Maybe Second Time Lucky!

So it didn't work out for your this time and you are planning to re-appear. Why do you think you would succeed this time? What different would you do or what would you do differently to end up with a substantially better percentile? Because if you are not planning to succeed, you are planning to fail. I would suggest the following from over a decade of my experience of a CAT educator. 

1. Mindset: Forget that you have prepared before and this is your 2nd/3rd/4th attempt. Tell yourself that you are starting afresh from the scratch. that's the first thing a re-appearing candidate must carve into his mind. 

2. Balance: Try to follow 40/60 rule i.e. 40% of total study time to watching classes and 605 to practice. This has to eventually come down to 80:20 as your syllabus moves to completion.  

3. Trainers: May it be sports, education, medicine or law, choosing the right person makes all the difference. Choose the right coach, teacher, doctor, lawyer...and half the problem is solved. First, know that THERE IS NO ONE BEST EDUCATOR! The best for everyone is different. The best actor for you could be Amir khan while for me it would be SRK and for someone else it would be Nawazzuddin. Understand that for every subject you must find a trainer who is BESTF OR YOU! It is alright to spend even an entire month to decide the right set of trainers for you. You should shortlist 3-4 trainers for each of the 3 subjects (take help of other students or Unacademy ranking or online reviews to decide which 3-4 for each subject). Now follow the same topic (for example geometry for QA, Circular arrangement for LRDI and RC for VARC) from each of the 3-4 trainers for that subject. It is important to follow the same topic so that you can judge whose way of teaching you find more suitable and comprehensible. If you follow different topics from different trainers (algebra from one, geometry from 2nd and number system from third) then you would not be able to account for difference in the difficulty level of the different topics. Also, do not attend just 4-5 classes but entire topic from each of the trainers to be sure before selecting/ruling out a teacher. By the end of this exercise, you will have the right set of trainers for you.

4. Follow. Selecting the right trainer is important, but so is following his/her advice and strategies. Once you have chosen the mentor for you, do have faith in him/her and try to practice whatever the trainers tells you to with absolute sincerity. 

5. Priority. Keep MBA-entrance preparation your top priority. I  can understand that you would have a job to keep and perhaps a hobby to practice...perhaps even a girlfriend or two to spend time with, I do not ask you to renounce worldly pleasures either, but make sure that everything else is secondary to your preparation (except your health and your duty towards your parents). Give bare-minimum to your job, just enough thtat they do not kick you out. Help your girlfriend/s or boyfriend/s understand that this year is crucial for your career and you need their support. Your hobby can wait for sometime and trust me you won't rust at it. 

6. Procrastination. Don't wait for an auspicious time to begin. The only auspicious time in this wold is NOW. Life is happening this moment. Opportunities that exist today may not be there tomorrow. The road built with procrastination does not lead to a top Bschool. It only takes you to where you are today. If you do not want to be here next year, make sure you start the above process from today itself.

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Suggestions for the D-day!!!

Now that we are one day away from CAT, here, at the ripened age of 32 and with 8 years of experience of taking CAT (and excelling at my section) I hereby share with you 14 pro tips

 

1. Make 3 different copies of admit card and self-declaration and keep each at different places - one in your exam-day bag, one in the pocket of your trousers to be worn tomorrow and one in the vehicle in which you will go to the center. Each should have the same photo as was uploaded while filling CAT. Additionally, this year you are required to carry a certificate if you have a metal implant or pacemaker in your body. 

2. Pack your bag before you sleep- 3 admit cards at different places, a few pics (same as pasted on admit card), photo id, hand sanitiser, mask, money, handkerchief, water bottle, spectacles, some fruits, preferably apples and bananas, dark chocolate, money. Clothes should be pre-selected before you sleep. Avoid carrying your mobile. It becomes a cause for concern if the center does not have adequate arrangements for safekeeping, and oftener than not they don’t.

3. Sleep for good 7-8 hours tonight. I might take a couple of beers for a sound sleep, but then that's just me. Do not experiment tonight. Do what works for you to get a nice sleep.

4. Dress comfortably. I take exam in pyjamas/shorts, a loose T shirt and floaters (you will anyway have to remove the footwear outside the hall).

5. Take blessings of your parents before you leave, in person, preferably, or over phone, if you stay away. They are the only permanent well-wishers in your life.

6. Do not take the exam on an empty stomach. Have breakfast but not too much carbs... so no paranthas/rice. Instead, have sandwich or fruits or something with fiber. You can have roti with dal and subzi as well, but don’t over-eat.

7. Be absolutely sure of the exact location of your center. Use Google map and also call the center to ask the best way to reach it.

8. Do not forget to take the bag from step 2   :P

9. Keep buffer time for traffic /uncertainties. Reach well before time as they do not allow late entry and also it is not good psychologically to reach late as it works you up. The traffic can be nightmarish (happens every year with many students) and there are always other variables that can go wrong (Murphy’s Law). Do not drive yourself. Pool in with the friends who have the same center or book a cab.

10. Use washroom before the start of the exam at the centre, even if you don't feel like. Susu aur heart attack bata ke nahi aate.

11. Eat a dark chocolate before the start of the exam (the one you kept in your bag in step no. 2). You might have to smuggle it in. Dark chocolates relieves anxiety. Try some to know which ones you like in case you have never had any. For the benefit of the absolutely uninitiated- more the cocoa content, darker the chocolate...and darker the chocolate, better it is for health.

12. Close your eyes and put your head down at your desk till the start of the test. You may have some 30-50 minutes at the desk. Use this time wisely to calm yourself. Those last few minutes are crucial to preparing you psychologically. Breathe deeply and try to take a nap. Meditate on your seat if you are into it already. 

13. Enjoy the test. Test taking is somewhat like making love to your partner. You know you did well if you enjoyed the process. The uninitiated boys will one day understand the massive importance of this pro tip 😉

14. Leave the result to the almighty. In life, many a time, I did all I could and yet the result was unfavourable...and so often I could have done way better I still succeeded. Your journey is like a divine plan that you can never fathom but must always try to live to the fullest 😊 No matter how bad the exam goes, there will still be a tomorrow and there will be more opportunities. Regardless of your score in CAT, you will always be aces in my book.

 

All the best!!!!

Lokesh Sharma

 

PS- Free beers from me for all those who get less than 50 percentile, so that you have something to “cheer” about even if your CAT ends in a disaster.

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My CAT didn’t Meow! What do I do now?

I am looking for a tall, fair, very beautiful and professionally qualified girl in her mid 20s from a reputed upper class family for my 52-year-old divorced and unemployed uncle who is 5’4 tall and diabetic.  He doesn't believe in dowry but insists on a V-class Mercedes and a flat in Greater Kailash be gifted to the bride by her parents. In case you know such a girl, kindly DM me.

Do I sound like I am over-expecting by a mile and being too naïve? This is exactly how your messages sound when you mention that you have secured 30/40/50 percentile in CAT/XAT or scored 150 in NMAT and ask me which ‘good’ B Schools you should apply to. You may not have got the score you had expected and prepared for. IT’S OK! It really is. Trust me when I say that these scores do not define you or your ability in ANY WAY. But please understand that any college that admits you with these scores as qualifying criterion simply CANNOT be a worthy place to invest your precious two years and lakhs of your parents’ hard-earned money.

A good college won’t take a student with these scores and the one that will, simply cannot be good! That’s the bare minimum reasoning ability I hope you would have developed in your CR classes. Please understand that the likes of IIPM and LPU prey on such students by luring them with blatantly false promises and fabricated placement records. The ones that call you asking to come for their GDPI process, even when you haven’t even applied to those colleges, are no better either. In life as in MBA 

colleges, be very circumspect of the doors that open for you before you even knock on them!

Your next obvious question then would be- “so what do I do now? My parents say that I must join MBA this year and also I won’t get a job as yet? Should I prepare again? What’s the guarantee that I will get a good percentile next time? Should I take the low-paying job that I am getting?” The answer to these and many other questions that you may find yourself confounded with are there but are for you to find. However, your trainers and those who have walked this path can help you find those answers and guide you on the basis of their years of experience and constant feedback with students graduating from all levels of B Schools and students working in diverse industries. As for the question of whether you prepare again? If you feel that you can get a substantially better %ile, or even an 75+ and are willing to work towards it with diligence and perseverance, then the answer should be a resounding YES.

DO NOT take a decision on the basis of what your favourite uncle or close cousin or even your parents press upon. Understand that while these people undoubtedly have your best at heart, they are simply not aware of the facts and figures pertaining to this particular specialized area of education. Nor do they have any experience in career guidance in the light of present day job-market and education scenario. DO talk to your seniors studying at different B Schools and to those working somewhere to learn about their experience of that B school/ work role. Think about what line of work you would like to get into and what roles align well with the skill-set  and bent of mind you have. Finally, in case you are still not sure, come and discuss your options with a person whom you trust has the knowledge and experience to guide you in what course of action would be best, after understanding your academic, financial, professional profile and your aspirations. Do not take advice from just any Tom, Dick and Harry.

In the meanwhile, if you are already enrolled with an institute, I would strongly recommend that you attend GDPI classes irrespective of your performance this year, as this part of preparation is not just fun, but also very knowledgeable and would most definitely be of immense utility somewhere or the other, most likely in the many college/job interviews that you all are guaranteed to take, whether this year or later. See it as a personality development or skill-development course that shall add value to your candidacy. 

Remember, your career has just begun…there are scores of opportunities floating around you. Abhi toh game shuru hui hai doston!!! 

Happy New Year to all!!

Lokesh Sharma

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How to speak English fluently?

We all have that one covert desire- to be able to swiftly converse in the beautiful and sophisticated language that English is!! While some people simple lack confidence to speak up in front of people, others lack the comfort with the language itself given that English is not our mother tongue. So how can you converse in English effortlessly? See, there are basically three things you need to do

1. Read English

2. Listen English

3. Speak English

For 1, read newspaper, preferably The Hindu- at least 2-3 pages (editorial is best but you may read some other pages if it is too heavy for you). Even if that is too much for you, read any story book/novel that interests you. If nothing else, read adult stories (English wali), but do read so that you learn sentence structuring, usage of prepositions, placement of adjectives and contextual usage of words etc.

For 2, listen to Indian news in English since newscasters have a very refined pronunciation.

Most of the people I know mispronounce the word 'chores'! Watching English movies and television series with subtitles is also a fun way, but make it an add-on to news, not a replacement. Watching porn wouldn’t help much in this step since many do not have many words, to begin with, and, if even they do, you already are familiar with words like ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘harder’ and ‘oh yeah’ :D
Once you get into the habit of reading, try reading out loud, at least some part of what you read. 

Addressing 500+students at FICCI Auditorium

For 3, speak in English with people around you. THIS IS THE KEY! This is the most important of all steps. You CANNOT learn to speak English, or any language for that matter, unless you speak it! You need not change the topics of discussion…keep the conversation, just change the medium of conversation you have with your friends, colleagues, siblings, girlfriend(s)/boyfriends to English. The only antidote to fumbling/being diffident is practice. Make English the default medium of communication....whenever you can, do it. Find people with whom you can talk (not chat) in English. Request people around to speak in English with you...if they can't, just tell them that they can respond in Hindi but you would converse in English. If you are that one unlucky chap who doesn’t have one person to speak with in this wide world, then start talking to yourself in English- rather than thinking things, start saying things, either in your mind or even perhaps by mumbling. It’s ok to talk to yourself; I do it all the time and often get mistaken for being mentally unstable :D 

Exercise suggestion: You can narrate the entire day back to yourself before you sleep, just as you would tell all the events that happened during the day to someone else. 

Once you have gained sufficient confidence in these three, move to the ultimate step i.e. writing in English. Start writing stuff in English. Not just FB comments, but some articles. You can choose a random article or write about your day or your dreams or your best friend or a movie review or whatever. Just write. If you want some idea, take a leaf out from my blog-  http://lokeshlogan.blogspot.com/

Happy Englishing!

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Strategy for OMETs like SNAP, CMAT, NMAT (not XAT)

In exams like SNAP, SPEED IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. You must move across and within sections swiftly. One who lingers is the one who loses. One who flows like a river is the one who remains in the race.

 

Following are my not-so-humble suggestions:

 

1. Read the instructions carefully since IIFT is notorious for its twisted instructions which are far from the blanket instructions one sees in CAT. For example, some questions may have higher weight while some may attract higher penalty when attempted incorrectly. I would be extra careful if the penalty for the wrong answer is half of the marks awarded for the right answer. Conversely, I would invariably mark some or the other option even if I am unsure, if there is no negative marking for it.

 

2. Begin with the GK section. In any exam that has a GK section, it should be where you start from, for it takes least time. Quickly mark the ones you know and leave the others without spending any time. Know that you are not coming back to this section. Usually each question here (in IIFT at least) carries .5 mark and negative marking is .17 i.e. one-third of the marks awarded for the correct choice. This is not a scoring section in IIFT and most exams where GK is tested, so do not over-attempt because you do not have to. All you need to do is clear the cut-off for this section which varies between .5 - 2 marks and for that all you need is 2-5 correct answers. While attempting last year’s IIFT paper with a student a few days back, I saw that each of the first 2 questions of the GK section were half-a-page long. I left the questions without even reading them! That is how fast one has to be here. For all other questions, keep it simple- if you know it, mark it…else leave it. Do not use your brains here. In most match-the-following type questions, you do not have to match all the pairs, but only 1-2 pairs that you are sure of and then eliminate the options. How to prepare for this section? If you have been rereading the front page of The Hindu, something that I stress upon in all my classes, then you do not have to prepare for it…you are good to go. If not, rely on the GK material shared with you by Aarambh Academy 

 

3. After GK section, attempt the remaining sections in order of your comfort i.e. begin with the section of your strength and so on. Know that from here on, you must attempt the paper in phases/rounds, something that I explained to you in detail during ENS 2 (eclectic reading) and in IIFT-specific session. Attempt the easy/doable ones in round 1 and keep leaving the ones that prima facie seem tough or lengthy. Attempt only the easy and doable ones in one section and swiftly move to the next section where too you must follow the same approach. This way try to attempt the entire IIFT paper as fast as you can. If you are able to reach the end of the last section this way, you can be sure that you will clear all the sectional cut-offs. On the other hand, even if you do exceptionally well in some sections but miss almost the entire last section (irrespective of which section it be), all your grand overall score counts for nothing since you would miss the sectional cut-off of the last section.

 

4. Once you have attempted the entire paper this way, see how much time remains at hand and which of the various sections you attempted (except GK) do you think has the most potential for enhancing your score. For example, if you feel that LRDI section has quite a few questions that you left in round 1 but can solve, go to that section and begin round 2. If a question seems excessively lengthy or difficult, leave it again. Likewise go to the next section with best potential. This round 2 will ensure that you clear overall cut-off of the paper and score as high as you can. DO NOT RE-ATTEMPT ANY QUESTION THAT YOU HAD ATTEMPTED IN ROUND 1.

 

5. For VA section- attempt non-RC questions like Vocabulary-based and grammar-based questions first, parajumbles and reasoning-based questions (if any) later and RC passages at the end.

For RCs, just read the question stems at the end of RCs twice and then quickly read the RCs to solve whatever questions you can and move to the next.

Understand that the RC passages you get in IIFT are lengthy but fact-based. You need not scan the passages the way we trained ourselves for CAT. Also, in RCs, first read questions and then simply read the RC passage at a relatively fast pace (NO SCANNING). Keep marking the answers to the questions that you come across while reading the passage. In short, for IIFT RC passages, begin with step 4 of the process we adopted for CAT passages. Also, if, on reading the questions at the end of RC, you feel that the questions are largely reasoning-based or require deliberation, then leave that passage for later (round 2) and move on.

 

6. Suggestion 5 assumes that the IIFT paper will have RC passages and other VA questions clubbed in one section. In case they decide to split them into 2 separate sections (as they did last year), then you must attempt at least 2 RC passages to ensure that you clear the cut-off for the RC section.

 

Remember, speed would determine the winner in IIFTNMAT/SNAP etc. These exams are a race against time. So make sure you practice timed-tests where you strictly adhere to the test-conditions, most especially in terms of time.

The 14 points I shared in another post before CAT are as relevant here too, so do give that a read. All the best!!

Disclaimer-  The author has himself never taken IIFT but does go through the GK and VA sections of the paper each year and thus has a sound understanding of its content and nature.  

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All You Need is One Seat!

Imagine it’s a cold evening in December and your little heart is desirous of a strong coffee. So you venture out to the nearby CCD, but find it closed. Do you drop the plan to savour your sumptuous coffee or do you go to the next cafe? If you are motivated enough for the beverage, you would not mind going ahead to the next restaurant that you know serves coffee, despite the apprehension that it may too be shut or may be a little pricier or a little far. The simple question one needs to ask himself is- how many of these shops can be shut or be too expensive or too far? If you want a cup of coffee, you will get it provided

1. you have a reasonable amount of money (ability)
2. you are willing to walk some (effort and motivation)
3. you are wise enough to realize that what eventually matters is the coffee, not the cafe (wisdom)

Replace coffee with an MBA seat at a worthy college, and various cafe with the different entrance exams that are there. Does the above example seem more relevant now? Understand that all you want is one seat at a good B-school, and that which exam that seat comes from shouldn’t matter! Ask a lover if it matters to him where he met his love, or a loyal drunkard the place or material in which he would like to be served liquor or a die-hard football fan whether he would prefer soft copy or hard copy of the ticket to the FIFA World Cup final. The answer would be same- It doesn’t matter! Harivanshrai Bachchan has captured this thought most beautifully and succinctly in the below stanza of his poem which I occasionally recite in my classes.

All You Need is 1 Seat

जो मादकता के मारे हैं    

वे मधु लूटा ही करते हैं
वह कच्चा पीने वाला है
जिसकी ममता घट प्यालों पर
जो सच्चे मधु से जला हुआ
कब रोता है चिल्लाता है   

Back in 2011, when I was assigned my first batch for CAT, where half the students were elder to me by a year or two, there was a student named Abhishek Shrivastava. Despite his above-average intelligence and whatever hardwork he could manage to put in (after his 10-hour workday at office which was 20 km from his home), he could manage a CAT percentile in 80s. His attempt at almost all other exams met similar fate. However, GMAT clicked, and that landed him at ISB, Hyderabad. So does it matter to Abhishek that the college he eventually got was the only good college that he could convert or, for that matter, the only worthy college that he could secure a call from? No. It is irrelevant now. Had he got 99%ile in CAT and done equally well in all other entrances, he would have still been at ISB, and happily so. There are numerous similar stories that I can recount where some student got to NMIMS, Mumbai or SIBM, Pune or IIFT, Delhi or TISS, Mumbai where that college was the only star call the student had.  

So stop fretting about how your CAT did not go as well as you would have liked or prepared. LIFE IS UNFAIR. PERIOD. Get used to it. However, it is NOT ALWAYS UNFAIR. So bad luck, illness, anxiety etc can play spoilsport in one, two or maybe three exams, but not beyond that. Just as a person in the coffee example may not find what he is looking for at a few shops, but eventually he surely will, you too would find success in some or the other exam provided you have put in effort and have common sense/basic intelligence.

Understand that results are never in your hands, and it invariably happens that 1-2 papers go wrong, and we have no control on which ones those 1-2 will be. However, if one has prepared well, then this misfortune can strike in 1 or 2 or maximum 3 exams. The good news is that we have atleast a dozen worthy exams and all we need is to crack one exam that will pave our way to a desirable MBA college. Which exam gets us to that college should not be a worry. I read somewhere that many a time in life we are so busy looking at and mourning for the door that closed on us that we do not realize that four others opened for us in the meanwhile. So stop cursing your stars for CAT and aim at the next exam in front of you, for only the first battle is over, not the war. Pull yourself back up, gather your armory and prepare for the next battle. Get on with the preparations for the rest of the exams, especially XAT, NMAT, IIFT and SNAP. All this while, keep reminding yourself of the fact that all you need is one seat in any one decent college.

Fun Fact : The writer missed his own CAT in 2018 because his bus to Delhi was cancelled and there was no viable alternative to reach the test center in Delhi in time. The writer hopes that his story doesn’t resonate with that of anyone else here.  

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The Last Weeks

Dear students, we are now just 3 weeks away from the exam that we have been preparing for. While you all must be feeling some anxiety towards the exam, I have been consumed by a subtle positivism and anticipatory happiness. I have back-to-back domestic and international trips lined up and am looking forward to them more than I can express. As a consequence of being in that relaxed-plus-happy state of mind, I am able to get a lot more work done, have been meeting everyone more pleasantly than I usually do, and have been enjoying the various activities to their fullest during the rest of the day. 

That’s barely any surprise to me. It is well known that you make the best of any opportunity- may it be sports, stage performances or exams- not when you are most worked-up and excited, but when you are calm, relaxed and happy.  Understand that to be under some pressure is natural and necessary, but excess of it is counter-productive as it prevents you from giving your best and thus impedes achieving your full potential. In any competition, it is imperative that you walk in with a fresh, relaxed and hopeful mind. It is for this reason that sports teams play games (apart from their sport) and go for team outings right before World Cup finals, for they know that one or two more days of practice or fitness won’t affect their overall performance at all, but entering the field with the right frame of mind and renewed vigor certainly would. 

That state of mental peace and positivity is exactly what you need the most in the next 1 week in the run up to the big day. In my 9 attempts at CAT, if there is one thing I have learnt, it is that more than anything else CAT is a game of nerves. I have witnessed numerous cases where a student who was all set to achieve a stellar percentile foundered in the exam simply because he exhausted himself and went in with a fatigued mind. On the contrary, I have seen students expected to fetch a mediocre percentile do wonders in the exam with their happy-go-lucky and ‘Jo hoga dekha jayega yaar’ attitude. In this game, it is not necessarily the smartest who emerges victorious, but the one who goes in with the right mix of intelligence, hard-work and mental equilibrium. While we, your trainers, have tried to guide you at the first two to the best of our ability and you have matched us in that endeavour with same fervor, it is time now to shift the focus onto the third! 

Make sure that you keep yourself motivated, relaxed, optimistic and cheerful in the coming week so as to mentally prepare yourself for the exam. While I would encourage you to do things that you find relaxing, I would caution you against doing anything over-the-top. In short, you don’t need to go to Thailand “de-stress" (that's for after the exam)

Here are my 7 suggestions borne out of my experience and observations:

     

1. DO NOT TAKE any full length tests after 23rd Nov. Some of my colleagues will disagree with me, and I respect their opinion. However, I believe nothing good can possibly come from attempting a full-length test at this point. On the contrary, it can throw you into self-doubt and despair You may take sectional tests, even take 2 in a day, but avoid taking a full-length test. Let the test on 23 Nov Nov be your last before CAT.

2. Watch motivational movies- I suggest you watch 1 movie a day (I am serious here). Some suggestions would be- Rudy, Stand and Deliver, Forrest Gump (my favourite), Fried Green Tomatoes, It’s a Wonderful Life, Life is Wonderful, Pursuit of Happiness, 300, Valkyrie, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, Homeless to Harvard. Feel free to share your best picks with me! Google to discover more such gems.

3. Get 8 hours of sleep. Make sure you align your sleep cycle with the examination day. I had stressed on this in my earlier messages & classes. Know the time of your exam, reverse calculate the time you should get up on 39th November and start adjusting your sleep cycle accordingly. There is nothing worse than appearing for this exam in a sleep-deprived state. Similarly, if you get up at 6 am, you cannot expect your mind to be at its freshest at 4 pm.

4. Go for walks in the park in the morning/evening (on days when the pollution level is bearable, if you are an unfortunate Delhite). Walking around in a lively park and watching small children play is in itself a very life-inducing experience. 

5. Indulge yourself in your hobby hobby- now is the best time for you to indulge in what you love: dancing, singing, sketching, and reading. Take time out to do what really relaxes and rejuvenates you. 

6. Meditate. If you do this one thing daily and correctly, then it would make for the absence of all above. But then in the world full of Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, how many of us have the patience for this magical activity!

7. Read one motivational novel. For a person as dark and skeptical as I, nothing less than Bhagwad Gita is fructuous. However, if you find that too much, I suggest you read any bestseller like You Can Win, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Power of Positive Thinking. My learned and well-read colleagues would be able to provide better suggestions here. 

Final suggestion- in case you believe in god, pray that the economy recover by the time you complete your management education!! 

Note of caution: Do whatever would help your calm your mind, but kindly do not indulge in adventure sports or do something dangerously stupid!

Remember- Guru jo kehte hain humein wo karna chahiye, jo karte hain woh nahi... 😝😝😝
So do as I say, not as I do!

In case you have any more suggestions/experiences on how you relax yourself (not the dirty ones though), then feel free to share here in comments.

PS- The final suggestion was in jest….economy toh Modiji theek kar hi denge 😂

JOIN

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Daily Hindu Editorials & PDF: https://t.me/+37fG1V1EoB00NTY9

Leave your feedback/suggestions on what else you think I could have included/excluded in this article. Help me get better :-)

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  of my Para-based 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. It requires subscription to Aarambh Academy'sV VARC course

Course Link: https://courses.aarambhacademy.co.in/s/courses/6809e4c472cfcc73746a1a05/take#6813210d5753ff747043ac29

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: 

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 between 5 to 6 am and students break articles to argument all day here: 
https://t.me/+37fG1V1EoB00NTY9 

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

Telegram Discussion group to ask queries from me & discuss questions among yourselves- https://t.me/+RZZ7A5eF30wxODBl

Whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/IyrrFuOlI1i4GZf28CTRk9
Daily Hindu Editorials & PDF: https://t.me/+37fG1V1EoB00NTY9

If you liked this blogpost, share with others. Also, you can let me know in the comments below what next you would like me to write on :-)

Happy Reading
Lokesh Sharma

CAT v/s Other Exams

 'Penny wise and pound foolish' is an English phrase which refers to a person who would waste away something far more valuable trying to salvage something of much less worth. Imagine you switch off your refrigerator in a bid to save a few units of electricity, resulting in spoilage of thermolabile medicines worth a thousand rupees! 

I draw the same analogy with those who focus too much on exams like NMAT, SNAP etc before they have taken CAT. How many worthy colleges does NMAT have for a student who has prepared well and aims to take admission only in a reputed college? The answer is ONE- NMIMS, Mumbai. NMIMS, Bangalore is alright, Hyderabad is average and the newer ones are meant for those who lack any merit whatsoever!

“But sir there are colleges other than NMIMS that accept NMAT scores.” They are ALL below-average or downright unworthy colleges. So are you preparing so hard for NMAT, which is heavy on Vocabulary and Grammar, topics that are unlikely to appear in CAT, so that you can enhance your chances of selection to that one college? While taking your eyes off from CAT which has umpteen envious colleges under its umbrella? 

Understand that NMAT/SNAP, as exams, are very very different from CAT. The type of questions, the difficulty level, the strategy to be adopted, format of the paper- all vary greatly. While it would be prudent to practice a couple of mock NMAT papers, but to change your focus considerably to NMAT or SNAP before you take CAT would be detrimental to your larger aim of getting into a worthy B school and would thus be ‘penny wise and pound foolish’. However, if someone is specifically targeting MICA because he has his eyes set on pursuing a life in advertising or communication, or if one desires only IIFT out of her will to build a career in Foreign Trade, or if one is passionate about rural management due to a clear inclination towards rural sector, then it is understandable for such students to keep exams like MICAT, IIFT, IRMA respectively at the center of their preparation. But for all other 'mango aspirants' who haven't chosen any particular niche specialization (banking, power, foreign trade, rural management) or for students who aspire for the usual specialisations (Finance, HR, Operations, Marketing), it makes perfect sense to keep their focus centered around CAT and XAT. You can prepare specifically for all other exams once you are done with CAT, no matter how little that period (after CAT and before the specific exam) seems. PS: The opinion expressed by the author is completely personal and may not resonate with the views of some other trainers/institutes. As always, I would suggest that you weigh an opinion on the merit of its underlying rationale before you accept or reject it. Feel free to ask your queries related to the content of the above article in the comments below.

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

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Whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/IyrrFuOlI1i4GZf28CTRk9
Daily Hindu Editorials & PDF: https://t.me/+37fG1V1EoB00NTY9

Analyse Your Test Well

Imagine that you go to a pathological lab, get all the  tests done- MRI, Ultrasound, Blood test, Urine test-  but do not care to go through the details of the test reports. Wouldn’t that be flushing down the drain the entire cost and effort that went into undergoing the tests? Similarly, taking a mock test is pointless if it is not analysed well. Make sure that whenever you take a test, may it be pathological or academic, you analyse it thoroughly. Even if you spend an entire day in taking and then analysing one CAT-type test, it is a day well spent! However, remember that you should start taking full length mocks only after completing 50% syllabus of each of the 3 subjects i.e. 50% of VARC, 50% QA and 50% LRDI. Till then you can take sectional tests of the subjects whose 50% syllabus you have completed. You may even take topic-wise tests for the topics covered (Number System test, Algebra test, Grammar test etc). For VARC, you can consider that your 50% syllabus is complete once you have covered RC basics and Para-based basics courses with me. 

How to fully analyse a test? I highly recommend the following process-

1. Take the test just as you would take CAT- no breaks, no mobile phone, no 2-minute gap. Make it an absolute dress rehearsal. If you know the actual timing of your CAT slot (which you would by October), then take the test in that exact time slot.

2. Take a break for an hour or two, and then solve the entire paper again without any time limit i.e. take 5-6 hours and solve each and every question, all DI sets, all RC passages, no matter how tough or easy. You may do this in parts while taking breaks in between, say 2 hours for each section.

3. Now begins the real analysis. Look at the solutions of the questions you got wrong during the test or one you were not very sure of. Analyse what you did right and what not. Did you choose the right questions? Did you miss the doable ones? Did you spend too much time on certain areas/questions? Did you attempt the tough nuts that weren’t meant to be attempted? How could you have got more juice out of each of three sections in the given time? How could you have done this test better? Ponder over these questions. Analyse everything from your question-selection to speed to accuracy. Identify the areas and skills to work upon for the next 10 days. 

You will be able to identify some patterns after 3-4 such analyses. You shall realise your problem areas and your strengths. You will know which areas you must focus on in the next 8-10 days before you take the next test and then benchmark your improvements.

Also, you need not take more than 10- 20 (maximum) tests in the run up to CAT from here. Taking tests does not sharpen your skills, it merely tests them. Remember, a battlefield is not where you learn warfare, it is where you display what you learnt during your preparation. Taking too many tests will wear you down, and kill the enthusiasm and adreneline rush that one must feel while taking a test. So do maintain a minimum gap of 7-10 days between 2 successive full-lengths tests. In between those tests, you may daily take one sectional test daily- QA on Monday, VA on Tuesday, LRDI on Wednesday.. The above mentioned approach of test analysis is time-proven, but only a few would be wise and patient to implement it. However, those who do, will see the magic of it. All the best to all of you.

FAQs
Q My mock scores are fluctuating a lot. What to do?
 Ans: Your score/marks DO NOT MATTER. Your PERCENTILE DOES. Understand that the score of 30 in a section could be an excellent score or a pathetic score, depending on the difficulty level of the section. Hence we always look at the percentile in each section and of the overall paper to gauge our performance.

It is perfectly normal for your percentile in an individual section or overall mocks to fluctuate. It is the very nature of the devil. Nobody gets consistent percentiles across mocks. I have interviewed 99 %ilers and you will hear them admit that their percentiles have varied from 70 to 98 in mocks. So know that it is absolutely fine. 

What is important is that you analyse the test well to see what better could have been done here and take the learnings with you. 

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

Telegram Discussion group to ask queries from me & discuss questions among yourselves- https://t.me/+RZZ7A5eF30wxODBl

Whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/IyrrFuOlI1i4GZf28CTRk9
Daily Hindu Editorials & PDF: https://t.me/+37fG1V1EoB00NTY9

If you liked this blogpost, share with others. Also, you can let me know in the comments below what next you would like me to write on :-)

PS- The views expressed above wrt test-taking are based on the writer’s experience and observations. Some other trainers may have differing opinion about the efficacy of the modus operandi of the test analysis discussed. I would suggest that you try this a few times and see if it works for you.