Republic Day celebrations at Prayas

On 26th January, India celebrates its Republic Day - the day on which our constitution came into force and hence we became a Republic. Although, every Republic day brings with it the spirit of patriotism and harmony but this Republic day was a special one for me. 
At AID( Association for India's Development) PRAYAS, we organized the Republic day celebrations for the community kids at Noida. The two months effort which involved preparing kids for songs and dances finally materialized into a very cute and heart warming performance. The junior most kids (EUREKA BATCH) put a smile on everyone's face by singing  NANNA MUNNA RAHI HUN and EK CHIDYA AANEK CHIDYA. The dance performance by senior batch on the beats of JAI HO spell bound the audience. Then a play performed by the kids send across the message 'Education is not a privilege, it is a necessity'.
The most heartening experience was when parents of the community children came on the stage and spoke about the difference created by PRAYAS. They talked about the importance of education, cleanliness, tolerance and family planning  that has been instilled in the community through efforts of PRAYAS. I personally feel, these first hand account by the community members really encourage other parents to send their kids to PRAYAS.  We had more than 80 new registrations and the peculiar thing was every parent asked what PRAYAS is charging for teaching the kids. We had a hard time explaining them there is no fee and we prepare kids to attain a certain minimum level so that they can get admission in good schools.
Overall, the whole idea of the celebration is to convey the importance of education and increase the confidence of kids by giving them a platform to perform in public.  And I believe, we were able to do just that.

VANDE MATARAM

The Ice Breaker: What is life all about?

Yesterday, I gave my first ever speech 'The Ice Breaker' at East Delhi Toastmasters. The objectives of the speech were to identify my public speaking abilities and introduce myself to the club members. So here it goes.....
What is life all about? Is it about money, friendship, family, fame , success or love? It is a very cliched question ..right? All of us have asked ourselves this question one time or the other, but maybe never came up with a convincing answer.
When I was a kid, life was about chocolates, video games and cricket. I did not know what success and failure are. I did not understand why people fight. I had no idea what religion means. I was just worried about my chocolates. If i did not get one, I used to cry and my mother gave me one immediately. So friends, during my childhood, life was all about innocence, fun and yes chocolates.
As I grew up, things got a little bit serious. Something called studies came in my life. I was told that you have to study to succeed in your life. So I studied. I was the topper of class 10th board exams and managed to get into one of the best engineering colleges in India. For some time life was about studying, working hard, knowing my potential and tasting success. The success helped a lot because if you succeed you start believing in yourself and your confidence rises. As you get confident, you aim to achieve tougher goals and work harder towards them. So, before engineering, Life was as much about inculcating the ethos of discipline and hard work as it was about knowing my potential.
Then came my engineering days, the super awesome engineering days. Suddenly, life was about everything except studies. Life was about music.. the Iron Maidens... the Led Zeppelins... the Pink Floyds...and many more. Life was about reading. I read about my country, world politics, religion, human rights and successful businesses. I also got involved in clubs and societies, organized various events, arranged sponsorships, took care of publicity and managed a team of more than 100 volunteers. Life was also about a girlfriend, although it was 'one way traffic' for most of the time but it was wonderful. So friends, during my engineering days, Life was about exploring myself, developing my personality, knowing about the world and discovering love.
Post engineering, I got placed in one of the biggest professional services firms as a consultant. So now life was about earning a livelihood. Some people told me that job life is not at all good because you have to work for somebody and take orders. But I loved my job. I was working with the best of people and in a competitive environment. I was challenging myself so it was fun. It was even more fun because I was independent. I was earning my own money. When you earn your own money, you can spend it where ever you want to. And I spend it on my passions. I love traveling. I traveled across the Indian state of Rajsthan in my car, covering more than 2500 kilometers in 4 days. I have traveled to Nanital once, Amritsar twice and was recently in Goa. I follow my favorite football teams Liverpool and FC Barelona with all my heart. You can find me in sports bar on the weekends cheering the Reds. So life was all about working hard and partying harder. Life was about following my passion and keeping things lively.
During these four periods, Life was about different things. So what is life really about? I will tell you... Life is about new experiences. It is about meeting new people, doing new things and experiencing new cultures. Why is that so important? It is important because every new experience leaves an imprint on us, molds us, changes us and adds a new dimension to our lives. There is no absolute way to do things. There are many!! we will know about them only if  we are receptive to change and new ideas. That is why Life is all about new experiences.
So friends, life is not about getting up every morning and going to office, doing your job and coming back home. It is not a new experience.
Try going to country side, where there is no pollution. Gaze in the clear night sky, you will see the Milky way. It looks like a white sheet spanning across the black sky. Thats a new experience.
Stand on the sea beach with naked feet and let waves flow through your legs. As the waves recede, feel the sand escaping beneath your feet as you sink further in the sand. That is a new experience.
Travel thousands of kilometers across the Thar desert and feel the happiest when an Indian Army soldier on India- Pakistan border greets you with passion because very few Indians actually go there. That is a new experience.
And last but not the least, Standing here in East Delhi Toastmasters giving my first ever Ice Breaker. That is a new experience.

Thank you

As I ended my speech, everybody stood up and applauded. This is a tradition at Toastmasters. When you give your first speech, the whole club gives you a standing ovation. I am proud to be part of East Delhi Toastmasters. The mutual respect and caring nature of the members is commendable.

Looking forward to the next meeting on Friday.

Cheers!!

MGMAT 1:- 670(VA 36, QA 45) : A scratchy start

Last week I finally took the plunge and gave my first CAT. The result speaks for itself. Not a very good start but come on!! it was my very first test ... I have miles to go before I conquer the GMAT.
Before the test I was confident of scoring as high as a 50-51 in QA and doing reasonably well in VA. But as my scores portray I had a horrid time in both QA and VA. Manhattan GMAT QA is really tough. I would say it is a notch above the actual GMAT QA. Apart from time consuming Data Sufficiency questions there were some very tough probability and P&C questions.
VA was 'practical' with 700-800 score range questions being more difficult. RCs were not that tough except for some inference questions but CR was time consuming. I have this knack of assuming situations in CR which actually dents my accuracy.
The summary of the test goes like this :
VA : Score 36 ( missed the last three questions so lacked speed)
Maximum time taken in CR with least accuracy.
Minimum time taken in SC and RC.

QA: Score 45 ( could do only 30 questions, missed the last 7!!) 
Data sufficiency & Probability most time consuming.

Learings:
VA :
CR : Not more than 2 minutes in any question. It simply increase pressure and hence decreases accuracy.
Stay within the scope of the argument. The answer should be related to the argument. It should not bring an new condition.
SC : Not more than 90 seconds in any question. If you do not find the answer in 1.5 minutes than you probably do not get the concept of the of the question. Just make an intelligent guess and move on.
RC: I have been doing good in RC. May be a bit more comprehension required to avoid regression.

QA :
Set aside your EGO  and act practically. It is OK to make guesses in some questions. I do not need to answer all questions correctly to ace the QA section.

Overall, the test was a good reality check. The test lists time take to solve every question along with the expected time. The test also provides the stats for the worst attempt and the best attempt. MGMAT analysis is very detailed. You look at the stats and you know what went wrong. This was my free test, I will buy the whole set of 6 tests and give them like the actual GMAT. ( I did not attempt the AWA section in this one)

I also bought the Official Guide for Verbal Review 12th edition. I need more practice  in Verbal so why not practice with actual GMAT questions.

P.S : Hiatus in blogging should be blamed on my awesome trip to Goa. It took me a whole week to bring myself back from the beautiful beaches and mouth watering Sea food to the 'Not So Interesting' GMAT preparation. May be one day......I will have my own Shack on the Anjuna Beach.......what!! there is nothing wrong in dreaming .... :)

Cheers!!

The Indian Razai : Motivation killer

2011 has started to role on and its already 4 days old!! Along with New Year resolutions and new found optimism, 2011 brought the super lazy winters. Last 3 days have been excruciatingly tough. Maximum of 13-16 degree Celsius and minimum of 3 degrees!! I do not mind the winters, in fact I love them. But there is one more angle to all this chill. We Indians have these ultra warm bed quilts called 'Razais' which are made by stuffing cotton wool inside cotton or silk sheets. North India's winters and the Great Indian Razai are a pair made in heaven. . These razais are so comfortable and cozy  that once you are inside one of these it is almost impossible to come out.
Everyday after dinner, I decide to study for my GMAT. I get into my room and open my laptop.  After sometime, I feel the chill setting in my legs and hence very innocently decide to cover my legs with the Razai. At this moment, I am firmly in control and working on problems. But gradually, the magic sets in. I involuntarily start sinking deeper and deeper into the quilt. Such is the innocuous nature of the quilt that within the 20-30 minutes, I find myself completely wrapped inside the Razai and that too half asleep!!!
Many of you might think that I am a lazy ass but you have to experience the comfort to believe me. But as they say - 'where there is a will there is a way', I have decided to conquer the winters and shun the coziness of my beloved Razai. From now on, No more excuses and no procrastination. If I do it again, I will blog about it. Maybe, the shame of posting my helplessness will motivate me to focus.
Btw, Maths Review is done. Brushed up my concepts of Mean, Median, Mode, Ranges etc..... revised some probability and geometry formulas.  Now, I need to give that OG12 Diagnostic test.  I want to treat the test as my first reality check and then build from there. I am kind of hoping that I do well, will be a good omen. After all we all need some little victories to conquer the Beast.......
Just a passing thought to share my optimism:
Keep on Dreaming everybody .......... It shows that you are alive and kicking ......