IIM L-oving it!!!

It took me a long time to write my post.. maybe the fact that I will be an IIM student is still in the process of sinking in.. ;)
The results day is one day I’ll never forget…. I got to know that I am waitlisted at IIMC (#9) and I got a reject from IIMA… The tension was mounting as there are cases of people with 6 calls and no converts.. then came the Lucknow result..I GOT SELECTED.. I felt all the tension just drain down.. The whole CAT affair had finally come to an end..
This post is a personal one.. might be boring to read..so don’t stop reading my blog because of this one;)
I think first of all I’ve been very lucky considering when I started my CAT preparation sometime around August 20!!So I have a lot of people to thank for my success and this blog is dedicated to them..
My mother , Muktha and Deepak have helped me so so much.. I cant even describe what all they’ve done for me..Thank you..
(The thanking is done in a random order..not according to priority.. so please no angry phone callsJ )
Thank you,
Chari sir..though you were in Delhi you constantly kept calling and motivating and helping me with my interview preperation.Still remember that when I was in Bangalore you called and dictated an entire Budget related document..Thanks a lot for everything sir..
Shivku sir.. for all the help regarding my interview preperation and most importantly motivation,though I think I disappointed you as you were sure I’d get into IIMA..
Career Launcher staff of Hyderabad.. Vimal sir,Sudeep sir, Dilip sir..for all those hours of group discussion sessions and feedbacks( in so much detail J ) and Srividya madam (still miss your country oven treats).
Aditya (chotu) for checking on me every Monday about my progress in the Mock CATs and no matter how horrible my percentile would be,still be so optimistic that IIMs were started to take me as their studentJ and rewarding me with a party everytime I got above 80 percentile!
Pavan and Vishal.. for all the doubts you’ll cleared regarding CAT exam,all those quant and DI doubts..
Anish, Pratyusha,Vijay, Mukta,Jagan, Lakshman , Narsimha, Tarun, Anurag, Mani and all my CL friends for helping me with my preperation.
Sudheer for helping me chill out before my IIMC interview else I definitely would’ve panicked (though its result for both of us was bad)
Sagar.. for helping me prepare and for the first time making my yahoo chats more meaningful by explaining stuff like erp(don remember it now) whenever I asked you..
Aditya for actually giving me a feeling that IIM interviews will be a cake-walk for me and overall motivating me..
Saanvi…. This little baby has brought so much luck to me.. I’m not the superstitious kind but after she was born in Novemeber first week I started scoring well in my mocks,that’s when I applied to MDI also thinking there is a chance and look now!I’m in Lucknow!

Overall I’m very thankful to God..really feel blessed that I’ve come this far..
Muktha and Deepak told all their friends that I will get IIMA or atleast IIMC..but when the results were out..we all realized that there is such cut-throat competition that they are not feeling bad either.I always wanted to go to Calcutta.. but I’m very very happy with Lucknow,the more I read about the college the more I’m loving it!My mother feels that I might still make it to IIMC but as of now …Lucknow..here I come!

Reserved India...

The Government has proposed quota for Other Backward Castes(OBC) in 20 central funded universities,which includes IITs and IIMs.This will take the total reservation in such colleges to 49.5%.
Now lets picture this from a normal OC student's perspective.I have given the CAT exam this year to get into the prestigious IIMs.I have seen that many of my friends though deserving have not been able to get past the written exam even though they have a very good percentile-much much more than the SC/ST students.Both the category of students have gone to the same coaching institute and had access to the same study material.Then why this reservation which keeps students from a different caste at an advantage?Isn't this harsh on the OCs?What is their fault if they are born in an apparently better caste family?
We really need to do a reality check here first before anybody proposes an increase in the seats.The reservation was started for the upliftment of the backward less priviliged class.Why should students who come from an economically sound background take advantage of this reservation?They would have gone to the best coaching institute,then they should get the seat out of merit.So many meritorious candidates lose out.
IITs and IIMs are the best institutes in India where lakhs of students give the entrance exam every year.By increasing the reservation , it'll make it all the more difficult for them to compete where as the backward class students comparitively with lesser effort will secure the seat.It is sheer injustice.
I donot understand another aspect.If a person secures an IIM seat on the basis of his caste, because of such excellent education he gets a good job and will be financially sound by the time his children grow up.Now his children are definately not 'under privileged' in any way.But because he passes on his 'caste' to his children they too can take advantage of the reservation thereby preventing a meritorious candidate from getting his due.I think that this is an 'un-due' advantage to them.
What we need is reservation not based on the caste but based on the economic status of a family, where the poorer people maynot have access to the study material and thus may not do well to secure the seat.There are many OCs who are economically more backward than the SC/STs who take advantage of this reservation.Or another alternative is to provide the 'under priviliged' with the same study material and offer them scholarships to enroll in the top coaching institutes,it'll get all the students on the same platform.Now conduct the entrance exam and give only the meritorious candidates the seat.
Increase in reservation may also badly affect the quality of these institutes, which is another area of concern.I really wish that all of us protest against such an injustice even if we are directly not getting affected by such an increase in reservation.

Another controversy...

After the HARI SADU controversy, this is another one that 'hurts the sentiments'..
"A donkey is like an Indian housewife.It has to toil all day and may even have to give up food and water.Atleast, the donkey is a shade better,as the housewife may just complain and leave for her parents' home.But you will never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master"
And to make things worse,the above is not a joke-THESE ARE STRAIGHT OUT OF A CHAPTER in Rajasthan Education Board's Class IX Hindi textbook.When I read the above, I was pretty furious!These kind of articles may make me sound like a feminist!
Now all of us have agreed that Hari Sadu controversy was uncalled for and the victim must take things in light spirit.Here also the board member has justifies the above lines saying that the comparison was made in good humor, without any intent to hurt or humiliate.
Isn't the above sheer humiliation??You can't compare a women like that!And you definately cant have young children studyin the above as part of their education.We also have to take into account that in Rajasthan,which is perceived to be a bit backward where women still use a part of their sari to cover their faces and lead a horrible life without any individuality-such articles will definately affect the minds of the young boys who will grow up to become "male chauvinists".How can they respect women and help them to come out of their typical housewife image if the adults-of-tomorrow read outrageous stuff like this?I think that this protest is on the right track and must be continued till the chapter is deleted from the text book.I extend my full support to this protest.But I'm very curious to know the reaction of my "male chauvinist" friends to the above controversy;)

Liar Tunes...

hey,picture this...
The other day I went to a restaurant with my family.As we stepped into the hotel,we heard a man (who looked like a telugu movie villian)screaming into his phone-"I'm at the airport now..will talk to u later".We quietly went back to our seats and giggled.The guy continued to sip his beer and was talkin to another man seated in front of him.
After about 20 minutes,the guy yells a "hello" again and I direct my attention to him!He's again on phone and this time says "Ya,ya I'm in the plane now.Put down the phone!"Trust me, the entire episode was more hillarious as he said the stuff in telugu.
We started laughing loudly..I mean the extent to which people go to avoid somebody.I think we all would've done something sometime similar (obviously not this outrageous!). I do remember sometime back(maybe years back) I'd ask my mother to answer my phone and tell the person I'm not at home.I dont do that anymore!:)
And coming to "Liar tunes", I just got to know that IDEA is offering a new service which will help you to lie more convincingly.For eg. if download the "traffic liar tune" then you can call your boss to tell him your late because of traffic and in the background the boss will hear traffic sound (like car horns etc), while you can enjoy somewhere else.It'l be terrific to ask leave saying your baby's not well and have a baby voice screaming at the background.
It sounds fun..unless I'm at the recieving end of it;)