How to Improve Your Vocabulary

So after a series of articles on the on-going upheaval and happenings across the length and breadth of the country, this article comes as the first of my instructive articles, to say the least. I have tried to keep it
as simple and self-explanatory as possible. By the end of this article, you would have guidelines to improve your vocabulary and learn some utterly simple daily life habits that would help you decipher a whole new gamut of words.
This article is different, from the plethora of others available over the net giving tips to people on improving their vocabulary. And it is different in the sense that it does not suggest you the same age old
way of going through the arduous and, practically impossible, task of learning Latin and Greek roots randomly.
That methodology, having never worked for me, is not  advisable.
First things first, read some Vocab-building books. Now the next question that comes to the minds of every sane soul reading this article is - That's what everyone says. Yes, but with Vocab-Building books,  I mean some genuine books dedicated to increasing your word power and your ability to play with words. I don't intend to make you start reading a reputed daily right away. That would take time, but we would come to that eventually, for sure.
Let me list a few books that are a must-go-through to increase one's range of words:

Courtesy:http://www.goyalpublisher.com/

1) Word Power made easy: Remember the book with red-cover that almost everyone has but fails to go through it. This is probably the mother of all books on Vocabulary-Building available in the market. Follow it,read it, chew it and digest it - and do all this religiously. Even if you are a slow reader and take time to go through things,  a month and a half would be more than enough to complete it thoroughly.
Take your time; don't run through it just for the sake of it.

Book: Word Power Made Easy
Author: Norman Lewis
Publication: Goyal Saab
Price: Rs. 149 (books4u.in)

2) 30 Days for a more powerful Vocabulary:

Courtesy: http://cp75.com/dealtz/bkimg

Once you have finished that, hop on to the next book that would raise you to a higher level. You won't take much time to adjust to the tone and theme of this one immediately. Its very much the same because both these paper jacketed stuffs are two great pieces of work by the same author. You would find some commonality between the chapters in the books as well. Please don't get deterred or bored by it. Go through it with full vigor and passion. Vocabulary building is a slow and
an on-going-never-ending process, you need to keep up the spirits all the way. This book, as the name suggests, has to be completed in 30 days. Read one chapter a day, follow the time-plan as given in this useful handbook.

Book: 30 Days for a more powerful Vocabulary
Author: Wilfred Funk & Norman Lewis
Publication: Goyal Saab
Price: Rs. 90 (books4u.in)

3)Six weeks to words of Power:

Courtesy:http://books4u.in/uploads/

This is perhaps the toughest in the lists of books I have mentioned so far. With tough, I don't want you people to misconstrue me as saying: it is difficult to read. What I mean is the words in this book are high-level words and will take you to an all new world of English, where only a few intellectuals are able to reach. But the book makes it so very easy for you to know and learn everything that's written.A must for anyone wanting to revamp their English and eventually domain of words. English is a very rich language, a good vocabulary helps you to explore it well, if not completely. This book again, as the name suggests,has to be finished completely in six weeks. Try sticking as much to the timeline as possible, but just in case you need to extend it, do it. Don't sacrifice understanding for saving time. At the most, you would need an extra week. 7 weeks time is more than enough for this one.

Book: Six weeks to words of Power 

Author: Wilfred Funk
Publication: Goyal Saab
Price: Rs. 90 (books4u.in)

Now that you know a lot and lot of words, it's time to get started with reading as much stuff as you can. Read whatever you like, and also what you don't. English dailies like "The Hindu", "The Indian Express", "The Economic Times" etc. are perhaps the best available in the market at affordable prices. Look out for new words when you read them, look up their meanings in the dictionary. Try recalling them when in leisure.
Now that you already know a wide range of words, you won't come across many alien words in a single article - since your understanding of the articles will improve, you would naturally develop interest. This would allure you to reading even more  and apparently know even more. Vocabulary building is very easy once you tend to develop an interest. The more you read, the better it is. There is no limit to learning Vocabulary, you can always keep on adding new weapons in your arsenal. Learning Vocabulary, or on that part learning anything, is a slow and a never-ending process. You can keep on learning all your life.
In the end, just three more suggestions:
- Be Patient - don't expect wonders overnight
- Be Inquisitive - prepared to learn everywhere and anywhere
- Be Yourself - never try to flaunt more than you know

Find more articles by the author on B-School and CAT here

Pseudonym : h!v

The Shattered Dream - My CAT Story

I had a dream, or I must say - 'I have a dream', to go and study in one of the top B-schools of the country.
So like lakhs of other aspirants I decided to write the Common Admission Test (2012), commonly called CAT. That was the only door that could lead to the hallowed campuses of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).
During my course of preparation I learnt quite a few things. I gained a new insight.
Having come to Mumbai, the city of Dreams, where I had just joined my job, I wanted to turn my dream to reality.
So with all the intensity and focus I started my preparation.I also joined TIME so that my preparation does not dwindle away from the right course and I get important inputs in the form of study material, sectional tests etc. from TIME. The decision to join was just perfect and I felt very satisfied with the teachers and the methodology followed by them. I was more than satisfied with my preparation plan and its execution till then, which boosted my confidence even further.The dream to go to a premiere B-school was enough a reason to keep me driving and put in days of efforts (actually nights of efforts).
Come March and the workload at the office increased exponentially. My office required me to work also on weekends, against which I was entitled to take a compensatory off which though was very cumbersome owing to the fact that it was not very easily given.
Nevertheless I kept working hard in spite of many odds. I had joined the weekend classes at TIME so at times it was really difficult to manage office and classes simultaneously. I used to get frustrated sometimes but then I used to console myself back and gain my composure and start working again on my preparation.
During weekdays, the day and also partly the evening was consumed by the office. So I only had nights to study which though was not a very big issue because I'd been pre-dominantly nocturnal since my high school.
But to manage time, study till late in the night, then to wake up next morning and toil again in that dreaded office for hours was exhausting. It demanded a lot from me, a lot of perseverance and discipline perhaps.
But I carried on, working the hardest I could and hoping for the best to come.
And then what followed was a streak of mocks, in most of which I did fairly well, if not extra-ordinary.
I was expecting being paid handsomely for the hard work I had put in.
Then the C-day (I like calling it C-day instead of the D-day), I did okay as per me.Though I fumbled managing time but I was confident enough of a good score.
Shattered were my dreams, a paltry 96 percentile I got. I was dejected, all gloomy; and I was broken. I had no idea where to head now. I was not enjoying my job, I wanted to switch to management profile, I was not supported as much by the family to leave my job and sit back at home, and now all I had, to deal with, was a bad result.
But as they say, keep fighting until you win. Days after, I gained my composure, collected myself, ready to start all over again.This time with a new vigor, new hope and new lessons from the previous failure. I'll will nail it hard this time. I swear I'll !!!

Pseudonym : h!v

The Plight Of A CAT-taker

First things first - this is not at all an article that will give you a magic wand and you could swing it enchanting some "abraa-ka-dabraa" or "hoogabooga" type chant and get through your much awaited dream.
This is just not it.
But if you want a light moment you can continue reading.
Okay! Lets get to business. So who is a CAT-taker? Ever wondered what breed do they belong to? You are thinking I've gone nuts; the breed has to be homo-sapiens.

Courtesy: MBA Informer

No friends. Its not that.
Now a CAT taker essentially is a DOG - but not the four-legged mammal from the canine family chasing the CAT. This person is a Dedicated Over-enthusiastic Guy/Gal. Some of them are from the intelligent breeds of the likes of the German Shepherds, the Alsatians; the others are like Pomeranian and even a few others are like Great Den- all busty, no real material. But these are not the only breeds available when it comes to dogs chasing the CAT. Every year lakhs of dogs decide to bell the CAT but only a few of them get the prize. Others are dejected and start lamenting.
But even for the dogs who have successfully belled the CAT, the show is not over. All the successful dogs have now to go through a rigorous selection process of the CAT owners and if they could please
these sophisticated owners well enough,  they stand a chance to enter into the hallowed cordons of a good dog training institute.
Okay enough!!! Lets do away with this dog analogy now.

Let me enlist the qualities that can help one clear a AAA grade B-school interview:
1)Be a female candidate:
Gosh!!! you are born male...That is the biggest unintended sin you could have ever done, if you want to enter a good B-School.You lost it buddy, however if you are ready to get a gender transplant done you still stand fair chances, provided you could explain them and convince them your obvious reasons of getting a transplant.

2)Don't be an engineer:
So what if that's what you wanted to be all your childhood. So what if you have realised now that an MBA with a technical background would help you climb new heights in your career. So what if engineers all around the world are doing exceedingly well as managers. So what if you are naturally blessed with an ability to tackle numbers and confusing finance figures. That's all of no use because a good B-school believes in diversity.
So that's the second sin you have done and have further hampered, again unknowingly, your chances of getting into a good B-school.

3)Be a specialist at sports or music or photography or whatsoever:
You need to be a veteran at something away from curriculum to boost your profile and convey to the panelists that you are an enthusiast. It does not matter to them if you were so involved in the race to catch the CAT that you sacrificed, with a heavy heart though, all your alternate interests. You need to be in the top 1% of the country and still be well-versed with everything else going around on the planet.

4)Be a failure:
OOPS!!! Did I spell it wrong?
No, I didn't. The only thing they allow you to fail at is 'being an entrepreneur.' If you have ever put lakhs or a few thousands of your hard earned money at stake and started a business and failed at it, a good B-school can only then consider welcoming you.

And so if you have done it all, you are ready!!!
And if you haven't, then think again because it might be too late to prepare now.
Your past sins will haunt you forever, all your life, because the early you started the better chances you had.
Ironically, the best time to start would be minutes after you are born and are looking into this world
through the glass window of the neo-natal care unit.

Pseudonym : h!v