The Flight of the Phoenix..

The day started early for me, not that I was nervous, but I was too exited to sleep. My parents turned up at 5:40 and it was time for me to bid farewell to Durai and hand over the house keys to him. It was decided that he would take care of the house and pay my bills.

I knew I was going to miss Dad and Mom but did not want to be an emotional freak and all that stuff. We reached right on time and were in fact at the airport 15 minutes before check in. I liked everything about travelling by plane.

I still remember, the way I used to go frenzy whenever I saw someone walking with a newspaper – the latest evening edition and a mineral water bottle usually a smaller one that is given in the flight and the tags hanging deliberately on the luggage as if they were some muse with price tags used for window dressing.

I always thought that the West was fascinating and for me a typical day would start with me walking in a overcoat with collars sniffing my ears and a leather bag in one hand and a Starbucks on the other hand with the latest edition of ‘The Guardian’ crumpled under the Arm.

I could see this happening, when all of a sudden, I felt something hot. It was Durai with a Cup of coffee that costed a whooping 25 bucks. There’s a poster stuck on the wall next to the cashier, it said…
‘All prices are inclusive of Taxes’.

The price you pay sometimes is not worth the catch. It was time for me to approach the baggage section and get my luggage checked in. I was taking the Emirates, and was in the beeline for Emirates check in and after 2 questions and three tags later I was relieved of my luggage leaving my hand luggage and me do all the talking. I was supposed to head to the immigration department in 10 minutes time. It was a point of no return. So I went back to dad and mom, assured them of calling them and patted Durai and Kumaran, my engineering pals farewell. I could sense my Mom wet her eyes, and could feel my heart sink in. I turned back and asserted my mom to take care of her health and dad to take his eye drops daily.

Two levels of Escalators later I was here being frisked by a Bihari guy with a metal detector. One thing you would never want to do in an Airport is not be yourself. It may attract unwarranted attention and indulge you in an impending doom. You know you are no Jason Bourne straight from an Espionage thriller that you can show a finger to the security and be out in the open.

Welcome to India guys, people are waiting to screw your plans. After half an hour on the net in the Airport lounge and a Sick samosa I was on the line for the terminal gate for Emirates - Boeing.

The flight was gigantic and majestic in its appearance. I could see a pretty gal in the line and already was guessing the probability of sitting next to her. Obviously my math was weak, as I was 10 rows behind her in the plane.

Before you enter the cockpit, you are allowed to pick free copies of newspaper dailies, one of the countries you are travelling from and one of the countries of your destination. As this flight was till Dubai, it made sense of me to collect the Khaleej times and the Hindu.

I could not help but my eyes did pop up when I caught two hostesses, one a Mexican and the other a Japanese. For the first time in life I could realise how lucky these cabin crew guys where …Having fun on the job…Will take this example in future in any of my management training events…Having fun at Work…The Emirates Way …By noted Management Guru – Raghu

At 9:30 my time I was hypnotized by a sweet lady to fasten my seatbelts, when the flight commander greeted us and informed us that we were about to fly at 38,000 feet and would reach Dubai by 12:30 pm. I was already thinking of the flight being hijacked and me stranded in a runaway with the Mexican…

The next 16 hours I could sense how inevitable it was for me to be patient and alert as I did experience, mayhem, fear and awe at Dubai Airport – a marvel of sorts.

Dubai robbed me of 177 pounds with which I brought a Digital Camera, as I thought it was sinful to go to UK without a camera.

After 2 irritating hours and a long walk I was on my maiden flight to Heathrow – London. A different time zone, a different weather and an alien place was open to me…My solace was that Vandana, my colleague and friend was already in UK for the past one month and her presence there was enough to pep me up.


The flight of the phoenix ended with me landing at Heathrow at 17:00 hours GMT.

I set foot on a foreign soil. The one small step, a giant leap to Turret House.

Will Post ……Till then you be all right.

Who Is Anthony?

Anthony Kaun Hain? Yes, this was the name of the flick i managed to squeeze in a busy day. For the first time in 3 weeks, i traded my laundry job for this comic craper thriller based in thailand. The day started late, with me getting up to the ringing door bell. I saw faintly, my house owner poking his nose into the gap between the door. I opened the door, and gave him that disturbing look, that he was not pleased. He was whispering to me in a language, pretty familiar, tamil ...''ombudu mani aachi, neega onnu thungitrikinglaa....( It's 9:00 am , u r still sleeping!). I jus nodded my head and he handed me over the merchandise card i got from this west side outlet.

After shower, i picked up Old Durai, and we both went to TIME institute, collected the prospectus and the schedule roster and left the place, thinking that TIME is indeed a costly affair..but again cracking CAT is worth all the penny invested...From there... we rushed up to Spencers plaza, and did some purchase. Had lunch at Kalyani biryani bhavan, which serves hyderabadi biryani with brinjal sauce.

I relished it and from there, we ended up buying ourselves the 16th and 17th seats in the balcony at Albert theatre. After the movie got over, we went straight to that Fruits shops on greams road, ordered this mint cooler and moved out.I cheked in at 7 :30 and got ready to start to office.

Still On the Third Rock from the Sun!

Y'day was a bad day at work, yet again and i was so lost in my job, tat i almost went insane, but met the deadline and got a life. Somthings in life, money can't buy but for everything else, i had my card with me. So after office, i went to this place, Blue Pearl....reminds me of the name of the Ship, Jack Sparrow commands in the movie 'Pirates of the Carribean'. Got myself a pint of Beer. I was lost in 1 hour of solitude...time 9:30 pm .Had to rush home, and freshen up and go for dinner. After dinner, had a long walk back home, as i left my bike at the Office.

Once i got back home, till 1:00 am in the night i was cleaning this kitchen and bedroom and also the shelves at my place,leaving no trace of anything that can make my mother feel as if she is walking on thrash.I worked on the Multpiclication tables coz for speed maths...it's a must. I dunno, i was okay with math..and in fact, all my frinds used to do the science and i did the math. But fate has lost its sense of irony.....now i feel like i am dumb in math..coz i never worked on it after my first job...Things are gonna change. i have to get moving. if the basics r in place, i can plan my next move. Confront the enemy directly, but take him by suprise...from the ''Art of War''.

Deja Vu.............

I haven't lived a good life. I've been bad, worse than you could know. But some times i believe, that's good, because if you actually are as innocent as you pretend to be, you'd never get anywhere. Anyways day b4 y''day was supposed to be a big day for all brahmins and all that stuff. I got up late, rushed to this vinyaga temple and got myself a new thread in exhange for the old one. After the ceremonious time spent in the temple, i ended up going to office to take up some job. Call of duty..they say.......After having finished with the delivery, i had company..Old Durai. We planned a movie.. with a pre-movie dinner.

So we had to rush as it was half-past 6 and it was raining cats and dogs. Yeah, dogs...there are more dogs than humans in Chennai... Night time you get to see all the dogs make PDA...Public disoplay of Affection..inspiring....By 7:00 pm, we were at our good old Devi complex. I ran to the ticker counter..got myself two tickets for the Movie Úyir'. This movie had some great background score and a lovely song. Movie was pretty ok and in fact gripping too.

By the time, we were on our way home it was 10:30 odd, and both of us, were like pretty hungry. On the way , we had this Aunty Mess, run by a couple who are a mix of andhra and chennai. Old durai'had a ''Mutta Laapa'', and me a spl.dosai.By the time, i hit the sack, it was 12:30 am. Called up my pal, Srinu...who recently had gone to germany and missed the OCTobeer festival by a whishker.. anyways, sri and me plan to invest some fortune in a plot in Hyd and were supposed to talk about raking in the moolah.....This time i dreamt from the Movie 'Minority Report', i can make it out.

It was the scene, in which our hero Tom, is jogging out and he can see on his side, óne ad 'speaking to him '' America's homicide rate has gone up. Ever imagined, what would happen if you can can stop a crime before its commited. Welcome to Precrime department.''Suddenly i get up with a jolt. It's the Alarm. ...I still haven't started with serious prep, so nothing to post or brag abt it..

You'll dress only in attire specially sanctioned by (name) special services. You'll conform to the identity we give you, eat where we tell you, live where we tell you. From now on you'll have no identifying marks of any kind. You'll not stand out in any way. Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter. You're a rumor, recognizable only as deja vu and dismissed just as quickly. You don't exist; you were never even born. Anonymity is your name. Silence your native tongue. You're no longer part of the System. You're above the System. Over it. Beyond it. We're them. We're they. We are the...........................Tommy Lee Jones to Will smith ..from the Movie 'MIB'.

Malyala Manorama........

Sorry folks. could not post..was lost in translation...i mean was in kerela...precisely gurvayur and was busy trying the lingo of chetas and malyala kuttis...(i mean cuties...:) . Thanks to the love marriage of my cousin with a keralate.. i got to avail a all expenses paid trip to gurvayur..now tat's some deal isn 'it....Kerala welcomes you with misty fog and showers..if you travelling at a time when southwest monsoon is on its peak. The journey all through from chennai is pleasant, if not for the stinking toilets in the second class. Anyways , by the time you cross Coimbatore, you already experience the drastic change in the terrain and the next 4 hours is the best part of the journey. I made friends with the bridegroom's old buddies, old Munna, Mickey and Ranjit.

Their mom and me got along very well. I traded my book 'Bram stoker's Dracula'for a trip to her house once, we r back to chennai. The most amazing thing,might sound trite, but cannot help telling you guys is that all through the journey from Tirrusur to Gurvayur, i have not seen any deeserted place. The whole state is developed and there are no patches of arid land with no civilisation. This is a rarity in other states. The marriage was strictly a keralate affair, and the interesting thing was that i almost got confiscated and cheated death again. why do these temples have such narrow entry doors..is beyond my comprehension.I have to admit....you really find GLG's in this part of the country.

For all those out there...who believe a picture is worth a thousand words...here you go..Now getting to business, buys i recently dropped a mail to team Endeavour enquiring about their correspondence program for CAT 07. The Director of the institute, Tuteja, a IIM alumni himself, is running this institute and i have come to know that he means business and is interested in results.... Yet to start my prep. some body tells me it's too early to start my prep..Now tat somebody..really has to think twice, b4 making such sound statements..coz i always proove everyone wrong...I need to get started off..ASAP

Will the real HCL please Stand Up !

Sometimes in business, as in life..you should let your work speak. Observing retinance might in fact help us, focus on our goals more efficiently. A leaf can be taken from Shiv Nadar's life and his approach. Being the founder member of the Tech savvy HCL Technologies and being a Tech Tycoon has not changed this genius and he still is quite humble about his achievements. Atleast the Market cap of HCL technologies does not look that humble and now demand respect...touching 18,882 crores this month.

A veteran warrior of many tech battles, Nadar has been there and done that. For those who of youinterested in trivia, HCL Technologies was founder by six co founders. Now this is news to me too. Recently read a article in Business India about Exits? I mean about Exits by private equity firms and the profits through these exits. Folks, the write up was damn interesting, but i cld not make A to z of it, coz i am a nerd when it comes to all MF lingo. All those Management gurus out there, please give us some gyan on these Exits.....

Read a article ''Dad buy that car...'' its about how Advertisers are targeting children, who often influence their parent's shopping decisions! I never did..My dad always brings things he knows are best for him and are easy on his pockets.... No patronising please....Anyways...got some work..will post serious stuff...

SAINTLY TIPS

Our monthlymagazine finally has found its way into my blog. A rare fete indeed, considering i have strict entry policies :) ...I know..it's hard to digest....The thought of the month in our monthly news letter , for this month, caught my attention and deserves to be shared. it's quoted by Michael C. Cahill ...." It is an article of faith in my creed to pick the man who does not take himself seriously, but does take his work seriously.''

As i am busy feeding content to this post, i know somewhere, my fellow CAT seekers hunting for CAT 2006 are sweating it out. My prayers are with them. I have been making a beeline to all the blogs which have some invaluable tips on the schedule to be followed for CAT prep. I know , this differs from case to case and is really a matter of mastery of will power and nothing else.But history has it, that rarely things work if not planned. Looking for guidance with my prep , i found the following tips ...priceless.

Confessions of a serial CAT 100 percentilerConfessions of a serial almost-100 percentilerBy Munira Lokhandwala -

There are some, for whom, drinking 40 bottles of Pepsi in one go is a feat. There are others who would settle for nothing less than summiting Mt Everest. But here we present to you, the Great-Grandma-of-Them-All Muneera Lokhandwala, who will settle for nothing less than a 100 percentile or close, in CAT year upon year upon year upon… Okay, we shut up now, and pass the mic to Munira to give us the dope about smacking time management into submission for cracking CAT.I am Munira Lokhandwala, a Math graduate from St. Xavier’s college, Mumbai. I took the CAT in my final year of graduation i.e. Dec 1996 and got calls from all 4 IIM’s (IIM I and IIM K had just started that year and I hadn’t applied to either). After my GD/PI I got calls from Calcutta and Lucknow. I completed my post graduation from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (batch of 1999). When I was preparing for my CAT, I didn’t even consider taking the other entrance exams for various institutes. Was this arrogance? Let’s see.Here I would like to take what is fondly called in film making: a flashback. All of us remember the seventh standard scholarship exam that tested the math, verbal and visual skills of students. In that test I scored 36 out of 100 in Math (64 in Verbal and 50 in visuals). So you can definitely say that I wasn’t born with the aptitude to crack such examinations.So after the background, you can see where this will lead to. How does someone who is not born with the required aptitude skills go ahead and crack the CAT? Not just crack it, as in, just manage, but crack it with confidence. Incidentally even I had started my preparations for the CAT in February of (hold your breath) 1996. Whew! I was in the same boat as most of you are. I was in the second year of my Bachelor’s studies. So I started in February, took a break in April for my exams, in May for some holidaying and started again in June and continued till the end. There were two weddings (no, not mine) of close family members in between, so there was a slight break there. Excluding these breaks, I was preparing for the CAT, 2-3 hours a day, 6 days of the week, every week. So finally we can roll our sleeves and get down to the task. This article is not about what to do during the CAT. It does not talk about the shortcuts you can apply during the paper, the food you should eat to score better at the CAT and all the numerous facts / statistics /precautions/ rumors that you have heard about the day of the CAT. This article is about the long period before the CAT right from when you decide to take it to a nice slightly chilly Sunday morning when you are checking your pencils, eraser and admit card.1) Plan backwardsYou will never really remember when your CAT preparation started, but you will always remember when it ended. Did I hear 19th November? No, it will end on the 17th November. The CAT is an exam where presence of mind is essential, studying till the last minute or till the last day leads to an exhausted mind. So it is a good idea to stop preparing on the Friday evening before the CAT. So currently your deadline is 17th November. The last few months will be spent primarily on taking comprehensive tests. Let’s try and work that out.Right now is a good time to decide how many comprehensive tests you will take (including sims/ mocks/ aims). I think 30 tests are fairly sufficient. There is no point taking a test everyday or worse still, taking 2 tests per day. Working with 30 tests will easily take you between 70-80 days. This is because if you take a test with feedback on day 1 you will revise and take some area tests on day 2. Also you may need one or two days of break. So, assuming 75 days for comprehensive tests, takes your deadline to the end of August.Taking full length tests right after covering your basics, is like walking into harsh sunlight from an air conditioned room, it will definitely lead to discomfort and if you are unlucky then perhaps headaches and vomiting too. Hence there should be some middle layer which acts like room temperature, in our analogy. That middle layer is going to be your section tests. So in the last fifteen days of August, you should take around two section tests at least from each area and spend some time going through the analysis and feedback for the tests. This will be the first time usually when you really start solving with the second hand making a loud noise every second. So get used to the idea before you venture into the comprehensive test territory.So finally we have come to our first major deadline 15th August i.e. Independence day. Symbolically, it will be an independence of sorts for all of you. Independence from the normal area of basics and theory. Independence from learning and honing what you already know.

From 15th August, you will be looking at applying what you have learnt and if you have learnt well. Then believe me you will enjoy the process.2) In-depth SchedulingWith 15th August as the deadline, you should make a list of what is the kind of theory you want to complete, till that time. I have made a rudimentary representative list here to work from:ReadingWord ListMathBook on Verbal Ability questionsBook on Reading Comprehension questionsBook on Analytical ReasoningBook on Data InterpretationPractice book for MathYour maximum time should be spent doing two major activities: reading and Math.3) Daily scheduleMake a daily schedule which incorporates all your routines and breaks. If you watch movies a lot then it would be silly to make a schedule which does not consider 3 hours a week on the week-end spent in catching the latest release. Also try to shuffle the subjects, so that you do not get bored with one subject. A good time table for 2 days can look like this:Day 1:Half an hour of readingHalf an hour of “word list”2 hours of mathDay 2Half an hour of readinghalf an hour of “word list”1 hour of analytical reasoning / data interpretation1 hour of reading comprehension exercises / verbal ability4) ReadingFor those who read as a hobby this will not be a major problem. For others, it is essential that you take out anything between 30 minutes to one hour for reading, daily. For the uninitiated reader, you can start by reading fiction but there is no use if you spend 3 months reading one big book by, say, Ayn Rand. Instead pick up any collection of short stories by assorted authors and start reading those. You will get used to various styles and different settings and, of course, different content.

After reading fiction for one to one and half months, you can graduate to non–fiction. So, the next time you log onto pagalguy.com, open another window where you google on various CAT topics (a list of CAT topics is given as an appendix) and read articles related to them. The advantages are two–fold. Firstly, you will get used to CAT-like passages and secondly, you will start gaining some knowledge on these topics. So the next time you have an RC on the same topic, you will not feel completely lost. For these reading sessions, never focus on speed. Only focus on understanding, if you read enough your speed will automatically increase.Reading will not only help you in the verbal section, but also increase your comprehension in the other sections. It is the single most important factor that will help you crack the CAT.5) Word ListThere are very few questions that directly require knowledge of words. But knowing a lot of good words and improving your vocabulary will never harm but always help your CAT preparations. So pick up a good word list and start working on the word list every day or if your vocabulary is already good, then every alternate day. Even if you do an alphabet a week, you will take around 6 months, to complete the word list. Having a good vocabulary also ensures fluency in GD/PI. This is the part, where students are lazy, but after the CAT if you feel that just knowing one word would have fetched an extra mark in no time, thenit really hurts.6) MathMath, based on strengths and weaknesses, should be done either every alternate day or every day. Go through the theory, solved examples and then tackle exercises. If you cannot solve a problem do not rush to the explanatory answers, give it some time. Think. Get your mind to oil those rusted math gears and levers.Try solving problems in the head, minimize the use of pen and paperMake a note of important relationships in a topic.Make a note of innovative approaches.Remember writing a lot is very unhealthy for the CAT, but after you solve it in your head writing the explanation will clear doubts and reinforce learning. So please make good notes.Munira Lokhandwala is an alumna from IIM Calcutta, batch of 99. She has been associated with cat coaching since 2001. In 2005, she started catalyst group tuitions for cat. (www.catalyst4cat.com) she is a regular cat taker herself. These are her scores:year overall percentile2005 100 %ile2004 99.99 %ile2003 99.98 %ile

The other one's will make it to the blog tomorrow.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Sorry for the long break! Might have to travel onsite, was busy ...wasting time :) The weather was on my side. I was having a blast during the drive. Not many times you get the chance to drive along coastal andhra...not with you working in Chennai, Mumbai or Bangalore. All it took was a 4 hr ride on NH 8 all the way from Rajhamundry to Guntur with a pit stop at Vijaywada. If this would have been a train trip i wld have relished the Bread -Omlette and Pineaple juice served on the rocks at wee hours of the morning. But this was not, and a plate of south indian Meals at the famous Amrapali was a welcome.

The trip was a breather for me. The gal, turned out to be worse than any nightmare i have faced till date. She can give any one a run for their life. She was absolute snub. She might feel the same about me and i can take that. she wasn't worth the drive. I dunno who wld prefer her, but i know Gentlemen prefer blondes! The last thing on my mind when my career is going great guns is marriage. After CATastrphic planning i might feel that marriage is suicidal. Anyways i have uncovered a treasure chest. It's with my pal Srinu in Bangalore. This weekend i wld collect and it wld i hope give me some direction for my prep. Will Post ...keep visiting..By accident or by Chance....