2 hours of Nothingness !

I don't know if you have heard about sensory deprivation chambers or Isolation Tanks. It's an interesting concept where in all the sensory inputs to the brain are cut-off in an isolation tank. I tried it today and the experience is really worth sharing.
I came to know about isolation tanks through a friend of mine, Koshy . It sounded so exciting, I could not wait to give it a try. There are two isolation tanks in LA, I chose the one in Venice, Float Labs. On calling, I found that the waiting line for the sessions is 3 weeks long (These guys are making a killing !). Well, finally after a long wait, the day arrived.

The way it works is you are put into a highly saline water tank (800 lbs of epsom salt) so that you float. The isolation tank is pitch dark and is usually noise proof, so sensory inputs to your eyes and ears are cut-off. Then as you float, any touch sensations are gone. Effectively, your mind for the first-time is free of your senses/body.

Entering into the tank, I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive after reading about some out of body experiences of a few people. I settled into the tank, floating in the saline water, trying to pick the most relaxed position. The first 10-15 minutes, I was enjoying my floating experience which was very much a sensory one. However, after 15 minutes, I started drifting into a dream like state, I couldn't feel my body, but thoughts kept coming in. I continued in this dream like state for sometime before coming back to senses and realizing that I was in an isolation tank. This cycle of loosing bodily sense and returning back must have occurred around four times during those two hours in the tank. Somehow, I lost my sense of time. Really, I don't know how quickly those two hours passed.

When I came out, it felt so good. The colors were brighter, sounds conspicuous and smells, stronger. All the body aches were gone. I was feeling so relaxed as if woke up after 10 hours of deep sleep. After this experience, I believe Isolation Tanks are one of the best tools to fight stress and stay relaxed. I didn't had any out of the body experiences, no talking with dolphins crap.
After reading this, if you find yourself even  remotely interested, I recommend this link:

Happy Floating !!

Go Bruins!! Its LA next..

A warm hello to all my readers and apologies for a long absence from this space. I really wish I could have been more frequent over here.

Lets start with an update first. A thread which started with a casual suggestion by a friend to look outside India for MBA is finally approaching its logical end. Yes, with all the excitement that I can possibly muster in words, I am happy to announce that I shall be joining UCLA Anderson this fall as an MBA candidate. Although, the admission decision arrived a lot earlier, but weighing on between different options took some time.

Be it the GMAT, the essays or the admissions interview, the MBA admissions process can be daunting and possibly intimidating experience. Therefore, It was a great relief to have taken it to a happy conclusion. Now that I know the pain of the process and how perilous it can be for starters, I would be happy to provide help to the aspiring MBAs out there reading this post. I am just an email away :).

With less than two months remaining into the start of classes, I also realize that I need to prepare myself for this transition from a working professional to a student. Besides the absence of monthly pay-slips, it also mandates me to study. During undergrad, this was something which occupied my priority list briefly during the semester exams. However, with this 150K course, I wonder whether I can afford to give it a miss. Assignments,quizzes and surveys have already started accumulating in my inbox and I believe this is only going to increase in coming days.

On a different note , I have been in Melbourne for last four months and the winter here has been a pleasant break from the heat that is baking northern India. What it also means is that I am not taking the Mother of all Vacations which I had planned to take before starting my MBA.
Without making this post longer, I would end it now with a promise to write more often than has been the case. Looking forward to be in the Hollywood city soon!!

Yoga Vashistha on Sexual Attraction..

Yoga Vashistha is certainly an extremely powerful philosophy. It challenges some of the apparent flaws in modern Hinduism. I had its Hindi version which I read while in college. Recently, a friend of mine, read out a few very powerful lines from this great book. Sharing it for you.

Rama continued:
In his youth, man is a slave of sexual attraction.
In the body which is no more than the aggregate of flesh, blood, bone, hair and skin, he perceives beauty and charm.
Even if this 'beauty' is permanent, there is some justification to the imagination; but, alas, it does not last very long.
On the contrary, very soon the very flesh that contributed to the attractiveness, the charm and the beauty of the beloved is transformed first into the shrivelled ugliness of old age,and later consumed by fire, or by worms, or by vultures.
Yet, while it lasts this sexual attraction consumes the heart and the wisdom of the man.
By this is the creation maintained; when this attraction ceases, this samsara (birth-death cycle) also ceases.
When the child is dissatisfied with its childhood, youth takes over;
when youth is plagued by dissatisfaction and frustration, old age overpowers it - how cruel is life.
Even as wind tosses a dew-drop from a leaf, old age destroys the body.
Even as a drop of poison when it enters the system soon pervades it, senility soon pervades the entire body and breaks it down, and makes it the laughing stock of other people.
Though the old man is unable to satisfy his desires physically, the desires themselves flourish and grow.
He begins to ask himself, "Who am I? What should I do?" etc., when it is too late for him to change his life's course, alter his life-style, or make his life more meaningful.

CWG,10: A Test of Character for the Largest Democracy

If you want to kill a tree, don’t cut it, just curse it! The same seems to be happening with CWG.

Friends, successful completion of CWG is a must for INDIA’s image….there has been so much negative publicity about it….let’s support the games now, and for sure it doesn’t mean that we support the corruption involved with it!!!!

Exclusive Gifts for Solitary Reaper Readers!!!

Happy News for Solitary Reaper readers who also happen to be interested in pursuing their MBA.

Based on some of the articles on this blog, Stacy Blackman Consulting has decided to award two of my readers free copies of their book Branding Guide .
Worth USD 30, this book is a very useful resource on how to position yourself before the adcom. It includes some of the exercises that SBC go through with its admissions consulting clients when it begins working with them. I personally find it very useful on how to put forward your unique Brand before the Adcom.
So, if you are really interested in pursuing your MBA in near future and believe this book can help you, do leave your comments in not more than hundred words as to why do you think, this book can assist you in this process. Please do it before Wednesday so that I can get your copies ready by Thursday :)


Happy Reading!!

अमौसा का मेला

आज कुछ हिंदी ब्लोग्स पढ़ते पढ़ते हमारी नजर इस कविता पर पड़ी (http://ek-shaam-mere-naam.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post_12.html) जिसने हमारे बचपन की मकर संक्रांति वाले मेले की याद ताजा कर दी ...

अमौसा का मेला : सुनिए एक मेले की कहानी स्व. कवि कैलाश गौतम की जुबानी !

भारत की ग्रामीण और कस्बाई संस्कृति में मेलों का एक प्रमुख स्थान है। और अगर वो मेला कुंभ जैसे मेले सा वृहद हो तो फिर उसका महत्त्व और भी बढ़ जाता है।
इस रचना की भाषा यूँ तो भोजपुरी है पर ये वो भोजपुरी नहीं जो भोजपुर इलाके (आरा बलिया छपरा के सटे इलाके) में बोली जाती है। दरअसल बनारस से इलाहाबाद की ओर बढ़ने से भोजपुरी बोलने के तरीके और कुछ शब्दों में बदलाव आ जाता है पर जो भोजपुरी की मिठास है वो वैसे ही बनी रहती है। तो आइए इस मिठास को महसूस करें कैलाश जी की आवाज़ में इस हँसाती गुदगुदाती कविता में



कि भक्ति के रंग में रंगल गाँव देखा
धरम में करम में सनल गाँव देखा
अगल में बगल में सगल गाँव देखा
अमौसा नहाये चलल गाँव देखा

एहू हाथे झोरा, ओहू हाथे झोरा
अ कान्ही पे बोरी, कपारे पे बोरा
अ कमरी में केहू, रजाई में केहू
अ कथरी में केहू, दुलाई में केहू
कि आजी रंगावत हईं गोड़ देखा
हँसत ह‍उवैं बब्बा तनी जोड़ देखा
घुँघुटवै से पूछै पतोहिया कि अ‍इया
गठरिया में अब का रखाई बत‍इहा
एहर ह‍उवै लुग्गा ओहर ह‍उवै पूड़ी
रमायन के लग्गे हौ मड़ुआ के ढूँढ़ी
ऊ चाउर अ चिउरा किनारे के ओरी
अ नयका चपलवा अचारे के ओरी

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

मचल ह‍उवै हल्ला चढ़ावा उतारा
खचाखच भरल रेलगाड़ी निहारा
एहर गुर्री-गुर्रा ओहर लोली-लोला
अ बिच्चे में ह‍उवै सराफत से बोला
चपायल है केहू, दबायल है केहू
अ घंटन से उप्पर टँगायल है केहू
केहू हक्का-बक्का केहू लाल-पीयर
केहू फनफनात ह‍उवै कीरा के नीयर
अ बप्पा रे बप्पा, अ द‍इया रे द‍इया
तनी हम्मैं आगे बढ़ै दे त भ‍इया
मगर केहू दर से टसकले न टसकै
टसकले न टसकै, मसकले न मसकै
छिड़ल हौ हिताई नताई के चरचा
पढ़ाई लिखाई कमाई के चरचा
दरोगा के बदली करावत हौ केहू
अ लग्गी से पानी पियावत हौ केहू

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

जेहर देखा ओहरैं बढ़त ह‍उवै मेला
अ सरगे के सीढ़ी चढ़त ह‍उवै मेला
बड़ी ह‍उवै साँसत न कहले कहाला
मूड़ैमूड़ सगरों न गिनले गिनाला
एही भीड़ में संत गिरहस्त देखा
सबै अपने अपने में हौ ब्यस्त देखा
अ टाई में केहू, टोपी में केहू
अ झूँसी में केहू, अलोपी में केहू
अखाड़न के संगत अ रंगत ई देखा
बिछल हौ हजारन के पंगत ई देखा
कहीं रासलीला कहीं परबचन हौ
कहीं गोष्ठी हौ कहीं पर भजन हौ
केहू बुढ़िया माई के कोरा उठावै
अ तिरबेनी म‍इया में गोता लगावै
कलपबास में घर क चिन्ता लगल हौ
कटल धान खरिहाने व‍इसै परल हौ

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

गुलब्बन के दुलहिन चलैं धीरे-धीरे
भरल नाव ज‍इसे नदी तीरे-तीरे
सजल देह ज‍इसे हो गौने का डोली
हँसी हौ बताशा शहद ह‍उवै बोली
अ देखेलीं ठोकर बचावैलीं धक्का
मनै मन छोहारा मनै मन मुनक्का
फुटेहरा नियर मुस्किया-मुस्किया के
निहारे लैं मेला सिहा के चिहा के
सबै देवी देवता मनावत चलैंलीं
अ नरियर पे नरियर चढ़ावत चलैलीं
किनारे से देखैं इशारे से बोलैं
कहीं गांठ जोड़ैं कहीं गांठ खोलैं
बड़े मन से मन्दिर में दरसन करैलीं
अ दूधे से शिवजी क अरघा भरैलीं
चढ़ावैं चढ़ावा अ गोठैं शिवाला
छुवल चाहे पिन्डी लटक नाहीं जाला

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

एही में चम्पा चमेली भेट‍इलीं
अ बचपन के दूनो सहेली भेंट‍इलीं
ई आपन सुनावैं ऊ आपन सुनावैं
दूनों आपन गहना गदेला गिनावैं
असो का बनवलू असो का गढ़वलू
तू जीजा के फोटो न अब तक पठवलू
न ई उन्हैं रोकैं न ऊ इन्हैं टोकैं
दूनौ अपने दुलहा क तारीफ झोकैं
हमैं अपनी सासू के पुतरी तू जान्या
अ हम्मैं ससुर जी के पगरी तू जान्या
शहरियों में पक्की देहतियो में पक्की
चलत ह‍उवै टेम्पो चलत ह‍उवै चक्की
मनैमन जरै अ गड़ै लगलीं दूनों
भयल तू-तू मैं-मैं लड़ै लगली दूनों
अ साधू छोड़ावैं सिपाही छोड़ावै
अ हलुवाई ज‍इसे कराही छोड़ावैं

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

कलौता के माई का झोरा हेरायल
अ बुद्धू का बड़का कटोरा हेरायल
टिकुलिया को माई टिकुलिया के जो है
बिजुलिया को माई बिजुलिया के जो है
मचल ह‍उवै मेला में सगरो ढुंढाई
चमेला का बाबू चमेला का माई
गुलबिया सभत्तर निहारत चलैले
मुरहुवा मुरहुवा पुकारत चलैले
अ छोटकी बिटिउवा के मारत चलैले
बिटिउवै पर गुस्सा उतारत चलैले

गोबरधन के सरहज किनारे भेंट‍इलीं
गोबरधन के संगे प‍उँड़ के नह‍इलीं
घरे चल ता पाहुन दही-गुड़ खियाइत
भतीजा भयल हौ भतीजा देखाइत
उहैं फेंक गठरी पर‍इलैं गोबरधन
न फिर-फिर देख‍इलैं धर‍इलैं गोबरधन

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

केहू शाल सुइटर दुशाला मोलावै
केहू बस अटैची के ताला मोलावै
केहू चायदानी पियाला मोलावै
सोठ‍उरा के केहू मसाला मोलावै
नुमाइस में जातैं बदल ग‍इलीं भ‍उजी
अ भ‍इया से आगे निकल ग‍इलीं भ‍उजी
आयल हिंडोला मचल ग‍इलीं भ‍उजी
अ देखतै डरामा उछल ग‍इलीं भ‍उजी
अ भ‍इया बेचारू जोड़त ह‍उवैं खरचा
भुल‍इले न भूलै पकौड़ी के मरचा
बिहाने कचहरी कचहरी के चिन्ता
बहिनिया का गौना मसहरी का चिन्ता
फटल ह‍उवै कुरता फटल ह‍उवै जूता
खलित्ता में खाली केराया के बूता
तबौ पीछे-पीछे चलत जात ह‍उवन
गदेरी में सुरती मलत जात ह‍उवन

अमौसा का मेला अमौसा का मेला...

। आज फ़िर से उनकी याद आई है ।

Was browsing through my old files from college and then stumbled upon this poem of mine. Somehow, it went unnoticed without torturing you on this blog :) . So here it is :


आज फ़िर से उनकी याद आई है,
हृदय सरोवर के शांत जल में
पुनः कुछ हिलोरें उठ आईं हैं,
ये अंधेरा ये एकांत,
दोस्त से थे हो चले,
सहसा फिर से किसी ने
एक चिनगारी सी जलायी है
आज फ़िर से उनकी याद आई है ।

वो बातें उनकी,वो हँसी प्यारी
वो मीठी मुस्कान,वो नैन मतवारी
ज्युँ तपते जेठ के बाद फिर
सावन की बदरी छायी है,
आज फ़िर से उनकी याद आई है ।

यादों के बादल हैं और आँसुओं की बारिश
क्यों आ रहे फिर याद वो
क्यों धडकने फिर तेज हैं
साँसें फिर क्यों गरमाईं हैं
टुटे सपनों के इस बियावान में
साथी तो बस एक रुस्वाइ है
आज फ़िर से उनकी याद आई है ।

In the Hebrew Land

Shalom..Boker Tov..

Scene 1 (At Mumbai International Airport,while being grilled by security personnels,hereby referred to as SP)
SP : Who packed the stuffs for your trip
Me : Myself(Cant you see my marital status, I am single!!)
SP: When did you kept your luggage after packing?
Me : In the Room
SP : Was it left unattended?
Me : (Haan bolenge to chaar sawal aur,better tell no) No.
SP : How did u arrive to mumbai?
Me : In company cab
SP: Did you stop in between for tea\snacks?
Me : Yeah, we did
SP : Ok..so then the bag was left unattended?
Me : (ghuma fira ke ek hi sawaal) No the driver was there
SP : Was the driver aware that you are travelling to Israel?
Me : No, not at all
and many more...

Scene 2 :(While returning back to India at Ben Gurion International Airport)
To begin with same questions as above(Guess they have a list of questions to ask). Then :
SP : How do you pronounce your name?
Me : Its Ashutosh Dubey
SP : Whats your parents name?
Me : (Passpoort nahi dekha kya sab likha hai..)
SP : Okk..tell me one thing, whats the origin of your last name?
Me : (Now how do I explain the Dubey\dwivedis and the two vedas theory :P) It indicates ancient indian priest class.
SP : And the origin of your first name?
Me : (saala,hamara naam pe hi kyun?) It is the name of one of Indian Gods.
and many more blah blah..

Such arduous is the security process while moving in\out of Israel. The good thing is , I never had to open my check in luggage at the immigration. Perhpas they have the latest x-ray equipments, something which can reduce the queue size at Indian airports too.Humor apart, Israel has been a fun trip for me. while I am still at the airport waiting for the boarding, I can clearly recollect a few memories from the trip.

Office & Colleagues : It was great to see the faces of colleagues whom we talked on phone for past one year or so. The testing team for my development assignment stays mostly at Israel. So, for most of the time,we are on confrontational path. But it was pleasant to see their happy faces when we met.:)

Scooba Diving at Eilat : Wow, undoubtedly the best 30 minutes at Israel. This is one such experience, I wud like to have again and again. Watching the colouful marine life of red sea, colourful fishes,star fish and many other creatures in their natural set up was an excellent exp. We went about 7 meters deep into the sea and I saw things which till now I had seen on discovery only. Swimming with all the diving gears is such a easy thing and almost everyone can do it.

Jerusalem and Dead sea : Wow dead sea..you cant sink here, no matter how hard you try to. And moreover,the mud of dead sea is considered very good for skin so I was like rubbing those muds again and again on my body in the hope of getting a good\bright skin :). Also visiting Jerusalem for me was like visiting an ancient historical site. They have tried to keep the city in the same look as it was 2000 years ago. The market is Jerusalem was similar to what we find in say like Varanasi,Dwarka etc. The city holds a special international importance for being home to three important religions of the world. At the 'wailing wall' which is an important monumnet for Jews and is one of the boundaries of Al aqsa mosque, I found an foriegner and a Rabbi(Jewish Priests) arguing about religions. Felt like jumping into their discussion but had to drop the idea as my friends were waiting for me.


There are many more and it wont be possible to recount all of them..Overall, I am finishing this middle east trip on a plesant note(As well as the blog, because its time to board the flight..).
take care..wish me a happy flight..

Sachin,Cricket & IPL..

Sachin : A Human God !!



I dont like it when we 'dehumanise' a person as human as Sachin. I have been a sachin fan from the time I started following cricket. I was his supporter when there were many dissenting voice against the master specially when he was going through a bad captaincy phase.There were times when World Tel was considering to back out from endorsement agreement involving sachin . Now I can hear almost everyone praising Sachin and comparing him to god. Please, the real beauty lies in appreciating Sachin's achievements from a human angle.Because, that is when he inspires you,me and all others. Lets consider Sachin a human and then you will realise how much hard work and dedication he has put into to reach where he is now. Hail Sachin, the legend, the champion and above all a great HUMAN!!!

IPL : Interested Parties

Modi : I believe, he is involved deeply into the money making from IPL. His behaviour is more or less on expected lines.nothing interesting to mention here.

Sharad Pawar : He knows that this controversy somewhere rubs his collars too. Thats why his statements so far have been very calculated. I believe , he'll save Modi for his own sake.

Shashank Manohar : He dislike for Modi is not a well kept secret.

SRK, Preity Zinta, Mallya & Shilpa Setty : Modi was making a good amount of money for them too.He was giving them enough screen space to enhance their personal\professional brands. They know that once he is out, they'll have to work it out all over again. Money makes the best friends, a proven fact :).

Congress : They had to sacrifice a well respected International diplomat due to this controversy. The government will go all guns blazing against Modi and everyone else. All of the government machinery is in action and will definitely give the party and the government an edge on any negotiation table, be it with the alliance partners or the oppostion.

BJP : Vasundhara Raje's association with Modi is well known. Thats why BJP has not been as vocal on this as it would have been otherwise.

Tharoor : I believe in his innocence. But he is still inexperienced in the murky world of Indian Politics. This episode should be a good learning for him

Lalu : He is opposing IPL only because his son could not get a birth from Delhi Daredevils team

Naxal Menace

Some of my earliest memories while growing up are those of my villagers carrying rifles on their back and preparing for their imminent fight against the naxals. Our village was one of the first targets of the Naxals in the region. It was way back in 92-93 and these were still the early days of Naxal terror.
I remember two fierce encounters between Naxals and my villagers and that includes my family members too. So, I can't keep myself from expressing views on the current war that PC has launched against them.
One of the encounters is still afresh in my mind, I used to study in 4th std at the village school and with 100 odd strength of the school, all students knew each other quite well. One day, I saw one of my classmates (who belonged to basti where mostly labour class families lived) holding a pamphlet and on reading, I cud see the name of my great grand father on it. Probably, the naxals came to that basti last night and distributed these pamphlets. Dadaji was asked to handover a large part of his land holdings to this naxal group or face dire consequences. In the lunch, I took this pamphlet to him, reading the contents to him. He was 90 year old then and I was amazed why they would target such an old guy. Later, on growing up, I realized dadaji was merely symbolizing those who holded bigger plots of land and hence was the choosen one :) .

After sometime, I dont really remember how much, it was the harvest season of paddy crops and I was playing in the khalihan alongwith my friends when we heard some gun shots. The sounds were coming from across the canal flowing by, it was at this place that most of our harvested paddy was kept. Naxals had declared a war on us, they came in huge numbers and planned to take away the harvest. Man, what a moment it was, I could see the whole village up in arms against them. I never saw such a unity in my village apart from those times.A long encounter, probably for 6-7 hours followed, resulting in the death of one of the Naxals. There were a dozen policemen too,but they happened to be mute spectators as they neither had the will nor the fire power to take on the might of Naxalites. Finally, the naxalites backed off, gradually they dispersed in the night after the death of one of their colleagues.

The positive outcome of this encounter was that during the dreadful era of 96-97 when almost whole of Bihar (at that time Jharkhand too was a part of Bihar) was burning under the terror of Maoists,PWG and Ranvir Sena, our village and neighbouring areas enjoyed total peace. Atleast there were no killings on this account.

For the government, I believe , they should have acted much before. Its been here for two decades and could have been stopped by exercising a proper mix of force and developmental activities. I dont totally buy the lack of development theory as is being propagated by some of the Maoist empathisers. Its true that poor people are found in large numbers in such groups, but its because they get easily influenced. They are exposed a perfectly oiled machinery of maoist brain wash with audio,video and literature.
Those who are sympathising with Maoists (read Arundhati Roy and co) are doing no service to the nation. Nepal is already paying the price of not taking these insurgents seriously and it should be a lesson enough for us.

In ISM for a Day

During last week, I was back to my alma mater, ISM.I was unable to visit ISM during convocation, so it was long overdue. It was a nostalgic moment, starting with the train itself (GD), I was back in time to the days when I used to be a ISM student.

Moving on the rickshaw into the ISM campus, I could identify some familiar faces, a few teachers (though as usual I tried not to be recognised ), a couple of research assistants who helped me during practical exams(I wish to say thanx to them :), but just waved my hands ) and obviously quite a many juniors.

Though, it was a bit hectic , I enjoyed every bit of it. With familiar juniors around, hours were flowing by like seconds. On top of this, add the party on Sapphire roof top and I was truly reliving my student days.

Then, it was great to see FFI growing into such a robust organisation. Starting from a single room and a single computer, the organisation has came a long way. To mention a few of the achievements, we have caterred to more than 350 blood request in the last year, conuselling is underway for a massive 10,000 students of government schools, approximately 50 students have benefitted from the IT literacy project in this semester only. This number is supplemented by inmates of Dhanbad prison who have received IT education from FFI. The youngest of all FFI initiatives,Escape is doing a great service to kids by helping them with communication skills. I saw a few videos of Escape and was awestuck by the presentations of Escape students.However, the thing which makes FFI truly unique is besides benefitting the community, it exposes volunteers to a host of leadership and organisational challenges very early in their career, even before their formal career starts. Such volunteers can be an asset for any organization in the professional arena.


On interaction with volunteers, I realised how closely they are aware of the problems of the society, be it the blood bank situation in dhanbad or the issues they faced while interacting with the school kids. The credit of all the success must go to the ground volunteers who are putting in their extremely valuable time and efforts for the benefit of community. Some are working tirelessly infront of the computers trying to make their students understand MS-Office and Internet Explorer, some are braving the heat & dust to reach the students of government schools and help them take a informed decision about their career and some are saving the lives of poor patients by fecilitating easy blood supply to them free of cost. Infact its the dedication of volunteers which inspires me to keep working for FFI.

Overall, with 100 plus volunteer strength of FFI, the organisation is looking positively into the future. Now we are in the process of executing our expansion plans which include a new centre in Jamshedpur under the leadership of some equally dedicated individuals whom I met during ISM trip. The other cities where our expansion plans are in conceptual stage include Patna, Pune and Noida. With the experience and expertise of three years to back us, we are confident of our success in future endeavours.

Too Hard to Resist..

Some things are highly tempting and addictive, but none more than gambling and you just have to visit a Casino to believe me. I went to one,called Crown Entertainment Plaza,quite a big one. To be honest,such a thing you only get to watch in Bond movies until you come to places like these.

It was huge,it takes almost 30 minutes to walk from one extreme to another.Open 24*7,one can find every type of human species gambling over here , black, white, asian, african, adolescent, old aged, hot ones and some others not so hot.I guess, its not for making money that people come here, they just come here because they have to.Its an addiction, more tempting than say alcohol or even a hot chick. Senile people seemed glued to television like gambling machines,holding dollar coins in a plastic cup shaped container on one hand and a sparkling wine on the other,it seemed a perfect pass time for them. The figures on the screens read like credit (means the dollar coins those screens have eatem away) 300.20 and Win $52.20 . They say a lot :).

But the more thrilling and tempting form of gambling was taking place on those tables with traditional card games and fortune wheels.It really was incredible,the gamblers came with girls, orderred a wine, took out a few hundred dollars,bought chips with those bills and the game begins.

The temptation was too hard for us to resist ,and ultimately we gave in. We analysed a particular game (or tried to) which has big wheels moving and eventually the wheel will stop with the pointer pointing to some number on the wheel. The one who has placed his on that number will get multiples of his money while others placing bets on other number will loose.Suppose,you placed a bet on 11, if fortunately,the pointer points to 11, you get 11 times of the money you bet upon.The higher number meant higher multiples but lesser occurences and hence higher risk.After a really long observation and analysis,we concluded that placing bets on 5 and 3 for at least 4 times is almost sure to bring profits. The probability theory I read for CAT did helped :).
So we placed bets :), the attendent signalled 'No More Bets' and wheels (of fortune) moved.It was 5,hurray we won..in the first,second and so on..I guess, this is what they call it beginners luck.So say after 6 bets, we were already in 100% profit. But gambling had already started playing on our minds and one of my friend placing the bets decided to take some risks. We deviated from our agreed principle of sticking to 5 and 3 only,and he placed bet on 23, We lost, then we placed on 11 and again we lost. The beginners luck seemed to have deserted us so soon :) .Very soon we were back to square one,with no profit ,no loss we decided to stop placing the bets. We did, but as I say,its highly tempting
and one of the friends agains decided to play :). This time he sticked to 5 and 3 principle and he was in profits. Seemed we had found a secret.After a comfortable profit,he decided to skip the game. It was already 3 in the morning and we decided to move to our hotel.Though, I wasn't gambling(for some very very different reasons) and was merely being part of the team of my friends who were gambling, I must say that many a times the temptation to give it a try was too impulsive to resist.I can just imagine about those regular to the place,how hard it must be for them to walk away from the place.

Before,completing this piece, I would like to leave you with some lines which were everywhere in the casino warning gamblers not to overdo things..


In the End,the Machines will win..

The only thing you can controle in this game is yourself..

Dont chase your losses,walk away..

Set yourself a limit and stick to it...

At Last Some Sense..

Needless to say, I am very happy the way RSS and Rahul Gandhi have criticised the anti North-Indian campaign being run in Maharashtra.
In India, at the moment only the two power blocs remain, one is Congress running the government and the other is RSS who can script a regime change in the largest opposition party without even a murmur.
The fact that both these blocs have came out openly on this issue is evident of the fact that the political system of India is very strong. Long Live democracy!!!
I believe it was more important for RSS to come out considering that their headquarter is based in Nagpur,Maharashtra and BJP-sena have a political alliance in the state.
If it would have been any other organisation, I am 200% sure that sena-mns would have
made it difficult for the organisation to function in Maharashtra.But this time they too know that RSS is not an ordinary organisation. The commitment of RSS workers is undoubted and the organisation is based on very very strong principles.
To put it simply, I am happy.
Back in Melbourne, I am enjoying my stay fully :). No updates for this weekend because I was in office this weekend :) . A few more friends have arrived from India and we might plan for some outing this weekend. The biggest hurdle we are facing is the lack of a car driver among us who also has a Driving Licence. :(.
Hopefully we'll find one..

The Australian Summer..

It's been almost two weeks over here in Melbourne and I feel more relaxed now as compared to the first few days when I was adjusting my biological clocks according to the new timings. 5:30 hours ahead of India,which meant I had to sleep early and wake early.
On weekdays,its mostly the office and then when in the room,its the time to catch up with friends online and phone calls.On weekends,I have been trying to move out and explore melbourne more.
First weekend, began in style.On friday, I catched up with an online friend of mine who was interested in astrology. A drive to melborune suburbs,thai dinner and then some high speed driving across the formula one track :),thats how the the day winded.

saturday : I heard that the Indian Tennis Player Somdev Dev varman was having his qualifying match at Melbourne Park. I went there,all alone. Why? Because I knew no one would give a damn to a qualifying match and hence I decided to go alone and support my fellow country man. However,he lost :(. neways, I made two new friends in Venkatesh and Sandeep (both from AP) who were a big tennis Fan :).

Next day, I came to know that Federer was organising a Exhibition match for Haiti Quake victims.I thought it was a golden chance to have a glimpse of all the tennis bigwigs. I asked a few more friends(I knew they would be interested) and we headed to Rod Laver Arena. Man, I must tell you it was a awesome event. 100% dollar vasool :).All the top players, Federer,Nadal,Hewitt,Serena williams,Andy Roddick etc were there and entertaining the crowd.

This weekend, I met another online friend, a buddhist from Siberia,very much interested in Indian Culture and arts. The whole day passed strolling on melbourne streets,visiting museums,gardens and galleries with this friend.Finally spent the evening at a Suraj sir's place(Mech,2k4) . I played some games there and since it was my first encounter with motion sensor games, I was completely bowled over by the experience. May be I'll purchase something like this back in India. I mean, if you are playing a tennis game,your hands should move as if you are holding a racket :). Its a good exercise too.

Planning for a beach visit tomorrow morning. The weather is expected to be HOT tomorrow and I too am expecting a similar crowd ;) .Keep watching this space for more.Till then take care, bbye..

CAT 2009: A Tasty Dish gone Stale

A lot has been made of the technical glitches in the CAT,2009, of the students who could not appear for the test on a given day.I however, think that there is more to CAT,2009 than just the technical glitches.
I believe that IIMs will ensure that everyone eligible appears for the test though on a different date. And some technical issues were to be expected. Afterall, it was first such exercise, where such a large number of candidates appeared for a test on a given day. Not even the best of test taking agencies could have guaranteed a hassle free CAT.
So lets bear with it, the technical aspect. Hopefully, next year onwards it will be much more smoother than this. My concern lies somewhere else, on the test pattern,their contents and the motives behind them.

When IIMs announced a reduction in number of questions with no such cut in the time allotted, everyone expected the questions to be of a quality atleast at par with a level similar to previous years.Cometh the 27th November, and the mysterious CAT surprises everyone with its turns.The questions turned out to be much easier than expected and add to that the repeated questions from previous years,it was even more.I have heard many candidates attempting even all the 60.Though there have been such instances where questions were much tougher,but they can be discounted as exceptions only. On a broad level,everyone agrees that questions were easier and the percentage of attempted questions has been much higher than previous years.What does that mean for students and for IIMs?

For students it means that many more students are going to clear the sectional and overall cutoffs and even if someone clears all the cutoffs they cant be sure of calls.For IIMs, it means that they have a much larger pool of qualified candidates to choose from for the calls.Probably, here comes in the picture,additional factors which all of a sudden have assumed disproportionately high importance because written exam is no more the distinguishing criteria among applicants. These factors are your work-ex, 10th-12th Marks, and Undergrad Academics. This changed scenario also serves a dual purpose for IIMs which are :

1. They are no more going to be answerable as to why someone who has cleared all the cutoffs and blah blah was not given a call. They can hand pick candidates for the calls with whatever criteria they think is favorable to them. Even RTI can't come to the rescue of students this time.

2. As is known since time immemorial, such institutions as IITs and IIMs have openly expressed their dislike of coaching institutes who prepare students for the competitive exams. With easier questions,they are reducing the dependency of students on coaching institutes. The questions are easy(10th-12th standard at best) and time is ample,what do you need coaching for? Even if someone finishes the paper in 1.5 hrs with the help of a coaching institute,he wont get better marks than someone who finishes the paper in 135 minutes without a coaching.

Once the attention from IT aspects of CAT subsidies , these questions are bound to erupt which are much more important for candidates and the IIMs.Some of my friends feel, its not the same exam that used to invoke a sense of excitement and anxiety.
CAT 2009 is stale and boring compared to the previous versions which were famous for their unexpected behaviour.They feel with such questions,the dignity of this prestigious exam has been compromised.There were days, when IIMs could challenge the government on even small interferences and people supported them.Now, almost daily, you can read headlines with someone, somewhere criticsing IIMs and Prometric. A time to introspect for everyone and yeah may be for them too, the so called hallowed institutes of Management.

||सत्यम शिवम् सुन्दरम ||

आज विचार हुआ कि हम हिंदी में लिखें. फिर सोचता हूँ क्या लिखूं ? सप्ताहांत पे ही थोडा समय मिलता है कुछ लिखने का , परन्तु दफ्तर की व्यस्तता के कारण आजकल समय थोडा कम मिलता है |
पिछले सप्ताहांत मैं उज्जैन गया हुआ था और महाकाल के दर्शन किये | महाकाल शिवलिंग कि विशेषता ये है कि यहाँ प्रातः काल ब्रह्म मुहुर्त में भगवान की भस्म आरती कि जाती है |ये भस्म एक जलती चिता से चंडाल द्वारा लाया जाता है | कहा जाता है कि जब आप किसी ऐसे इंसान से मिलें या फिर ऐसी घटना का हिस्सा हों जहाँ आप खुद को असहज महसूस
करें , तो जान लीजिये कि ये आपके मानसिक सीमाओं का विस्तार है | महाकाल कि भस्म आरती भी हमारे लिए एक ऐसा ही मौका था |

हमारे समाज में लाश और चिता अत्यंत अपवित्र माने जाते हैं | किसी के मरने के बाद ११ दिन का कर्मकांड होता है पुनः पवित्र होने के लिए| लेकिन यहाँ हिन्दू धर्मं के सबसे बड़े देवता (यहाँ में राम और शिव के बीच कोई तुलना नहीं कर रहा ,मैं दोनों को ही बड़ा मानता हूँ ) शिव ,जिनके नाम का शाब्दिक मतलब भी कल्याण होता है (और कहा भी गया है 'सत्यम शिवम् सुन्दरम ') को चिता भस्म का श्रृंगार किया जाता है | विडम्बना ये रही की भगवान के दरबार में भी जाने के लिए हमें रिश्वत का सहारा लेना पड़ा | बात ये थी की भस्म आरती में बहुत भीड़ होने के कारण सरकार एक दिन पहले ही पास देती है , और सिर्फ पास वाले लोग ही भस्म आरती देख सकते हैं | चूँकि हम उज्जैन शाम को पहुंचे ,हमें ये पास एक दुसरे आदमी से खरीदना पड़ा और इस निःशुल्क पास के लिए हमने दिए ५०० रूपये |अंतत: हम खुश ही थे की इतनी दूर से आने के बाद , भस्म आरती देख पाएंगे. भस्म आरती सुबह ४ बजे प्रारंभ होती है , शिवलिंग पे जल चढाने के बाद हम मंदिर के गर्भगृह के बाहर प्रांगन में बैठे जहाँ बाकि पासधारी बैठे हुए थे |अभी भी मेरे मन में या उत्कंठा बनी हुई थी की भस्म चढ़ने के बाद भी शिवलिंग क्या उतना ही पवित्र माना जायेगा या फिर से उसे नहलाया जायेगा पवित्र करने के लिए. क्या भस्म राजित शिवलिंग को छूने के बाद मैं खुद अपवित्र नही हो जाऊंगा, क्या मुझे भस्म प्रसाद ग्रहण करना चाहिए ?

इस उधेड़बुन के बीच आरती प्रारंभ हुई , शिवलिंग का अभिषेक होने लगा , और मंत्रोच्चार के बीच थोड़ी देर में एक अधनंगा ,काला कलूटा इंसान जिसकी हालत ऐसी थी मनो अभी होली खेल के लौटा हो और होली भी कीचड वाली | पहचानते देर न लगी की ये शमशान से भस्म लेकर आया हुआ चंडाल है | और उसे सीधा मंदिर के गर्भगृह में प्रवेश मिला, जो जगह अत्यंत पवित्र मानी जाती है ,वहां २४ पहर श्मशान में बिताने वाले एक चंडाल को प्रवेश !!! खैर, ये भोले बाबा की ख़ास बात है वहां तो भुत पिशाच ,देव,दानव सबको जगह मिलती है , सब एक सामान | शिवलिंग के श्रृंगार के बाद , एक पुजारी ने सारी महिलाओं को अपने चेहरे ढँक लेने को बोला क्यूंकि अब भस्म चढ़ने वाली थी और महिलाओं को ये दृश्य देखने को माना किया जाता है | क्यों? ये मुझे नहीं पता, शायद इसलिए की महिलाएं कोमल ह्रदय की होती हैं, उन्हें शमशान पे जाने से मना किया जाता है , इसलिए चिता भस्म चढ़ते देखने से भी माना किया जाता है | और अब वो कार्यक्रम प्रारंभ हुआ जिसके लिए हम इतनी दूर से आये थे, भस्म श्रृंगार | ये दृश्य कई मायनो में जीवन और मृत्यु को एक साथ दर्शाता है | जीवन की क्षणभंगुरता को दर्शाता है और मृत्यु के सौदर्य को भी इंगित करता है | शिव के कई रूप हैं , अर्धनारीश्वर , पंचमुखी इत्यादि लेकिन इस महाकाल रूप की विशेषता है की इसमें मृत्यु रूपी एकमात्र सत्य को प्रदर्शित किया गया है | मंत्रोच्चार के बीच ,शिवलिंग पे पड़ता भस्म ये एक ऐसा दृश्य है , जो कोई भी जल्दी नहीं भूल सकता | पुरे गर्भगृह में बस भस्म ही भस्म , मनो स्वयं यमराज नृत्य कर रहे हो महाकाल को रिझाने के लिए | थोड़ी देर में ही वो शिवलिंग पे पद रही राख उड़ कर हमारे तक भी पहुँच गयी , समझ में नहीं रहा था की चिता की राख के संसर्ग में आने के बाद , क्या हम भी अपवित्र हो गए ? फिर खुद में ही ये विचार आया की पवित्रता, अपवित्रता तो शिव से ही निकली हैं , न हम शिव को मानते न खुद की पवित्रता या अपवित्रता का ख्याल मन में आता | और जब ये राख स्वयं शिव से ही निकली है तो फिर क्या सोचना , क्यूंकि शिव से जुडी हर चीज को हम पवित्र ही मानते हैं |

यूँ थोड़ी देर के अन्तः द्वन्द के बाद मन के अन्दर की एक दुर्बलता दूर हुई | पवित्रता या अपवित्रता तो हमारे विचारों की होती है ,निर्जीव पदार्थों की नहीं | वैसे भी हमारे ग्रंथों ने इस सत्य को बार बार कहा है की , हमारा शारीर पंच तत्वों का बना हुआ है और मृत्यु के बाद ये उन्ही पंच तत्वों में विलीन हो जाता है |
उज्जैन यात्रा के बाद मैंने इस कथन को सच पाया की जहाँ आप खुद को असहज पाते हैं , वहां आपके मानसिक विस्तार की तयारी है ऐसा मानिये |

Amidst the Nature and Closer with God

This weekend I undertook a trip to a few beautiful places around pune. These places assume additional significance for me as they provided an ideal blend of spirituality with nature. The places I am talking about are Triambakeshwar and Bheemashankar . These two belong to the most revered dwadash jyotirlinga(the 12 most auspicious Shivlings on the planet).

Here are a few pics that I took at these spots. However, I must add that these pics fall way short of depicting the woooooowwww effect when one sees the picturesque valleys at these places.



------A Beautiful Confluence of Mountains,water and Greenery-------



--------------------------Isn't It Beautiful--------------------









------ Triambakeshwar : Adya(The First) Jyotirlinga------




-------------------- I am in love with this place------------------




-------- Bheemashankar Temple : Amidst a wildlife Sactuary---------

GMAT Prep (Remaining Part..)

I am not sure from where to start this. But let's try to breakup the details into individual sections. I would focus on Verbal mostly because this is the bleeding area for many of us.

Sentence Correction :
This is an ideal section to start your preparations with because Critical Reasoning(CR) and Reading Comprehension(RC) require a slightly higher level of abstraction. An added advantage of starting the prep with SC is that with so many rules and Idioms of the section ,the transition to preparation mode is made easier.You instantly get a feel that you are learning something while in CR and RC ,it may not be so.Keeping the structure of GMAT verbal section in mind,this is the section you can improve the most in a given time. Speed and accuracy in SC will help you save time for RC and CR.For my preparations,I devoted more than 50% of time on SC. A major difference between CAT(for IIMs) and GMAT is that the SC section of GMAT is quite organised and you'll have concrete reasons while eliminating a particular option.

The Manhattan SC Guide has got all the things organised extremely well and you should not hesitate reading and re-reading it many a times. One should remember all the rules given in this book on his fingertips. Regarding Idioms, the new version has a huge list of Idioms and I got hold of this version only 10 days before the G-day. Hence,I had to skip that part.But its always helpful to remember the Idioms especially for us i.e. non-native english speakers.After you are done with Manhattan SC guide once,go through the sentence correction of Kaplan GMAT 800 book, look into the explanation thoroughly, even for those question you have answered correctly.

A regular reading habit comes very handy when it comes to Idioms.Initially focus on accuracy in verbal and speed will come automatically later on. In SC, by the time you reach the peak of your prep,you should take approx 75 seconds per question as you need to save time for RC and CR section.

Critical Reasoning :

The powerscore Critical Reasoning Bible is a very good guide for CR preparation. However,Manhattan CR guide is a good alternative if the former is not available.
Go through the book once very thoroughly and then when needed at any later time you can refer to review section of each chapter in the book.When done with the book, its time to attack the Official Guide questions of CR. As mentioned earlier,look for the explanations very deeply. However,for sitter questions,you may like to skip the explanations. Once done with OG, you can go ahead with Kaplan GMAT 800.

Reading Comprehension :

This is the section abt which I was not sure as to how to approach till the very last day. Kaplan and Manhattan both stress on the importance of jotting down the gist of paragraph while reading the passage. Manhattan advises a little different strategy than Kaplan,however ,the underlying theme is same which is Keep noting down the theme of each paragraph of the passage as you read.
Most of us tend to loose track of the flow of passage when reading it.In GMAT this is more important than memorizing the specific details in the paragraph. I would say,its not at all necessary to remember the specific details mentioned in the passage.you can always come back to the passage to look for those details if needed for a particular question.Just keep track of the flow of the passage. Jotting down the main points of the individual paragraph helps you do this.
Initially, I also did it almost religiously. Later in the preparation,I realised that jotting down took me 1-2 minutes for a single passage. In GMAT ,there are four passages,so straightway the time taken is anything between 5-6 minutes. That means four additonal questions considering you spend 90 seconds on each question. That was too much for me because initially in the mocks,I always found myself short of time and hence was looking to save time on a few things.
So my advice about this section is, initially you can jot down ,but later on with practice, you can avoid loosing track of the passage even without noting down.

Quantitative :

I underestimated the section right from the begining and later paid the price in the actual GMAT scoring just 49 (which is 87 percentile..shame, I call myself an engineer!!!). I didnt even care to look at the OG questions. For my entire preparation ,I devoted not more than four hours on Maths,which was a big mistake.
Dont do this ,no matter how strong your quant section is. Atleast ,finish the OG completely(remember,it should be your bible).
Six CATs of manhattan have very good maths questions, and those were the ones who saved me from further humiliation(though I could take only three CATs due to lack of time)

Miscellaneous :

Keep taking practice tests in between your praparation . You can start with one diagnostic test given in the OG to start with.Normally you can take one practice test each week irrespective of where you are in your preparation. The torrent I have shared in the previous post has got ample of practice tests,so dont worry about lack of them.
As mentioned earlier,two CATs of GMAT prep and six of Manhattan are good ones and hence us them judicously.The analysis of each test, I maintained in a notebook ,which was very helpful.Also,while solving OG questions,maintain a track of which one you got right and which one wrong. Try attempting the wrong questions in the final stages of your preparation.

Regarding the scores you get in the mock,dont worry..really. My scores would give you an idea of what I am talking about :

(1) GMAT Prep 1 - 680
(2) Manhattan CAT(free online) - 590(a true disaster)
(3)Kaplan 1 -640(Kaplans are notorious for low scores)
(4) Kaplan 2-630
(5)Manhattan CAT 1 - 740(Many repeated questions hence a bloated score)
(6)Princeton 1- 690
(7) manhattan CAT 2-690 (Quant was proving to be a achilles heel)
(8) Manhattan CAT 3-690 (2 week before G-day)
(9) GMAT Prep 2-730 (was a big relief :),One week before the G-day )

The message,I want to convey is, even if you dont get much scores in the mocks,dont loose heart. Just look for what mistakes you did and then work on them. You need to have faith in yourself.

And finally, start cooling down a week before the G-day. I started meditation( neways,I loved meditation :) GMAT was a good excuse to begin it again ).
Though its easy to say,but very hard not be anxious on the evening before G-day.
I could sleep just for 4.5 hours.My normal sleeping hours in that week were 7-8 hours and hence you can gauge the anxiety level.In the morning ,I clearly was not feeling fresh enough.Tried to meditate and it helped.Do whatever that makes you feel good on that day and you'll nail the GMAT.

Some Resources for GMAT Prep

Last week I appeared on GMAT and scored a decent 760(q 49, V 44).As suggested by some of my friends,in the below paragraphs, I would be sharing my experiences and the materials I used for preparation.

I would try to breakup this article into some frequently asked questions.

How Much Time do One need for GMAT preparation :

Though it depends on person to person,an average person who has got decent reading habits(if you love spending time amidst this information jungle called Internet,I am talking about you only :)) needs anything between one and half months to three months depending upon how much time one can take out from his daily schedule.Normally 2-3 hrs a day for 2 Months should be enough. This much time I spent on my preparations.

Best way to assess the time required for GMAT prep is to get yourself involved into it. one week into this and you'll get an idea of the time required. Now is the time you should book a GMAT date based on your assessment. Yeah,you heard it right,book a date first,it helps you avoid procrastination. If you dont book a date,then you are not serious about the preparations.

Which materials should one have in his kitty before embarking on this journey :

Well,on internet you'll find too many resources and most of the time its very confusing as to which one to use. Based on my experiences,these should be enough :

Books :

(1) GMAT Official Guide -12th Edition:
This should be your Geeta,Ramayan,kuran or Bible, whatever you would like to call it.
Most authentic source of retired GMAT questions with the explanations by none other
than the writers of the test.Can be purchased with any book store. I bought it only on the landmark website .

(2) GMAT official Verbal Review :
When you fall short of practice questions,additional questions can be found in
this book.However,if you are pressed for time,you may like to skip this.

(3) Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction Guide :
The quintessential GMAT sc guide. Can't overstress its importance. Go get it,that's all I have to say. For an older version of the book click here. However,for newer improved version you can always order it on the ManhattanGmat official website. On the purchase of this book you get 6 CAT(Computer Adaptive Tests) which will prove to be an invaluable tool in this journey. They have added some advanced chapters in the new edition which I found very useful. Plus the new edition is in synch with the 12th edition of OG (Official Guide) whereas the older one refers to the 10th Edition OG.

(4) Powerscore GMAT critical reasoning bible :
One of the few good books available in the market on critical reasoning. Though
critical reasoning questions are based on common sense but when you ascend higher levels of difficulty in the CR preparation,you need additional resources and then this books comes into picture. A little voluminous than its competitors (eg Manhattan CR guide) its worth its length. The book may seem boring and stressing on very trivial things initially but in later chapters one realises the importance
of this triviality.Be patient with this book.Can be downloaded from here .

(5) Kaplan GMAT 800 :
A very good book for those aspiring higher percentiles. But a word of caution,dont jump into the book at the start of preparation.This book is more helpful when you are aware of the structure and nuances of the GMAT questions. I did the mistake of starting my prep with this book only and hence had to reread it later.The verbal part of this book can be downloaded here.However,you can always purchase the full book from any book store on online.

GMAT CAT softwares :

Its very important to keep judging your preparation from time to time with the help of various tests. These are the ones I found useful -

(1) Official GMAT prep Software :
By none other than the GMAC,the owners of GMAT. This contains two free tests available for free download from mba.com. These are the two best tests in the market and hence use them judiciously. Dont waste them just for diagnostic purposes.

(2) Manhattan CATs :
On the purchase of any book from Manhattan these tests are available for free. Closer to the real GMAT than any other CATs available in the market.

(3) Kaplan Tests :
Whenever,you feel you have got you preparation under controle,just take one of them and you'll soon hit the ground :) . Best tool available to keep you on your toes. But stop taking them atleast 15 days before the actual GMAT as its notorious low scores can hamper your confidence badly.

(4) Some GMAT practice Sets :
I got them from a friend of mine.Since these are not adaptive sets,better take them as sprint tests when you need to assess individual verbal sections,. Can be downloaded from here.

(5) princeton and 800 Score tests : If you need further testing material,use these .

The above all tests can be downloaded from the torrent I have shared in this esnips folder.Its a bulky thing (4.4 gb),so download only the ones you think is necessary.


When armed with these ,you are all set and prepared for a battle called GMAT :). In the next part I shall try to enlist how I approached the preparation. But as I believe,everyone is unique in his abilities and hence the strategies adopted may be different from person to person. So if you wish to,you can start your preparation with this much only.
(To be Contd..)

CAT 2009-The Starry Days

I dont know how to put it, but I cant resist it . Astrology has always been close to my heart and I love doing a bit of experimentation with it . This is another of my attempts at the same .

As I already mentioned in a previous post of mine, the 10 day window for CAT,2009 does allow stars to play a part and ppl like me who are believers in astrology,if given a chance would pick an astrologically ausipicious day for the exam.

Below is an attempt to provide you with the most favourable day according to your moon signs for the purpose of CAT in the given duration i.e. 27th November - 07th December. The principles, I have applied all correspond to vedic astrology and signs\rashis mentioned here are Moon Signs . In case you dont know what your moon sign is,you can enter your birth details here and find out your rashi(It has nothing to do with Priyanka chopra's upcoming muvi,'what's your rashi'[:)]).
Now let's quickly get down to the business :

Aries\Mesha : Any of the sundays i.e 29th November or 06th december will be good for you. However,if given a chance choose the later one.

Taurus\Vrishabha : Auspicious days are : 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th december. The one on 2nd december will suit you the most .

Gemini\Mithun : Stars want you to face the opening deliveries :). Choose anyone from 27th or 28th November.

Cancer\Karka : Auspicious days are : 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th december. The morning session of 7th will suit you the best.

Leo\Simha : The majestic of all signs. Choose any date starting from 29th november uptil 2nd december and fortune will favour you. However,best one is 2nd December.

Virgo\Kanya : Choose any one from 1st, 2nd 6th or 7th december . The one on 2nd december is best for you.

Libra\Tula : Three days full of fortune all equally blessed, 4th, 6th or 7th december.

Scorpio\Vrischik : Of all the signs,you people are particularly blessed in the given 10 day window. Opt anyone from 27th nov, 28th nov ,1st dec or 2nd dec . 1st december ,tuesday will be good for you. However,avoid the afternoon session on 1st december.

Sagittarius\Dhanu : Just two days, but power packed ones: 29th and 30 th november. 29th is preferable .

Capricorn\Makar : 29th November to 2nd december,choose from among them. second day of december should be preferred if given a chance

Aquarius\Kumbh : Similar to capricorn .

Pisces\Meena : Stars have given you more options to choose from in November 27th and 28th and in December, 1st,2nd,6th or 7th. Choose anyone from these. Howver, 6th december and morning session of 1st should be preferred over others.

The above is just a broad picture for the twelve zodiacs. Individual charts are likely to give a better result. However, in case you dont want to go into complicacies of individual charts(yeah,it is complex),above dates are good pointers.