Thursday, October 28, 2010

Bell The CAT, Bell The CAT, But for some like me, the Bell just Tolls!!!

CAT is a great phenomena in our country of India. Great pressure from all over the place on the person who is appearing for it. Get into an IIM!!!! Bell the CAT, Get 100 percentile...Phew situation!

But for some, its just a little impossible to get through any IIMs. I am not saying it is not possible, but efforts, liking, desire to get into the premier institutes, APTITUDE for QUANT...all is needed.
That last part in capital letters is not only necessary but a requirement. Not studying maths for 5 years (Arts student!) and suddenly getting into a class which overloads a student with maths formulae is "Dire Situation and then Consequences". Situation, one knows why...we cannot take that pressure and formulae into our brains which are programmed to read, write and study english and related social subjects. Maths is alienated in our brains. Orphaned subject for an Arts student. So, studying for CAT for 4 months is a little next to impossible for us. But then people say, We are strong in Verbal, so we can master it and score well in Verbal if not Quant. And for those Engineering graduates who want to become MBAs, Quant is a daaye haath ka khel. Verbal is not their strong point. But, why cant these people understand, english is a part and parcel of their life too..Maths was never our part and parcel in 5 years :(

As Earnest Hemingway or Metallica(Inspired by Hemingway!) might say, "For whom the Bell tolls"- the whom is us!!! For students-- Go Bell The Cat, But for students like me, The Bell just Tolls !!

But, there is light at the end of every tunnel. And in this dark and scary tunnel of CAT there is SNAP, TISS, MICA!! not that this light is bright, we just need to put little efforts and change the 60 watts bulb to 100 watts... the 30watts have to be added in the next one and 1/2 month and for MICA and CET, i can add more 100 Watts too...

So, whose scared of CAT re...it will bite me and thousands who are going to give it..I have others who are much much sweeter :)) I think out of the box..CAT is inside the box..Lets get into another line...Risks are worth taking anyway !!! Ha! Charged! Lets think beyond CAT :)
Cheers and have a great Life!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The best poems Ive ever known!- part 1

Writing poems is a hobby and reading them is another hobby. I undertake both. One of the most inspiring poets I know is Robert Frost and his amazing poem, Road Less Traveled:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

 

 

This kind of literature is rare, though one can find if searched for! Alfred Lord Tennyson is another great poem whose poem "Home they brought her Warrior dead " will not be forgotten since it was the first poem I fell in love with in 8th Standard. 




Home they brought her warrior dead:
She nor swooned, nor uttered cry:
All her maidens, watching, said,
'She must weep or she will die.'
Then they praised him, soft and low,
Called him worthy to be loved,
Truest friend and noblest foe;
Yet she neither spoke nor moved.
Stole a maiden from her place,
Lightly to the warrior stept,
Took the face-cloth from the face;
Yet she neither moved nor wept.
Rose a nurse of ninety years,
Set his child upon her knee—
Like summer tempest came her tears—
'Sweet my child, I live for thee.'
 -----Alfred Lord Tennyson


Depressing??? No! It is sweet how Tennyson thought about the scenario. A Mother's love for her child is shown in a remarkable way in the poem.


T.S Eliot is an authentic and original poet. I cannot forget the first time I read 'The Waste Land' on the internet, I fell in awe with Eliot, it was a Masterpiece collection! Rhapsody on a Windy Night and The Hippopotamus are poems to be read. He wrote lengthy poems, but they were worth it!

William Wordsworth's Daffodils- another poem which inspired me in my school days. At that time, this poem was more than an inspiration to take up Arts and get into writing poetry:


I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).


Death be not proud and Death the leveler: two standard 8 poems which are still on my mind. Death, be not proud- by John Donne:

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Death Be Not Proud
by John Donne

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

All that Jazz

Hey!
Blogging had all that jazz when it just started. It might have lost its sheen to all those people who believe in temporary attractions. But, I find it the same...the same old jazz surrounding "BLOGGING"
Micro Blogging has taken over the world these days, but blogging has not lost its charm!! Its still the same..writing so that you can get things out of your mind...sharing it with people you know, you dont know...i like the concept..its like you are making a mini news feed, you being the writer, editor and everything of the feed. Blogging has become commercial. But, I would like to keep it for my satisfaction. It is said by some not-so-scholarly person, earn your bit in whatever you do. But, I believe that one should learn their bit in whatever they do. And I am learning here. I love to read blogs, I love to write them and hence, here I am! Blogging!
Just Follow and Believe what you feel is nice and what gives you pleasure, automatically everyone around you would be happy!
Give time to enjoy and follow your own jazz..Don't let others decide what 'Jazzy' and whats not. I still find doing this jazzy...chuck the MICRO BLOGGING!
Have a great day :)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Welcome!

My New Blog
Fresh start...with a new blog..the old one that i had was too stagnant, teenage thoughts etc...
Now its gonna be new and crisp! Hope to keep you engaged!
Panorama!