How to read The Hindu?

As explained in one of my earlier articles and during my classes, it is imperative that we read extensively and different genres if we truly intend to, and not just hope to or dream of, secure a stellar percentile in the VARC section of CAT, or any other aptitude test. One indispensable constituent of your daily reading diet must be The Hindu newspaper, more specifically its 3 pages- front page (page no. 1),Editorial (page no. 6) and Op-ed (page no. 7).

While we read the front page to add to our general knowledge and current affairs knowledge, which are tested in some non-CAT B School exams (IIFT, TISS etc.) and also matter in the second stage of selection (GD, WAT, PI etc.), we read the Editorial and Oped to enhance our familiarity with different genres which these two pages beautifully cover.  Also, never break the flow of reading by looking up the meaning of a word over a dictionary while reading. You may mark a few of such difficult words and look up their  meaning once you are done reading the page/s. And never look the meaning of more than 4-5 words in a day. The idea here is to understand the overall meaning of the article, not each and every sentence and definitely not every word we read. Also, do try to break every article into an Argument, clearly identifying the conclusion and the premises of it.  Reading the article and not attempting to break it into an Argument renders the entire effort futile. It's alright though if you are unable to break every article into an Argument, but do try at least. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

What to Read and How?
There are ONLY 3 pages of The Hindu that you need to read- Front page (page no. 1), Editorial (page no. 6) & Oped (page no.7). The Front page is to be read normally, as the purpose of reading it is to enhance our knowledge of the important events happening around us.

However, it is the Editorial and Oped pages that will actually enhance our comprehension. Read every article in Editoral and Oped pages using SAP (taught in the first 5 classes of my RC course) and after reading the article, break it into argument, or at least try to.

Learn SAP Reading

Dear students, watch just the first 6 classes excluding the Introduction/Orientation session (Lesson 2 to Lesson 7) of my RC Basics course to learn SAP technique to learn How to Read Effectively and then apply the same to Hindu Editorials and other articles you read. 

PS: Do not watch more than 1 class in a day

Course Link: https://unacademy.com/course/reading-comprehension-basics-for-cat-23/PRYLPC2F

What if reading these pages, especially the Editorial is hard?

The starting of ANYTHING is hard. So it is perfectly fine if you are able to break only 1 article into an argument. With time and practice, this number will go up and there will come a time when you will be able to break EVERY article into argument. And from there on, your VARC will start to fly!! For the time being, you can start with breaking Editorials to Arguments yourself and can also read-up how other students do it in our Telegram group where students break each editorial article into arguments. Also, you may refer to the previous Youtube sessions in which I have explained a Hindu editorial of that particular day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBhmrd0uCMU&list=PL5hqjxUWNXjlLe_3FCUoB69fTCMhPKq8w 

How much time should it take me to read these 3 pages?
Let it take as much as time takes initially. The only way to increase your speed at anything is PRACTICE! So with practice, the time taken to read the 3 pages will come down. I know students who used to take 2-3 hours reading these 3 pages of The Hindu -) and eventually got to a point where they read all 3 in 30 minutes.  

How do I know if my argument is correct?

There is no sure shot way to know. In fact the best option here will be that I break all 4 Editorial articles into Arguments and share it in the group so that all others can match their Arguments with mine.  However, paucity of time makes that impossible for me. In recent past I used to daily break 1 Hindu article to Argument and I will re-start that in near future, but then again I would break just 1 of the 4 Editorial articles and you will still have the same uncertainty with the other 3 articles. 

So, the best that you can do is to compare your arguments with that of others. That way you would get some measure of whether your view on an article is radically different than those of others. But most importantly, even if you are incorrectly breaking articles into arguments, you will eventually get better at it. And even if you correctly breaking articles into arguments, then too you will get better at it. How is that possible? Just think about a person who goes to park and runs there to shed weight. Regardless of whether his running technique and posture are correct or not, he will lose weight if only he just runs, no matter with what technique or posture. Similarly, I promise that your comprehension will improve if you do this exercise of breaking Hindu Editorials to Arguments, even if you get all 4 articles wrong everyday. So instead of worrying too much about whether you are correctly identified the arguments, just keep doing this exercise daily diligently. Also, I promise that once in a while I will break an article into argument and share the same in the group.

Should I read it online (soft copy) or from actual newspaper (softcopy)?

If you are a beginner, reading newspaper/novel for the first time, then I suggest start with Hard copy as you can feel the texture of the page while reading which makes the experience more real and authentic. You can shift to soft copy once you have developed the habit of reading and certain comfort with news articles.

Where to get The Hindu from?

Some of you students have recently expressed your concern about the availability of The Hindu newspaper. So, here are the options that you have 

Option 1. Subscribe to the physical copy of the newspaper- reading the newspaper in the traditional way. The dadaji style! This is the most effective way of reading, especially for all the newbies, as the experience of holding the newspaper in hand and to feel the texture of the paper is the authentic way of reading. This is how I began reading newspapers when I was in 7th grade. However, this may not be safe during the ongoing pandemic. Also, this option might not be available to some of you who put up in far off districts, as one student from Assam recently pointed out to me. Additionally. this will add some monthly financial burden which some of you may not be willing to take. 

Option 2. Subscribe to the e-copy of The Hindu, as I have. They charged me just Rs. 499 for an annual subscription. The millennial style! I can now read whatever news I want to on my 24 inches desktop monitor (I avoid reading over phone as it strains my eyes). This option is clearly way more economical than physical newspaper subscription and also, like option 1, supports honest and unbiased journalism. Besides, it is available to any person who lives at a place with internet connection, no matter how slow. Additionally, this method helps you get accustomed to reading articles over computer screen, something which eventually you will have to do during CAT, thus increasing your familiarity with the interface, which is important for those who are not used to reading on screen.  

Option 3. Download the pdf version of The Hindu daily from the websites and Watsapp/Telegram channels where it is shared daily. The Indian style! This option is best suited for those who absolutely do not want to pay. For all of you who would rather download Mirzapur 2 from Telegram group rather than subscribe to Amazon Prime! The only problem is that such groups may miss sharing the pdf one one odd day. Additionally, many of these groups eventually become inactive or are banned after a few months. But then then there always are new groups that keep popping up. Some such sites/groups which are working as on 28th Oct 2020 are


Telegram
The PDF version of The Hindu is shared on my Discussion Group Daily morning
https://t.me/joinchat/rfu79hhiUeo4ZjY1 

Request: In case you know of more sources from where students like you can read English newspapers for free, then please be kind enough to post the link of the same in the comments section. 

Telegram Main group to get unique material/useful posts- https://t.me/joinchat/VY5odAPOuuSARns4 

Telegram Discussion group to ask queries from me & discuss questions among yourselves- https://t.me/joinchat/rfu79hhiUeo4ZjY1

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Happy Reading
Lokesh Sharma