enjoying myself

T-Nite rocks...Part 2

Well before starting out with my experiences of tht unforgettable week, i wud just like to thank vishy for poining out abt a 'gigantic' mistake which i made on one of my earlier posts 'How to get through an IIM '. Actually the title shud hv been 'How to get 'to' an IIM'. Even after studying fr 2 months I find it pretty difficult to predict abt getting 'thru' an IIM. There is a hell lot of difference between 'getting to' and 'getting thru' an IIM. n u realise tht difference only when u spend sum time here. if sumone knows abt getting 'thru' an IIM, plzzz post it here..... yahan bahut saari pareshaan,dukhi junta hai jo aapko bahut duaiin(blessings) degi....:)....may be i selected tht title when i was half asleep...or say half awake....( i hv already accepted tht i belong to PDS(People Deprived of Sleep) club here.......with a lot of peers sleeping ....err......trying to remain awake besides me....:))

now coming to T-Nite...... prepration started a couple of dayz before the event started....first of all there used to be a lot of gyan from the tuchhas abt the events and the performances.......... u approach any tuchha fr anything, even fr sumthing tht is as related as mallika shehrawat is related to decency, the gyan u wud be getting wud be abt how to perform well in t-nite..... n why not......even though the name stands fr Talent-Nite, it was actually fr the fun n enjoyment of tuchhas....n no wonder a lot of them (n us) branded it as Tuchhas- nite.....

each section booked a classroom fr its preparation.... where the people used to draw posters, banners, practise skits n plays n all other kind of 'items' which we performed later....... first of all there was a mad scramble fr newspapers in each dorm......as i mentioned in last post tht these newspapers were reqd in the 'pub run' to be pasted all over the mess walls to be replaced later by eye catching posters........ n suddenly the dorms started looking cleanier.....the pile of old newspapers which was stacked shabbily in front of my room for such a long time vanished in no time n most of the guys of the dorm initially had no clue where it went...... each dorm hv students of different sections....so this sectional rivalry temporarily spilled over to the dorms........though the first thing taught over here is tht dorm loyalty shud be preferred to all other kind of relationships u hv in ur life........ wud post sumthing abt the dorm culture in some of later posts....... n suddenly u find ur neighbours giving u tht strange n 'hostile' looks......... u need to see those eyes to feel the passions fr their sections.........

there r various teams fr co-ordinating different activites - logistics team fr all resource related issues, creative teams fr making posters n banners, skit team fr the skit n plays, Fashion show team fr the fashion parade n so on....... a lot of other teams r made n broken as the situation demands... this is totally a team event....n u require support frm the whole section to carry it thru.......

the poster making started with a lot of fan-fare. there were arnd 50 posters made fr 3 nites.....n since the marks depended upon creativity n innovativeness, a considerable amount of time was spent on design. a lot of people discover tht they hv a no. of hidden n latent talents in them. there r a no. of things which they haven't done in their life n sum of which they felt were not their cup of tea......... ur truly never knew tht he do draw n paint a poster which cud be labelled as decent....... all he remebers abt his 'drawing skills' was the unlimited no. of 'C's n 'D's, he got in the primary classes...... n one day my primary drawing teacher advised me to forgo my 'drawing instincts' fr sumthing tht cud be labelled more 'productive'. i did manage to draw n paint sum gud posters . in fact we won the maximum no of points in t-nite fr the posters.......i hv kept a couple of posters after tht event. when i wud go back to delhi, i wud show them to my drawing teacher n she wud certainly be very happy with the 'progress' i hv made.........:).

then the auditions fr the dance team started. though the audition team made 'valiant' attempts to select me by giving more n more retakes, i cud not give them any gud reason to select me....... i did a public service by not singing in public....:). so i tried my hands on the skit....i was part of the team which wrote the skit n gave voice over. but due to the fewer no of people available we ourselves took part in skit..... the role i was given was tht i never imagined of.....the role of emulating a gay......this was supposed to be my first role of my life to be played on stage......... n after the role sumone commented tht i i looked pretty natural in tht role.... now i don't know whether to take tht comment as commendation or an offense.....:).

as i mentioned earlier tht the no. of marks scored by each section depended upon the 'enthu' level they displayed....n since this enthu was displayed primarily by generating lots of noise... we made our own 'hulla bol' brigade n guys like me who cud not find better opportunities joined the bandwagon....:). fr making noise we devised our own instruments..... since it was not possible to buy drums within the limited budget constraints we decided to purchase empty metal oil tin cans....... suddenly all 'kabadis' in Ahmedabad became hot properties....i still remember sitting behind a friend on bike, wearing the IIMA tshirt, trying juggling 6 big n dirty oil cans to prevent them frm falling, while sumone on the nearby bike commented- 'yaar in logon ne t-shirt to IIM ki daal rakhi hai, par kisi bhi angle se IIM ke to nahin lagte' n we cud respond only by sheepish grins....:).

we had a number of memorable performances during the fest - the wonderful dance on 'Kazrare-Kazrare' made the tuchhas sit n take notice of our section...then there was all-time hit-'mere angane mein tumhara kya kaam hai' which forced audiences to match their steps with our dancing steps....... the 'Class Act' in which we scored highest no. of points n so on. overall we won 2 out of the 4 nites n were runners up in the final nite but we managed to screw up the third nite in a big way.... so we did not win the t-nite despite the efforts we put on.

but it goes more than winning the nite itself..... u start knowing a lot of people of ur section better..... u make a lot of new friends out here....otherwise it becomes difficult to reach out to new people in the taxing schedule out here.... i got the opportunity of criss-crossing the city fr the various dresses n other resources we required, u come to know a lot abt different seniors...... the section bonding improves....... most of guys in the section working, a few others studying to give remedial sessions in the night at 4am....... half of 'junta' sleeping during the class lectures, which till now was a very rare sight here........ n suddenly the atmosphere start looking very entertaining n relaxing. there r a still a number of guys who dont participate in this fest, who keep away from these activites n keep mugging......but i really dont blame them, everybdy here has different set of priorities n is guided by them

n one more thing which was gud was the 10 hr sleep which i got after the fest was over.....:)

posted by amit @ 3:05 AM 6 comments

T-Nite rocks !!!

Whew wht a week tht was...... simply amazing... truly breathtaking........ u rarely get time away from acads here, at least in the first term n gettin a full week 'off' can be simply bewildering..... k... it wasn't a complete week off. the classes went on as usual... but there were no quizzes... suddenly the supply of assignments reduced to a trickle....most of the profs suddenly turned very student friendly ( most of them indeed are, apart from the acads...). so the level of prepration needed to be done fr the classes touched rock bottom ( if there was any preparation...., i can't remember)


Now those of u who r still wondering wht was this T-Nite mania tht hit the students of first yr here , its the annual cultural show put up by the fachha log here fr the senior junta- the tuchhas. Its a lot of masti, fun, enjoyment as well as fierce competition all around.


now coming to the way how this fest is structured..... there r four night performances, oops......, performances on 4 nights put on by the fachha sections. The students are divided into 4 different sections fr all purposes here. there r different set of weightages fr each of the different nights. the first two r on the smaller scale with each section reqd to perform fr abt 25 mins each, the third one is on the bigger stage with a 20 % weightage n the final nite has got the weightage of abt 40% in which each section has to perform fr around 90 mins .


The run-up to the T-nite begins with an event called 'pub run'.... sorry, dont get mistaken...there are not any 'official' pubs in Ahmedabad, certainly not in IIMA....:) . just see tht i hv emphasized on the word 'official' here. now coming to the pub run..... In this event 20 people from each section are reqd to run from a particular point towards the mess to capture the maximum of mess wall's space fr their respective sections. within a space of half an hour, u wud see the whole of mess walls r covered with different kind of newspapers n even bedsheets. now whts the use of newspapers to cover the walls...? these newspapers r later replaced by the posters of each section... the more visible n creative the posters r , more the number of points the section scores.....


After the pub run, comes the two mess nites with a weigtage of abt 12.5% each... different sections hv their respective time intervals to showcase their 'talents'. actually it goes further frm just showcasing the talents, the points r allocated on the basis of not only ur performance, but also the kind of 'enthu' shown by the section. n this enthu is majorly measured by the amount of noise the section can generate......:) n this noise is certainly deafening........ the tuchha community is present there in gud numbers n is ready to boo u preety badly, even fr minor glitches......they r a totally impatient at this stage n any minor glitches during the performance can become totally unnerving fr the section performing...... one thing which matters here r the catchy slogans n tempo shouts of each section. the better these things are, the better response the fachhas get frm the tuchhas. Since there r points fr entry n exit, every section tries to capitalise on these points by trying to shout other sections down.....


after the first two nights, the events move on to the bigger stage, the auditorium..... the audience r ready to be a bit more patient.....now the sections get sum opprtunity to show sum real talent rather than just shouting hoarse fr the tempo shouts as in earlier nights. the time allocated fr the performances also increase... so there r a no. of gud performances.... n u suddenly start realising tht people here r really gud in skills other than acads n 'brain- exercising events'.


this was just the structure of the T-nite..... wud be posting my experiences of tht unforgettable week in my next post

amit

posted by amit @ 2:14 AM 5 comments

How to get through an IIM

there r 3 kinds of people i know
- the people who are already doing their mba or hv completed it. i wud request these guys to share sum of their experiences, strategies n other gyan
- the aspirants, who want to make it big......
- the junta who is uninterested in doing mba. these people shud just sit n watch with great amusement, how a simple exam of maths, english n reasoning can be made complicated thru application of various game plans n strategies....:).

well frnz, the title may be a bit misleading. This is certainly not a key to crack CAT n get thru a good B-School. this is just a portion of my experiences with this exam, considering the fact tht i went thru this ordeal 3 times including the leaked one...:).

VA section

RC- u shud make it a habit to read newspaper daily. n reading newspaper means going deeply into various events happening in different sectors like politics, finance, sports n so on. reading newspaper means reading 'Hindu' rather than just browsing the glossy n scantily clad models in DT section of TOI. This wud not only build good understanding of various kind of topics, also improve the reading speed. later during the GD/PI portion it is certainly going to help a lot. if u dont hv a habit of reading this transformation can be a bit painful but it is certainly going to help in the long run. dont waste time on reading fiction...... thts generally useless, unless provided u r an avid reader.


RC section tests :
Take up a regular RC section test.smthing like (30 mins 5 passages),target shud be to attempt 4 passages. 3 passages thoroughly + easy qs from 1 passage.(if u think ur better thn that ..target 5 passages..u can tone down targets depending on the kind of passages/diffculty level/type of qs etc). u will most probly be leaving 1 passage(look at the passages first ..lengths,glance thru content ..decide which u will leave.(maybe first 1 min for it..) alternatively if a pssage looks very easy jump ahead and do it(better). for each passage u attempt....get a hang of the passage and a general idea abt wht is being talked abt in which section of the passage.Go ahead to the qs.If any answers seem very evident mark it.Else go back to the part of the relevant para -re-read it slowly try to identify the answers.u shudnt be taking more thn 8mins for any passage.So 8*3 = 24..remainng 6 mins pick up the passage out of remainng 2 which looks esier/has more direct qs..try to read the qs and pick the answers.Simple isnt it??!If u read qs first..since u generally dont know wht the passage is abt u wont be able to relate to the qs.2.If u read the passage thorughly once b4 attempting qs...it is a waste of time..cos thr may be tough sections in the passage which u pored over and absoloutely no qs abt....many of the answers might be fairly direct and cud be picked up ina rough reading...u go back to the passage only if u absolutely need to.Usually wht happens is..u will complete a passage in abt 4 mins ..read qs..then hv to again go back and read parts of the passage cos ur not sure of the answers.this is total timepass.


vocab - this is one of the most over estimated portion of CAT exam. cat do not ask directly vocab related questions. but sumtimes u need to hv a good vocab to hv a better understanding of passage. start with norman lewis n then move on to Barron. try preparing ur own flash cards with arnd 20-25 words written on each card. try to relate words with something to improve the recall. Eg. relate word 'bacchanalia' to amitabh bacchan to improve recall its meaning of being drunkard. carry those 'word cards' (TIME issues them.. or still better u can make them urself!),


verbal ability - parajumbles shud be attempted by finding out the suitable link b/w two sentences . try to find a sequence of 2 or more sentences n then eliminate the choices. try to find if a pronoun is used fr a noun used earlier. The other way would be to take a holistic view of all the sentences and try to arrange them in your head, till it sounds right. Although this is tough, it takes a little time to get used to, but it will help in getting a higher accuracy level.

Arranging the 6 sentences type :
It is actually easier when the 1st and 6th sentences are given as now you have more ways of solving the jumble.Since the 1st sentence is given, it is not always tough to find the next sentence as it will logically follow. Use this method and then again go on an elimination spree.Also, the 6th sentence is given. Once you get the flow of the sentence, to guess the preceding sentence is not again too very tough. So all you have to do is battle with the 3rd & 4th which again should fall in place once you have guessed the others right.


grammar -its not necessary to hv a detailed knowledge of grammar. u do not need to know abt gerunds n other similar sounding stuff( i do not know abt them till today). just try to hv a decent understanding of various grammar sections i.e. where to place an article n which article to place. the basic grammar knowledge helps in finding the correct/incorrect sentences


Further few links for VA/RC I gathered from internet.......
1. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
2. http://esl.about.com/cs/beginner/
3. http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

the post has already become a bit big. so post on other sections wud be posted later, depending upon the response i get...:).

amit

P.S. -sum part of the above post has been taken from pagalguy.com. I dont hv any intention of claiming it as my own. all disclaimers apply...:)

posted by amit @ 5:18 AM 39 comments

T-Nite on

frnz,

T-Nite, the cult competition is going on. n urs truly is participating with a lot of zeal n enthu. so next post wud be available in a couple of days. It wud be on CAT prepn.

amit

posted by amit @ 4:13 AM 3 comments

Mid sems over !!!

i m back... after a break..a long one indeed. had mid sems fr last 3 dayz. so had to suppress my burning desire to make another entry at the blog fr sumtime. we had six papers, 2 each day fr 3 dayz n believe me this system is much better than having them on six different dayz. the marks u score does not changes much. at least the pain is for lesser no. of dayz...:).

the first phase of the ordeal is over n we hv got a royal break of one day. frm now onwards, we wud hv classes on saturday also. one more subject wud be added to the time table. frm now onwards we will hv 8 subjects to 'browse' thru. but there is a lot of things to look fwd now apart frm acads . mainly its the t-nite- the big inter section cult competition extending on fr a week or so. more on it as the the event approaches....

meanwhile it has been raining heavily fr last sum dayz here. it seems tht monsoon gods have diverted their fury after creating a lot of havoc in mumbai. the news n the pics reaching here abt mumbai clearly shows the large part of city has undergone ruthless distruction. It took only one full day and whole of the Mumbai and, I would rather say, India, understood that there is nothing bigger and devastating then nature's fury, its anger. u can build dams, control flow of rivers n do all kind of stuff, but when the nature retaliates we are just succumbing with our knees bent.


The crux of the problem thus lies in the attitude of people who implement such public services directly and indirectly. There is nothing wrong in becoming rich as along as it doesn't affect other individual or bereft benefits of ordinary civilians. but if the govt 'servants' cannot serve their 'masters', the so called 'janta janardan', it becomes very tough

It is good to see India's GDP growing and businesses and share markets flourishing but same time it is pathetic to see that no parallel developmental programs on ground for the civil society happening leave alone the grandeur plans of Golden quadrilateral and airport modernization which are to allure businesses and ease their logistics.It is time that our Government concentrates and turns its head on to proper implementation of basic services and shapes the infrastructure of cities and towns. It has to wake up for a grand facelift in terms of proper roads and well built planned structures.

anyways hats off to mumbaikar spirit. the people helped each other in the time of crisis. it is the basic essence of humanity....lending ur handing to sumone in need when u urself need one. i m pretty sure tht the city wud bounce back in a few dayz. but lets hope fr the best fr these people for these few dayz.

amit

P.S. -As promised, i intend to hv a post on CAT prepn. So whatever doubts u guys hv n whatever urs truly feel he is capable of handling, he wud include it in his post.

posted by amit @ 1:36 AM 10 comments