Hi guys,

I want to donate my CAT prep material urgently. I'm from East Delhi (I stay at Mayur Vihar to be exact). Interested people can PM me and take before tonite as we r shifting 2moro morning... so it's really urgent

Movie : Midnight Cowboy(1969)

I chose to watch this movie as it was suggested by one of our profs in class . And as he rightly said, the movie is depressing, and leaves one with a paranoid feeling. I still wonder why Midnight Cowboy was slapped with an X rating. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards though, becoming the first and only X rated movie to win Best Picture(they used this for promoting the movie). John Schlesinger won Best Director, and Waldo Salt won Best Writing - Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Midnight Cowboy is all about one of the essential myths: The eager youth comes from the country to the city, and his simplicity and freshness are ground up in the urban jungle. Joe was a simple-no-ambition dishwashing Cowboy on the road to nowhere. In this small nothing town he might have been the top stud with women falling all over him. Realizing "the only one thing I ever been good for is loving" he concocts this nave idea that he's going to quit his job.

Joe Buck happens to meet Ratso(Rico or Rizzo), a person entirely outside his experience. Like a rat, he makes his own way in the city, hated, asking no favors, living the life he knows. The characters are very different yet they complement each other really well. The only reason being- there is no other way to turn.

Joe is very much a daydreamer. The film is constructed with a series of flashbacks and dream sequences that are triggered by as much as an incident reminding Joe of something "similar" that happened to him. Joe's biggest misstep is buying into the images and words he sees and hears. His worldview seems to have been formed through John Wayne's movies.

Midnight Cowboy is a movie that destroys myths and demonstrates the difficulty of trying to attain one's dreams. Joe's great misconception of media leads to broken dreams, promises, and hopes when Joe tries to live his version of the American dream. The film wastes no time in pointing out Joe's lack of intelligence, style, class, tact, quick thinking, brainpower and so on make him unable to succeed in a place he doesn't understand in the least.

Joe's encounter in the dark movie theater with the kid with hornrims was seriously damaged by Schlesinger's flashbacks,which I think, were a serious weakness in the movie. I can never be sure what went on with the girl in Texas, or what Joe's grandmother was up to, but that doesn't matter. Experiences like those in Joe's background should have produced a masochistic, impotent figure, which don't fit into Joe Buch as we see him.

In the end, Midnight Cowboy is a devastating movie and doesn't care about sending the audience home happy. As a whole though, the film is hardly all gloom and doom because the friendship between Joe & Ratso and sequences that show their dreams shed some light on even the darkest of circumstances. Even the concluding sequence is painful. As Joe and Ratso make their way to enjoy in Florida, Ratso passes away in the bus. The people know something serious has occured but they don't get much bothered and some old women are shown as doing makeup as they get ready to get down at Florida.

The movie reminded me of the innocent, innocuous village people's experiences once they step into a metro city and it really does give you a mental beating. All in all, a depressing movie filmed in a cutting edge style that shows even dreams with low expectations can have a high price.

Rating : 8/10

It has been my dream to post here in this thread. But i didn't know i would realise it this soon. I've learnt many things in life but here i'll just explain THE MOST important one. And the lesson is this - If you have an aim cherish it as if it were your baby.

UPBRINGING
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Born to a farmer based in Kerala who somehow managed to get a job in delhi and got settled there. None among his brothers/sisters were allowed to pursue education after 10th as it was of no use. But he didn't want the same to happen with me. In fact he was pretty much concerned about my education. My parents admitted me in a nearby school as we were outsiders in delhi n they were concerned about my security. The school was recognised only till 8th but they said by the time i would reach there it would get recognition till 10th. The school authorities kept delaying it even when i reached 10th. We were 9 students in that class(only 1 section). Needless to say my command in english was bad. Whatever command i had was due to my father's consistent requests to read the daily newspaper.

I was like a frog in a well until i joined maths tuition in 10th. I met some high standard people there e.g. from DPS and similar top schools. I craved to study in such schools. I knew i was missing something really BIG. Managed to get 73.8% with 95 in maths. Hence got into a decent school in noida for 11th(The reason why i mentioned maths score was because the cutoff required for this school was 80% as far as i remember. And it's only because of maths score that i got some consideration). Initially it was a culture shock but adjusted soon. Now i was thinking in a way in which a normal Delhi/NCR school going boy would think. It definitely wont be an exaggeration if i say i was clueless about future. So decided to concentrate on engineering entrance exams after 12th especially JEE. Didn't perform well there but got into a very good college in Kerala. First and second years went like a breeze.

CAT
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After one of my 4th sem university exams got over i met one senior. He was already placed with Siemens and had been preparing for CAT. Dont know why but that hit me. People in my college aren't THAT career oriented. But this guy was having a good career option and a good backup as well. Enquired with some other seniors and as expected not many had a sound knowledge about the exam. So talked to some of my friends in college and decided to join TIME Trivandrum in august. It was about 1.5 to 2 hours journey from our place. And we were a good amount of people so enjoyed a lot. Ultimately what happened was that i wasn't faring well anywhere. AIMCATS started and i scored close to 90s. I was hopeful and wanted to improve exam by exam. Exams in college arrived and I lost concentration in CAT. In between all this i had joined PG but didn't use it. Still the fire was not there. Appeared for only 3 exams CAT, XAT and JMET. Meanwhile my mock story was coming to a tragic end as my scores got lower and lower. The reason was simple. I didn't analyse my mocks. Just came out of exam hall checked the keys and count my score.. well thats all i sincerely did.

CAT'08 came and went. What i remember from that day is travelling with friends to Calicut which is about 10 hours from our place. I knew that I'm not gonna get IIM calls this year hence i was cool throughout the exam. Came out saw a movie and had a booze with friends.. forgot CAT. So much that the day before result we were playing FIFA throughout the night. On my way back to hostel one of my classmates asked me my result. I was shocked to hear that results were out. Even though i hadn't worked hard still i was curious to know the result. 95.71% it was. I was happy to say the least. applied to some colleges and appeared for their second rounds. Went alone to chennai and bangalore to attend those. Was a very good experience but not a positive one. Got a call from a college which i didn't join. I had an INFY job offer which i thought about joining. Didn't give a thought to appear again and follow the same rigorous procedure starting from filling the forms.

Final sem exams arrived and i was hitting PG regularly especially this very thread. Even during my university preps i couldn't resist myself from this site. I had read all posts in this thread by then. By now i felt i should 've done this before. But it wasn't the time to regret. Rather it was one to assure myself that one day i would be writing here.

SEASON 09
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BTech over and back home. Joined a test series after thinking a lot. Things went fine as i was able to chalk out a plan and work according to it. Thought of giving all the exams and skip the company's call. Suddenly everything looked gloomy due to my recent performances in mocks and was rethinking my decision. After a lot of advice from people from PG and other friends i had decided to join INFY. Had to convince parents as mother was alone at home. Quickly i completed all the formalities and landed in mysore thinking that i would prepare with all might for MBA exams.

And it wasn't the case. People were so busy that they hardly thought about doing anything apart from studying. And the fact that mysore campus was awesome and offered several facilities made things worse. I had in fact stopped writing mocks towards the end as training was getting hectic day after day.

IIFT exam day.. Went with one of my friends who knew bangalore and with whom i stayed the previous night. I still remember people studying in front of centre and we just smiled. We talked about anything but the exam. Whatever funny things we were talking about were still buzzing my ears just before the start of the exam. 5 minutes before the exam i prepared myself mentally to perform. Since i wasn't tensed i gave it a decent shot. Checked the keys and found i stood a chance. Forgot it.

Gave CAT on the second day of the window and had a feeling that i screwed it. Could never open PG from there as i thought it would be restricted but it wasn't. One
fine day i opened and saw IIFT results were out. NOW my hands trembled. Opened the pdf file and saw my name among the selected 1000 and was quite elated. Now it was time for real hard work as i knew i had to read a lot and sharpen my GK. Again i didn't have anyone to prepare with and people were so much immersed in training there were times i felt discouraged and to do exactly what they were doing.

I kept my composure and went to the GDPI with low expectations but confidently. My GD performance was average but PI was very good but overall I wasn't satisfied. Thanks to my hectic schedule i didn't even bother about it. Its good to be busy sometimes in life. In the meantime i couldn't write XAT as we had a very important exam(compre- for those who know) the next day. I had fared badly in CAT but again didn't spare time to think about it.

IIFT results were out one day and by not seeing my name in delhi list i was disappointed. I didn't bother about kolkata due to my ignorance about the waitlist movement. Got posted in bangalore. Came to know that i 've received an offer from iift kolkata. I thanked GOD for giving me one convert for this season. Checked PG that day and found out i had some chances of converting delhi. Felt great and started preparing mentally for this movement. The IIM waitlist had stopped moving or so i thought. Me and a friend who had cleared IMT G this season were going to join the test series next week when shockingly i received a mail from Mr.Gulati for delhi campus. Couldn't believe my eyes. I told my friends to read the mail and tell me whether it meant I had an IIFT-D call. I didn't confirm it until i called IIFT office the next day. The feeling is yet to sink in.

LESSONS
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i) During my CAT preparation it happened that I was about to get bogged down by people's comments. But then I started putting people in proper perspective. If you feel someone is discouraging you understand why is he/she saying that. What I ve always found is that they are not getting what they want in life(as they are not striving for it) hence their approach is negative. And it is definitely not to pull you down!(though it may look like)

ii) From being an introvert, shy guy with low confidence during my school days to someone who could initiate a discussion, speak confidently in interviews, I ve seen a mammoth change in me. It's nothing but the desire and prayers. It's all in the mind guys. If you desire something and if you give enough energy to your thought there's no reason why you won't get it (provided your cause is right).

iii) Think positively always. If my parents hadn't dreamt of this I might not have been here. Whatever tough times I ve had I never stopped dreaming.
Conclusion: If I can be here anyone with proper focus can.

"That which is necessary will inevitably take place"

Hey,
th best way out of this is u try and convince ur managers first that u need to join a premier institute and things like that, if that doesnt work out talk to ur HR partner or HR in charge of ur unit... keep climbing up the senior management ladder by talking to ur boss's boss until u dont see some action..but always be polite and act as though u need their help..dont be harsh and angry:nono:....sweet-talk ur way out!
the good news the higher up u go, the better ur chances get in getting the release since no sr manager wants to trouble u with further education... keep trying

Worst case, be ready to buy-out ur bond period, if u can.. but this rarely happens and i haven't heard anybody having to pay out for further education, ethically and morally it should be waived for u!

I am still in the same boat as u are (except the bond part):)... and things seem to be working out for me with this.. will let u know what i end up doing..in any case i will be joining IIFT on the 1st of July...

I had talked and pestered my senior manager talking in the most humble manner but he wouldn't agree. He is adamant that he'll release me only after 1 month. He says y not talk to the col authorities abt extending joinin to 15th july.

HR said there'll be bond n the letter wud reach my home in 8-12 weeks. But he said it's my wish to pay. In that case i wud get my work ex certi otherwise I wont. Now its all in my Senior PM's hands. He said he'l "look" for a replacement. Said-I'll try but dont count on me. 99% i wud release u in 1 month(notice period). Worse is that one cant take leaves in that period. So i cant join on 1st july(as i have to take a leave), come back here and complete the period.

I just had 8 months exp in this org(my first job). I dont want the relieving letter n workex certi. For IIFT's purpose I think I can show the salary slips.

One query: r we required to show tc on 1st?
They have mentioned some documents but havent specified

guys pls help

i got a mail from gulatiji on 15th abt transfer to delhi. Since the joining is on 1st july(short notice) my PM wont release me n im still under bond period.. wat to do? i ve to process other things like TC from my previous college as well...

pls help its urgent.. im absolutely confused

Im not able to open. Can anyone pls check mine. 223126 Pratheesh

seniors pls check mine too...reg no. 105563..TIA

Pratheesh

My centre:
2nd feb 9.00
Coffee Board
Bangalore

If this isn't called screwin up then wat is it...

DI: 2C,3W=3
VA:11C,5W=28
QA: 6C,3W=15

OA:19C,11W=46

A string of bad mocks and im feeling the lowest i ve ever felt....i want a break