me a nice overview of the students performance across the board..Also I would like to put his rank in that sheet
SP: Percentile seems to be ok with me, but why rank??..Do you want to put both..
Me: Not required Sir, I will stick to only percentile in that case. If I know the total number of test takers along with the percentile, I can actual know his rank..
SP: What else can be added???
Me: I would like to give ranks to the school & would like to mention that in the score card??
SP: (Little surprised) But what will we do with the rank of the school??
Me: By giving rank to the school, We can actually see the quality of the school from were the student has done his schooling which also plays a role in the student’s quality..
Silence around for 15-20 secs
SP:You seem to be very very active & deeply associated with PAGALGUY (Smiles around):-)
Me: Yes Sir (Was expecting questions from this zone as I have mentioned about the same in the questionnaire)
SP: What do people feel about XLRI (Every body laughs including me)
Me: Sir, XLRI is one of the colleges which people rate as the best one. We have something called as PAGALGUY BSchool rankings which is a survey taken from 5500 people. As per the survey XLRI is one of the Top 10 B schools which a student prefers to join
SP:What do people say about our interviews (again everyone laughs)
Me: Frankly Speaking, I haven’t gone through the interview experiences as I was busy preparing for my interview..
SP: This one, you are not Frank (Every one laughs)
YP: One more “Frankly Speaking” from your mouth (Every one Laughs)
SP: But why should people post their experiences at all??
Me: Sir, for a person who has got selected for an Interview, he doesn’t know where to start & where end the preparations for his interview. One of the good things at Pagalguy is that, people post their experiences, so that the person who doesn’t know how to prepare gets a fair chance.People look at simillar profile and get an idea as to what to prepare.Many of us also know that the questions might not be repeated, but still we get a broad idea..
SP: Most cases questions do repeat (Smiles)
Me: Agreed Sir,the questions might be repeated. But for a person who hasn’t visited Pagalguy.com, doesn’t know about the repitition.You might also not repeat the questions to a person, who says he is a part of Pagalguy. Most of them wont reveal this like how I have (Laughters around)
After the Laughing got over, the body language of the Professors conveyed that the PI is over.
But AP bounces with a serious face :-(
AP: Taking a que from SP’s question tell me why do we want the School Rank??
Me: Sir, the quality of a school plays a major role in a student’s..(Cuts me)
AP:Forget about school, lets talk about the universities, Do you agree Madras University is a Good University (with a serious face/tone)
Me : Yes Sir :-(
AP: You have come here with a mediocre score
Me: Sorry Sir (:-()
AP: Lets also take a student from Punjab University who has scored well, Now do u accept you are Mediocre???Why do we need the rank of the University at all
Me: Sir, when I say about rank of the University, I am looking at parameters like age of the University, faculty, Infrastructure (AP cuts me)
AP: Why do we need these things at all
Me: Inspite of studying from a good ambience, if a student scores low, then there is something wrong with the student. :-(
AP: Net net it boils down to only the student’s performance and nothing to do with the University
Me: I opened my mouth (AP says enough enough enough) :-(
AP: You seem to be jumping on to conclusions, you are not thinking enough, you don’t want to take time, use paper pencil & saying some thing like rank of a school extra on the fly :-(
Me: Sir, Rank of the school thing, I told you from my recent experience
AP: what is that??
Me: I was looking at these parameters for my Daughter’s school admissions.
AP:You seem to be a person who just stick to your own things, you catch something, conceptualise it , don’t think about consequences, Iam surprised how have you survived for 9 years in the corporate world. You say that you are brutally rude or you flatter people..I am worried how you are going to finish the course. Please correct my opinion.
Me:-(
Sir, when…did…I …..Say..this (was very slow while asking this)
AP: look at this questionnaire, this is what you have written (he reads out the paragraph)
Me: Sir, I have written about what I feel uncomfortable in a person (confidence back :-))..I have said that I cannot tolerate a 2 faced person. If a person flatters on my face & goes and talks ill about me behind my back, I get confused about what I have done..I start thinking ,whatever I have done, was it really good or really bad..Instead if someone, with out the fear of our relationship comes and tells me the facts in a brutally harsh way on my face, I accept it and try looking at and correcting my mistakes…
AP finally looks extremely convinced..Smiles at me & asks me to sign the register..AP offers me a pen & I say no thank you..Took my pen started signing…From the time AP started grilling till this minute, YP/SP were not even looking towards me, they were either looking outside the window or their pens in their hands..
After signing I said THANK YOU SIRS..AP spontaneously said “GREAT”..YP/SP nodded their heads..
I don’t know what he meant by the word Great..But I felt really good after the PI, much much better than my last year PI…Except but the last 5 mins, the PI was more like a discussion.Lots of Laughters…:-)
PI for sure lasted around the 30 min mark (when it was scheduled for 20 mins)
So XLRI is over, let me start working towards IIML which is on 25th March..Between your comments are most welcome..

2009-01-17T18:32:00.001-08:00

pics as promised

Picasa Web Albums - Prem - Spurti

2009-01-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Date : November 15, 2008One of my ex-colleagues called me to say that he has a friend who is physically challenged, who has difficulty in talking, walking, writing & what not L. He also added that, he is trying to crack CAT for the past 3 years & needs some motivation as it is D Day the next day, & asked if I can please talk to him. I said “OK”.His friend called me. His voice was shacking, for sometime it was very difficult for me to comprehend, but his emotions, yes I could understand even the unsaid.Whenever he said, 3-4 of us (Physically challenged) prepared together, tears started rolling down . I motivated him to the extend I knew, but to be frank I was motivated looking at his determination.We are nothing infront of these special children rather the GOD’s own kids.After the phone call, I was explaining the same to my Wife & she said what will these special Kids gain by your tears. You can actually help them, if you want. You have been a student , you have been a teacher as well, you know what a student expects from a teacher & I hope you also know to read, what a special Kid expects from his teacher ie PATIENCE…These words have been haunting me since then & now I have come out to implement my toughts…Why not a Free coaching for a Special Kid or an economically weak kid?.Teachers:Now to make my dream come true, I have come to you guys . Puys in Bangalore, who have been good students (toppers in Mocks) , who have good conceptual knowledge, who have the patience, who have the energy & time can be Good teachers in my dream institute. We need 2-3 teachers each for QA-DI-VA. Iam sure, 1-2 guys can’t handle the show as we might have personal commitments.What will you gain as a teacher: Iam sorry to say, you will not get any salary as it is done out of humanity.You will gain the so called feeling called as self satisfaction, a true meaning of why we are here on this planet. When you sleep in the night, your heart is filled with happiness, because you have provided something to a person in need, you have helped a fellow human, who needs some support.These teachers will be personally interviewed by me as there are some people whose intentions are not to help the needy, but just to gain a bullet point in their CV.Students:Initially we are planning to take 4-5 kids to start with. Request you all to help me out in identifying the needy. There may be a kid, whom you feel, if guided properly can get into an IIM. Send their details by PM to me, with your/their contacts details.These kids would be interviewed by me, personally.These special Kids can be economically weak or physically challenged. Initially we are not including the visually challenged kids as we ourselves don’t have the expertise to handle them.Tuition Fees: Your Determination & Love towards CAT/XAT/NMAT/JMET/FMS etc.Others:Puys who want to help, but still cannot due to geographical issues, can help us out with the material softcopy/hardcopy which you feel can help some kid.Iam also talking to one of the leading coaching institutes regarding the premises/material for my special Kids. Hope, they will help us in this noble cause.Incase of any issues, Iam planning to start it from my home..Tentative Starting period: Jan 15, 2009Classes mostly in weekend for 2-3 hours on Saturdays/Sundays…Finally, many people have thought such good things but have fizzled out due to various reasons. I herewith request you all to pray that GOD gives us the power to sustain for a longer period & help as many of his special kids as possible….Lets Spread humanity across….GOD Bless all…

This was my post in Pagalguy.com during early december..

After that day, I tried so many things to reach out my special kids..

By late december Career Launcher accepted our request & they have agreed to provide us with material & space..Lots of people in Pagalguy came in support of this cause, many of them were ready to be come a teacher in my institute & others in other cities were ready to donate the material...

Finally early this the person who was inspiration (who couldnt get calls this year) accepted to be first student..

So we decided to start the institute under CL banner & name it as SPURTI-DESRIRING FOR THE DETAILS....

Today Spurti has taken her first step & this is what I have written in Pagalguy

One of the Best days of my Life...Spurti finally took her first step at 1.45 PMHate, Sriram, Sandya,Madhu, rmbt came to start off the program...The day started with Sumanth cutting the cake, it was a small gathering & we didnt had a big function or so, but it was precided over by Mr.Ajith, GM,CL, south...We all spoke to Sumanth on understanding the issues to be addressed during the coming days...Sumanth gave us his points too & with the difficulties these special kids face..Most of us were moved by these points..Overall it was a feel of satisfaction for all of us..The surprising thing for Sumanth was that I promised him to introduce couple of IIM guys in the days to come & it happened that PHANTHOM (IIMI) was in town & we had an impromtu meet & Sumanth asked lots of questions & Phanthom aka anand answered them happily . He also promised us to get us the contacts of the challenged people who are in IIMI, so that we can get their ideas as wellI personally thank Phanthom,Hate, Sriram, Madhu, rmbt & Sandya for believing in SPURTI & extending their help...Ps: PICs to be uploaded shortly

For more details..Please read it here

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/touching-lives/35946-preparing-special-kids-bangalore-make-5.html

Today I thank GOD for giving me this day in my Life.

If any one thinks you can be of some help, please please spread the message about SPURTI to people whom you know..Lets make one more kid fulfill his dream...

2008-04-18T03:11:00.000-07:00

Life as a Moderator of a Public Forum

People keep wishing me / Praising me about my Moderatorship at Pagalguy. I do accept that I have grown fast in Pagalguy rather I was accepted fast in Pagalguy.I joined Pagalguy in 2006 as a 29 year Old man looking for some motivation & help to crack CAT, eventually started helping one & all there, behaved in a balanced way when the results for the general guys got delayed & for the OBCs were denied..From then, I always wanted to pay back to this forum as it was the place from where I garnered lots of help/support, whenever required.After being promoted as a green Mod ie the sectional Mod, I could see a lots of difference in the way I post. Before becoming a Mod I used to write whatever I feel like straight from my Heart, but now I cannot do that, I can write about any person in whichever way I want (not slangs definitely), now I cannot...
Its not that easy to be a Mod..When I go and close a thread 10 of them are happy while 10 are'nt..When I warn a person about his public behaviour, he takes it to his heart & what not...
Today Iam a little depressed.I still remember saying that "The Results frozen thread" is my favourite thread as it brought out the true me..It projected me as a man..I had made some 200+ posts in that thread (as I was not a Mod by then) & today after 11 months, I just made one post there to "Close it off" as people were spamming there..
You may wonder why is this guy feeling so emotional about closing a thread..The Point is, it is just not a thread, atleast for me...I have a special feeling towards that thread as it keeps reminding me about what & all I felt when I couldn’t convert my IIMA call due to OBC reservations...
Check it out...
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/22406-results-frozen-admission-all-central.html
Still it was my duty & I love my duty

2008-04-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

CAT 2007 & Beyond:-I still remember how My wife, My Parents (Contrary to 2006),AbhiG1, Rosogulla, Anupamwillreturn, Prahalad85(From Pagalguy) & others here convinced me on 8th May 2007 to go about giving CAT 2007..On that day I was shattered, Results were out, situation was beyond my control still could garner whatever balance energy with which I was left and started the journey yet again towards what that time appeared to me as my destiny "IIMA".The moment I decided to give CAT 2007 ie May 2007 I started talking to myself saying that "This year I will not compromise on Family values, I will not be a Monomaniac, I will work smarter than Harder & what not".Infact I promised the same to my wife.I decided why don’t I start teaching, which will eventually help me in my own preps. Getting a part time Job with Time was not a problem as the Director knew me well (as a student).Started teaching from the last week of May...The Schedule was 5 days of office work, after work its to sit with the basics & then 2 hours with family..Saturday first half for family..Then second half of Saturday till Sunday evening teaching..First 2 months it was OK OK..Then I started feeling that I was getting worn out, still continued...This is the time 2 important characters joined the bandwagon...AnirIIM & Cimbaiash Nitin(Pagalguy)..We decided to prepare together...The Plan was like after every mock CAT we will have telephonic calls to discuss on the paper....After a month an important Character came into my life "GREENSPAN"(Pagalguy)..Dhosth kum Bhai Jyadha.....At some time during July, I got an offer from HP & I decided to accept the same with lots of ifs & buts...Life looked tormenting..A new Job ambience forced me to work 14 hours a day, couldn’t spend time for my family as promised..Couldnt give those additional tests which anir, nithin & spammy could give ..But kept on saying "Ekh test kum daenae say kya farakh padnae wala"..Always believed that CAT is crackable & to top that feel, scores of 99.98 in QA (Simcat) & 99.97 in DI (AimCAT) added to my belief that this time Iam really really close...Mock after Mock my scores were improving unlike 2006 Mocks which were fluctuating a lot...Just one month before the Exam I went through some personal issues both at Home & Work (I cannot explain them now)..These issues were actually huge in magnitude for me to handle..I started loosing the three essential things to crack CAT , "Concentration, Peace of Mind & Time to prepare"..So many guys here came in support, tried putting me back to form, but I never realised I was actually drowning.....But again I didn’t loose confidence..But CAT had something else to offer me as a proof for my over confidence....Couldnt do well in my strongest section..Those 2 & 1/2 hours my mind wasn't working..It started thinking about all those problems I was going through along with the pressure to solve a tough QA section....Came out dejected..Knew that I have lost the Battle...Didnt want to speak to anyone..was cursing at my own self for whatever has been happening & how I have given room to the problems to encapsule me which under normal circumstances would have been the other way round...Felt really ashamed to step into the class to teach QA...Felt really lost and this debacle pushed me to look at XAT in way of taking revenge especially in QA & the results showed that with a 98.xx in QA...

Jan 8th

CAT results were declared......Got to know my scores....Was in office, couldn’t react ie didn’t want to..Reached home after loafing here & there...Was chatting with anupam at 1.00 AM that’s when I started feeling that pain..Tears started rolling down....The feel that "Bye Bye IIMs" was eating me..

Jan 18th

XAT results day..Site was not working...Called up Harshad...Got the Rely,"Bhai, GMP sae call hae, congrats"..I was actually Jumping..Happy Indeed..Thats fine..I have a call to prove something (Btw got a NMIMS call too)...Started showing that same old vigour..Felt that this call would be a rescue for the situation in which I was...March 7th & 8thStill rememember how Viggy was motivating me & pushing me & how the interview went...

Rest all history......

Looking at the whole thing, I feel Iam much matured than what I was in June 2006 when I joined PG...Iam sure, I will come back as the same old person whom you had met/known/spoken to..All I need is that feel, which will make me strong again , out of the cross roads..A feel, which will make me believe "Iam born today, Problems are of yesterday - before my birth".Iam sure with your wishes I will gain it....

In these 2 years I have learnt so many things about Bschools, Life in B Schools, Placements & what not (without actually being in a B School)...I also realised something called as true love from people here....I have no qualms....(atleast now), More than an MBA seat I have garnered the affection of so many guys here, which is more than an IIMA/XL seat.....I actually enjoyed the whole process like any one here say 23-25 years of age..Competing with each other, pushing each other ...Under Dog Team(Pagalguy.com) actually has a permanent place for me , 2006 - Member, 2007-Captain & 20xx-a permanent coach.

As I always say,

"Never give up for any reasons..You are just close to your dream"..Believe in your dreams, because those dreams belong only to you & you have the responsibilty to fulfill your own dreams.....

Never say,'This is difficult I cant do"..No never, everything is possible (look at my own case)......

Never think PagalGuy is just a forum ..A Big No..Its filled with emotions & passions as what you have, its filled with blood & feeling, It smiles when you smile, its cries & stands behind you when you fail....

Most of all, never doubt your own self in whatever you decide in Life as its your life, you know it better..once decided never step back..

As far as me, I havent decided anything as I never decide things when my emotions are high/low..Will take some time but will surely inform my family ie you....

I personally thank each & everyone who shared my pain, who came out with contingency plans, who believed in me more than I believed in myself & so on.......

Keep the faiths high & Keep Believing in Yourself

Ps: Watch out for My daughter who will come as a Prem No 2 with the same dreams, passion as her DAD....

PS: For sure its not a bye bye Post..But its a silence after the storm...........which I want to enjoy for some more time :-)

2008-03-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

What is Confidence??
It’s a feel you get when you succeed in something which you were thinking you can..Your confidence grows much more when u succeed in something u think you cannot...
What is loosing confidence ??
It’s a feel you get when you loose in something which you were thinking you will..You loose your confidence, your mind, heart & even your life,when u loose in something u think you will win...
It’s a real test of my own character..Iam shattered now, will take some time , but will come back here as your same old Prem/Uncle.....
This 2 years of struggle has made me a 23 year Old boy..Dreaming about Higher Studies, neglecting everything in Life, a monomaniac Indeed..But reality is different...I cant even sit & cry over this debacle as I need to start looking out for my daughter's school admissions......
Tears rolling down is not an option ..atleast for some souls like me....
Its Bye Bye XLRI rather Bye Bye my Dream, MBA

2008-03-08T22:08:00.001-08:00

Done with my XLRI Interview…..

Finally the most awaited day has come & I reached chennai railway station by 8.30..Viggy123 came down to pick me..Went to his place & changed my attire..Special Thanks to Viggy’s mom who helped me in pressing my shirt & tie…

Reached the Venue by 10.15 AM…..The Guy who came out of the interview hall started explaining me that he was grilled on Finance sector (As he is working for HP Finance Organisation)…

Surprised, when I was called in by 10.45 AM though my interview was scheduled at 11.00 AM…

Panel: Angry Prof (AP-Had a serious face), friendly Prof(FP) & Smiling Prof (SP-was wearing a smile through out the interview)

& Yours Truly (Prem)

AP: Good Morning Prem, Sit down

Prem: Thank You Sir

(FP starts going through my file)

AP: So many of you from HP have applied for this, isn’t it

Prem: Don’t know Sir (with a smile)

AP: Yes they have

Prem: Smiled

AP: Some of your colleagues have told us that HP is a cost center, what is your take on it?

Prem: Sir, I work for PSG….(AP cuts me there with a serious face)

AP: I asked you something else…

Prem: Iam coming to that answer only..explained about my division & how it is a cost center, but HP as a company is a Profit center was my conclusion..

AP:Can you differentitate HP & Lenovo Laptops

Prem: Sir, basically all the brands have similarities in performance as the internal components are all third party products..what differentiates is the external stuff…Explained the HP testing, Laptop Surface,Safety, Protection, availability of spares for 4 years etc…

AP: Are you sure, you guys assure spares for 4 years

Prem: Yes Sir

AP: What value addition can this course give you?

Prem: Can I understand this question as why MBA?

AP: No this course

Prem: Point1: Diversity of the batch with people with huge experiences will help me to understand cross vertical functionalities

Point 2:Soft skills to handle subordinates (Explained my perception about how a Manager has to play a key role in meeting organisational goals as well as subordinates emotions)

Point 3: Faculty knowledge & XL alumni network

AP was noting down all the points

AP: I will give you an easy solution for your expectations

Point 1: Join a club u will get diversity

Point2: Join the MDP programme for soft skills

Point3: Your course doesn’t have an alumni network

Prem (Back footed): Can I add a little more to my previous answer

AP: with a sarcastic smile-Do you wanna improvise your answer

Prem: Yes….

Point 4: My next role may demand me know a little about finance & HR as well as I wanna move to operations..this course can give me that

Point: Accelerated Career growth

AP started nodding his head (Got relieved)..Looked at SP….

SP: what’s the full form of your school name.

Prem: Sri Venkateswara Matric School

SP: Which Place in India has the famous Venteswara Temple

Prem: Tirupathi, AP

SP: Whose avatar is Venkateswara?

Prem: Lord Vishnu

SP: What are the roles of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva

Prem: Brahma: Creates, Vishnu: Protects, Shiva: Destroys

SP: If shiva is the destroyer, why should junta worship him?

Prem: I don’t know the Hindu mythology, but my perception is any human is scared of death, so its basically the fear which makes us to worship shiva

SP: How is Indian Economy doing?

Prem: Its doing Good

SP: What do you mean by doing Good?

Prem: From a Middle class person’s perspective, the Job opportunities are humungous today compared to 10 years back, so its doing well

SP: How did the job opportunity increased?

Prem: Due to foreign investments

SP: But we still have beggars & some of ours sisters are forcefully doing prostitution?

Prem: When I say Economical growth, it’s the increase in the average livelihood..But whatever said & done, we cannot change the lives of every individual..especially if you talk about beggars, I would put them into 2 categories..People who really cannot work & people who don’t want to work (Considering begging as a full time profession), How do you change them..Its their mindset which is stopping them from working (My smile turned big when I was answering this)…

SP: If you get the power to formulate policies, what will you do to eradicate begging?

Prem: There was a period, when low income groups never sent their kids to school, then the Mid day meal scheme came in..The parents thought that meal as an Incentive..Likewise, I would provide free trainings like lathe cutting, welding etc with an incentive attached so that beggars attend these classes & once the course is over they can be assigned with some work..the incentive part is important for a person to come out of his comfort zone…

SP looks satisfied & asks FP to take over

FP: Prem, there is lots of change in your career, you did BE, CSE – Moved to Sales then you are working as an accounts Manager…

Prem: Sir, When I did my BE I was a day scholar traveling 240 KMs up & down (explained my mother’s illness in a brief)..So could never concentrate on studies..By the time I got my first Job I had 6 other offers for Technical roles..To be honest with you, I was never strong in my technical skills, hence didn’t want to do injustice to my job..So chose sales a I was very good in Networking & my teachers always to mock at me saying that I can get in to sales..In HP, Iam an account Manager & not an accounts Manager..

FP realizing his mistake looks at the sheet & says oh

FP: Prem, you have worked in several states, how did the difference in culture hampered you in your work

Prem: explained about how the local language is of significance & how it has hampered me in Kerala & Goa, How food has played a role in my staying there

FP: How would you then handle cross country cultures in Future?

Prem: little compromise & adaptation would help me?

FP: From the beginning we had been suggesting you to compromise & now you have accepted it….

Prem: Sir, I can compromise & adapt if it really helps me to fulfill my primary goal instead I cannot compromise on my primary goals for these trivial things

Not only that whatever adaptations I have undergone has always helped me in my personal life as well…(Explained it by saying how learning a language & adapting to food has helped to enjoy new places)…

FP looks at AP &SP..Unanimously they decide to wind it off & say thank you

I thanked them back..FP asked me to call the next chap…

I looked at AP & asked his permission to take my file..AP says sure sure…

Net, net the first 5 minutes I was blocked by AP & in the rest I was cruising,.There were no questions for which there is a single answer..99% questions were talking about my perceptions..Actually the stipulated slot was for 20 mins, but it went for about 30-35 mins…

Lets see, whats gonna happen..As far as my feeling goes, Iam happy that I delivered my best….

Comments solicited………..

2008-01-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

XXL Desires, But XL only fits me :-(

<<> XLRI Home Page >>

.: !! CONGRATULATIONS !!:.

You have been shortlisted as one of the eligible candidates for admissions interview.

However Please wait for the Official Letter.

... Chairperson, Admissions
HELP
All Rights Reserved 2008 XLRI Jamshedpur
Designed and Maintained by : HelpDesk, XLRI Jamshedpur
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Finally a call from one of the Biggies...Though, its not the call for their flagship course....
XLRI -GMP, the one year course seems to be a relief now. Lets see, whats in store. Interview is expected to be in the last week of February.
On the day of the result (17th Jan), at 7.30 PM, Krish mailed me the result link, which I could not open. Called up Harshad (my buddy) as he had checked his results by then. Gave my number & was waiting on the line...Harshad replied "Bhai, Congratsssssssssssss GMP call hai thera"..Was happy not completely though...
Anyways a call is a call & with due respect to the brand name & the faith they have on me..Gonna give my heart & blood to convert it...
Only one nagging thing is " XXL (IIM) desires, But XL only fits me (If I convert)"...............

2008-01-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

CAT Results.........

An anticipated Debacle...
VA-94%ile
DI-95%ile
OA-93%ile
QA.............44%ile....
Now, what did I learn out of this......
*You can even fail in your strong areas in Life, accept it, admire it , learn from it rather enjoy it.....Infact more than this something else is also there....TEARS..yes, age doesn’t stop you from crying......The moment I got the percentile score, I was shattered..My mind knows that I had lost the game on 18th of November, but heart felt the jerk only that moment..I was controlling my emotions, I was reacting a little,I was smilling partly, I was bleeding inside partly...I was congratulating my friends, I was also feeling the other way,How it would have been If I would have scored in QA....I reached home very late at 12.30 am..Unable to focus at work, unable to focus on myself reached home..Didnt feel like sleeping, didn't feel like eating..Was browsing the net, then started chatting with one of my Best Buddies, Anupam (IIMB)..As my fingers were typing, tears started rolling over my cheeks.......Dont know why & what it was, but I cried for quite sometime & slept without my knowledge......"DREAM STILL REMAINS A DREAM" was/is the only feel....

2007-11-21T03:56:00.001-08:00

CAT – the emotional side

Who says CAT is just an exam. If its just an exam people should be preparing for it, go and give the exam & wait for the results…..

This actually doesn’t happen. Even myself, when I started my preps for CAT 2006 thought that CAT is just an exam. Infact as the journey started & as I got into the process, I started feeling that its more than an exam, but could never arrive at describing what actually it is...

Everyday, I was physically present at my work place, at home still my mind was thinking only about CAT..Does it mean that CAT is like GOD, you cant see, you can only feel...Whenever I thought about CAT, I was scared about rejection..Does it mean that CAT is like proposing a Girl.......As the exam was on process, heart was beating so fast as if its one ball & I need to hit a six..Does it mean that CAT is like the interesting climax of a thrilling sport....The moment I couldn’t convert IIMA call..I felt as if the sky has fallen on my head..Does it mean that CAT is an expectation...Again I started my journey towards CAT in 2007..with an additional power..Does it mean that CAT is an energy..Now I have failed once again..There is an inexplicable feeling passing through my nerves..A lot more silence like a saint...Does it mean that CAT is that inspiration in life which is missing now....

Now, what is CAT...For many, its just an exam, for some it’s a dream, for few its a part of their life...I may sound funny, but the fact is I have seen people, feeling one of the 3 ways I have defined above....To sum it up, CAT is an emotion, a feel which an aspirant cant separate from his heart when he is giving the same..If its not an emotion, why will the 2.3 lakh junta loose sleep a day before CAT?..Why does the heart throbs so fast during the exam.....I felt like writing this as a reverence towards the feel called CAT...CAT makes you a good Manager, CAT gives you so many friends in life..CAT gives you a chance to check your potiential & character..CAT gives you an aim in life & what not…..

Give CAT to FEEL it……………

2007-11-19T01:46:00.000-08:00

Finally the wait is over…Iam out of the anguish….I knew I had screwed it up, but never expected this badly..It was a nice learning though, getting a single digit score in your strongest section always makes you to come back to the ground.Its a hard fact, still I need to accept it as it is a fact, I cant do anything to change it.

Last year it was a debacle at the climax & this year at the first stage…..My scores (just to inform my wellwishers)QA-single digitDI-49VA-10-18So its all over….Bye Bye to IIMs now.Thanks for all the support & affection.Thanks for all the motivations.Thanks for all the phone calls/SMS/scraps to console me….End of the day life has to move on….I will be always available on & off my blog as a friend & guide..All the Best to everyone….Congrats to the readers who have killed the feline….For others keep moving…Never feel that you have failed as life would be ready to offer you much more chances, much more successes than you expect, much more failures than this one….Always remember till you loose your life , nothing you have actually lost. I know its an undue gyan, but through this post Iam actually trying to console all those weaker hearts & trying to appreciate all those brave souls who are going to accept this failure with a smile..Any help required, remember Iam just a call/message away…Once again all the best to everyone..Remember, when it comes to GD/PI, CAT is nothing infront of it..Its so tormenting, still you need to pass it to reach your dream destinies..Believe in yourselves & Just do it….

Finally as for as me, the fighter has lost, the father has lost but I have won as a MAN, who can treat both success & failure equally..Last year, when I lost I was crying..This year Iam not crying, but holding a smile on my lips..End of the day, it’s the IIMs which didn’t accepted me & not me who said no to an IIM…My love towards IIMs is still true & pure………….Its the end of the love story, but I will remember IIMs throughout my life like a true lover who always remembers his first lady love…

2007-10-22T05:02:00.000-07:00

Freshness in my heart
Flowing through these thoughts
Ambition, Back on Top as a Cream
and now ready to chase the drifting away dreams
Vanquishing all those impediments
Thrashing off all those predicaments
Moving towards my destiny, which is just a step away from taking
Belive me, Belive me, for sure, an history is in the making

Ps: My own Rambling.......

2007-10-19T02:03:00.001-07:00

Lonely Days.......................................

No one is there at home, since 13th of this month..My wife & daughter have gone to native (dashara vacations). I feel so lonely. No one to talk, no one to smile \ play around etc etc etc..

Though they are going to be back by 25th of October. The past one week, I had been feeling as if its years of separation..The one big question, which is popoing up now is..How the next 2 years gonna be, if I convert an IIM call????...It would be hell, to say the least...

My sincere advice to future aspirants..Whatever you wanna do in life, towards your carrier, do it prior to marriage...

Once you are married, the amount of sacrifice you may need to do to fullfill your dream would be 1000 times more than what it would be under normal circumstances....You will be punishing yourselves along with your family.............

Anyways, now that I have decided on CAT, there is no looking back..........

With bloated emotions & lonely thoughts, let me say bye now as my first love (CAT) is waiting for my attention........

2007-10-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

33 days left for the showdown.......

Yesterday, I had been to the Pagalguy.com Bangalore meet....

Atleast 2 of us there were feeling Nostalgic about that place as it was the same venue where we used to have our 2006 PG meets.

Nothing has changed from then.......

After the meet me & CurtzIMI(Saikat) went to a Pub for a drink..Those 2 & half hour, we discussed so many things & every word which came out of his mouth added concrete to my determination.

I know that, there are so many things in life which are squeezing my mind off..But after all those crushings, the top layer still reflects my passion towards an IIM.There are so many things which I cant reveal, atleast in a public forum...But onething is, my mind is empty, my heart is heavy as Iam standing at a cross road in life now....

But what is victory without challenges?...Last year I had a Job, family with which I cracked CAT..This year with those factors, I have the additional thing called as problems..Lets see what the fighter in me gonna do now..Is he going to bounce or succumb..TIME WILL ANSWER...

2007-10-04T02:21:00.000-07:00

43 days to go, before I spend those most valuable 150 minutes of my life...

43 days...Just 43 days...As far as the preparation front is considered, I some how feel Iam under prepared, probably 10-15% of what I had prepared by this time of the year, last time..So many things happening around, which is demanding my attention at this juncture..Though my heart is still breathing CAT CAT CAT CAT, my ambience this time has been so rude not allowing me to do anything towards my dreams...I would say Iam loosing everything in the FOUR lettered word called LIFE for the sake of the THREE lettered word called CAT or viceversa..Litterally struggling to draw the boundries as every situation of mine today is demanding atmost attention of mine...When will I draw the boundary or how best am I going to spend the next 43 days, I really dont know..All I know is one thing & only onething..I have to crack CAT whatever may happen, inspite of me being prepared or under prepared...

2007-09-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

The feel of a First 99%ile :-)

Got the first 99 percentile of this season with a 99.96%ile in QA ...Iam elated...Success seams to be a few yards away....

2007-09-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

64 days to gooooooooooooooooo..............................

Just 64 days to go......The pressure is rising up, my heart is warming up......

Got the Mock CAT result :95.11

A little succour, after the past few debacles...Last 5 days, I couldn't concentrate on my CAT preps due to excessive work...Closed the first Order (for me at HP), first time held negotiations with students (It was fun though).......................

Just surviving only with an unshackable feel that "CAT cant be so tough & I am gonna Crack it"...Lets see, whats gonna be the result....

2007-09-04T04:41:00.000-07:00

A REBIRTH

Lot of decisions & action on decisions today.....

Got the percentile score of the mock held on 02.Sept - 69%ile...Whats this..I was down for a while again...Started giving a serious thought over whats happening around...Where am I faltering...

Step 1 I thought, the first thing I need to do was to shed off a little responsibilities atleast till CAT(As I feel that my mind is blocked with so many things ) & increase my Speed (Courtesy my buddies)....Now its a tough call on which one to chuck out & decided to stop teaching till 18th Nov.It was a tough decision, followed by a huge negotiations..TIME people wanted me to support them as they require me, but I went about convincing them with the rationale behind my decision.They agreed finally.......

Step 2: Now I need to practice more, lot more...I dont get time at home to do that..So went ahead to enroll myself for the SIMCATS as well as MAXCATS...

Now I have weekends to relax a bit, to think, rethink, analyse, strategise & soon....

Next 60 days are going to be the decider of my next 60 years of life (Hope I will live till 90,hehehehe)...Lets see whats in store....

2007-09-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

STILL ALIVE.............................................

Just wanted to break the silence, a silence which would have made many to think that Iam dead...

I know its a very very deadly silence what I had been holding, but what for was it & why so is a big question mark....

Well, after I had decided to appear for CAT 2007, the agony, the anguish, the annoyance, the same old distraughtedness have all started rising their heads back which were hidden in my heart for quite a long time......

June 2007: Nothing much happened here as life was normal. Mock CAT performances - 94.5, 91, 92, 78.....What the heck was the last one..couldnt figure out...

July 2007: Got an offer from HP. lots of dilema, whether to take it or not
Started working out various combinations:-
Old Job + Cracking CAT - Ideal situation/decision
Old Job+ Not Cracking CAT - worst situation
New Job + Not Cracking CAT- Atleast would be left with a better job
New Job + Cracking CAT-A dream scenario.....

Decided to choose option4 as it was the most risky & highly paying option.....

Meanwhile got drifted away with so many things in life..Weeks came weeks went..Nothing great happened towards my CAT front...As a father & a family head, I started performing extremely well & got complimented on several occassions by my wife for the affection & time I gave towards them.....

One fine day in this month, I became one of the Moderators at Pagalguy.com...Aah, in just one year PG has paid back its love & now its time for me to do something to puys & PG as such...

Mock percentiles: 97.38, 97.56, 83.33, 89.99

August 2007: Joined HP, the brand which made me to look at it with pride....
A brand which I had been longing for......But, once I got in, I realised what is there behind this brand...Its sheer hardwork & dedication....

Everyday started working for 13-14 hours, right from day 1 as I have the responsibilty to prove myself...

Life has become mechanical ever since then....5 days of work at office & weekends teaching at TIME had taken the toll

Mock Performance : 42, 93...

September 2007: Even last year, I have went through the same story of poor mockcats, but was never perturbed...I had a strong feel etched in my mind which reads "CAT can never be so tough as mock CATs"..Now history is repeating....Same old horrible performances in Mocks..

Infact, I thought today that Iam squandering my own life, ruining it..Nothing seems to improve.Though I believe that, Mocks & CAT doesn't have any corelation, but when others can tough those coveted 99%ile, why am I unable to (Basically, unable to figure out my problem, is it over stress or exhaustion or what it is.....)

"LET ME JUST STEP BACK, I CANT CRACK CAT, WITH THE WAY IAM PERFORMING & WITH SUCH A CONFUSED MIND "........

This feel had been haunting me from the morning..But my buddies ensured me that Iam back to action..Anir & Nithin...The names which will remain in my mind through out my life...We are in different locations, moi in Bangy, Nithin in Mysore & Anir in Calcutta....But the closeness we have is unexplainable, the way we pull & push eachother after every mock is unforgettable...Infact Anir ensured that Iam back to target & never give up, before I step into my dream school.....

Meanwhile I forgot to write about my best buddy, Prahalad (IIMB)..This guy calls me after every mock just to check my performance and guide me asap.....Still he is fighting & figuring out how to improve my performances..If not for anything, I should crack it for the commitment he shows towards my preps...

Decided from today, Iam gonna be back with the same feel with which I had appeared in CAT 2006 & thats why I have started updating Blog.....Thanks Nitin, Anir & Prahalad for making me to realise that this emptiness is just a passing cloud & I have miles to go before I sleep..Thanks for making to resurrect back, when I felt I cant bounce back.....

CAT 2007, here I come to ace you......

2007-06-04T04:31:00.001-07:00

The 4th & my 1st All India Pagal Guy Meet at Alibaugh on 2nd & 3rd June……

Here goes the transcript of the most awaited AIPGM experience…

To start with, I would say its 2 days of excitement, fun, thrill & Travel (first time in my life traveled by all 4 modes of transportation in a single day)..

June 2:

Woke up at 3.45 am. Got ready & reached airport by 5.10 am..Happy to Mitesh (Mituag) to be present there already. After the normal formalities, the flight took off at 5.55 am. We were really surprised to see the AIRDECCAN flight to be right on time. I wanted to sit by the window side as so far all my flight trips had been only in the evenings & I really wanted to see the early morning Sky. I got the window seat, but I made the choice of selecting the wrong side ie the eastern side. Couldn’t see anything outside as the sun was blazing straight into my eyes. The next round of surprise came when the flight landed at the right time. Mitesh had some luggage.So, it took 10-15 minutes for us to come out of the terminal.

The expectation of the meet started creeping into my mind. As soon as we came out, we could see the PG banner hanging there & couple of guys standing there to receive us..It was none other than Harshal (Grons Master) & Revant (Profootball25)..

Usually we all have an imaginary picture of a person whom we have never met & when we meet it turns out to be either the same or 180* opposite to that of our expectation.I was thinking that this guy revant who was also a part of the UDT 2006 would look a little dark, shot & staut..But he was extremely fair, in between thin & medium built & infact was looking as well as behaving smart..

As we were the first 2 to arrive, we all started waiting for the next important person in PG and one of my close friends , ankit (the_Constantine). His flight reached by 8.00 & we all just moved a little ahead to find a place to sit & we all got it.

Harshal & Ankit went back to the terminals to receive guys from Delhi.Revant, Mitesh & myself, we all settled down on some chat about the threads we were active in…

After 20 minutes, Revant got a call on his mobile & then he said us that, “ Zephyr & Mahip are reaching here”. Meanwhile the Delhi flight landed & I could see Tanveer(WritetoTanveer) & Vineet (VineetNITD) coming with 2 more..Tanveer, I have seen his Orkut Photo & Vineet is our Bangalore boy, who got relocated to Delhi..But who are the other 2?. The first guy comes and says Iam Horrible Kapil..Everyone over there,starred at him and asked what?.He replied us that his name is kapli & his user ID is “Horrible”..Everyone overthere laughed…

Then came the super Mod with a motti Girl, Juhi aka Zephyr….Rajat’s (Rajad_Nda) flight was getting delayed, so we all decided to move to Rohit’s (Estranged_gnrs) place & Harshal took the responsibility of receiving Rajat…

We all started moving towards Rick & someone suddenly joined this ganag..It was none other than the All India Topper in QA, Amit (AMITNSITIAN)…

We were around 12-13 people, so adjusted ourselves into 2 autos & one Taxi..We reached Rohit’s area, It started with”C” & ended with batty…Once we reached a spot, the administrator of PG, Mr.Rohit came to receive us & took us all to his flat…We entered his flat & huge gigantic figure comes & says “HI” ..Iam Sarang (Tatimatla)..Oh man..he was really huge…

Then the next batch arrives with one more huge personality & he introduced himself to us as Arun (Pshycodementia)..Cool man all the stalwarts are here.

Then the intial intro’s, chit chats went for about an hour or so & Rohit adviced us to start towards “Gate Way of India”..So we all started moving towards the railway station & eventually got into the Train..Oops, what a rush, it reminded me my days in Chennai when I used to travel by local trains…

We reached Gateway of India at about 12.30 PM…We were hungry..So Me, Mitesh, Arun& Juhi started munching some Sandwitches…

A little ahead of us, we saw a huge gang, siiting & chatting (A few were wearing the PG tees)..we too went there & one person came out of the gang & received, introduced himself to us as Alwyn (ooh…PAGALGUY)..Oh man, he was very simple, polite & friendly..Was extremely happy to see the man, PAGALGUY..

Then more & more came & joined us..Couldn’t identify most of them..

The ferry started at 1.30 towards Alibaugh…People were happy to stand near the edge & couple of Oldies (including me) decided to sit back in the chair. We reached the Jetty at Mandwa & then we all rushed towards the Bus to Alibaugh..it was 20 minutes travel & then from there, we caught a Rick to the place of stay & it took 20 min more to reach our final destination….It was already 3.45PM….So we all decided to go to the Sea shore immediately….Meanwhile the Pune puys (eka, NikhilKulk, Jackal , Puneet , Ninja Talli etc) reached by then.

In the sea shore, we all got into a football match..Puys with shirts vs without shirts match…I don’t know who won the game as I moved out in the middle to have chat with Arun, Tanveer & Ankit….

It was a nice experience to talk to Arun..He had a lots of updates & knowledge about anything under the Sun. He also gave lot of Gyan on CAT Success stories making to again that seriousness required towards CAT…

At 9.00PM we had the most exciting session of the day, the introductions session. It was extremely nice to hear about the formation of PagalGuy from the man himself.

Night we had a drinks party near the sea shore with some campfire,followed by dinner & some of them slept (including me) very early (at 12.30 am)..I hope the others had been partying throughout the night, there was an arm wrestling between Vineet & John Gult (This is another important character, I thought he is a VA king, but he is a body buider too)….

June 3

Morning I woke up at 5.30 am & was surprised to see Rajat to be awake much before..
We went out and started chatting & we were joined by Pranav (Pranav10). He is an amazing guy, trust me..He gave a lot of inside stories about IIMs & then we were joined by Anand Vaidya (ANANDV) on the same topic…

Then me, Pranav, Amit & Ankit had a long sea shore walk..Close to about 1& ½ KM & the we had a bathe in the sea water (Thanks to Pranav for teaching me the rolling technique).

Then we all played cricket. Excellent batting by our team with some good Sixers by Alwyn, Tatimatla & NikhilKulk (Courtesy:Some pathetic bowling by estranged_gnrs & eka)….

Then we all splitted into batches & were chatting on something or the other.

At 1.30 we had lunch & 17 of us were ready to leave due to our return Flight timings…

Couple of us got into alwyn’s Innova & others got some rick & we all reached the Jetty at 2.50 PM & we could see the 2.45 PM Ferry leaving in front of us…

The next one was at 3 PM, but all the tickets were sold out…RMBT & Rajat were very tensed as his flight was at 8.30 PM…Pranav took the leadership & instructed us that we will all get into the Ferry & demand for a ticket then & there…

The 3 PM ferry came & 5 of us almost had got into the ferry (Me, PSYCHO, RAJAT, Pranav & BytchCraft)..But looking at the remaining 12 of us coming towards the Ferry, the boatman said its impossible to accommodate all..So we 5 too got out of the ferry..

The next ferry was at 4.30PM..Suddenly we came to know that all the ferry trips were cancelled due to rough sea conditions..People were really tensed..Then ProFootball took the charge & guided us through the alternate plan…Our

We boarded a Bus from Mandwa to Mumbai which would take 3 & ½ hours to reach Mumbai…We got into the bus & sat in groups…

Me, Pro &Divi (BytchCraft) sat in the last last row…It was fuming & I was sweating..Pro football was feeling very sorry for me (He is a very nice boy)..After some time Divi mam felt dizzy & slept off & me too did the same..After sometime I realized Pro holding me tight at my arms ..When I woke up, he told me that I was almost falling on the Old lady next to me..so he was dragging me back..hehehehe..Then we three had a chat about our CAT experiences till we reached Panvel at 6.45PM & the traffic was almost stuck. Divi was irritated, so we were..Suddenly Pro asked us to jump out of the bus as he was ready with some other plan & we all followed him…

Reached the Station at 7.15PM..Tanveer, RingsofSaturn etc were extremely tensed as their flight was scheduled to leave at 9.30..So all these Delhi Guys & Girls (Neha, Sonam &Divi) caught the next immediate train & left..

Me, JourneytoIIM, Pshyco, Amit, Pranav, Pro & Mituag relaxed there for a while..Psycho & me we were talking on our reducing energy levels due to age & the way we were exhausted..Meanwhile we got a message that our flights which were supposed to be at 9.30, got rescheduled to 00.45 AM (OMG!!!!!)

We boarded our train at 8.30PM & reached Kurla at 10 PM..Every 5 minutes I asked Pro “abhey..Aur kitna time lagae gha” ..Bhechara Pro replied me in a very very soothing way “Bhai..Abh pahun jayengae”…

Got down at Kulra..Hugged Pro to say Bye (Thanking him inside for the care he had shown)…Went to a restaurant to eat something as Psycho was going crazy with hunger(lol)….Reached Airport at 11.45PM & the same time the_Constantine came there & we all moved to the otherside of the lounge to see the ongoing AmirKhan movie’s shooting…Finished security check, reached the flight..Couldn’t find my Boarding Pass..It was lost in the transit from the final checking counter to the Flight…I was sweating at 1.15 am, the guys were cordial & allowed me to fly..Flight took off at 1.45 & reached blr at 3.15 am……

Aah a very lengthy one, but couldn’t resist myself….

End of all these tormenting journeys, I was happy that I have got some new good & great friends like Pranav, Profootball, PsychoD & Mitesh..

Iam thankful to the first user Mr.PagalGuy, Mr.Estranged_gnrs(who forced me to come0 & all other users who made the wonderful 2 days of my life….

A special thanks to IMS for sponsoring our tickets…
As we all know, the fact that PG is not a community, but a family has been vouched…

2007-05-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

EXPERIENCE AS A TEACHER IN THE FIRST 3 WEEKS

Its 3 weeks now since I have started taking Classes at TIME..

First Day, 12th of May, I took a class in Jayanagar. I reached the centre at 5.55 & my class was suppose to start at 6. I was literally tensed. I really wanted to deliver the best. Students should not only gain knowledge on Simple Equations, but also CAT in totality. I very well know, every batch is a mix of some bright Engineers & some not to be blammed commerce, MBBS, BDS, BVsc Students. I should ensure all these guys understand.

Class Started & I went on with the intro & ensured I completed all the sums in 1.45 minutes..The next 15 minutes I gave some general gyan on CAT.

This is the strategy I have been following for the last 3 weeks.

Last week, I couldn't take the 1st mock. Reasons....My class which was about to get over by 1.30 went till 1.50 & then I left for lunch & by the time the Lunch got over it was 2.40..Also I got an urgent call from my native..So couldnt give the Mock CAT..So 19 more to go..Feeling Nostalgic over this process..Request you friends to wish me all the Best....

2007-05-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

FIGHTER WINS THE THRILLER

Ok..Sorry for not pronouncing the arguments & Verdict of the case for a long time...

May 1-10th:

Judge (Unkhil):- Ok, the proceedings can start now....

Fighter (Petitioner) : My Lord, as you are aware about the recent stay Order..

Father (Opposition) : Objection my lord, Mr.Fighter is speaking things which are irrelevant to the case...

Judge: Objection Over ruled..Lets listen to what the Fighter has to say, then we will see whether its relevant or not..

Fighter: Thank You my Lord, As I said there is a stay Order which has thrashed all my dreams & ambitions of getting into an IIM..Now this is something which is beyond my control or for that matter anybody's control..Its an injustice as far as my results are concerned & now I request you my lord to give me one more chance, just one more chance to fulfill my dreams....

Father: This is ridiculous my lord, who asked Mr.Fighter to first of all claim an OBC reservation.Had he met the merit requirement, he would have converted it this year only..He is of an inferior quality & now he wants one more year to be wasted in this whole drama..

Fighter: My Lord, I accept it was a mistake to claim the reservation (though officially Iam eligible to). But between me & a 99.68%iler , it was a matter of 3 questions.Now I request you my lord to please consider my request generously. I had almost converted my IIMA call & fate has decided something else & Iam standing in front of you haplessly. Remeber my lord, when the IIMA call list was out,the father too shed tears as he was exalted about the hardwork being paid off......

(Judge Looks at the Father..Father just bends his head...)

One more point I wanted to make out..Remember my collegue, who jilted me by complaining to the VP & HR about my CAT preps. I came to know that he had been awake restlessly on 8th may till 1 AM & was repeatedly telling one of my other collegues that SC shouldnt approve the OBC reservation as me getting into IIM will be a national waste.

I really want to prove something now...

Father: Assume that the request is genuine also. What about the family?. Remember last time, because of Mr.Fighter, how many weddings we would have missed, how many days I had simply rejected my wife's request to take her out on a Sunday (Courtesy: Mock CATS)..How many days I had refused to play with my daughter..If we allow this Fighter, the same thing gonna happen this year too..

Fighter: My Lord, this year its just 5 months left & the first person to request me to write CAT 07 is my wife, followed by the request from my Dad (Remember the scene last year, it was entirely reverse)..As far as the preps are concerned, I needn't have to slog hard as now I have an offer from TIME to take classes in weekends(QA &DI)..so this will take care & I neednt have to spend time...

My Lord, falling down is easy, but getting up & fighting again is difficult..Now I have got up..I require Your's as well as the Father's support..PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE.....

JUDGE: OK...After hearing the case, its time for me to pass the Judgement..

The Father's concerns are genuine, at the same time the Fighter's plea is extremely pleasing. For any person in life attitude is important. Iam astounded by his attitude. His arguments are also logical & he has contigency plans also set ready for the preps..

So Iam allowing the FIGHTER to appear for CAT 2007 & he should ensure the father's responsibilities are also met properly...

Fighter: Will definetely do so Sir...(With a Smile)

Judge: The court can disperse...

Fighter Jumps....Father gives an envious look & congratulates....

Finally gearing up for CAT 2007

2007-04-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

CASE IS ON.........................................................

Guys you know all about the case "Dreams Vs Reality" whose hearing is on from 27th of April..Petitioners - Fighter & Father, Judge - Ur Unkhil, Prem....The case is on & the Judgement would be delivered by unkhil very fast, much faster than the Supreme Court. On the day of the Judgement, the Judge would also let u all know, what were the arguments between both the parties.These guys feel they are smart enough to argue hence they dont want any lawyers it seems...After all the hearing, the Judge will also give a logical Judgement, giving an indepth analysis of both the arguements....

Though all the arguments would be posted on the Judgement day, an important argument point by the fighter has been presented today which I thought would post it here, the reason being it may not only help the fighter, but many fighters who are looking for a hold & grip in life. The argument or the point presented today is:-

"Challenges in life come in three broad categories: easy, difficult & impossible. Those who take only the easy have a safe & boring life.Those who take on the difficult have a tough but satisfying life.Those who take on the impossibe are REMEMBERED". Case is still on, so please watch this space for the final verdict.

2007-04-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

A fight between a Fighter & a Father for the second time………

People were surprised (PG, as well as my other friends), when I started speaking as if nothing has happened to me because of a reject from IIMA, that too just after 15 minutes after the results were declared. People said that Iam matured, people said that they hope, 8th may will turnout in favour of me, people said that I have something better in life, people said that I have a cute daughter who will make me to forget this failure, people also said why not Cat 2007……..

But what was actually passing through my mind right from the 16th minute onwards which made me to console people who couldn’t convert?..Iam not a super natural being or the so called Krishna Paramathma to say whatever u have taken, u have taken it from here, whatever u have given, u have given it here, what did u bring from the heaven to lose…(BhagavatGita)

Iam a normal Human being, I too have a sensitive heart which like that of others,has its own dreams, cries when it meets with a failure, laughs at even a smallest success etc..But what gave me that Invincible & the undemanded calmness from that minute…

The question which everyone & I myself started asking was why not CAT 2007.This everyone includes My family, Puys,Joydeep, Amit, Anupam,Nikhil & so on……

Failure is not something new to me, most of the cases I had just defended my failure & not even fought against it & eventually it turned out to be a success against that failure.

Though I thought my dreams have come to an end, the one big question mark which remains unanswered is can I live without that dreams

The next question now is why don’t I really fight. What are the factors which may be my impediment if I want to think about CAT 2007.Hahahaha, 29th April, 2007 looks as same as 27th August, 2005 (The day I decided to write CAT 2006).This time its not my dreams vs my ambience, rather this time its my dreams vs my responsibilities.

Inbetween the day I thought about writing CAT 2006 & today, the major factor is my daughter has grownup & ready to go for her schooling. As a father, a husband & an employee my responsibilities have increased a lot. But this time on the day of the results, my dad, my mom,my inlaws &my wife unanimously asked me why not CAT 2007?. The reason being they have seen the fact that I can go to any extent (preparation, commitment etc) to make my dreams come true..But this time, Iam curbing my dreams due to the responsibilities. But my dreams as usual are dragging me towards making them true….

I met Nikhil(IIMA) today. We had a chat for about 2 hours. I just wanted to mention the last few dialogues between us..

Nikhil: Sir, Hope u convert IIMA

Me: Nikhil, But the hard fact is that I haven’t

Nikhil: I said 2007..Give a serious thought…

My heart again started beating CAT CAT CAT CAT…..

Still don’t know this resurrection; rejuvenation will be eternal or ephemereal….

Onething I have understood is that the Fighter with in me is still alive, but it is the Father who is vacillating to allow the fighter to take his weapon(which is on from 5.15 PM of 26th & is still on at 12.22 AM of 30th)…Everyone is a fighter, but very few are fathers…

Lets see, if the father can find some compromising point where in his family’s importance (which is his first priority & which got affected last time) doesn’t gets affected because of the fighter’s dreams & if he can satisfy his family’s happiness first, then he may allow the fighter to go ahead to fight CAT 2007… Incase if the father has to consider the fighter's plea, the fighter has to fullfill one more criteria of not claiming any reservations & never even look at the OBC coloumn in CAT application. If the fighter can give both these assurances, then the father may consider vacating the stay & allowing the fighter to appear for CAT 2007.

Though the fighter is yet to receive the May 8th Verdict, he is gearing up trying to console & compromise the father..Lets see who is gonna win. Whoever wins either way its me who will be the winner finally..Will keep you all updated shortly, who is the winner of this fight called as “Dreams Vs Reality”

2007-04-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

To all my Friends, Puys, Readers, who are keen to know my results:-

Indian Institute of Management, AhmedabadAdmission Status : Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP 2007-2009 batch), IIMA
TR No.
5130103
Name
PREM KUMAR R
You have not been selected or wait-listed for admission to PGP (2007-2009 batch), IIMA.
Disclaimer : This electronically generated information does not have legal validity. Those candidates who have been selected or wait-listed for admission to the PGP (2007-2009 batch), IIMA, will receive our official letter soon.

Thanks for all the support extended to me...

2007-04-26T23:16:00.001-07:00

My second appearance on CNN IBN along with asuthosh (Billibolymeow)..

Good that this one was live

Here goes the Transcript:-

Swetha Ganesh (reporter) - So whats ur reaction about the delay in OBC results.....

Me: As far as the committment, Hard work, dreams to get into an elite institute are considered, it is one & the same for General as well as OBC students..The agony due to the delay in the results will also be same for both..So, Iam personally very happy as a student that atleast the agony of some part of the students community will come to an end. They will be much relieved. As far as the OBC reservations are concerned, it looks like a thriller story. I am still hopeful that the Government will fight for us(though I personally dont have any hopes). I would like to request the GoI as well as SC to kindly consider our case with mercy as lives of 1000+ students are in stake.

Incase of a favorable result also, the saddest part will be, we guys would be missing the preparatory course and also working people like us have to pay to our employers, a huge some for us to be relieved in a faster phase.

Asuthosh: This is very good decision, but why was it delayed so long. Iam happy that with the IIMs come out with the results, MDI wait list will move faster. Iam worried about people who have NITIE, IIFT converts & have resigned thier jobs. Its a catch 22 situation...

Thats the story friends....

Thanks for all the support extended to me (may it be in PG, thru phone calls, by posting comments in my blog, thru sms etc)...

All the Best to everyone once again & Bangalore Guys dont forget to invite me for your treat.

2007-04-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

I HAVE MADE THE WORLD TO HEAR ME TODAY….MY FIRST APPEARANCE IN THE MEDIA

The 9'o clock news (9 PM) in CNN on 25th April figured about an OBC candidate, who is anxious & frustrated about the results being delayed..The person's name was mentioned as Chandrasekhar (on request by the person), but they didn't hide the face ...Its none, but myself...

ON A SERIOUS NOTE

I had mentioned n no of times not to trust Media..The reporter interviewed me for 30 minutes & then followed by Video Coverage..

Basically 5 questions...

Qtn 1: Assume if the results are declared & OBC list is with held what will be your reaction

Me: The results getting declared is an admirable one. But for OBC's it may be an emotional setback.

Qtn 2: Assume if all the results are put on hold then?.

Me: The issue has reached an impasse. No one knows what to be done. Anyway the fate of 600 odd guys is at the mercy of so many people (GoI & SC), now why do u want to bother 5000 people & for the sake of what. Its not going to yield any happiness to any one.

Qtn 3: How is ur life for the past 2 weeks

Me: Till March 29th, I was worried about my final conversion & for the past 2 weeks, Iam worried about the issue being resolved first & then comes the worries about my personal conversion. I have been working for more than 5 years now. As a Middle level Manager, Iam expected to do so many things in my job on a day to day basis. But unfortunately, Iam unable to concentrate on my Job, also Iam the father of a 3 yr Old kid. Now her school admissions are also on hold because of my admissions. I really doubt whether she will go to a school this year.

Qtn 4: Any Specific message to the HRD?

Me: Explained the whole plight of the students community both general as well as OBCs. Especially about the pathetic conditions of OBC people with IIFT & NITIE Converts, who have left their Jobs(Billibolleymeow), Onsite Trips(Neutral), admissions in Private colleges(Stigmatic) etc, about the issues involved in resigning & getting relieved (GC or OBC, u have to pay money for an early exit from the company).Also asked a specific question about how the OBCs(who have got calls) are gonna be treated by IIMs.If they leave these guys half the way (incase if they declare our interviews stands cancelled & void), wont it be injustice

Qtn 5: What is ur View about the whole issue?

Me: Till last year there was no reservation & we were OK with it. Now some one has dug out a sleeping issue called OBC reservation & made us to claim officially some thing called as reservation. My personal opinion, there shouldn’t be any reservations (OBC/SC/ST) perse, but the SC’s verdict at this point of time is really unfair. SC as well as the HRD is talking about the benefit of millions of people & nobody is bothered about the 1000+ OBC students who are caught in this whole issue. Just wanted to iterate one point that, every individual in this 1000+ OBC student has a dream, career, future & on top of that an emotional & sensitive heart. So request the GoI as well as SC to look into this angle also….

Prior to interview she asked me about how did I prepare & stuff, my CAT experience, plans in case of the quota's not being implemented this year etc.In fact I told her straight on her face that” Iam sorry to say that the media never focused on people who are really at stake, instead they made the issue more broader by speaking to pro / anti reservationist who are not vying for any admissions this year. U have come now, when the results are gonna come & after the SC has rejected the Govt’s plea…

Alas, what was broadcasted was a normal 30 secs news saying that Iam one of the 1000 OBC aspirants who is agitated & annoyed with the delay in the results & just telecasted the most useless dialogue of my interview.They have edited & removed all the five answers & just made it a generic one lined news...Now isn’t it clear, how responsible our media is……

Guys again I reiterate, don’t get carried away by every word of the media (there are definitely hidden truths, my personal experience) rather just trust the IIM websites. The moment u see the result link, then u can trust that the result is definitely out…Till then watch News, but don’t jump on to conclusions…

I didn’t want to Blog any more, still I thought this article may help people to understand how responsible our Media is?.

This is the link for the interiew clipping:

http://www.pagalguy.in/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/22406-results-frozen-admission-all-central-274.html#post759102

Incase if u r unable to open the link, here is the jist of the interview

Divided by caste, united in anxiety
Shreya Dhoundial & Shveta Ganesh Kumar
CNN-IBN
Posted Thursday , April 26, 2007 at 10:01
Updated Thursday , April 26, 2007 at 10:06

STATUS QUO-TA: People divided by castes are liked by fate thanks to the quota crisis.

New Delhi / Bangalore: Anant Sanghvi and Chandrashekhar (name changed) are two people who couldn't be more different in terms of either educational background or upbringing.
They live miles apart but their fortunes in a sense are interlinked thanks to HRD Minister Arjun Singh.
A passout of the Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi, Anant has scored a 99.83 percentile in CAT and has got calls from all the 6 IIMs.
He says the wait for the admission list - delayed by almost two weeks - has been so agonising that all he's doing the whole day is watch news for any scrap of information he can get, but good news is still elusive.
"On one day HRD comes out with a directive, on the other day the Supreme Court comes out with the verdict. On the next day, HRD files another petition - I mean the ball has been going to and fro, from one court to the other. There is no positive outcome as far as the students are concerned," says Anant.
Thousands of miles, away not just in distance, but also backgrounds is Chandrashekhar - another IIM aspirant who lives in Bangalore.
His OBC status he says has never worked to his advantage so much so he doesn't even want his name or face on TV. With a 97.26 percentile and the 27 per cent OBC quota, he was hoping for a chance at leveling the game.
He says he's waited for three years to make it to the IIM's so a few days more doesn't matter. However, what bothers him is suggestions of the OBC list being withheld till May 8.
"I don't know what's going to happen next. There is no clarity as such and I cannot plan my next course of action. Where do I go about in life from here on I don't know," says he.
Anant and Chandrashekhar, on either side of the quota divide, may one day meet in class. For the time being though, their dreams will have to wait.

2007-04-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

This may be my final post in my BLOG.Now I dont have anything else to write.

A little briefing about what happened from early 90's. Way back in 1992, when I was in standard 9, there was an issue at my home. My mother was ill. Her illness continued till I was in my Engineering 3rd year i.e. 1999 (Now by God’s grace she is perfectly fine). Someone needs to be with her, throughout the day to take care of her.

My Xth standard board exam went for a toss(61%). My 12th standard board exam was OK OK, but still I remember those days when I went to the exam with tears in eyes as my mother was serious (I got 68%)..I couldn’t get admission into any of the professional courses. Infact I had a major problem with English as mine was a sub normal school. My dad wanted me to join BSc, Maths course (I got 200/200 in 12th). Looking at my mother’s condition, I wanted to become a doctor. I decided to appear for the higher secondary improvement exams (finally 89%).

1 year, I stayed away from every friend of mine, avoided speaking to any one as I felt people may divert me from reaching my goal. Results came & I lost my MBBS seat by just 3 marks. It was paining (still paining). Couldn’t decide what to do..Got an admit from a Govt engg college, 800 Km from my home. Didn’t want to join because of my mother’s health. Joined a college under DOTE II which is 120 km away from my place.

From the day 1, I started traveling to college by train..The schedule was to get up at 4 am, catch the train at 5am,reach college at 8am, catch the train again at 7 pm in the evening & reach home at 10 pm. I could see myself becoming physically & mentally tired. Still I had so much of responsibilities at home. I had to help my father in taking care of my mother & my younger sister.

First year I got 61%. I was happy with my marks as I could hardly study anything once I reach home.

Second & third year were horrible & I could go only on alternate days to the college (labs I almost had 0 attendance). I had 3 arrears with my total percentage dropping to 52. My mother started recovering & my father now started worrying about my career. He wanted me to join the Hostel & I did.

Final year went terrific as I was elated by the fact that my mother became all right. I got a 74% in final year & cleared all the back logs with an overall percentage of 58.4%

January 2000: Companies started visiting my college for campus placements. I could see every friend of mine getting a Job in some big company. I was not even eligible to sit for the campus recruitments. Though I knew getting a job is going to be very tough, still, I was happy that I have performed my duties as a Son & a brother.

May 2000:

The last company for that year’s campus recruitment came & the minimum requirement was 55%. I prepared my 1st CV in life with the help of a friend. After the interview & before the results (20 days), I started attending all walk in Interviews (as I needed a job to support my dad who was struggling due the expenses incurred for treating my mother)..The results came & I was happy to know that I was the only guy to be selected out of the 150 applicants. Meanwhile I had 7 other offers too in hand. 6 were technical (Software development) jobs & 2 were Sales Jobs. I decided to take the sales career as I had almost 0 knowledge in Technical.

My first Job:

I believed in one thing right from my day one at my Job. “Seiyum Thozilae Deivam” meaning “work is Divine”. Started loving my Job, as it was something I decided to take. First 2 years as a trainee, I was made to handle the petrochemical Industries at a place, 30 Km away from Chennai. I had a hero puch those days. I had to go there daily & meet the customers. Every day I used to carry the lunch prepared by my mom. We all know how it looks around a refinery. I used to have my lunch sitting on those drainage pipe lines under the hot Sun. Most of the days, I had cried as the stinking smell & the scorching heat had never allowed me to eat(Had situations would had been better, I would have become a doctor-this feel was dominating my mind, but then consoled myself saying that this what GOD has given & there are so many even without this job), still I used to eat because of the fact that my mom wakes up at 4 am to prepare this lunch…

2002:

These 2 years of hard work had gained me some name in my company. Still there was no change in the territory & all my seniors started telling me that u have chosen a career, which will give u the same role wherever you go. I was frustrated, I didn’t know what to do? That is when I came to know about CAT as one of my colleagues had just then resigned his Job for taking up CAT. I just started garnering information about CAT as some one told me that Post MBA, the role in job & the luxury in life will change

I was so innocent as I had just stepped into a city life from a rural life. I started thinking about CAT as an alternative to my temporary agony.

Joined CL, prepared till September..that’s when the next shock of my life came. My sister’s marriage got fixed & my father wanted me to continue with my job, as he needed financial help. So couldn’t appear for CAT 2002.

2003:

By this time around, the frustration had disappeared as I got a promotion in my job & a large + a beautiful territory to work (Pondicherry, Karaikal& mahe)..But some how I was not happy. When the CAT advertisement got released in June.,I started feeling that in this one year, CAT had become something more than an alternative to my frustration.Infact, CAT had become an unachievable dream. I decided to take CAT now……

Again it was a repetition of my earlier year..But this time my parents decided to get me married. I was quashed. I really really cried looking at my fate. I wanted to become a doctor; my fate made me an engineer. I wanted to become an MBA; still fate didn’t even allow me to take the exam.

2004:

I joined a new company with a bigger role (Sales Incharge of Kerala, Karnataka & Goa)…So, I was extremely happy with my job. But that IIM dream was disturbing me, every time I go to IIMB for my Sales calls, I felt like I’m missing something in my life. One day when I was in IIMB, I just had a thought, “I wanted to come here as a student & not as a Sales guy”, but thenI was scared to discuss with my Wife about my MBA dreams as she will not allow me to leave her & go to studies (She loves me so much.). I decided to stop going to IIMB

2005:

though I stopped going to IIMB, my dreams started dominating me & finally once again I decided to take up CAT whatsoever this year…Took the guts to discuss on the same with my family & finally after a lot of convincing, I got the approval..…..

August 2005:

Joined TIME full time course

The first 2-3 weeks, I really struggled to include studies in my day-to-day life. It was 3 years, since I had touched any of the academic books & now I’m a relaxed family man too. But then, I started speaking to myself, reiterating the importance of determination to achieve my dreams. I know spending time on studies is going to be the crucial factor....

I started breathing CAT, eating CAT…Every day I used to take book after my daughter & wife went to bed..Finally started feeling happy that I am doing some justice & I was on track like other aspirants……

I started speaking to people who had already taken CAT..I started knowing what they actually did. Every time when I called up someone (Though I know I have disturbed so many with all silly doubts), I ensured I learnt something new even if it is a small thing. I understood mere preparation & hard work is not going to help me. It’s the small details, which are going to of major importance….

May-June:

Mock CATS started. First 5 exams my percentile was 99+ & then started the downfall
6th exam 39%ile, 7th exam 67%ile & it never crossed 90 from then. The reason was, one of my colleague (a staunch employee) went ahead & complained to my VP & HR Manager about my CAT preps. They started suspecting my commitment towards work. Now I had the additional pressure to perform in office too..So everyday I was in office till 9 pm..

Every time I was dejected, I stepped into IIMB (my dream school).Some how I got recharged when I went there, ready to fight for the battle with a replenished mind.

This is the time when I came to know about PAGALGUY.COM….

Initial 2-3 months, I was almost passive. All I wanted from PG that time was to know how people (presently & in earlier years) of my profile (i.e. Bad at acids, poor performance in Mocks, married & loads of responsibilities went ahead to crack CAT)..But to my surprise, I couldn’t find one..Then I decided, why not I start participating actively so that peolple in future atleast may have some one for reference.

One week before the CAT my daughter was admitted in Hospital due to food poisioning..The negative feel of myself not going to appear for CAT 06 started eating me (CAT 02 &03 experiences)..But my passion gave me confidence & my daughter was all right…

D-DAY

Aah, first time Iam appearing for CAT..The ambivalent feeling of my passion & poor performance in mock cats was haunting me..

When I saw the CAT Paper (75 qtns & 5 options), I was almost taken back because AIMCAT 702 (my last mock cat) was of a similar format & I had got an absolute 0 & 12%ile…..

I started with Verbal & could mark only 4 answers in 30 minutes…I started sweating. I could see my dreams laughing at me .I decided to do quant & DI & get back to verbal. I started doing the same. Final 45 minutes , I again did something in Verbal & came out with a dejected feel..Next one month I was battling with my hopes & dreams & on jan 3, I was astounded to see a call from IIMA….

In the whole process, I became close to some of the puys, who helped me in my GD/PI process

One week before GD/PI

Now this time, I was down with viral fever, but ensured I prepare properly & 8th March again some miracle happened & I was all right…

Now it’s just a week for the results to be declared…I don’t know what it’s going to be. But for future aspirants this note may serve some purpose. This post may help people at 30+ to think about pursuing their dreams(this is the main reason whay I started Blogging)…

ALL I WANTED TO SAY ABOUT CAT is poor performance in mock CAT doesn’t matter, poor academics don’t matter, and your ambience doesn’t matter. All it matters is ur hardwork..Ur determination. the fire in ur belly..Ur commitment to make ur dreams come true.

I don’t know whether Iam going to achieve my dreams or not (due to extraneous factors/OBC reservations & this being my last CAT), but this is the path I had followed. In a way, I had done justice to my dreams by reaching upto the Interview stage, done justice to my job & my employer by winning the best performer award second time in a row,but don’t know whether would be doing justice to the sacrifice & support of my family. Hope this helps some one, some where & at some time…..

2007-03-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

SUPREME COURT'S STAY ON OBC RESERVATIONS - STRAIGHT FROM AN OBC'S HEART!!!!!!!

I’m an OBC student. Am not ashamed to say that I fall under OBC category.When I was not ashamed to tick the Category as OBC in my CAT application form to claim the reservation, why should I feel ashamed now?.

Let me explicitly say what my heart & mind thinks. There is a lot of controversy within me. Sometimes my thoughts are towards an egalitarian approach & sometimes my selfish desire contradicts the same…

What does my selfish mind say:-

I’m an OBC student. Yes Iam.Iam not ashamed to claim a reservation. What is wrong with that? When a SC claimed reservation, people kept quite, when a ST claimed reservation, people kept quite. But now when it comes to OBC, people speak about the quality of higher education getting degraded. Hats off to those intellectuals.

What does my mind say when the thoughts are towards an egalitarian approach

Why the hell should I need a reservation? Am I not a well to do person?
Don’t I have that much stamina to get a call under merit, if so why do I need the OBC stick to support me.

Giving reservation under any category per se is extremely senseless. Do any forward caste person prays to GOD before his birth that he should be born in a forward community (If given a chance, in today’s India, people would pray to be born in a reserved community). No..

Also,I know a person in my street who is a poojari by profession ..As mine is a small town, his per day income will not be more than Rs.10 – 15 .I still remember that person, coming & requesting everyone in the street to donate some money as his son had got an Engineering admission.

If the Govt is adamant in giving reservation, give it to people like this poojari's Son, who has talent but is economically weak. If IIMs/IITs have to contribute in this noble cause of sociality ask them to take only 5% or 10% of fees from the student & the rest will be paid by the Govt .

Still, if Govt is hell-bent on bringing reservations for OBCs, bring it at the school level. If I would have got a reservation at the school level & got the opportunity to study in any of the schools like DAV, DPS of KV, I would had been equally competent & wouldn’t have to depend on reservations at the age of 30.

Correct the error at the place it is, if you really want something for a noble cause but today everybody knows & feels that more than a noble cause, its all-political gimmicks

Also why should the results of GC/SC/ST be kept on hold..Why should they suffer. Now if Govt says they have to sacrifice for the noble cause, nobody is a fool to believe this. Being an employed person, I know what it takes for a person to resign, serve the notice period etc. Everybody needs time before getting back to studies..Also the private colleges are waiting eagerly to take their share of the pie, by forcing students to pay the fees with in the deadline else he/she has to lose the seat..Who is the loser now, its the student community altogether.Hmmm, I feel sorry for my brethren who are also a part of this suffering, as I too feel what sort of frustration this wait is..

Also this is gonna lead to a sort of communal divide amidst the students who were hitherto thinking themselves only as students and not as GC or OBC & now this communal bias will its rooting even amidst the students community...

Supreme Court’s Part

Again SC may be right in putting a stay to this reservation to get some clearity.But definitely not at this point, when IIMs/IITs/NITIE/IIFT have done with their interviews & its just 13 days to go for the results to be declared.Definetely not now. For whatever reason may be, you cannot put 100’s of lives into an abyss.

Fight between an egalitarian mind & an emotional heart

Finally my emotions are surpassing my egalitarian mind. Given a chance, I wouldn’t have asked for a reservation. But now as I have applied under quota & as I don’t want my dreams to shatter, I want the SC to vacate the stay, atleast for now, for the sake of 600 people..

This is what the emotional heart finally wants to say:-

Its now a cold war between the Government & the SC, It’s a war between the Pro & Anti Reservation teams. But we people, close to around 700 guys are the scape goats. All our dreams & ambitions have been quashed & finally our GD/PI has now declared to be a farce. Its like giving a chocolate to a kid & grabbing it back when the kid has already put the chocolate in its mouth & has started tasting it.

Here ends my CAT journey. 5 years of dreams , determination, frustration & 2 years of Hardwork has been squandered by somebody. Everything has been mocked. Don’t know when can I recover from this.

Still, all the Best to the future aspirants.......

2007-03-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Its a week now.........................

aah....One Week had gone past since my GD/PI got over. I was just recollecting how these 15 days in March went...From 4th March till 8th March I had Viral Fever, Respiratory Track Infection, Cold, Swollen Joints and what not....Every day from 4th onwards,I was almost at the Hospital....On 8th at 5 am, I was just requesting the Doctor to do something to save my only chance to get back to studies & by GOD's grace (pure miracle), I was atleast in a position to sit & speak in the GD/PI....... On the day of GD/PI, my Parents, In laws, friends, PGites all called me to wish me best of luck..Infact Bhargav (my TIME batchmate) came to the interview hall to build my confidence (Iam so grateful to him, a true friend indeed who had been behind me in all my tough times.Though he didnt get calls from IIMs, his attitude in helping me to get into his dream B School is amazing, I pray he should get into IITK now)...Thanks to all my friends & my people that I could give a decent GD/PI...

In this past one week, I had been travelling to some rural districts of Karnataka (Official Trip). Infact there was a funny incident too which happened. My bus at Bangalore was supposed to start at 8Pm & reach Hubli at 5 am, but the bus started only at 9 PM & the conductor told me that the Bus will reach Hubli at 6 am. The bus moved on& I was fast asleep. It was 4.45am, when I suddenly woke up & saw the Bus in the outskirts of some town. I asked the guy who was sitting next to me that which is the town the bus has crossed now & he replied "Hubli"..Thats it..I took my luggage & ran towards the driver and after a small altercation he stopped the Bus. I got down & saw nothing but absolute darkness..No one on the road, I didn't know where I was standing.The Hotel I had to stay was 6 KM away from Hubli towards Dharwad. Now, I dont know how to go there. I was a little scarred as there was nothing on that road, not even a light.5 metres ahead I saw a board stating "IFMR college", I felt like I have seen this board some where & started moving towards that & then I realised I had got down just 5 metres before the Hotel I had to stay (oof Life time experience)...

The next 2 days I had visited atleast 6 backward districts as I had to meet the district collectors(Almost like my home district)...Hmmmm, we are dreaming of so many things in Life & I saw people for whom the dreams are limited to a meal a day & some pure water......There is no scope for cultivation in those districts & I was actually surprised to see people surviving there with no drinking water too (Was really feeling Bad)......

One of my Time batchmate & friend (we are a group of 5), Vinod had converted GIM..Iam extremely happy for him & I pray GOD that he should comeout with flying colours after his course....

March 31st is fast approaching and along with it comes the year end Sales pressure too.....

Now, April 12 th seems to be very far & everyday my mind keeps asking "Is it in or Out"...

Sometimes the answer is Yes & Sometimes its no...... But as most of my friends say "Iam keeping my fingers Crossed" & sincerely praying GOD that It has to be a yes on 12th April.......................

2007-03-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

My IIMA GD/PI Experience

Here goes the most awaited first & last GD/PI experience of my life

Profile

Xth Std:61

XIIth Std:90

BE: 58.4%

Work ex: 7 years

CAT Percentile: 97.26

Extra curriculars: Sung twice in AIR, Cultural Secy (College), Health Secy, Ball Badminton - 3years Gold medal, Poetry, Floor Coordinator-emergency response team (office), Member - 4 Voluntary Blood donors associations

GD Experience

Case Study: There is a village which has native farmers & 30 years back some herders have settled in a portion of the village which was not cultivable.The herders who have settled herd some cattles and also did a little cultivation..Now the govt is planning to make a canal for irrigation across the herders settlement which may make the land fertile & the farmers want to take this land. there is a rural jurisdication which is formed to look into the interests of people. The herders are scared that they may be outcasted by the farmers..what should the herders do?.

My contribution: I came in as the 3rd person & said why dont they both settle in mutual ways which was accepted by the group & discussed on length. I came in about 5 - 6 times.the points I said were , Why dont we think about the water available with the farmers which decides whether they actually need water, the herders can look at other villages as example to look at...Overall it was an average GD with some fish market in between...Infact everybody else were freshers & started asking all silly qtns in the beginning of Gd which made the panel irritated & even said this is the most fugitive team I have ever seen.

Now Comes PI

Was the 6th guy to be interviewed...

Guys before me were interviewed for 20-30 minutes ranging from technical to gk to practical applications to extracurriculars (in that Order)

There were 3 profs in the Panel (Panel 2)

An Old Professor (OP)
A Jolly Professor (JP)
A Silent Professor (SP)
Yours Uncle (Me)

OP: U have mentioned Singing & Tamil Poetry?
Me: Sir, I sing songs in multiple languages & write poems in Tamil
OP: Prem, Can u sing a song for us
Me: Sir, I have a sore throat, still I will sing
SP: Oh, if u can sing we will be happy, can u sing a tamil song
Me: Sir, I would love to sing a telugu song & here it goes (Telugu song for 3min)
OP:Is it your favourite Song
Me: Sort of Sir (with a smile)
OP: Before 30 years, there was an instrument called tambura, now we don’t have such an instrument, so how do u guys manage to match up to the scale
Me:Sir 30 years back a singer’s voice was the most important thing and also the important supporting instrument was tabla, but now the technology is so enhanced that we have ways to record the music alone in a floppy & play it through the keyboard & the singer can actually adjust his voice.
OP(seems convinced)
OP:What made US to attack Iraq
Me:Sir, US proclaimed Saddam Hussain to have killed 100’s of people & landed up killing 6 lakh Iraqis
OP: But why Iraq?
Me: Its because of the Oil which US wanted & also US said Iraq is a nuclear country (Not Sure about the answer)
OP: Is Iraq a terrorist country
Me: Sir, in the past Iraq has attacked Kuwait & Iran(Totally clueless)
JP: But OP asked whether Iraq is a terrorist country or not
Me: I don’t Know Sir (really wanted to escape from this Iraq based questions before they catch me & start laughing at me on my Ignorance)
OP: When did ALQAIDA became famous (oh GOD..Do I look like a terrorist or what..So many questions on Terrorism)
Me: After 9/11 attacks
OP: What is the motive behind ALQAIDA
Me: Sir, my understanding is that the ALQAIDA thinks that the US is trying its hegemony over the Muslims & thats why ALQAIDA is fighting against the US .
(OP looks at JP to get into the fray & JP promptly does)
JP: U work as an Asst Business Manager in xxxx GIS LTD right, so What is GIS? (abh aayaega maza)
Me: Explained the abbreviation
JP: But GOOGLE map is also a GIS software
Me: Gave additional features of a proper GIS software & when I used the word Google earth in my answer, JP thanked me for reminding him the correct terminology.
JP: Can u explain me with an example
Me: explained with a customer’s application in Bangalore
JP: Do u sell only products
Me: No Sir. Explained our Tieup with ISRO to do a project in Prime Minister's Office
JP: Tell me about ur work
Me: Blah Blah Blah (started telling about how the company was formed & all)
JP: I asked u, what do you do?
Me:(2 lines answer)..Sir, I take care of the Sales Revenues of Kerala, Karnataka & Goa + for 8 months when there was no Regional Manager, I was taking care of the Operations too.. ( :-( ...Could have elaborated more)
JP: Do u remember any Maths
Me: I hardly remember Sir (with a smile)
Jp: Then there is no point in questioning u on maths (with a smile..GOD, I prepared Matrices & Determinants especially to face this question, then why the hell did I go on back foot now :-( )
JP & OP: Thank u & take a toffee
Me: Thanks & stood up
SP: Do anybody report to u
Me: Sir, there was a trainee who was reporting to me & now that he has finished his training, he has left & currently Iam looking for a new guy
SP:Thank u

Uncle takes a toffee & walks out.

Overall the show(Interview) went for about 13-14 minutes. I have a feeling that it was a predetermined Interview..Either Iam in or Out even before the Interview started..Anyways life has to move on & I thank GOD that today I have attended the most prestigious Institute’s GD/PI..Now I request you all to post your candid feeling

But I have a nagging feeling ...No questions like" why MBA after 7 years", what value addition u will bring to the batch type of questions..Like didnt wanted to know much about me..that's were I feel my fate is predetermined...Lets see its now getting back to studies or never..

Meanwhile after my PI I was explaining my exp to other guys when JP came & said to the 7th participant “come I will ask u different set of qtns”…..hahahaha….

Evening had been to a movie with family & had also to take lot of Phone calls in between.....

All my friends, PGITES, family members called me & heard my saga..finally gave some moral support....Hmmm lets see now do prayers have powers or not.....

Will keep u updated as frequently as possible...

2007-03-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday in my MBA preps Life...More than me, my wife is waiting anxiously for next Saturday to come.....

As we were talking in the evening, she said "Mr.Prem, Friday evening go to the provision stores & get some card board boxes, which I can use it to fill ur books & throw it on to the lafter".

Days have just dissappeared in a Jiffy & my first - last GD/PI is on this Friday.

Today 3 of the Pagals - Anand aka Mufasa, Asuthosh aka Billibolimeow, Saurav aka Crazyguy sat with me till 9 P.M. to take a mock interview to get my confidence back (Thanks to these PG guys..whoelse will spend time for a competitor except but a PG guy)...........

Tommorow will be the last day when I will be going to Time classes..I still remember the 1st day i.e. August 27, 2005 & here it is the last day has also come......... So much to write about how life has been for the past 19 months...Struggle should be a simple word to explain.....still no complaints as this is something which I have chosen & by no means I can hate something I have chosen...

Lets see what is in store for me on March 9th....Prayers & efforts are on....

Thanks to all the readers so far who had been motivating me...will keep u posted on 9th March...

10th March onwards till the results I will be the same old Prem , before August 2005..Watching TV, going to bed at 9PM & getting up at 8 AM, evenings going out on a drive (10 KM) with family to eat Pani Puri...Saturdays & Sundays,going to forum to watch a Telugu Movie....Once in a month going to Chennai to meet my parents....

I had been missing all these things & its just a week away for get me back to my life...Looking at this I remember my college days, when we wait for the last exam to come ..so that we can enjoy the vacation...Anyways..March 9th is fast approaching for my dreams & your wishes to come true....

2007-02-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

My final tally....................

Well...Sorry for not been posting here for a long time....The day I got an IIMA call I was astouned & became a little greedy over other calls...Thought the place I love the most (IIMB)will also give me a chance to meet them up...Alas!!!, what happened was different..I was Kicked out not only by IIMB, IIMC, IIML, IIMI & IIMK..But also by SPJAIN & MDI...The day I got to know my last result from the CAT based Institutes I had applied (SPJAIN), the first question my DAD & my MOM together asked me was "Did u check ur IIMA result properly"....Hahahaha!!!!..But by then I had got my IIMA application in hand....Then came the XLRI result..I was kicked out by them for all the three courses I had applied for...BM, PMIR & GMP...I got a 90%ilein XAT & a guy with 86%ile got selected for the GMP course...What do I say now?.....A lone & intimidating IIMA call....How do I feel about this......My inner instinct says that this lone call has definetly some thing good hidden in it....GOD knows if he gives me multiple calls, I may get a bit relaxed............

GD/PI preps are on & Iam focussed now with only one day to perform ie on March 9th.....

Will keep u all updated once Iam through with my GD/PI.....Requesting you all to keep praying for me & supporting me by the way u have all done it just before my Result....

2007-01-02T20:53:00.000-08:00

Prayers have Powers......................................................

I was awake the whole of the night of Jan 1...IIMs didn't unveil the results...

Jan 2 evening...Bhargav called me to inform that the Percentile scores are out..I was extremely tensed ( Infact cant find an exact word for how did I feel) as I was neither at Office nor at home basically not infront of a PC & I was in the middle of a customer meeting...

Every single minute I was feeling as if sitting on the top of a frying pan....

Meanwhile Joydeep called me & took my CAT Reg no..I decided to end the meeting & then started towards home when Joydeep called me again to say my Percentiles which are as follows:-

Qa - 93.93 (Big ShocK of my life), DI-93.68(what to say on this) & VA - 95.22 (Never expected this too, my nemesis)..Overall - 97.26......

I was doomed, called up parents, wife & inlaws..But everyone said, "Holdon Prem u havent seen the Call list yet" ..But my answer was "comeon, no way I can get a call at 97%ile & no one till now has got it at this Percentile"... I was vexed, but couldn't open out due to my age...

By the night of Jan 2, IIMA results came out with the selection criteria..Cudn't log into the site , but looking at the Criteria I came to a conclusion that IIMA cant be mine ...

Midnight I got the IIMB Link..Believe me I could hear my heart beat so loud when I was opening that link . Unfortunately it didn't open...Went to bed with a dejected & a defeated feel...

Got up at 6 A.M. on Jan 3 & opened IIMB link . Again it refused to open..Meanwhile I thought let me open the IIMA link & just see how the rejection message looks....

I was under complete tranquility when I typed my reg no in IIMA website..

The Page opened....

I couldnot believe what I saw there....Infact I was starring at the monitor for 5 min with disbelief.. This is what made me fame feel astounded....

Indian Institute of Management, AhmedabadAdmission Status : Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP 2007-2009 batch), IIMA
TR No.
5130103
Name
PREM KUMAR R
You have been short-listed for Group Discussion and Personal Interview for admission to PGP (2007-2009 batch), IIMA. You are requested to visit the website on or after January 10, 2007 to check for Interview date, time and venue.
You will receive our official letter soon.
Disclaimer : This electronically generated information does not have legal validity.

Called up everyone, Thanked every friend & applied leave to be with family..........................................

Finally a breakthrough..A result of my efforts, An answer to my prayers & sacrifice of my family..Iam jubiliated..Cant write more now as Iam astounded....Will update once other calls are out..Now Iam heading towards Sri Venkateswara Temple...

2006-12-28T00:28:00.000-08:00

4 Days to go before the Results

Hmmm..Back from a long Hibernation...Things have not changed drastically from my last post here till today..Celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on Dec 5th. Everyday Iam at Pagalguy.com, trying to increase my hopes...Hopes, Far better than what it was during the last week of November. Except Time & IMS, my VA scores as per other Institutes is in between 18 - 33. People say that all I need will be a 20 in VA as I have 93 in DI+QA which adds upto 113. As per Time 100 will be the Cutoff for one call & I can expect 3 calls....Hmmm..Dont know what to comment...Another 4 days to go for the picture to be clear...Meanwhile started preparing for GD/PI as my friends have also started!!!!!!!!!...

Really dont know how I will be reacting on Jan 2. Just by thinking that moment, I feel like mired with some uneasiness.....Still a thin positive nerve is passing through my heart telling me" Prem, Jan 2nd may be yours"...

So now its a wait & watch game......Lets see what this wait gonna yield me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-11-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

CAT is Over..................................for a life time....................

This is my reaction as of now...Iam getting a beautiful 48 in DI (Atleast 98 + ile), 45 in QA(Atleast 96+ile)...But VA did it all for me..My VA Score as per Time - 03, IMS - 03, CL - 18, PT - 23..Every body says I will get a call as there is alot of discrepency in VA key of various institutes..But my heart has started shedding blood inside..Every second, Iam feeling the pain of a defeat. Feel like something major has happened to me.....Feel like fleeing to some place of soltitude...Feel like questioning GOD , is it a sin to think about studying at this age..N number of thoughts passing across & questioning this poor soul..

Now what shall I say, I have started to hate the word "Hard Work".......Inspite of my age & ambience, I have done every possible thing that could have been done..Still fate has pushed me to accept this debacle........

With a heavy heart, let me bade bye for now........................

2006-10-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Deepavali to one & all....

Prem& Family..........

2006-10-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Just 31 days to go for the most dreaded day ,which is being awaited distraughtedly by 225000 poor souls .....

Its 1.40 A.M. now, everybody has slept, my wife, my daughter, everybody in my street..but myself, Iam still awake like an owl,sitting & mugging up some sentence correction rules..GOD..Pressure is not something new to me..Being in hardcore sales for the past 6 & 1/2 years, pressure is onething which I can handle most comfortably ..But not this academic pressure which after 7 years looks anew & fresh to me.....

Just retrospecting the whole preparation process, i some how feel complacent...Candidly speaking I have done justice to my preparation especially in my ambience, still results only justify efforts.....

With an ambivalent feeling dangling between aplomb & incertitudeness, heart is throbing as fast as possible..Its not that without IIM my life will come to a halt..No, never....I have lot many other responsibilities to handle, a beautiful family to love...Still the thing is that it is a beautiful dream which is driving me crazy, a dream wherein I was sitting in one of the hallowed portals of IIMB & this whole Ordeal is to make that dream come true ......

Inbetween I got only once, 93.xx percentiles after my last post here.....With all these things happening around, today I read a blog wrote by a CAT 2005 acheiver..Man, if one has to live, he has to live like this person..A person who has proved the power of human confidence & has basically proved the fact that efforts can make impossible also look easily possible..Hats off to him......

His post has made my mind replenished with confidence again....

Any body worried about CAT 2006 go through this blog:-

http://myfinaldest.blogspot.com

Prayers, efforts & confidence are all on & will be on till Nov 19th.................

Still with lots of ifs & buts , Iam signing off now as my grammer is waiting for me..Will comeup with new updates soon...

2006-09-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

My Journey towards CAT

In 2005 around the same period, I lost my IBM interview in the final round..After all the shortlistings, the final competition was between me & an IIMB guy, who eventually got in..I had 5 1/2 years of experience & he had 1 & 1/2 years..His IIMB tag pushed him in..I started contemplating on" Why not CAT?"..My major constraint was my family i.e. My wife & my 2 year Old Daughter, but then whatever Iam doing is for their betterment only...I would love my daughter to study in some Baldwin or Bishop cotton school rather than a mediocre school in which I did my schooling..It all depends on a father's background..My father, a poor clerk could provide me the best possible things in life which he has never got & now its my turn..Being a father is such a wonderful thing where in you thing more about the younger one than anybody else..So..It took around 1 month to convince my parents, my in laws & my wife about my decision to do an MBA & as usual they were all bothered about the 2 years, when I will not being earning, away from my family etc..& it was very difficult for me to convince them showing the rosy picture of Life after an IIM degree....

In September 2005, I joined TIME Institute's weekend classes..As I had explained in my earlier post about my problem with English, I dilligently started working on Vocabulary as I felt it plays a key role in cracking the English Section...From then till today, I had been zealously thinking, eating, dreaming, sleeping CAT..Sometimes I feel like doing some injustice to my family as I hardly spend time with them..Before deciding about to take CAT, I used to spend my whole time with them & today once Iam back from Office, I get busy with my books..Everyday my daughter comes to me with an expectation that I will play with her, sometimes I do admit her to do so, but often I ask my wife to handle her..Life has changed dramatically, its now a mechanical, monotonous life..

My Model CAT exams were started in May..I was flying high during the 1st 5 exams with my percentile ranging from 94.35 to 99.35..& then the next 7 exams (till last sunday ) were great debacles with percentiles ranging from 39.45 to 80.85 (Last one was 72)...Now I don't know what to do?. Onething is that, iam getting a guilty feeling that atleast I could have spent my time with my family instead of doing all this drama...But we learn certain things only by the hard way..Well ..I hope myself getting back to the 95 + percentiles very soon, then things will automatically be in place..It will take only one exam to put me back to track...Will come back with latest updates soon

2006-09-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

I thought through this post I will introduce myself...Well Iam Prem, 29 Years Old, Working in an IT company as an Asst Sales Manager. First of all, I would request you all to pardon me, incase of any mistakes you find in my language.

I was brought up in a small town in Tamilnadu , a place I would love to spend my entire life if given a chance. I grew up as a typical village lad...Honestly no exposure to the outside world....Life was fanatastic & in retrospection, I still dream about going back to those wonderful days of adolescence which had dissappeared with beautiful remnants in my heart..I still remember those days when I used to go out for fishing with my friends & then beaten up by my mother, The day I smoked my first cigarette, those dirty roads where we played cricket, those ramshackled movie theatres which were our hide outs every weekend ...

A day came, when I was forced to leave my town to do my Engineering..I left my town with a broken heart as I had just by then lost my MBBS seat by 3 marks....Though the place where I did my Engg was hardly 85 Kms away from my town, I was reluctant to go..Still with so many wellwishers around who wanted me to become an Engineer, I left my town as it was a pride to get an Engg admission, atleast I was the 1st Engineer from my family & may be the 10th or 11th of my town....On the admission day, I went to my college with my entourage...My parents, my sister, my cousin, her children, my friends etc..Every body were staring at our rustic faces..From their countenance, It was clearlly evident about their thoughts, What are these guys doing here???????.....I still remember the principal kidding me by asking..R u getting admiited alone or with all of these 20 people...

College Life...It was as rosy as it will be for any body..First 2 years it was difficult for me to cope with the fast moving people & their culture..From a bucolic background, I used to drool at all the good looking girls as I had never seen beautiful girls in my town, envied at people speaking Beautiful English, a character you would have seen in many of our Indian movies....Candidly speaking, to construct a sentence, It took me 5 to 10 minutes & then I used it with all the gramatical mistakes in the world (Somebody should learn from me how to develop a Bad English)..My advantage was that I knew Telugu, Tamil & Hindi, hence I had a great friends circle..I started learning proper spoken English, thanks to my friends..Days passed..Pastoral Prem gradually started growing up to an Urbane......College got Over & Life was waiting for me to teach all the harsh lessons of corporate life...

Got into a company through Campus selection as a Sales Executive where I learnt the hard lessons of sales & life..So many criticisms, so many times berated by the customers for some stupid policy of the company..So many times reprimanded by the Manager for not bringing business..In this process, I started learning the beautiful art of Sales & here Iam at the age of 29 as a more seasoned Sales Manager winning twice the best performmer award.......