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

'Time vs Money'

'Time and Tide' waits for none. But similarly, 'Power and Pelf' are forsaken by none. Time is important in life, good management and optimal utilization of time is necessary for success; but then again, money is equally important for a happy and satisfied life. So which one of these is more important!!!
I guess both are interdependent in some ways, to say the least. It's the situation that plays an important part, the circumstances that make you decide which of these two omnipotent parameters rules the roost.
Consider the example of a person wanting to go to a place for a vacation with his family. He has enough time available, at hand, and is not in a hurry. He would definitely decide to take a train from his source station to the destination station or even prefer driving, unless he is averse or phobic to railway or road travel, without taking faster modes of travel such as air-travel  into account.  That's only because money is a much dearer thing for him at this point of time than his time. It does not necessarily mean that the person does not value his time at all. It means that in the current scenario he can afford to have not optimally utilized his time. This is when money probably scores over time.
Now consider another scenario where the same person needs to travel to a place, within the mainland of the country and very much within the ambit of railways, to strike a really lucrative business deal. Here in spite of the fact that the place is well within the railway network and reachable via rail, the person might still want to travel by air because he finds time much more important than money at that instance. It may be because a waste of time can cost him the deal or may be he finds traveling so long during working hours a waste. In this 'Time vs Money' scenario, time scores over money. It can be inferred from the above mentioned examples that when one feels ones time is more important and prioritizes on saving time than money in a given case, is subjective and depends from person to person. The saving on time gives 'some' people much more returns than saving on time. In stead of
just vegetating, they could direct this energy for a more productive cause and optimally utilize the time at hand. These are the characteristics of highly successful people - the day you realize that saving on time could give you greater returns than saving on money, consider yourself a successful and well-achieved individual. 
PS: The travel analogy presented by the author is just one scenario. There can be umpteen situations where you could find yourself in a quandary and obfuscated over the endless issues of 'Time vs Money'. 

Pseudonym : h!v

Matroo Ki Bijli Ka Mandola

My Verdict: 6/10
Comments: Satisfactory
Music: Good (Look out for the 'Khamakha' song)

Rarely do you see a movie that aims to address a social issue and yet fails to make the viewer's heart go out to it. MKBKM is one such work of celluloid.
The movie keeps you wondering if Imran Khan was the best man available to suit the role. Imran, though, has done a fairly good job. Not extraordinary but not bad either. The only thing where he has not been able to do justice to the role is what film-makers would call 'getting into the character'. Now sporting facial hair and wearing dreadly dirty costumes does not really gurantee that you seem exactly what you intend to.The body language is not perfect when it comes to 'Harayanvi' dialogues and 'tashan'. But that shuouldn't be much of a worry for Vishal Bharadwaj or Imran, the veteran actor, Pankaj Kapoor, has more than compensated for it.
Pankaj Kapoor plays a top shot real estate businessman in the movie. Though in real life he is a teetotaller he has more than justified playing a drunkard in the movie. His aim is to build a complete city on the lands of the farmers of the Mandola village. He has good political contacts and uses them to the fullest to realize his dream; Shabana Azmi who plays the power-obsessed politician in the movie helps and also takes advantage of this businessman.
As the movie unfolds, it throws light on the problems faced by the villagers when the government and the industrialists together form a cartel to arrogate the villager's land to themselves in the name of prosperity and economic development. Imran Khan plays the role of a 'messiah' and guides the villagers to get them out of this quagmire. And what happens in the course and ultimately is what forms the rest of the movie.
Anushka has done exactly what she is intended to do - bring in the glam factor. She is looking hot and boys going out to watch her especially would be satisfied, to say the least!!!
The dialogues in the movie are well written and the typical regional dialect and tone used, makes you feel close to reality. At times the dialogues really tickle your funny bone. The first half of the movie is pretty slow and monotonous, so don't forget to grab a large popcorn to pass your time. By the time the movie moves faster and comes to the point, the viewer has already lost half the interest.
Overall a one-time watch. Worth the money...

Pseudonym : h!v

India - The Political Cabaret

Did you know Manmohan Singh, more popularly known as 'Mannu', the honorable Prime Minister of India, is an exceptional dancer.
And so is 'Didi', the TMC Chief - Mamta Banerjee.
And how can we forget the latent talent of Sonia Gandhi when it comes to play a guitar.
The Indian politics across all demographies is replete with such political superstars. It is sad and critical on part of the 'aam junta', who play the part of being the audience here, not to recognise their talent and award these political cabret stars with due respect and accolades.

Ever since UPA-I came to power, Mannu, the lead dancer, has been dancing so well to the tunes of the INC Chief Sonia that it became imperative for the junta to vote him again to power and extend his performance to a second consecutive term. The junta it seems has really enjoyed his performnance. And why not, he has never let his body language or his dance seem out of tune to the music

 composed by the Gandhi family. Such is his dancing prowess that even Michael Jackson, had he been alive, would had pangs of inferiority. For years, he has been moving his feet in synch with Sonia Gandhi and her apostles. Never has he complained or refused to perform with them - a true team player for sure (one of the most vouched for virtue in contemporary managers and leaders). Be it the slippery Moon-SCAM-walk or the hard to perfect VADRA-steps, Mannu Bhai has never backed down.
Mamta Banerjee has time and again proved that she in no way is any less a dancer than our rockstar Mannu. Didi, as she is often called by her die-hard fans (some of them literally having no choice but

to kick the bucket), has always fought back hard and has never let Mannu's profitability, popularity and glamour quotient supercede hers. Though both Mannu and Didi are a part of the same band, administered by Sonia, they have their share of apathy, and at times even antipahty, for each other. Didi, being a young gun (she is at least younger than Manmohan) is better at some power-PUBLICITY-steps. She makes sure that she uses this to the fullest against Mannu and let the limelight be on her.
Rahul Gandhi for sure has to be the KEELER-DRUMMER(KD) - the heart of this association. He is incredible at making the perfect noise just when required. And that has proven really handy to Sonia; whenever Mannu and Didi fail to enchant the audience and get booed by them, KD gets in and does a high-adrenalin-performance which drives people crazy.Remember the visit Rahul made to J&K with a resolution to hear the problems of the youth there and look up solutions for them eventually.Though the situation is much the same and we have not witnessed any major turnaround in the valley, Rahul's visit atleast pacified the people for a while. They are in peace for few months before creating a furore again. No doubt, KD, along with his drums and sticks, is the trumpcard for the UPA band.
This odd bunch of the UPA band may not have been able to exercise good governance, may have failed to provide full meals to a million destitutes in the country, may not have been able to fight back and seek revenge for a jawaan killed at the border, may not have been able to save Nirbhaya (and then they say, may she RIP!!!), and may be won't be able to save thousands of such Nirbhayas in future, but we will still re-elect them to office because of the sheer entertainment they had offered us for all these years.  

Pseudonym : h!v

Disclaimer: The opinions in the article are author's personal ideas. The author has no intention to hurt the sentiments of the public. Any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.