[writetotanveer]

PG! PG!
Chaahe koyi mujhe PAGAL kahe,
Kehne do jee kehta rahe
Hum Posts ke toofaanon mein ghire hai,
Hum kya kare
Chaahe koyi mujhe pagal kahe

PG! PG!
Mere thread mein bhi posts hai,
hai mere bhi kuch yaar yehaan,
IIMs mujhe akela na samjho,
main hoon aakhir PAGAL insaan
Raah meri wohi jiss pe pagal chale,
Chaahe koyi mujhe pagal kahe,
kehne do jee kehta rahe
Hum SB ke toofaanon mein ghire hain,
hum kya kare

Chaahe koyi mujhe pagal kahe
PG! PG!

(With apologies to the creators of the original song!!!)

In a mad world, only the mad are sane. ~ Akira Kurosawa

I came across PG by chance but stayed on by design. Was surfing the net for that other evergreen “PG”…. Wodehouse and good old Google picked me up on its waves and deposited me on the shores of PG aka Pagalguy.com


Insanity doesn't run in my family. It gallops. ~ Cary Grant

At first I was intrigued! It would take guts to bet on a name like that especially if you hope to one day make your dream become a reasonably sound and viable commercial proposition!!! But yes… it was an enterprise worthy of the GODS!!!


I suppose it is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts. ~ G.B. Burgin

I was working and married and pushing 28. Sometimes possibly, in that lonely corner of the mind where we hide our most private thoughts, I would dream of doing an MBA but as soon as the harsh sunlight of reality fell on that corner all the hopes and dreams would evaporate. And then I came across Arun sir. Just one of the plethora of inspirational people on PG. And I realized that I was the in the company of a valiant tribe. Whose courage knew no bounds…

Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet Prince of Denmark
(Polonius at II, ii)

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-new-post.html

Even as I write this more than 91,503 people have viewed this thread. Just reading this one thread changed my life and I realized that my future was in my hands and I could shape my destiny the way I wanted it to..

Immediately I went to the Introductions thread and made my first post

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai.
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai
Waqt aanay dey bata denge tujhe aye aasman,
Hum abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil mein hai
Khainch kar layee hai sab ko qatl hone ki ummeed,
Aashiqon ka aaj jumghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai.


Dil mein tuufaanon ki toli aur nason mein inquilaab,
Hosh dushman ke udaa denge humein roko na aaj.
Duur reh paaye jo humse dam kahaan manzil mein hai,
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai.
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazuay qaatil mein hai.


There is a pleasure, sure,
In being mad, which none but madmen know!
- John Dryden, Spanish Friar (act II, st. 1)


After that it has been a fabulous journey and there is never an occasion when I visit the net without visiting my beloved PG!!! Whether it is for information in the CAT discussion section or to pick up material in Prep Resources or just to unwind in the Chit-Chat corner.

Then I attended a couple of PG meets, put faces to the ids and marveled at how lively and fun-loving bunch of people were there on the forums. Made some great friends Bugs, Bertie Wooster, Mahip (Who incidentally worked in the same organization as me but it took PG to bring us together!!)

Only the insane take themselves seriously.
- Max Beerbohm

But over the last few months on PG I have also realized that it symbolizes exactly what a society is like. Every society needs a maverick, to plant the seed, to take the plunge. Every society will need the mods to maintain decorum and order. Every society will require dollops of inspiration, tons of hard work, and outlet for relaxation. That- sure it is great to receive… but –Yes!!! it is an equally great feeling to give back. This complete package makes PG what it is today and brings users back to it again and again.

Sometimes it is a huge privilege just to be part of a dream and we at PG have been lucky in that regard!!!

Some are born mad. Some remain so.
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

[fringant]

well,what does pg mean to me...this indeed is a topic on which if i start i can go on and on and on...

now here's an interesting story as to how i came to know about pagal guy....i googled mba in us without 16 years of education and following a link i landed into pg....the aspirations to do an mba from us had vanished and instead in the next 15 days i had become a serious cat aspirant....

i was a cat virgin and used to ask questions about it to my friends who taken it a year ago and they used to look disbeleivingly at me me as if i am from another planet....it was then that i joined pg as a full fledged member and put forth my basic queries without being looked down upon as a lout....come the season of mock cats and since i was taking ims simcats the threads on simcat used to be the biggest motivation to perform....after giving the simcats i used to literally rush home to either open a thread on simcat or to gauge my performance....within 2 simcats i had made out that pg was a community of the most brilliant minds taking the cat and i figured out that even if i managed to do well than half of the puys it was a battle won because to put it mildly the puys always phodoed the simcats,or any bloody mock cat or any entrance which exists under the sun....

then came the time for putting queries to the seniors of the colleges where i started applying and all those threads started being added to my favorites...infact i have so many favorite thread from pg that it is becoming more and more difficult to find my thread even among the favorites...your queries are always answered so promptly that it feels wonderful....

the best thing on pg is the spirit of all the pagal's....all of us indeed are pagal..because i have never seen such camarederie on any online community...everybody wants to help a newbie or a distressed person and they infact go at great lengths to do so...i am discovering the same spirit within me and it feels wonderful....it's like one wants to give back the pg community what one has gained from it...

i shifted from jameshedpur to kolkata 7 months back and since i have no friends here there are just three things which keep me going....
my passion for mba
my work
and most importantly pg.....there has not been a single day in the last 4 months where i have not spent atleast 1/2 hour at pg...in a very difficult and lonely phase of my life pg has proved to be a very trustworthy,patient and a good listener....all the qualities which make it the best friend a guy can have....
i know that the chances of me making it to a good b-schhol this year are 50-50....but one thing about which i am 100 percent sure is that if i dont make it this year there will be a lac pagals consoling me and urging me to try harder the next time and if i make it i will have a lac pagals celebrating with me...
thank you PG....!!!!!!

[BLUFFMASTER!!!]

First of all ...I dont expect to wint the contest....so dont waste ur precious vote on me ! The Reason I am writing this is because PAGALGUY truely means something to me.

I dont remember when I joined PG. (This is ma 2nd account ) What I remember was that when I was preparing for MBA Exams like CAT I got a lot from it. What I remember was that I made friends...Friends who I have never even met...but it seems as if we have been friends for ever. What I remember was that I realised that CAT was not about me competing with a bunch of people in my city and trying to be the "Smart Guy" by being the Top among them...but it is a much bigger thing and PG set the stage where you can actually see where u stand. U can compare with people all over india. U interact with people having similar Goal and Dreams. It is THE PLACE to be.

What I remember is the lovely Time I had in SHOUTBOX. For me it was everything. I was there 24*7. Top Shouter for a long long time. Made a bunch of friends who i will never forget in my whole life. They r the best friends I have. I have so many daughters here and I am still in search of their mother. But i know ..One day I will give the children their Mother. And that moment is going to be a "Kodak Moment" ~!!!

Now I am away .... in Texas ...but i know I can never go away from PG and SB. I will always be there ...may not b much involved in the MBA Stuff. But I will be more than Happy to keep an attachment with PG whole my life. This is one of the better things that has happened to me and i will never let it go.

Just to remind u....
"Gaajar Joos" by "Buggy n Bluffy" ~ The Official Sponser of PG.
Keep Bugging .... Keep Bluffing...And keep Drinking Gaajar Joos ~!!!

Love U all ~!!!


PS> I dont

[DMA Controller]

What I feel about PG.

I joined PG a long time back when I was doing my 2nd year of engineering(with another ID). But that time I did not post much and I just subscribed to all the threads that I felt I could relate to. During the first few months I was just into sports threads. But then I saw threads like Neha's Fundu section, the materials thread by gaurav. This made me realise that this place has great stuff.

A little more exploration made me realise that this place had not only CAT related stuff but everything that relates to a college goer or a person who has started work(in a software company ). Not to forget threads to discuss current affairs, politics and in general things I werent interested in. Also the people who posted had such mature views and their knowledge of the subject was so deep that I had doubts in my mind as to where would i fit in amongs such great people.

Now that was the 'sensible' part of what I saw in PG during my first few months. Since the name of the forum is Pagalguy, it had to contain something insane!! There are so much emotions flowing everywhere. So many fights, so much controversies, Mods intervening, people getting banned.. All these added a lot to my PG experience. PG helped me in not only learning more about CAT but it helped me in becoming a better person overall. Total all-round development I would say.

The kinds of people that we get to meet here on PG are so many. You get many software professionals, freshers, people who are working after their MBA's. Not to forget all the B-schoolers. People from every good B school all over India. And the kind of help that is on offer on PG is simply unmatchable. How is it that in such a selfish and corrupt world, there are still people blessed with great hearts??(atleast on PG). The commitment with which people help each other on PG really touched me. There is something in PG that makes people better. Nowadays, people think twice before helping people they know but in PG everyone is offered help. All this is a part of entering the PG family. Thank you so much PG.

Then I started my CAT preparation. Started checking respective subject threads and this made me realise the kind of intensity with which people prepare for CAT. This motivated me to start being more committed to my CAT and I also started preparing well. After that a few more months passed and the time came to apply for various courses at various colleges. Automatically threads regarding the same were started and each college had a team of representatives waiting to help us. This being my first attempt at CAT, I got to know much more about the colleges and it helped me in making a decision as to where all I can apply. The inputs that were given by the college people were so useful and I got to know more than what was mentioned in their prospectus.

Checking the aimcat threads gave me a realistic view of things as I saw people getting great scores. At first I felt kind of discouraged once I saw the scores of people like Amit, Consti, Prahalad and many others(these people are too good). Then slowly and steadily I realised that most of the people who rank above me are also pagals. And in some cases only people with good scores post the same. I also was able to improve my scores slowly and steadily.

Then came CAT then CAT results. By this time I had realised that I had to be more involved with PG and this made me make my current ID and once again i had to become a newbie and go through the whole cycle again. With this new ID i started frequenting shoutbox and i went totally insane. I also distinctly remember being slapped by someone because I had asked them about some college cutoff .. I realised that there is a place for everything,even on PG!!

One more thing that I found special about PG was that even though every feature related to it has a few rules of its own, I have never once felt restricted in doing anything. There is a kind of thing that makes me express whatever I want and I dont have to worry much about others because I feel so much at home.

Thanks a lot PG.com, you have become an integral part of my life. Hoping to keep this going for a long time to come.

My regrets on PG.
1) I havent met any of you yet, I so want to meet you. So waiting for the Right Meet.
2) The time I wasted on my first ID, I should have posted more.
3) People like Consti not posting on PG.. please come back..


PS: I am not doing this for a Tee, however I would like to buy one. Whats the procedure?? Please PM me the reply.

I may be a Trainee Pagal now, but I will always be a 'Proud Pagal'

Three cheers to Rohit Sir for initiating the thread...

Cheers and love,
DMA Controller.

[BUGS BUNNY]

Is that it??
I thought this would be the thread which would witness the fastest growth ever :huh: 1,00,000 users and only one page ...ye achi baat nahi
Pleej post in your thoughts on PG. I mean you could be rewarded with a PG Tee to say the obvious fact i.e. PG is fantabulous . Aisa offer aur kahan milega?

-
Bugs

[vikram_k51]

Originally Posted by BUGS BUNNY

Is that it??
I thought this would be the thread which would witness the fastest growth ever :huh: 1,00,000 users and only one page ...ye achi baat nahi
Pleej post in your thoughts on PG. I mean you could be rewarded with a PG Tee to say the obvious fact i.e. PG is fantabulous . Aisa offer aur kahan milega?

-
Bugs

No wonder of 1.8 lac applicants only the 1 percentile...or so makes it ...finally:neutral:

P.S:No hidden implications...nd m not amongst the 1 percentile m talking of

[ankitg86]

I have no idea where to start..but will give it a shot nonetheless...
I have been almost what 8 months old here...what you might call a newbie or

Pagalguy when i mention it to my friends..to them it seems like a website where top grade nerds would do all kinds of tp activites..
but ask any MBA aspirant and you'll know what PG stands for...It's all about the people....People who have been there and done that!
Endless fundaas, myriads questions to solve and ofcourse countless strategies for cracking CAT or XAT or whatever caters to your taste...
and its not just about strategies...i remember one of the threads "Weirdest thing to happen during CAT"...
And who can forget the comparing of Mock Scores with your own fellow puys, and endless discussions on what is right and what is wrong!

The interaction with the seniors is what people crave for..people who are actually there!

Sometimes you dont do too well in exams..PG helped me raised my spirits as well..for all of those who had a bad result at CAt-06, threads like CAT-is it the end of the world, All i wanted to speak about CAT are must read!
There are people here who will make your failures bearable and will share your happiness like one of your own!

PG stands for the madness that is CAT and beyond!

one of a kind!

[prem_ravi]

The next immediate thing after I spend some time with my daughter in the evenings is switching on my comp to access my homepage, Pagalguy.com...Does this sounds weird..But it is the fact. Instead of what Pagalguy has meant to me, I would like to say What difference it had brought in me...Well, it was like a virtual class room experience, is this what I want to say..NO...

When I thought about CAT after some years, the first thing which struck me was " Come on, U R 30 now..Do u really know what a 30 yr old guy needs to do, its definetely not to think about competitive exams", But then those dreams were forcing me to go against my own inner conscious' voice. Then came a day, when I first heard PAGALGUY.COM from one of my friends...The first time I clicked PAGALGUY.COM was to just know how my contemperories are preparing...But never in my life I had thought that People do care for others in a competitive environment & here is a classic website where people are actually encouraging their Competitors.....

Not only that many a times,I have seen the IIM seniors coming up with timely suggestions which even the coaching institutes where people shell out 15-20K wont do that promptly.We Puys of 2006-2007 bow in front of the IIM seniors for the same.

The first PG meet at Bangalore...hah..It made me to actually forget my age & made me feel like sitting in a college cafeteria & chitchatting...It was the starting point of some important friendships of my life..Hmmm people may wonder , what friendship can it be when people are of different ages..But the underlying basis is same, we are all PUYS, which became the foundation...

Even during our Mock GDs now, being a PUY had definetely made me to stand different as I feel Iam more updated about current things in MBA world than many..Even I was cutting jokes at the way people were asking questions saying Definetely not a PUY (Like Definetely not a Chai drinker)

Thanks to Arun Sahib,Mufasa, Anarchy, Constantine, no_speed_limit, Baby, Krishanu, Prahalad85, vijay317, vineetnitd, whoisit, amrutesh, maxwriter, ashishyahoo, billibolimeow& soon (I would love to mention every PUYS name here) for just being a call away to help me...

Thanks for people choosing me in Underdog team & instilling that additional pressure to perform...

What ever it is ..If Iam in IIMA or not,Pagalguy.com will remain my homepage & I will be at the service of the next generation Puys to come in..I wish All the Best for the growth of Pagalguy.com & Iam very sure after 20 years my daughter who will be a puy by then (May be a newbie)is going to come & tell me " Dad, I dont want to join a coaching Institute for my MBA entrance as I get all the information from Pagalguy.com, were you a member of Pagalguy.com in those days?"....

[harshadk]

Hello !

What PG means to me..... hmmmm......... i doubt i am gonna be able to write decently........... just too many ideas floating around in my head....

I first heard about this site before my CAT 2005 attempt, in my coaching class. Unfortunately, the company that employed me believed that the internet is a terrible influence on its employees, and behaved like nothing of the sort existed. As a result, couldnt really check this place out properly....

The disaster called CAT 05 passed by quickly, and soon 2006 dawned. One fine day ( v v fine day ! ) i remembered that something of this sort existed, and decided to check it out. my first impression was that it was a decent sort of a place with a lot of people hanging around who had nothing to do . that changed very quickly when the MICA fiasco happened. i thought, wow, these guys are SOMETHING.

my first few months were spent just hanging around the threads, reading stuff. read the IIM call getters interview experiences, and dreamt about me being in their place. i kind of knew that it would only be a dream, CAT 05 had completely shattered my self-confidence, and the MICA call had convinced me that I'd never be able to have a successful GD / PI.

april soon turned to june, and i started realising the true worth of this place. here were tens of thousands of guys with the same dreams like mine, many of them having gone on and achieved them, many more in the same boat as me. the guys who had reached the other bank didnt hurry on ahead, but turned back to help us navigate through the choppy seas. here were people from the very best business schools in India following crazy schedules, and yet had time for us. they were the chosen few, the elite, and yet they guided us mere mortals, for the sake of helping and nothing more.

with june ending, my prep for CAT 2006 had to start. again, PG came to the rescue. which classes, when, how, why, all the questions were instantly answered. then the mocks started, and the over-confidence which had returned post cat 05 quickly disappeared. i realised that unless that i sobered down and got down to some hard work, there was not gonna be a hell of a chance for me. TIME can say anything they like about my percentiles, but i knew for sure that there were a HELL lot of guys who were way, way better than me in this game.

the weeks soon started flying by, and mock after mock was analysed to the death. the motivational levels were phenomenal, and helped me to keep mine up to a great extent. slowly but surely in these last few months, i'd got addicted. i just couldnt resist checking up this place 2-3 times a day.

in the week before CAT, i created a huge ruckus here. although it probably alienated me from the old-timers a fair bit, it made me realise in the coming weeks how amazing this place was. i realised that mahip was a pretty good mod. i might still not agree with some of his decisions and some of the crap that was dished out to me by some people in the next few days, but i understood the kind of effort that went into keeping this place sane.

then came CAT 06. a day which i will never quite forget in my life. to say that i was suicidal was to put it really mildly. all the coaching classes had written me off, giving me scores between 2 and 12 in VA. i found solace here. i must have reads hundreds of threads that night, looking for hope in unlikely places, something, anything that would give me a glimmer of hope, a ghost of a chance. i refreshed the cat 06 attempts, percentiles thread every few minutes, hoping someone would have keys which agreed with mine. for days i couldnt get off it, couldnt go to office, couldnt go out, couldnt do anything else. i just wanted someone to tell me i had a chance. by chance i stumbled upon last years thread where someone had posted that there were large discrepancies in last year's VA scores due to differences in keys. the glimmer of hope, the straw i was desperately searching for to clutch, i found in PG.

the next 6 weeks seemed to drag on and on and on. again, PG was there to help. then came result eve. it was like a party here. i never thought staying up for the results on 1st night would be so much fun. it was complete hysteria and chaos, yet the site didnt crash. the next day was even more amazing, and i couldnt stop myself from refreshing that damn home page every few minutes to check if anything had come up. later in the day, i fianlly decided to go out and meet up my study group.... couldnt bear the tension of checking whether anything had come up every few mins. within a few minutes of leaving my house, i called up my cousin to check PG if anything was up. he asked me what site this was, and why would they have the results. i said if there was nothing on PG, the results hadnt come out. an hour later, i tried again. he told me that the site wouldnt load. i told him to try again, and sure enough, it was there on the first page, 'CAT results out'. trust PG to come out with it ! rushed home, drove like a maniac. the IIM K site was down. but PG was to the rescue again ! the cat 06 keys file was on the pg server. that was all that i needed.... 1 agonizing minute later, the file was on my desktop. with trembling hands, i double clicked it, and scrolled down to the keys. first one was wrong. then correct. correct again ! wrong. correct ! and so on the game continued..... i did a final recheck and a count. 9 wrong and 9 correct. a score of 27 !!!!! that should give me a percentile in the early nineties...... enough for a few calls ! holy crap !

then came the agonizing wait till i could confirm my scores. the K site was down. trust PG to come to the rescue again ! someone had posted another site. checked my scores.... omg couldnt believe them ! before it could sink in, the A calls were out. checked the thread. people with 98.3 in ! people with 99.8 out ! omg ! clicked on the link, and for a change one server in the world other than PG decided to co-operate..... written on the page were the golden words.... 'you have been shortlisted, blah blah blah. No congrats and that sort of nonsense. trust A to come out with such a dry message ! my next post on PG was definitely the craziest one !

to me, PG was a lifeline when i needed it the most... post CAT 06. i may or may not make it to the IIMs, but i'll always remember the hope and optimism that PG kept alive in me in those dark weeks, when self-doubt threatened to destroy everything. maybe in the end it wouldnt have mattered, but for those 6 weeks, it did. and for that PG will always be a special place for me. i might not know the people here very well, but i still dont feel like an outsider. thats what rocks here !

just today, my gf asked me why i kept on harping about this place. before i could reply, she said 'oh, its ok, i guess you'll get off it in a few months after you get in somewhere....'. i gave her the look generally reserved for a person with rather limited mental capabilities, and just told her to keep hoping !

i think i should stop writing late at night. makes me way too emotional, and out comes bilge like this........

cheers,
Harshad

[fringant]

Originally Posted by prem_ravi

The next immediate thing after I spend some time with my daughter in the evenings is switching on my comp to access my homepage, Pagalguy.com...Does this sounds weird..But it is the fact. Instead of what Pagalguy has meant to me, I would like to say What difference it had brought in me...Well, it was like a virtual class room experience, is this what I want to say..NO...

When I thought about CAT after some years, the first thing which struck me was " Come on, U R 30 now..Do u really know what a 30 yr old guy needs to do, its definetely not to think about competitive exams", But then those dreams were forcing me to go against my own inner conscious' voice. Then came a day, when I first heard PAGALGUY.COM from one of my friends...The first time I clicked PAGALGUY.COM was to just know how my contemperories are preparing...But never in my life I had thought that People do care for others in a competitive environment & here is a classic website where people are actually encouraging their Competitors.....

Not only that many a times,I have seen the IIM seniors coming up with timely suggestions which even the coaching institutes where people shell out 15-20K wont do that promptly.We Puys of 2006-2007 bow in front of the IIM seniors for the same.

The first PG meet at Bangalore...hah..It made me to actually forget my age & made me feel like sitting in a college cafeteria & chitchatting...It was the starting point of some important friendships of my life..Hmmm people may wonder , what friendship can it be when people are of different ages..But the underlying basis is same, we are all PUYS, which became the foundation...

Even during our Mock GDs now, being a PUY had definetely made me to stand different as I feel Iam more updated about current things in MBA world than many..Even I was cutting jokes at the way people were asking questions saying Definetely not a PUY (Like Definetely not a Chai drinker)

Thanks to Arun Sahib,Mufasa, Anarchy, Constantine, no_speed_limit, Baby, Krishanu, Prahalad85, vijay317, vineetnitd, whoisit, amrutesh, maxwriter, ashishyahoo, billibolimeow& soon (I would love to mention every PUYS name here) for just being a call away to help me...

Thanks for people choosing me in Underdog team & instilling that additional pressure to perform...

What ever it is ..If Iam in IIMA or not,Pagalguy.com will remain my homepage & I will be at the service of the next generation Puys to come in..I wish All the Best for the growth of Pagalguy.com & Iam very sure after 20 years my daughter who will be a puy by then (May be a newbie)is going to come & tell me " Dad, I dont want to join a coaching Institute for my MBA entrance as I get all the information from Pagalguy.com, were you a member of Pagalguy.com in those days?"....

i am sorry mods if i am breaking the rules of this thread but after reading prem's post i just felt a simple thanks was not enough to appreciate his efforts and wanted to tell him in this thread itself how beautiful his experience of being a puy is and how simply and how in such a lucid manner without using heavy words he has described his journey on pg........

like pg,prem_ravi,you rock!!!!