[lopamudra0303]

------wrong post----

[naga25french]

interesting thread .. i was the first to thank suhan post

CAT 2009 - ma second attempt

its been a pleasant journey right from the day i decided that CAT is ma arena to prove myself

short recap of last year story :

D - day -->16/11/2008

well , it was the day after ma bday !

150 min cat .. As a first timer , i was looking forward to maul the paper ..i generally scan through the entire paper for first 5 - 7 min .. looking at the paper , I was a bit worried that verbal had high weightage {ps : weak link - verbal }.. as usual,started with quants .. i can still remember the first prob i solved was blackboard wala prob .solved in less than a min .. was confident enough and shaded the bubble .. proceeded to next prob.. next prob -- > common terms .. did it in less than a min and proceeded to quadratic eqn prob ...In this way, i did some 15 question in 40 min ..after this, proceeded to di .. di was relatively easier than quants .. did well .. now started with verbal .. i attempted each and every question with care as i knew if i go down in CAT, its because of this section .. attempted decently .. cat ended.. ma friends called me up and asked me how did i write .. i jus said them the difference between me and iim is verbal.. they asked me to tell ma score that evening.. slept well till 5 .. logged into ma pc .. Gaggi { user in PG} said that bull eye has come up with the key already .. was eager to see the key .. jus saw verbal section keys .. was glad to see that i got over 40 which i have never dreamt of .. oh wow.. next di - good score with decent accuracy .. then came the so called strongest section of mine ..was really shocked to see the key .. i got 5 marks 4R,11W out of 15 i attempted.. ma worst performance of the season as far as quants is concerned . never gone below 94 percentile in any mocks until that ..

the reason i said this story :

1) mock scores are jus measure of your preparation and not measure of actual cat ..first timers : no worries if u r scoring less .. believe that ur best performance is in store for D day ...

2) CAT is not an exam which needs high solving methods but jus needs improvising methods like wierd logic, option substitution , etc

3) D day is all about handling pressure. D- Day as AND gate .. i hope most who reads this are engineers

let me draw a truth table

AND gate - D day - gate to IIM

A(pressure) ---B(presence of mind*) -----output {1 for victor,0 for learner}

0---------------- 0 ------------------- 0

1--------------- 0----------------- 0 --> i ended here last year

0--------------- 1-------------------- 0

1 -------------- 1-------------------- 1

* includes solving skills , intelligence , common sense etc ..

4) the most important point.. we often say about our strengths and weaknesses.. its good to analyse these things in mocks ... but as far as cat is concerned , strength is decided by the questions on that day..even the tough question looks solvable if u r confident .. also if pressure builds up, its viceversa..flexibility is the order of the day..

At times the strength may backfire as it did for me .. i hope it shouldnt happen anyone.. but still a probability u should bear in mind..i was casual about quants on D- Day and did silly mistakes .. so try doing whatever i didn't do .. be watchful.. if u are focussed , no one can take it from u ... let me be example for a thing which one doesnt need to do

now coming to the topic :

135 precious minutes.. common sense will be the order of the day.. no pressure whatsoever.. dunno how i developed that attitude .. hope it continues.. will be watchful enough this year and hopefully end the MBA prep this season ! At the worst case, i might fail.. But i dont mind failing if i fail due to some good reason behind it.. but as off now , there is no such reason! let me try ma level best to put in ma 100 % without any pressure!..
8100 seconds is mine ...no one can take it out from me .. 29th november will be the day for me .. as mentioned above i was learner last year but this year striving to become a victor this is not expectation but a belief in me which propels me up everytime when i am down

if i go by maths 8100/100 --> 81 sec... one percentile is earned in 1 min 21 sec.. have realised importance of time and will never waste even a single min.. hope u guys too wont

nothing more than this.. keep it simple .. stay confident and never expect anything and compare urself with urself as far as cat is concerned ..

good luck to everyone !

thanks for reading

ps: dunno if its a long post .. sorry if its one .. also sorry if i have bored u .. never mind grammatical / typo error..

[divishth]

First Of All, Thanks To Suhan For Starting This Thread....

I was searching this Kinda Thread on PG..But Never Found One..Then Saw "The Bmr's" Signature...It Said "THE MOST IMPORTANT 135 Minutes of My Life"...The First Thing I did..I clicked the Link... Out of Curiosity And Read Some Marvelous Posts Here....And Yes, I Am Writing It For You...For Myself..And For Every Other Aspirant For whom these Critical Minutes Are Laudatory....

Pre-Script: The First Thing I notice About 135 is Sum Of Digits = 9...All the Numbers Are in AP..well In Mathematics...Number 9 is considered to be a magical number for its Wizardry..CAT 2009 Also Has A 9.....And AP itself Signifies a Movement..It tells Steady Progress..And I believe every PUY would surely reach pinnacle of what they are Eyeing....Well, This Post which I am going to write is Inspired By Someone...But Finally These Are My Words...So Please Bear...

SAWARI APNE SAAMAN KI KHUD ZIMMEDAAR HAI

[Scene One, Act One]
Enter A CAT Aspirant....A Bus...An Old Man...
An Old Man is sitting inside the bus....The Guy Enters...Guy Sits With The Man...The Man Asks the Guy..."Bete!!! Bina Dekhe Batao..Tumari Seat ke Peeche Kya Likha Hai"
Guy: "Mahilayen"
Man: "Saari Zindagi Tumne Apni Mahilaon Mein Ghus Ke Guzaar Di..Kahan Jaa rahi hai tumhari zindagi..tumhe Kuch pata bhi hai"
Guy: "You have no right to speak About Me"
Man: "Beta!!One Day You will Understand..That Sawari Apne Saaman Ki Khud Zimmedaar hai"

On That day..The Guy never understood...But when he failed to perform in CAT...he remembered that day..when the OLD man said few words of Wisdom to him....It contained every message that the GUY needed....He Started Again..Afresh...A New Beginning....A new Milestone to be achieved..A new Horizon to be Accomplished...And He Went on for the search of Himself.....Quest of A Better Man That He can become....A better person he can be...He Raced for the Cause...And finally he achieved what he desired.....

Life's Irony is that...we All know "what is Important for us".."what is significant for us."..."from where we all be benefited" ....But still we run away from ourselves...Have you ever ever ever thought of "how much positive energy you have inside you"...Have you ever thought .."Why can't you be A 100 Percentiler"....Well The answer is simple....You'll Never come to know About what you are until you never think of "WHAT YOU ARE...AND WHAT YOU CAN BE".....The 100 percentiler is just like us..He is no person from other galaxy....He too is Just another Mango MAN as we all are...But he is better Person...He deserves better...Have you ever thought of "Why you don't get what you deserve"..This is Because..."You don't Deserve that"..."You never thought of fetching things...".."you never thought of making them your own..."

Success is relative guys...And if you wanna Achieve success...You first have to achieve yourself...You first have to think about yourself....Those Crucial 135 Minutes..If you want them to be yours....Just think about them...Think About the Aura..The Atmosphere Around You....

One has to be very focused while going for these Exams....Not only Exams..One has to be very focussed and Hard-Working In Life...You are responsible for your own deeds.."Sawari Apne Saaman Ki Khud Zimmedaar Hai"...I've never seen a person, getting into IIMs..who doesn't have the Zeal, the confidence, the Focus, The Enthusiasm in him...Instill the confidence...Think of the D-Day and think how you are going to tackle it..Dream Of Your Dream College....There is no power on this universe that will hold you....There is only conspiracy which goes on with you and your thoughts...Life is mere reflection of your thoughts....What you Think...What you Want..What you Aspire...Its just the State of Mind....As Obama Has Already Quoted..."We Are the Change That we See.We Are the Hope of Future"...So From Today, think about yourself..Where do you stand...Where do you fit yourself in this Mango Man herd....

Focus is the Keyword...Remember...Without Focus.. you can never hit the target...Also, this recalls me of a Story you all must be Aware of....When Kauravas and Pandavas were Learning the Art of Bow-Arrow from DronaCharya...Why only Arjun was given the Chance to hit the target...Because he was specific to the target...He had One vision in his mind..he was clear about his Goal...So C'mon People We too take this as a lesson...Let's make our goal Clear....Let's Say ..."Woh Hai Mera Lakshya"...

You Know why a person falters in a race...and says later.."I tried too hard and still was not able to win it"...You Know why he Loses ???? Because he is Actually not Racing to Win...he is racing for the sake of his pride...his fake false glory....he is running for the people out there...he is running coz he represents his country....he is running to win accolades....Are you here to win Accolades ?? You are Running for your own self buddy...When will you run for yourself....When will you run for Victory ???? This is the Time....Either 1 or 0....I am gonna run hard...Coz Life is not a Morning Walk..It's A Race..And I Am gonna Win it.....

CAT preparation has made me a better person..A better Judge..A person with good reasoning abilities..with adept Communication Skills...A person who has a goal....A person who is running for his own self....Are you A better Person ????

So People..Wake Up..Still There is much time left for the most Critical 135 minutes of your life......Wake Up and Run....Lakshya Ko Har Haal Mein Paana Hai....ATB....

My Favourite Words....

" Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!"- Rocky Balboa

PS: I am listening to Songs while writing this Post...And see which Song is On...Just Have A look....

"Tujhmein Agar Pyaas Hai, Baarish Ka Ghar Bhi Paas Hai
Roke Tujhe Koi Kyun Bhala, Sang Sang Tere Aakash Hai
Tu Dhoop Hai...Chaam Se Bikhar, Tu hai Nadi O Bekhabar
Beh Chal kahin..Udd Chal kahin.,Dil Khush Jahan ...Teri To Manzil Wahin..."

[hari_87]

When I first saw this thread, I was not sure if the title was good. I thought calling it 'the most important 135 minutes of one's life' only adds to the pressure one is under. But then, I realized that whether or not we accept it, the 135 minutes of CAT are indeed going to be extremely important. Whether they are going to be the most important minutes of our life, only time will tell
Anyway, it's a nice initiative by suhansarkar. I have read some wonderful posts here already. To me, the one by bmr stands out. He has just about summed up wat CAT is about. I see a lot of people over-complicating CAT, over-burning and slogging it out for CAT. IMHO, the beauty of CAT is its simplicity. The preps too, I feel, shd be simple. The most important thing, in my view, is to enjoy the process, and bmr's post elaborates on just that.
Whether CAT actually needs preparation is a debated point. People say aptitude cannot be improved with preparation. While that is fair enough an argument, it is a time tested principle that 'practice makes perfect'.
For me, this will be my second CAT. A lot has transpired since I finished the last CAT. If anything, I am even more passionate about CAT than I was last year. I do not know how I would have spent the last few months if not for this exam called CAT. I am enjoying the test series like I did last year, but at the same time, I am determined to make this my final season
Being a fresher who missed out on calls last year, I have a few words of advice for the freshers among u readers. First, forget 99%le. Your target has to be a good deal above 99 if you have to get a call(unless you have very good academics). As Divishth mentioned, 100%le is not beyond any of us. So that, ideally, has to be one's target.With a brilliant split, of course. And mocks, again, are not TRULY indicative of what you would get on the only day that matters. Yes, they do give you a fair idea of what you have to do, and a definite direction for your preparation, but nothing else. CAT will be a different day, a different paper, a different environment, and most importantly, a real test of nerves. If you don't lose your nerve, you will probably end up surpassing your own expectations.
I have kind of planned out my 135 minutes. Though the mocks have not been very encouraging, I am doing all I can to perform better, and mocks are not going to matter in the end anyway
While strategy is important, it is also personal. But I feel it's important to have one section where one can absolutely maximize, so as to take the overall percentile high up.
To me, CAT means a lot. It has made me a better person, given me a new dream, and new ambitions. The dream, I am sure, will be realized this year
All the best to everyone.

[lemasolai]

Well, just went thru the above posts......they sound very awe-inspriring.........especially the one frm Bmr......those 135 min rhetoric ...actually reminded me of shahrukh khan in Chak de India.......wo sattar minute tumse khuda bhi nahi chin sakta................in general i keep my advice to myself....because it has no basis more reliable than my own meandring experience.....however I just cud not resist myself to quote these few lines from Swami Vivekananda....which definitely stand true for all times to come.......

Take up one idea.
Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea.
Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone.
This is the way to success. -

...n tht wt im trying 2 implement.

[amulnovice]

well, first of all thanks to suhan for the awesome idea and most importantly thanks to all the posters for the posts that are inspiring in their own way... each one a different flavour..
2ndly am at disagreement with the title of the post as i must confess there have been and will be many more -much more imp 135 minutes in my life all the same here i go ....it is a very long post ,my apologies and groans are welcome for the same

well, to start with ,my encounter with entrance exams started off in bansal classes in 2005! there we were thinking that iit was the only thing in life and the stories students making it through were our favourite topics of discussion....
and isiliye shayad , i and in fact most of us who studied there(read x1 to x4 batches primarily) did not count anybody who was not from iit... (unhe toh hum kuch ginte hi nahin the ... itne ghamandi the hum tab... )
but then iit came and went and in spite of the record of top 4 batches having a clean sweep all these years a small bunch of the expected ones did not get through
and well the world came crashing down for most of us... as if we had not imagined a world beyond iit...how naive and tunnel sited we were back then...
and quiet a lot of us took it up as a personal defeat and took it as a blot on the image of the man in the mirror... in saadharn bhasha "dil par le liya us ek exam ke result ko" as if it was a proof/blot of incompetence for life :(

in fact even now most of my classmates (am at N.I.T raipur final year so u'll find many missed by a whisker cases here .... )think that those who cleared iit would certainly perform better than them everywhere in every field and that it was a huge loss in their life to have lost the battle of iit jee tch tch ....

imho most of us tend to over-hype the importance of getting into an iim/iit
why should i call it over hype??
well lets c... 97.5%ile in cat 08 =117 (air 7500)
99.36(air 2500)= approx 141
24 marks difference=>6 questions out of 90 question (less than 10% questions)
or may be 4 silly mistakes avoided and 1 extra question done...
we see, just by changing may be 5 questions a whole lot of people who got iim calls may be exchanging their luck with those who missed it by a whisker....

so does it mean that the ones who got through are really so very superior to those who got admission into the non iims like jbims/ximb/nitie/mdi etc etc etc??
in my opinion , the talent pool in india is so huge that for say 1700 seats at iims we have more than 7500 people who deserve that seat!!!
same goes for iit's!of course those who make it really deserve it! but then there is not a world of a difference b/w the students in these colleges!!

so all the above is quiet a reason for me not to feel so very mad about getting into an iim!i respect all the top 25 colleges of mba in india and would be more than happy to take admission into any of them if they are kind enough to let me in
lending another year to mba prep would actually delay other important plans of me and my parent's lives (read marriage plans )

after all the greatest advantage of the top mba colleges is their rigour and launching pad!
and since all top 25 give us a very similar launching pad almost.... i aint so desperate for the top 7 only types...
i have my own reasons for doing an mba (more on that on some other thread ... eureka!! is there a thread to really express our motive for an mba ?? )

well ,one huge mistake i did during prep for iit jee was that i made iit a condition to like/love myself,to prove myself to somebody(dont ask who... )... and well i did not take the exam with equanimity ... it was more result oriented than as the bmr put it... to find interest in it...

so no matter what cat result may hold for me,it would neither diminish nor enhance the love/respect/self esteem that i have for myself in my eyes...
....... i'll keep loving/being grateful for who i am irrespective of the cat results.... am being a bit narcisstic i know .. but it is derived from louise.l.hay...
cat is and will always be like iit jee ,and such many other exams.....one of the games of my life i had fun playing!it is neither the first ,nor the last.... it is certainly one of the most interesting ones...but it is certainly NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT EXAM OF MY LIFE ... there will be many more such exams/tests to face in my professional life ....
as to why exactly it ain't the most important exam of my life??well arguments can be the exceptional MOOLAH,RECOGNITION,LAUNCHING PAD provided by the iims....

but my theory is this...-if my life can be described on money and position coordinates(x,y)
and am standing here at A(x1,y1) ,and i wish to reach B(x2,y2) say 5 years from now,then iims are just one of the paths to reach B from A, i might reach B from A through a CFA degree, through opening an MBA coaching institute ,or through being a shrewd investor in the stock market,or starting my own business of xyz etc etc etc...they are not the only path... several options exist beyond them

after all iims or any other colleges in our life in my opinion are just means to an end,not the ends in themselves
they are just paths not the destinations
as for me ,well am really thankful to the whole mba entrance exam environment,like iitjee it gave me a chance to explore parts of my intellect/personality whose existence i was not aware of....
specially puzzle solving,and SUBTILITY!! yeah the importance of subtility in my opinion cannot be over emphasized in context of cat!it has altered the way in which i look at problems and events... becoming more rational than intuitional...kudos to whoever introduced the lr section

so these 135 mins will for me will be "another day at the office" moments for me... another day when i play a table tennis match,i try to do the best with what i have,learn a lot,enjoy a lot more and most importantly ....
I MEET TRIUMPH AND DISASTER AND TREAT THE TWO IMPOSTERS JUST THE SAME with a smile
kipling really made it simple for me ... kudos to him
and all the best to all my fellow players.... hope we play well,play our best , go back that night saying what rannulph junuh said after hitting the ball in the legend of bagger vance-"Man. I can't hit it any better than that."

keep loving yourself

[manjushaa]

Well a big thanks to suhan for starting this thread.It is a wonderful initiative.i don't know if i'll get the chance to post in the AIWSAC thread that i revere so much so i want make use of this opportunity.so sorry for the lenghty post.My MBA dream began way back when i was in class X.started out as a fascination and the more i got to know about the IIMs,the more my passion grew and by the time i was done with the boards,i realised that this was what i wanted to do with my life.i chose the commerce group because i found the subjects new,fascinating and very much related to the MBA subjects.that's where my horror began.from that very moment onwards i was discouraged,discriminated and put down by a lot of people just because i didn't have a science background under the pretext that engineers had more opportunities and that i had a made a BIG mistake.the initial enthusiasm had gone and my spirits were shattered but my dream was still intact.with so many doubts and so much confusion in mind,in my final year of graduation i took my first CAT in 08 and scored just 91.18%ile.After this i did something right-i became active in PG.i wish to say that this is truly an amazing place full of kind,encouraging,helpful and inspirational people because of whom my confidence is back with a bang.i've been able to earn some really good friends who have injected a lot of positive energy into me and made me realise that regretting is nothing but a sheer waste of time.My CAT 09 prep is far more serious than my previous one and i've learnt to enjoy it.i feel it has completely transformed me.i am able to think faster,more logically and my attitude towards life and people has changed for the better.strangely nothing seems to bog me down these days.eventhough my parents see me as a loser which i'm definitely not,i'm not under pressure.in fact i'm more determined than ever to achieve my MBA dream this year and i will do whatever best i can in those 135 mins.
Just remember
IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO REDEEM YOURSELF,U JUST HAVE TO REALISE YOUR MISTAKES AND TAKE CONCRETE,POSITIVE STEPS TO CORRECT YOURSELF.WINNING IS NOT IN YOUR HANDS BUT THE QUALITY OF YOUR PERFORMANCE CERTAINLY IS.BELIEVE IN YOURSELF SO FIRMLY THAT NOBODY OR NOTHING CAN BREAK YOUR WILL.NEVER HAVE REGRETS.A CAT NEVER WASTES TIME BROODING OVER SPILT MILK.
All the very best for your CAT exam.
regards
Manjushaa

[madnikhil]

First of all i am really very thankful to suhan for this really very important thread for us. As now the countdown has begun for CAT and many of the students has tightened there seat belts and had also crossed there fingers for the exam. i am saying both the things together because CAT is a mixture of both the hard work and luck, but it is very important to remember that luck doesn't work without hard work...

This thread is really very important for the people like me who have never felt the atmosphere of taking CAT before and are taking it for the first time.. i have gone through all the post written before and found it very interesting but most importantly very useful as told by Bmr, naga25french, divishth and others also..

These 135 mins are really very important for me as my complete future depends upon these 135 mins.. These 135 mins of exam are in our hand and now we only have to decide what we gonna do in this time either take the exam under pressure and ruin the exam or take it with the cool mind and give our best shot... it is very much clear that paper wont be good if taken under pressure..And also i feel that it is not that tough to crack any exam.. I feel that cracking any exam depends upon the hunger we have for that exam..if u have hunger u will definetly suceed in life and nobody can stop u.. that is why it is always said we own are ressponsible for all the things that happened to us..

And i am the DOG which is extremely hungry to eat the CAT..
ALL THE BEST to all the CAT takers..
thanks..

[uddalak]

This is what i am here to write " MY PERCEPTION AND VIEW POINT" .The perception that u will have to see my perception and view point may be
somewhat diverse but i think perception is one of the most important factors
that determine a persons rise or fall in life . Now a days most of the people look at their lives from a very ambitious viewpoint.Everybody wants to be no 1.But the space at the top is limited and often they slump into utter frustration and end up ruined in life. I have done many things in life which may at that point in life seemed very logical but later on when those actions have been performed i find that they were not the most sound decisions.One such decision that i had taken was to live NIT JAMSHEDPUR which i guess time has already proved it to be wrong one.One of the objectives of why i am writing this very article is to make the readers aware how that decision did affect my carrier and myself as person in particular.At one point of time especially after my class 12 i used to be a very ambitious student . I was a IIT staunch . Irrespective of whether i had the potensial or not i had always been attimes ratiocinate to try for the highest high echleons of success and knowledge .Perhaps i was driven by the irressitible desire to be at the top which many of peers also had.I took many decisions based on their interest and times just to see me appreciated by them.Most of the decisions i had taken backfired.IT was my viewpoint that ultimately did me in. I was one of the very few (top 3 ) from my school to get selected in nit's im the very first attempt and also in a serious of other medical and engg exams but could not reach the prestigious iits. I joined NIT JAMSHEDPUR appeared in papers there and appeared in Aieee again to find myself in NIT raipur in COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGG. i DONOT want to laugh at me because many else did also share my fate. Like in nit raipur i found a few people who were selected in Bits pilani too last year to be had to settle for nit raipur.IT lessened my pain and as time went i became part of nit RR FAMILY.Truth to tell Nit raipur is not that bad a college it may not be in the same league as iits or top nits (NIT TRICHI,SURATKAL,WARANGAL,CALICUT)BUT STILL it is definitely worthwhile and made a steady growth. But what i found with me was that i had over the 4 years of engineer owing to frustration or due to pain over losing out on my goals ....... slowly but gradually eaten into myself and my abilities are starting to degenerate due to underpractice,my overall attitude has also plummeted and now i seldom try from the core of my heart , i donot find interest in many things , i am ready to make do with bare minimums ,i have lost the respect i once had and slowly but gradually begun to slow down and want a silent life now .A life which is more fulfilling . Yes i got a lot of people as friends i am indebt to them and can die for them anytime.I love and got them in return for all the loses and now i am happy and perhaps fullfilled .I have learned to live life in the darkness now.

---- from the above true to life feelings and the jeorney you can very well understand that it is important to win and keep winning once the spot light shifts you feel agony pain desolation and leads u to land knowwhere to an existence in dreams.From the story of mine i hope you will take your lessons and never get driven by wrong notions and beguiling perception and viewpoints.God bless bye.

[silent_assassin]

people havent been posting on here much...go ahead people