My GMAT experience

Several people have asked me about my GMAT experience. I have already penned them down on BTG forum, but I thought why send traffic to BTG, when I can direct it to my own blog. So, following is a shameless copy-paste (not that it matters, as I anyways the author of the original post as well) of my post from BTG at :

http://www.beatthegmat.com/from-620-to-740-in-8-weeks-t68943.html


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Hi,

This is my first post on BTG, but I have been following the forum time to time since the GMAT bug bit me. I finally took the GMAT yesterday and scored 740, which I feel is good enough and as per my expectations. The biggest hurdle or turning point towards getting a good score is scheduling an appointment, I'll tell you why I think so.
In most of exams, the dates are just announced by the authorities and you have a mindset ready to meet that deadline and you prepare accordingly, but in case of GMAT as you can choose your own date, you tend to postpone it because of other things going on in life. I had planned to take GMAT earlier this year, somewhere near the April end, but because of so many things going on at work, I chose to not take the appointment and to schedule it sometime later. A useless step, because later you realize that everything else just keeps on going and you just have to take the next step some day. I felt that once you take an appointment, the deadline effect kicks in and you start preparing and unless that happens, nothing is going to improve. So, one saturday night, at 1:30 AM, I just decided to take the next step and schedule an appointment for 2 months later (23rd Oct being my father's birthday as well, I thought it will bring in the luck factor )
So, all you folks out there who plan on writing GMAT and are waiting for things to settle down a bit in your life to take an appointment, I would like to tell you, things wont settle on their own, you have to make them settle and that will happen automatically when you take the appointment.
After taking the appointment, I followed a simple strategy, I would go about solving a couple of passages, 15-20 SC/CR questions daily after usual work hours and in my last week before exams, I took personal leave to prepare of the final blow. I really feel that the last week added at least 30-40 marks to my score, so that also is advisable if you can afford that. The last week's prep was very crucial and very hectic. I did not change my routine of getting up at 7 for office, just that instead of going to office, I worked for myself for those 8 hours a day

The books I followed are :
1) OG 12
2) OG Verbal Guide
3) Princeton Review
4) Sahil's Grammar notes (search for it on net, its in pdf/word format)

I have listed these in their order of importance and relevance to the actual GMAT. I started with Princeton Review first and when I was halfway through that, I started doing problems from the Verbal Guide. After a week of doing this, I took the first Mock (Princeton) and scored 620. This actually gave me sense of relief because it meant there is a lot of room for improvement and a lot for me to work upon. A decently high score might have boosted up my confidence too high, so that I would have relaxed and maybe the final scores would have suffered because of that.
After the first mock, I kept a target of taking one mock every weekend. I took GMATPrep about 6 times and Princeton 5 times. In my last week of prep, I used to take one mock test daily throughout the week (did not take on Wednesday as I might have burnt out the enthu, so preferred taking a rest that day and covered all the AWA topics instead) at the same time as my appointment (1 PM) so that the body clock gets tuned for optimum performance about that time. I even completed the AWA sections in the last two Mock tests I took , just to simulate it completely.

My scores ranged from 610 to 740 in Mocks (yes, 740 was my highest in mocks and I am lucky enough by god's grace to manage that in actual GMAT as well )
I even managed to pull off a 610 in Princeton Mock on Tuesday in last week and this is when I decided to skip the test on Wednesday and rather do some different activity.

Anyway, the key to preparation I feel is not the number of books you study, but the dedication you show towards it and the routine you follow. So, just go ahead and give it your best shot and leave it to the higher powers to tell you the final score.
Best of luck everyone!!

Test Center change that never happened

I recently filled up the form for XAT this year, but in my haste, chose Bangalore, instead of Patna as the center. Following is my communication with XLRI admission committee. I leave it to the readers to decide whether it is hilarious or sad.

Please note the timestamps as well, they'll tell you how prompt they were in responding.

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

From: XLRI xat_care@xlri.net.in
Date: Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 5:25 PM
Subject: RE: Info about change of Test Center {URGENT}
To: Abhishek Jha


Hi Abhishek,

You are most welcome.

For further clarification kindly revert to us.

Call 1800 102 1123
1800 103 1123
Working Hours
Monday to Saturday
08:00 - 22:00 HRS.

Regards,

Admission Team,

XLRI

From: Abhishek Jha
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 4:52 PM

To: xat_care@xlri.net.in
Subject: Re: Info about change of Test Center {URGENT}

Please do not bother anymore.
I have already registered again with Patna as my center.

Would have helped if I had received this email some 15-20 days earlier.
It was really disappointing to try to contact the Admissions Office through various means like telephone, email etc and not getting a response from any of those.

On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 3:45 PM, XLRI wrote:

Hi,

This mail will be answered after a meeting by respective authorities regarding changes issues.

For further clarification kindly revert to us.

Call 1800 102 1123
1800 103 1123
Working Hours
Monday to Saturday
08:00 - 22:00 HRS.

Regards,

Admission Team,

XLRI

From: Abhishek Jha
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 11:01 AM


To: xat_care@xlri.net.in
Cc: XAT-2011

Subject: Info about change of Test Center {URGENT}

Hi,

I completed the registration process for XAT 2011. I selected Bangalore as my test center in a hurry but later recalled that I wont be in Bangalore on XAT day. Is it possible to change the test center to Patna now? Please let me know.
I will be highly thankful.

--
Regards,
Abhishek




--
Regards,
Abhishek



--
Regards,
Abhishek

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

In a different but related thread, again note the timestamps :)


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

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: XLRI
Date: Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 4:57 PM
Subject: RE: XAT-2011 Registered Details
To: Abhishek Jha

Hi,

What changes you want to make for test cemtre?

For further clarification kindly revert to us.

Call 1800 102 1123
1800 103 1123
Working Hours
Monday to Saturday
08:00 - 22:00 HRS.

Regards,

Admission Team,

XLRI

From: Abhishek Jha
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 1:27 PM


To: xat_care@xlri.net.in
Subject: Re: XAT-2011 Registered Details


Yeah, I had figured out that much given the speed of responses.

However, I could not figure out the motivation behind removing this feature of changing the center while it was present till last year. Is it a technical limitation from your new vendor or has the institute itself changed its policy?

On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 1:20 PM, XLRI wrote:

Hi,

The changes will not be made.

For further clarification kindly revert to us.

Call 1800 102 1123
1800 103 1123
Working Hours
Monday to Saturday
08:00 - 22:00 HRS.

Regards,

Admission Team,

XLRI

From: Abhishek Jha
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 1:07 PM


To: xat_care@xlri.net.in

Subject: Re: XAT-2011 Registered Details


The XAT id I received for my registration from this email address is ' XATxxxxxx'.

I have already registered once again from my another email id as well with Patna as Center. So, please do not bother about changing the center of this XAT id. However, if you would like to help, please process a refund for this XAT id, if possible.

On Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 12:57 PM, XLRI wrote:

Hi,

We need your XAT ID.

For further clarification kindly revert to us.

Call 1800 102 1123
1800 103 1123
Working Hours
Monday to Saturday
08:00 - 22:00 HRS.

Regards,

Admission Team,

XLRI

From: Abhishek Jha
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 4:34 PM
To: xat_care@xlri.net.in
Subject: Fwd: XAT-2011 Registered Details

---------- Forwarded message ----------


From: Abhishek Jha
Date: Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 1:02 AM
Subject: Re: XAT-2011 Registered Details
To: XAT-2011


Hi,

I just completed the registration process for XAT 2011. I have selected Bangalore as my test center in a hurry and later recalled that I wont be in Bangalore on XAT day. Is it possible to change the test center to Patna now? Please let me know.
I will be highly thankful.

--
Regards,
Abhishek




--
Regards,
Abhishek




--
Regards,
Abhishek




--
Regards,
Abhishek



--
Regards,
Abhishek

The bike that almost got towed

It was the 04th of Dec'2010. One applicant (me) and 2 aspirants (UG, Seth) went to attend the MBA fair organized by TopMBA.com at 'Vivanta by Taj' on MG Road.
The ride to the destination itself was a lot of fun. At almost all traffic signals, UG stopped his bike close to mine and said, "I don't know the way, so you lead", and as soon as the signal turned green, he sped away as if being chased by cops (By the way, there is another story where a honorary member of Ansal Family had a narrow escape with cops, but that's for the next post).
I, on the other hand, was cautious as usual and stopped at places to ask auto-wallahs for directions. So, I reached the destination sooner, in spite of UG speeding away, and did not have to take any detours as well.
The MBA tour itself was a huge disappointment. The only saving grace was the presence of representatives these colleges had sent and there was a very apparent inverse relationship between the quality of the college and the hotness of the representative. And of course, we got to use the restroom at Taj. We also checked the Year end party entry fees at the ICE bar, and realized that we'll again rely on Domino's and Coke this year :)
So, already disappointed with our trip so far, UG suggested that now that we have come so far, let's not let it go to waste, and Seth also agreed as otherwise it would have meant that we burned so much petrol for nothing. So, we decided to try out some Chaat shops at Brigade Road.
Now, Brigade Road is one place in Bangalore, where you can easily overtake a BMW while walking at any hour of the day. So, we wised up and decided to park at Church Street. We found a lot of vehicles already parked there and found a nice and sweet spot between two Santros, where 2 bikes were already parked and there was only enough space for 1 bike. It seemed like a call from destiny itself, and we happily parked Seth's bike at that spot and UG parked his a couple spots further.
Then we started roaming around Brigade road on foot and overtook several BMW and Audi in the process. Seth did a mental calculation for the number of years it would take to buy an Audi, and gave up when the numbers became too large to process. We went to the other extreme end but did not find any chaat shop, so Seth had some Steamed Vegetarian Momos. While coming back, we spotted one chaat shop which we had missed earlier, and UG and Seth had some Samosa-Kachori there. Then, I spotted one more chaat shop and all of us had some more chaats. Then, UG came up with a life-changing suggestion to catch a movie in the nearby theater, but neither Seth nor I was in the mood for it. So, his suggestion got vetoed on the spot. We, then head back to our parking spots.
As soon as we turned in to Church Street, a towing vehicle passed by us. I said, "Look, someone is going to get towed". But Seth expected the worst and started running. I calmed him down and said, "Dude, that vehicle has a crane so it is for towing cars not bikes. For bikes, they have open kind of vehicles so that they can store maximum number bikes on it". This logic made sense to Seth and he stopped running. Then we saw that the vehicle stopped right at the spot where we had parked our bikes. This time UG also got scared. I was still hoping that they would only touch the two Santros we had parked our bike in between. But I was again wrong. As soon as UG saw the person laying his hands on a bike and putting it on the vehicle, he again sped like anything (I checked if some signal turned green somewhere). But by this time, even I was running towards the bike. Two bikes had already been put on the vehicle. The person was just about to lay his hands on Seth's baby, but I reached there in time and put my hands on it and said, "Mine!!". He said, "Then take it, and don't park here"
This has by far been the narrowest escape from being towed away. After that, we did not stop for any Chaat or any movie and straightaway head for home.

Benefits of Fasting in India

Fasting, an act which has religious connections as well in which people don't have even a single grain of food (an even stricter form of fasting requires the person not even drink a drop of water) has many benefits. It has always had spiritual benefits as in one feels more connected to the almighty and it helps him restore the faith. In addition to that, it also has medical benefits. In today's sedentary lifestyle, it is often advised to skip a meal on weekends.
Apart from all this, there is a totally new face of fasting that has been revealed by a certain politician recently, a completely new benefit: to have your own state. The very people chosen by the masses to act in a responsible manner towards the welfare of the state and the people often act in the most childish manner possible. Tell me Mr KCR, how would having a different state help the people of the state you are fighting for. Having Jharkhand separate from Bihar did not help Jharkhand as much as it helped Madhu Koda.
If you really had the benefit of the state in mind, I challenge you to step down and not accept the post of the CM even if it is offered to you!!
I really fail to understand how having 250 different states would help us grow better as a nation. I might be missing something very important that out leaders and their blind followers who are ready to start a riot anytime are seeing. We are leading ourselves to the exact same situation the British left us with and out freedom fighters fought hard to fix. The British must be laughing hard now seeing the situation we have put ourselves in.
This is not something which is new, it has always been there in India. Ever since we achieved Independence, the lust of power has always kept tearing up India. Be it the infamous India-Pakistan partition, or the split of Jharkhand from Bihar or the most recent Telengana-AP debacle. Some say these were based on regional factors, linguistic considerations, and for the benefit of people. I say, that is the most stinking way of putting 2 and 2 together, it is nothing but the lust of power which drives such decisions.
Even the central govt proved that India might be marketed as a superpower in the global market, but when it comes to setting internal disputes, the government is as toothless as it can be. Tell me Mr Prime Minister, will you give away Arunachal if Mr Wen Jiabao threatens with a fast until death or will you give away Kashmir if Mr Gilani threatens you with similar measures?
I dont follow Indian politics that closely to comment on the outcomes of this decision or to be able to see the far-sighted pros and cons of it, but to a layman like me, it sure seems like a hasty decision which would invite nothing but disaster.

Morality: Democracy Desguised?

Morality, what does it actually mean. Since our early education, we are led to believe that morality is the sense of being right, doing right and all the good things. But the question which is more basic than that is how do we define what is right and what is not? Is it on a subjective basis, does the view differ from person to person, from place to place, if yes, does every person have a different definition of morality and can these definitions clash? Could an act which is perfectly sound on the terms of morality by one human being be completely immoral by someone else's standards?

These were just some of the questions that were pondering in my mind yesterday and which resulted in a huge chain of thoughts. I decided to put them all down here.

Morality as I believe is not the sense of being right, it is what is majority of society believes to be right. The definitions of morality are bound to change as the society metamorphoses into a newer one and forms newer definitions and beliefs about what is right and what is not.

The first example that comes to my mind is Raja RamMohan Rai from India, the visionary who was instrumental in getting the 'Sati Pratha' banned from the Indian society. Now, just for the reference, 'Sati Pratha' was very much in practice in Indian society in the past and it is an act where the wife sits on the pyre of her husband and lays out her life. This act was very much moral in the Indian society which practiced it, it was not humane or justified in any manner by today's standards, but it was very moral according to that society. So, does this mean that Raja RamMohan Rai by getting this act banned performed a very immoral act? Well, in fact he did. He did the humane thing, but not moral by that society's standards. It is a different discussion that his future society saw and appreciated his visions. The society which introduced this pratha in the first place was also doing the moral thing by its beliefs.

So again, does this mean that morality is just 'Democracy in Disguise', ie, the society gets together to vote on certain practices and decides what is right and what is not. I believe it completely is. The society then enforces these moral values and gives a hard time to anyone who does not confirm to them.

This does not mean there wont be people like Raja RamMohan Rai who see through the fallacies in society's norms and are not afraid to go against it to bring about progressive change. There will always be people brave enough to stand up against the society and do all kinds of immoral acts, if that is what it takes for them to shake up the society and show it its own shortcomings. Society does need to be shaken and shaken pretty hard at times, because society by itself is a dumb and very deaf individual, it does not hear most of things you say to it unless you shake it up hard enough.

Well Begun is Half Done

So, finally, after much persuasion from some of my friends, I finally decided to jump on to the Blogging Bandwagon hoping to materialize at least some of the benefits of blogging that I was promised.

I am really thankful to those people that they did not give up and finally succeeded in making be believe that this indeed is worth putting some effort to, believe me , I know it is not easy to make me do something which requires substantial effort from my side and is not in my extremely selective 'Interest list'. I always had an inner desire to pen down my thoughts, and yes I have lots of them, as any other person who does not talk much, but never found the motivation which was powerful enough to overcome my laziness.

Now that I had decided to start blogging, the first question was "About what?".

Most of my friends/colleagues think of me as a computer geek, so the their first guess would obviously have been a technical blog, wherein I would share my knowledge about the technologies that I know and work with, let the people know about various tools and tricks available on the internet which are very much usable but often go unnoticed by the not-so-technical crowd. But, owing to my love to always trying to surprise people, I decided to go ahead with a completely non-technical blog, which would challenge me in ways as simple as vocabulary (I have a much more comfortable technical vocabulary, of course!!). I will try to start another technical blog as well, to keep up with the promises I already made that might have raised your hopes and expectations but this blog is something which I will always try to keep at a higher priority than that.

All this thought-process resulted in the creation of this blog that you are reading at the moment.

Coming to the title of this particular post, 'Well Begun is Half Done', I chose it as I really believe in it. To complete any act, you need just two conditions, the motivation to start and the courage to continue. If these two are met, everything else is bound to just fall in place.

I'll end this post now as it is always better to have a crisp start.

Stay tuned for the next post .... or even if you don't, I'll make sure you come to know of the next post ;)