Hi , loggin onto Pagalguy after nearly a couplke of years.......

My 2 cents:

DOING THE RIGHT THINGS and DOING THINGS RIGHT

PRE CAT
No more BRMs.

Play around with numbers only every second now on marketplace, house, office, canteen etc etc.

By now, you should know where your strengths lay ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY, MENSURATION, MODERN MATHS, NUMBERS etc. Try attempting these questions only in first priority for the remaining Full length tests.

If you know stress relieving exercises, YOGA etc, DO them. Dont overwork yourself.

Practice the OMR sheet twice. Take Xerox from the CAT bulletin.

Be careful with conversions (e.g. lakh to millions, miles to kms), tables, squares, cubes and reciprocals.

Sleep well the last night, at least 8 hrs. However dont disturb your rhythm.
Ask relatives not to call at night. Switch off the mobile.

Relax; roam but NO MOVIES, MUSIC. If you insist - instrumental music only.

Take the necessary ammunition pencils, erasers, sharpeners, toilet soaps, handkerchiefs etc in good quantity.

Go around 9:40 AM (Aim to reach around 9:30)
o Going late is dangerous for obvious reasons.
o Going early could damage your psyche as there will be wannabe toppers singing hymns for their top scores.
o If someone comes and says Ive got 70 in a SIMCAT, tell them that you just could manage only 75 yourself. Will give you a definite ego-boost.

DO with whatever seat/environment you have got.

10:15 10:25 is a very crucial time. Read instructions very carefully, preferably twice at least. REMEMBER, there is no pattern. Its only a structure of questions





THE CAT
First 2 minutes to be spent in
o reading the paper,
o gauging the difficulty,
o making a flexible strategy
o saying to yourself I CAN DO IT , I WILL DO IT,
o circling the E(easy) and M( Manageable) questions,
o Hence remember, exam is not of 2 hours but actually around 1 hr 50 mins or so.

Preferably start with your strongest section first.

You need not go 1 2 3 - 4 .50.

Try solving sets of questions, if you are comfortable with the concept.

You need to definitely go for 1-2 liners.

Selecting questions will separate the men from the boys
o There will be sitting ducks. You have to shoot them and not the flying cranes.
o Sitters are mostly at the middle.

Dont take too much space for rough work for any given questions.
o Use space judiciously
o Start using only your question booklet for rough work from now onwards.

Remember; DO go through the options first.
o Intelligent guessing will pay rich dividends.
o If two options are pretty close, one of them is probably the correct answer. Substitute and find out the correct one.

Dont continuously keep watching the clock/watch. Keep a countdown watch preferably.

Dont keep looking here and there. There will be sound distractions.

Know your EXIT TIME, that is the time which if exceeded, you should move on to another question.
o Put a question mark and come back, time permitting.
o Dont allow mind to wander to earlier unsolved questions.
o Dont let EGO come in the picture.Remember, CAT does not go perfectly for most. You are supposed to be the first among equals.

"Let not the results control your attitude; rather let your attitude control your results?"

:whatthat:

MOTIVATIONAL THOUGHTS:

Howard Whitman said, "Success is no straitjacket. It is no mold into which all must be poured. It is no rigid stamp. It is as individual as our fingerprints or the look in our eyes. All we need is the courage to be - and realize - ourselves." What a truly powerful reminder that thought is of how important each one of us is in the universe.

With the competitiveness that we all deal with every day in our fast-paced society, it is too easy to feel inferior when you compare yourself with someone else. Yet the truth of the matter is that we should never compare ourselves with other people. The only person you should be competing with is yourself. Do YOU feel fulfilled? Do YOU feel successful? Do YOU enjoy your life no matter how much money you have or don't have?

Life tends to be a series of moving two steps forward and one step back. There will always be challenges to face no matter what stage of your life you are experiencing right now.

"Success in life comes not from holding a good hand but in playing a poor hand well."

When you allow yourself to think of the thirty-five tasks you have to do instead of focusing on just one, you simply cannot get anything done. Your mind is
like a mirror ball going in a hundred different directions except for in the direction you want and need it to go. This is when you need to stop and mentally make a firm choice to just focus on one thing at a time

Stop beating yourself up for the past. No matter how painful it was or how poor of a decision you made, if you do not let go of it your life will be in the bondage of unnecessary emotional baggage. Everyone has made mistakes, some more severe than others, but learn from the mistakes and move on. However, it is important that you do not casually shrug off your indiscretions as meaningless. Realize what was not right so you can correct it in the future along with helping others to avoid
the same mistakes.


GAURAV KATHOTIA
(the original author of GAURAV's Section Sticky Notes)
XLRI Batch of 2003-05

Summers over.....here's an official look at the numbers and statistics. "pretty self-explanatory " as one of the professors at XLRI would put it.


XLRI JAMSHEDPUR


PRESS RELEASE ALL INDIA

Highlights:FMCG Sector picks up 30% of the batch
Number of Consultancy offers goes up by 67%
IBM emerges as biggest recruiter taking 13; HLL and ICICI Bank are next with 11 each

The Placement Committee of XLRI added another feather to its cap as the Summer Internship Process was completed successfully with the batch being placed over the very first weekend of summer placements. After a hugely successful Final Placement for the batch of 2004, the confidence that the Corporate world reposes on XLRI was reinforced, with students securing summer internships in the finest names. By consensus, this was rated as one of the best Summer Placements in recent memory. The batch of 2006 has 189 students 126 in Business Management and 63 in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations.

The biggest recruiter was IBM, which picked up 13 candidates; this was closely followed by HLL and ICICI Bank, which recruited 11 each and BPCL with 9. The FMCG Sector comprising Arvind Brands, Asian Paints, Cadbury, Castrol, Coke, Colgate Palmolive, Gillette, Godrej, HLL, ICI, ITC, Pepsi, Reckitt Benckiser, Seagrams and Titan was the top recruiter picking up 54 students (30% of the batch). In sync with the boom witnessed by the economy, the process saw bulk recruitments in the sector - HLL picked 11 students, while ITC and Gillette took 7 and 6 respectively. The Pharma industry was represented by Dr Reddys Laboratories and Ranbaxy.
The number of offers accepted from Consulting firms - which included Accenture, Ernst & Young, Hay Group, Hewitt, Mercer and PwC went up by a whopping 67% compared to last year.

The IT/ITES Sector accounted for 22% of the batch, with 37 accepted offers from Cognizant Technology Solutions, EXL Services, IBM, NSE-IT, TCS, Texas Instruments, WeP and Wipro. The Core Sector picked the next highest numbers with 36 offers made in all by Aditya Birla Group, BPCL, Murugappa Group, Shree Cements, TAS and Tata Motors.

19% of the batch was picked up by Banks and Financial Institutions (BFI): after ICICI Bank, the next highest numbers in this sector were from GE, which took 8 and Citibank with 6. The sector also comprised ABN Amro, AIG, ICICI Prudential, SBI, Standard Chartered and UTI Bank. Major recruiters from the Core sector like Murugappa, TAS, Aditya Birla Group saw 13 offers being accepted.

In all, there were 45 companies participating in the process. The highest stipend offered was Rs 64,000 by Hay Group, the international consulting firm, which was on campus for the first time. XLRI welcomed first-time participants in Arvind Brands, CRY, Ranbaxy and Shree Cements. Cadbury India and Titan returned to Campus after a short break.

Technology played a major role in the placements this year with companies such as Cadbury making use of Video Conferencing for recruitment. A number of Companies also used the integrated Online Placement System for various stages of their recruitment process: it may be noted that XLRI was among the first B-Schools to take the Process online early this year.

The Placement Coordinator, Dr Sabyasachi Sengupta expressed his pleasure commenting, The positive response from companies this year is heartening: this is evident from the growing number of Companies visiting XLRI with every Placement session. The enthusiasm of Companies also strikes an optimistic note for the Final Placements scheduled this February.

Harshvardhan Ratanpal Singh, Secretary, Placement Committee of XLRI summed up Summers 2005 saying, The summer recruitment for this year has been marked by heavy recruitments by our regular recruiters, and increased participation by companies in the Consulting and FMCG sectors. This is an indication of the belief corporates have in the unique talent being groomed at XLRI, and a reaffirmation of the highly rigorous selection process of XLRI with a selection ratio of 1:158.
The Sectoral Breakup is as follows:

For more details, please contact:
Harshvardhan Ratanpal Singh or Irwin Preet Singh
Placement Committee, XLRI Jamshedpur
Phone: 0 94311 80592, 0 94313 72959
E-Mail: placement@xlri.ac.in


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

All said and done, it was a nice feeling to see all the juniors getting placed so early and more so when they get some of the best of jobs.

Keep your comments and queries pouring in. And start preparing for XAT 2005.

Ciao
Gaurav

Hey Bingo

Nice to hear from you . Though i have not been much active in this forum.,.i do visit sometimes. I have also been posting threads relevant to some XLRI issues.

Met Bharath a couple of days ago in the XL-IIMC meet and boy did he render " O Humdum suniyo re" in Gusto. Good voice! I won the Table tennis match but we lost the TT event. The best thing however was that we drubbed IIMC 13-8 altogether and the partying hasn't stopped yet.

Regards
Gaurav

Has anyone got a clue to this question?

Monte Carlo Game and Bayesian Probability.


You must be aware of the Monte Carlo Game or its Hindi equivalent the Khulja SimSim. Briefly, a player faces three doors and behind any one of the doors is a treasure. The player has to choose a door and if the choice is correct the treasure is the players; if not player loses nothing.

The host knows exactly where the treasure is. The routine is that when the player chooses a door, the host either opens the chosen door or prolongs the game. If the host chooses to open the door then whatever is behind the door is the players gain. It may or may not have the treasure. The game stops.

But usually the host will prolong the game. The host will prolong so by opening any one of the other two (un-chosen) doors. The door opened by the host will always be the one that does not have the treasure. The host then will offer the player to shift the choice. For e.g. consider a player having chosen door A; the host may prolong the game by opening door B (that the host knows not to have the treasure) and the host will offer to the player the choice of shifting from A to C.

Please note that regardless of the fact that the first choice of the player is right or wrong (e.g. A in this case has or has not the treasure), the host may prolong the game by opening a door that does not have the treasure and offer the player a chance to shift.

The question is what should the player do? Should the player retain the original choice A or shift to C?

The answer of course is that the player should shift every time an offer is made. The reason lies in using Bayesian Probability Theorem.

Prove that the player should switch by using Bayesian Probability Theorem.


Waiting for answers....

Gk

XLRI beats shell-shocked IIM Calcutta in 33rd Annual Clash of two traditions

The Only Sporting event of its kind in Indian B-School Circuit Concludes with Comprehensive win for XLRI by 13 8 margin

Congratulatory messages continue to stream in from Alumni across the Corporate world

XLRI IIM C MEET: THE HISTORY
In the early 1970s, the students of the two Schools felt the need for a lasting relationship that would facilitate an exchange of ideas and thoughts and also to have some fun. Though the institutions were separated by only a few hundred kilometers, there was hardly any meeting between them prior to that.
So, they planned an annual rendezvous wherein they would participate in academic seminars, presentations and some sports over a weekend in winter. Over the years, as new generations entered the portals of both Institutions, the raison d'tre behind the meet - exchange of ideas, thoughts, etc. - started tilting more towards another arena, which forms the mainstay today: what was originally included along the sidelines to generate interest and have fun - sports - started taking centre stage.
Now, every year in September or October, the students of the two Institutes meet at either of the Campuses in what has been dubbed the "mother of all sports meets". The venue alternates between Jamshedpur and Calcutta.


This was supposed to be a cakewalk. What happened? The IIM Calcutta Contingent was left shell-shocked after the two day battle for the coveted Tata Tinplate 33rd Annual XLRI IIM Calcutta Trophy drew to a close. XLRI convincingly claimed the trophy by beating the IIMCians 13-8.

We knew we could win the trophy the moment we won the cricket match against all odds. In true India-Pakistan style, the match had a nail biting finish with XLRI having to score 3 runs in the final 2 balls, which attitude-wielding batsman, G. Harikrishnan wound up with a stylish 4 off the last ball . The defining moment was winning the badminton match against them, which had Vijay Lancy, a player who represented India in the international arena. The extremely competitive Mens Badminton match saw a tough fight. The result was a tie in the singles round, with people waiting eagerly to see the result of the deciding doubles match scheduled for the following day, which swung in XLRIs favour: the tie break Badminton match saw XLRI winning the final set.

The campus was charged right from the moment the IIMCians landed at XLRI. The first event was womens throw ball, which was won by the XLers, and within no time XLRI won four events, and the trend set at 4-0 in favour of the XLers; things were looking very rosy indeed. But IIMC fought back, and levelled the scores by the end of the first day, which set up the stage for a crucial day two.

The deciding factor of the meet was the girls events. Our women played really well. Also, XLers offered tremendous crowd support, turning out in large numbers to cheer players irrespective of the time of the day. In Mens and Womens tennis, Squash and Chess, the honors were equally distributed with the IIMCians winning both the tennis categories and XLRI taking the points for Chess and Squash.

The IIMCians took the points for the Men and Womens table tennis, while XLers stole the show winning all categories in Athletics. The Men and Womens Volleyball matches that followed, though, saw the IIMCians win by a huge margin. The scores stood precariously at 7-6 now, in IIM Cs favour. The victory for them was short lived though, with XLers winning consecutive events Bridge, Carrom, Football (2-0), XLRIs homegrown Frisball and both Mens and Womens Basketball events later.
Its 33 years.

XLRI stamped its authority on the meet by beating IIM C over the whole range of events, from intellectual sports like chess and bridge, to traditional physical sports like football, basketball and cricket. And this in spite of having a much smaller batch size and far fewer sports facilities than IIM C, thus proving that quality beats quantity.

In true traditional style later that night, the two rivals put up a Rock Show and the Prize distribution ceremony was held with XLRI taking home trophy. The guests bid adieu to XLRI in the wee hours, extending invitations for the meet which is to happen next year at Kolkata, and promising to avenge the heavy defeat suffered this year. Awards were also given to the best sportsperson from both teams (Atul Mehta of IIMC and Vikram Dani of XLRI), based on their contribution throughout the meet.

The sponsor for the event was The Tinplate Company of India, headed by Mr. Bhushen Raina, an alumnus of XLRI and also the National Head of the alumni network.



Once news of the comprehensive win spread among XLRI Alumni through the numerous Yahoo groups on Monday morning, there was widespread jubilation across corporate offices. Congratulatory messages continue to come in for the feat; in fact, alumni have also written demanding commemorative T Shirts as special souvenirs. Suffice to say how closely they identify with the meet.

Whatever be the end results, the meet ended up commemorating the universal spirit of sportswith many friends being made and enemies being won.

Yours truly won the Table tennis match once again but lost the event as a whole.

Regards
Gaurav Kathotia

Hey Guys


The registration is at www.xlri.ac.in/xpress and not www.xlri.ac.in/xpress.
Please ignore the dot after the website URL in the later one.


Sorry for the typo

Regards
Gaurav

Hi Friends/Folks/MBA wannabes

Tired only of cramming concepts,shortcuts, formulae for CAT,XAT and the like?
Looking to unleash the real you?
Want to participate in an event that is designed and meant especially for you?
Want an win and mention it as your conquest in your CV?
Want to impress the B-school interviewers about this feat of yours?
.......
.......

Interested? Then read on.....else be left out!


The External Linkages Cell of XLRI is to host an Online event exclusively
for Under-graduate students, christened Xpress. Xpress is the first and only
one of its kind in the Management School Circuit of the Country.Although it
is in its third year opf inception only, it has been an instant hit with the
undergraduates judging by the quality and number of entries of the previous
years The Online game has been scheduled from September 25 to 30.

This year, Xpress has been revamped to an online format.
Registrations for the event are now open on www.xlri.ac.in/xpress.

The event has been designed with three rounds, spread out over a span of six days starting September 25. The last date for Xpress would be September 30.

Stage One: Welcome to the Jungle
This is where one takes the first steps as a greenhorn management trainee. A panoply of short quizzes, crosswords, puzzles and the like are in the offing at this round.

Stage Two: It's getting hot in here!
This round will test basic business awareness, reasoning techniques, creativity all garnished with a liberal dose of fun. This round will include Brain teasers, Ad games, Caption Writing, Comic Strips, and other such exotica, all with a business twist.

Stage Three: The Last Mile
This round will throw open an interactive and challenging Business Situation which contestants would have to tackle with lan and flourish as a manager. Real life situations would be simulated to get contestants thinking.

Team Composition
The teams could have a maximum of three members each. Any number of teams could participate from each College.


What the Game Demands
But, in case the three rounds stated above seem high-sounding, the Xpress team has these re-assuring words. To quote Tanay Mishra, Coordinator, Xpress: All that the game demands of you is expertise in typing the right words in the right place in that divine engine called GOOGLE; a sense of humor; some creative thinking and a little common sense.

The event would be judged by a panel of eminent Professors of XLRI and Executive Members of the External Linkages Cell, the Media and Brand Management Cell of XLRI.

The Prize
The top teams of Xpress would be treated to an all-expense paid trip to XLRI Jamshedpur for XLRIs annual B-School Fest, Ensemble. The teams will also get an opportunity to take part in select events in Ensemble and rub shoulders with students from other premier B-Schools across the Country and renowned Professors of XLRI. This mega trip would be in addition to certificates and cash awards.

More Details
For more details, one could mail exlink@xlri.ac.in or call Tanay Mishra at 0 98353 65500 or Pradeep Ramarathnam at 0 98353 70627.


Important Dates:
Registration for Xpress opens September 5
Online GameSeptember 25 to 30

Last year, Xpress had a tremendous response of about 500 teams from across the nation from places as far apart as Coimbatore, New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Imphal. This year, with the revamped format, Team Xpress has set an aggressive growth target of 200% and is confident of crossing the number.

Please let me know if you would like to have more details on the same at exlink@xlri.ac.in

Thanking you,

With warm regards,

Gaurav Kathotia
Senior Executive
External Linkages Cell
XLRI Jamshedpur

Phone Number: 0 94311 80718
E Mail: gauravk.05@astra.xlri.ac.in, exlink@xlri.ac.in

Web: www.xlri.ac.in
Blog: http://xlri.blogspot.com

From an XLER perspective , let me recount the pros and cons of XLRI:

(1) If u r an HR wannabe , don't even look any further.
(2) One of the best alumni networking across the top notch B-schools. Does anybody differ with me here?
(3) A place where you don't just become a manager..you develop contacts, life long friends..you know all your batchmates' name by heart
(4) A place where traditions and modern values co-exist. No more of this here.....that's only for the wannabe Xlers.
(5) A place which has 50 years of unparalleled brand equity,image and credibility.
Don't believe me ..ask the corporates who come in flocks to a place not well connected by rail , not a metropolitan setting and a place which has an erstwhile state legacy attached to it( no offence intended).XLRI is not just another B-school...count my word for it
As for the cons..are there any??? That's for some other time.

Ciao
Gaurav Kathotia
2nd year PGDBM
XLRI Jamshedpur

Guys..here's a piece of insider info...results should be out either sometime by 24 March..else latest by April 1...that's aas close to the truth as you would get!!! Will keep you posted on new developments

Gaurav

Hi Guys

I request you to spare a few minutes of your precious time and fill up our questionnaire that forms a part of our marketing project survey and email them back to me at the earliest.

Thanking you in anticipation

Gaurav Kathotia
BMA Roll 18
XLRI Batch of 2003-05