An interesting case of forgery

Art heists, we see them countless times in movies as well as read about them in newspapers. They can be daring swiping of art works or plain robbing them outright. One such type of thieving is forgery. Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone. Forgery in itself requires a lot of skill and mental acumen to pull-off. And as all crimes go once caught, one must prove their innocence in court to live freely. However, one case in Holland which included forgery was a little different, here the accuse pleaded guilty and tried to convince the court of his guilt. This was the case of Han Van Meegeren in 1947.

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Like the cliché which goes with art forgers, Meegeren was an artist whose original works failed to bring him renown so he set put to make fools of those who shut the door to the art world on him. Like it was stated this kind of thievery requires a lot of skill and practice. Meegeren worked for nearly 6 years, studying all about the old masters, their styles, their biographies, their techniques and their materials. He chose a baroque painter from the 17^th century by the name of Johannes Vermeer, a rather difficult choice given that Vermeer is celebrated throughout the art world for his technical brilliance in portraying domestic scenes. He carefully made meticulous practice pieces, going as far as to making his own brushes, and paint from his knowledge of Vermeer’s time. He was partly successful in his forgeries due to the fact that the sophisticated means of testing that are available now weren’t as advanced or widespread then. The other factor was his planning, the originality of the art work being tested depends on the art specialist reviewing them, and their popularity which is subjective. From his research he knew that the leading expert on Vermeer believed that he had an early fixation on religious painting and as there was no proof of this theory, Vermeer decided to provide one. Even thought it had some inconsistencies, as it was considered an early piece, it got the stamp of approval and he sold his fake for an equivalent of $4 million dollars. The success prompted him to make and sell more forgeries. However, his triumph was to be short lived, soon Nazi Germany occupied holland, and Hitler’s top general Herman Goring wanted a Vermeer painting for his collection. And Van Meegeren was more than happy to sell his fake. However, when the allies won the world war, Meegeren was tried for his “treasonous” act and was to be sentenced to the electric chair for selling a Dutch “masterpiece”. Thus, began Meegeren’s trial and his fight to prove that it wasn’t an original. To prove this, he explained step by step how he had forged it. However, he faced an ironical obstacle, the very man he had used to dupe the world, now came forward to take him down. The very expert who had enabled him to do the scam, now fought to protect his own reputation. Thus, to prove his innocence Meegeren made another fake and submitted to the court and was thus acquitted for collaborating with the Nazis, but sentenced to one-year imprisonment for fraud. Thus, he went from the scum who collaborated with Nazis to the folk hero who managed to swindle them. Due to his notoriety his works became valuable is his own right. Later down the line even his son forged his father’s paintings to gain money.

Thus, his “lack of talent” in his peer’s eyes was actually the fuel that unlocked his real talent in his eye for detail and dealing the art.

Music As An Art Form

We all need entertainment. Entertainment is a crucial part of our lives. It is an absolute need for today’s world as we all are busy within our lives. Kids are busy with school and homework, adults are busy with work and other life stresses, so all of us need some entertainment from time to time. This entertainment we all need comes in various forms, while some might enjoy movies, some enjoy sports and many more. But sometimes we can not afford to take a break long enough to watch a movie or talk to someone or play a sport. One of the entertainment sources which fit that very important gap of being portable, easily accessible as well as quick is music. Music can be listened to on the go. Whether you are in a train or a bus, if you are working and need a short break, or you need some entertainment to push you through a task like working out of data entering, music is perfect for it. Some good music of your liking can fill up the mood bar and get you back on full throttle. And not just for entertainment, music is an allrounder, it is used all over the world as a healing method, music therapy is used to cure various mental illnesses and even helps easing physical pain. Apart from a medical standpoint, music can also be a great source of motivation and upliftment.

Music has also given a lot of people an open environment and space to freely express themselves and spread a message. Music is not just a source of entertainment, it is an artform which is capable of many deeds.

One of the best attributes of music is that it is for everybody. There exists a type of music for everyone to listen to.there are many many genres of music form. While some or more expressive and informative some have a very electronic upbeat vibe to them.

Music is also a great hobby because of its wide range. You can adopt music as a hobby in various forms. You can choose to be a singer or a songwriter or an instrument player or even a mixer. There are also a wide range of musical instruments to choose from like guitar, piano, flute , violin etc. the same with singing and writing, it may be jazz, rap, upbeat, slow etc. studies show that people who have adopted music as a hobby in their lives tend to be happier as it is also a stress reliever.

Music is also one of the oldest art forms as well. From the ancient times humans used to play music via drums and dance to celebrate. It has evolved and evolved to an extent where today every person in the world listens to some sort of music. It has also given various artists a creative career in life. Music industry today is worth billions and is growing by the minute.

Music is one of the best arm forms to exist and everyone should incorporate in their lives.

World’s expansive sports…

We know that trends are currently much changed in the world and people are more engaged in sports. Games are an ideal approach to unwind from the regular schedules and accomplish something else. For the most part, pros say that games keep the general people healthy and useful for the psyche too. There are numerous sorts of games, in which some of them can be effortlessly played at home with everything utilized as a part of them yet a few sports are expensive and hard to play at home. These sports are led through some amazing competitions and shows to show them everywhere throughout the world. Anybody can partake in these sorts of games if he or she is equipped for playing them.

All another typical type of sports can be played whenever however these can’t be played or can’t be taken as a profession. Everybody has no entrance in these sports because of their uniqueness. The most critical thing in every one of these sports is cash without which these sports are unrealistic. Every one of these sports is continuously connected with the exclusive class as they can manage the cost of them.

Here some sports, which are expansive

1.The Whitianga Festival of Sports:

It is very famous sport that is conducted in New Zealand in every year. It has helicopter used in it, boat, ski racing and helicopter racing as well. In this sport there is basically a competition between one another. Owning and keeping the equipment for this game are very expensive and requires about millions of dollars. It is the most expensive sports teams in the world as well. the boat used in this game cost around $20,000 to $2 million.

2.Ski Jumping:

Ski jumping is a very famous and interesting sport in the world. The equipment used in this sport can cost about $2,500. The recreational ski jumping is very expensive and can only be affordable by the rich people. A jumper has to spend almost $100,000 to go for this ride. It is also ensured because of the high risk in this game.

3.Formula 1:

Yes, cars can be cheap if you search patiently and diligently for the right deal. That rule doesn’t apply to Formula 1 cars. Each Formula 1 car may cost over $1 million. Even if you want to drive someone else’s car, you will still need to bring your own sponsors with deep pockets. Sometimes, the minimum sponsorship requirement can be as high as $190,000. Oh, and these Formula 1 car are extremely fragile as well. So the insurance premiums on the cars are going to be astronomical. There’s no wonder that this sport zooms right up to the top of the most expensive sports in the world list.

4.Hot Air Balloon Racing:

Most people did not know about the hot air balloon races in the world or it is basically a sport. An individual has to pay $300 for one hour ride on the balloon. Most people participating in them own their own balloons which are very expensive. A hot air balloon cost about $20,000 if purchased. Some measures must be adopted to participate in this sport like safety measures. The cost of training a pilot on these balloons cost about $3000 to go on these balloons.

5.Polo:

Polo is a very famous sport also in countries like the UK. This sport is always associated with the upper class and rich people due to its high cost. Its cost is high as expenses on a horse their maintenance and all others are very high. Mostly polo players have to keep 4 horses in order to keep some as a backup plan. The matches conducted for polo can cost almost $150,000. Mostly polo matches are sponsored by famous companies that cost up to $1,000,000 which is very expensive and high charges. The one problem in this sport it causes many serious injuries to the polo players.

6.Sailing:

There was a time when humans just tied bamboo stems with ropes and sailed all over the seas. However, that time is long gone and modern-day sailing is one of the most expensive sports in the world. To sail, you will need a sailboat, and most of them cost more than the most expensive super cars. Maintaining the sailboats is also very expensive, so it is paying the crew to run it. Oh and in case you forgot, the sailboat needs to be stored on dry land when competition season is off. Good luck building a hangar for it.

7.Equestrian:

It is a very famous sport which involves driving, riding, and chasing horses. We all know that riding a horse is the most favorite sport of many people. It is basically very rare for sport played with only a limited number of people due to its high cost. As the cost of training and keeping a horse for all these kinds of sports are very expensive and their traveling expenses are also very high. The cost of taking a horse to some this kind of event can cost almost $200,000 each year. In this amount, the cost of a horse is not included which is very expensive as well.

8.Bobsledding:

This interesting game was introduced in the Winter Olympics. This was first performed by the American star Lolo Jones as she got training after 2012. It is similar to F1 racing and requires a lot of sponsorship due to very high expenses. It can cost about $25,000 for bobsleds while training expenses are separate. People will not believe that the construction of bobsled can cost about millions of dollars. It is basically a team sport in which there are four members which shows cost will also four times greater.

15 Books Bill Gates recommend – Must Read!!!

An average person reads 1.5 books per year while your average top CEO reads over 50 books per year they do this so they can maintain a competitive edge in the game and find new ideas that could improve both their lifestyles and companies this time we’re taking a look at the books multi billionaire Bill Gates thinks everyone should read because they had such an incredible impact on his own journey.

Here is list of all 15 books that must be read by you to get a better life style:

1, Where good Ideas come from :- Steven Johnson

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2, Life is what you make it :- Peter Buffet

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3, Tap dancing to work :- Carol Loomis

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4, Moonwalking with Einstein :- Joshua Foer

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5, The Man Who Fed the World :- Leon Hesser

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6, “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert

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7, Making the Modern World :- Vaclav Smil

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8, The Rosie Project :- Graeme Simsion

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9, Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street :- John Brooks

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10, The Great Gatsby :- F. Scott Fitzgerald

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11, Outliers :- Malcolm Gladwell

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12, How to Lie With Statistics :- Darrell Huff

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13, The Box :- Marc Levinson

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14, How Not to Be Wrong :- Jordan Ellenberg

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15, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind :- Yuval Noah Harari

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Why you must learn a foreign language!

Introduction

When the majority of people say they want to learn new language, they say because of the tendency to learn something new but they never really think of the importance of learning a foreign language and how it can help them for years to come. Learning a foreign language gives a different vision to life. The brain of a bilingual people operate is not the same as other, they have different way to function. They have another mental level which bilingual people lack in caliber. That is why learning a foreign language has its benefit as it makes your brain sharper and stronger. Not only this, It just not been advantage to your resume but is also handy for travelling making one smarter and make better to connect with world. Many studies have suggested that communicating in different language has a great benefit. It is a great asset to mental awareness supporting cognitive process. One doesn’t learn languages in one go and it became powerful. The brain has to put extra effort for improving the functionality of your brain. The brain challenges itself to learn, negotiate meaning, and communicate in different system. It means the learner has skills that boost the ability of solving tasks as well. Toddlers and children are very much skilled in catching new words and switching between two systems that includes speech, writing, and structure. Switching between the languages makes a good multitasking as it’s easy to switch between the languages. A good learner often likes its brain to do exercise because it functions well in that case. Learning something obeys the memorizing rule and a set of vocabulary that assist a learner to gain mental strength and stretches mental muscles. This totally improves an entire memory, that proves that multilingual are better learner and remembering list and arrangements. They could easily catch names and address, says many studies. Every language has its own set of jargons and glitches and subtle implication included in the vocabulary that influences the judgments. It makes any bilingual more confident on its decision making skills. They are quick in checking whether initial conclusion stand up. They hardly become biased and subconsciously influence the judgment. It is said that language is best learned between the sheets. If a learner has to study a language he/she better aim of a culture and its diversity. Also help in getting a good knowledge of society are interactively motivated. Language and its aptitude is the main tool that builds for long relationships and meaningful provides communication. Linguistic studies show that integrative motivation always yields faster and more effective language learning results than any other type of learning. Learner studying language can achieve their goal more instantly than others as they are more motivated. Therefore, tracing its origins or evolutions is the most difficult thing.

Motivation to learn a language is not problematic but if a learner has a zero cultural curiosity then it’s hard for him/her to learn. The learning process will be more difficult than for those with integrative motivation and difficult to target or even prejudice. Desire to communicate and accelerate language learning that can motivate one to learn a language. It is also a basic need for a cross cultural friendship and one can fuel integrative motivation.

The Rise of Esports in India

India is emerging as a leader in sports gaming, a growing field that has fascinated the interest of millennials like never before. The Indian digital gaming industry is growing rapidly with behemoths like Dream11, Mobile Premier League, Junglee Games creating their footprints globally.In the past couple of years, the country has witnessed multiple e-sports startups, namely JetSynthesys, Cobx Gaming, FanMojo, Playtonia and Nodwin Gaming, joining the online gaming space, establishing E-sports as an investor-friendly industry. According to the IFSG-KPMG report, the industry is already worth INR 43.8 billion and is said to reach INR 118.8 billion by FY23 with a growth rate of CAGR 22.1 per cent.

This is to solicit a story on how e-sports platforms are evolving the landscape of sports gaming in India. The primary reason for investors to take an interest in the e-sports section is because India is growing as a sporting nation and the people are taking an interest in building and popularizing leagues for Football, Kabaddi, Hockey, Badminton and other sports.

Alibaba: Tencent and Alibaba-Paytm evaluating India's startup ...

Why E-sports?

More than often people confuse E-sports with Fantasy gaming. While the former is catching a certain interest, electronic sports are not far behind. This form of video gaming has a professional and competitive nature that is facilitated by an electronic system and is often based on organized multi-player video games.Sports gaming is a growing field in India and E-sports is said to be leveraging the country’s love for real sports. “Watching real sports is a passive activity. You switch on your television or open up your mobile app, sit back and enjoy the game,” Ankush Gera, CEO and Founder of Junglee Games started, adding that Online gaming has recognized India’s love for action by making a passive activity engaging.

“Today’s consumers are no longer satisfied with just clicking a button. They want action. They want to do more. They want to be a part of the experience,” he shared. A leader in skill gaming space with over 10 million users across the globe, Junglee Games has emerged as India’s answer to PUBG. The success story specifies that the growth of Indian E-sports platforms is only limited by the initiative.

The Rise of Esports

Currently, India stands at a global number 17 in the soon-to-be USD 1.5 billion Esports industry. Estimated to be about $818 million, the Indian Esports sector while vastly unstructured, is growing rapidly. The number of online gamers worldwide has increased from 20 million in 2010 to 250 million in 2018, whereas the number of game developing companies has grown from 25 in 2010 to 250 in 2018.The IFSG-KPMG reports suggested that fun and excitement are the primary motivators for 72 per cent users for playing online sports across all age and income groups. For around 81 per cent of respondents, the ‘ability to manage teams virtually’, ‘remain connected with the sport’ and ‘utilization of sports knowledge’ was other important motivators for engagement.

The mass penetration of mobile 4G, triggered by Reliance Jio, has further popularized online gaming sports (along with several other internet services) in the country. Thanks to digital innovation, sports have become more interactive, engaging and fun. However, both the real world and online sports have their own charm.Real-life games have their own adrenaline rush whereas the online community to fulfil their urge to play sports, expressed Asifa Sunar, SVP (Head of Product Quality) of Mobile Premier League. Sharing their idea of E-sports, she stated, “MPL is bridging the gap in terms of access to sports by connecting people online who were left out by the world of physical sports.”

Impact over Sports Viewership

Indians harbour a special love for sports. Cricket, especially, has been treated as more like a religion in India. However, a significant change has been noted in the consumption patterns and genre expansion, formulating a jump in the popularity & viewership of other games such as Kabaddi, Badminton, Wrestling & even Football.

“The popularity of a particular sport depends completely on the achievements of the national level teams,” provided Mujahid Rupani, the Co-founder & CEO, Cobx Gaming, an Indian E-sports company. Traditional sports are losing their appeal for the younger viewers due to the multi-hour formats and length of tournaments, making E-sports attractive for quicker gratification and results.While almost every Indian follows at least one sport and has a point of view on the game, players & team selection. Online gaming platforms are now rewarding them for testing their skills as a team selector or coach. Online gaming platforms give the nation an outlet for what they think sports should look like.

Technology Over Traditional Mediums

“The conventional model of the single-screen broadcast is now only one of the many options at a fans disposal,” provided Sumesh Menon, Co-founder and Group CEO of U2opia Global, the parent company of FanMojo, a homegrown fantasy e-Sports platform that handpicks their players, use their skill to play games, compete and win prize money.Gera argues that Sports gaming does not negate the attraction sports fans have to view the game, in fact, it increases it. “They (Sports viewers) are so much more invested in the performance of the players, (that) watching the match on mobile or catching scores on a mobile app may hold appeal when travelling or busy, the appeal of viewing the match live on a bigger screen is much higher.”

However, he does agree that digital formats might encroach on some market share of traditional media. It would be interesting to see how traditional media adapts to technology. There could be some interesting crossovers between the two formats.

Big players in the market

With a larger appetite for gaming in India, there’s more money moving through the industry, with increased overseas investment and partnership, mostly from China. Alibaba-backed digital payments startup Paytm and Hong Kong’s AGTech Holdings launched a gaming platform Gamepind; Tencent, which has stakes in legendary games like League of Legends, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, is planning to investin gaming in India this year, and Chinese gaming company Youzu launched local casual strategy games last year. Vietnam-based StomStudio also partnered with mobile game publisher Gamesbond to create mobile games in India.

Although most mobile games in India have a very low average revenue per user, except the casino and strategy genre games, Manojh says, “As the market is maturing, the sector has been getting increasing attention from investors, with many startups raising funds to create niche games.”Globally, over the last few years, the games industry has seen free-to-play (F2P) hit the mainstream, tablet and smartphone games have come into the ascendent and we’ve seen Facebook gaming rise and fall, but in India though, F2P business model – in which games can be downloaded for free, but then make money through adverts – continues its growth.Between 2014 and 2016, game downloads in India more than doubled. “In terms of downloads, casual and sports genre games perform very well,” says Manojh. A survey reveals that mobile gaming is part of daily lives of more than one-third Indians — 40% men and 35% women play mobile games at least five days a week.

AI in gaming

There’s no question that there’s more interest than there has ever been. Virtual-reality gaming is also a fast-evolving vertical in the country. Digital advertising is forcing companies to look at gaming in a big way, embedding commercials through games.What makes all of this even more exciting is the introduction of artificial intelligence into gaming. Tech startup Absentia has developed Norah.ai, a AI-powered tool for quick creation and incorporation of all game elements. “Our engine is trained over 40 million data points, it generates variety at each step thereby adding countless number of possibilities to the terrains, 3D models and game play environments among others,” says Shubham Mishra, co-founder of Absentia. “At the click of a button, a fleet of 100 different variants are generated, empowering the developers with more options.”

This means that games developers don’t need to have particularly powerful hardware — they will be able to create assets for games, ranging from story, to animations, and even models quickly, and affordably. And, it’s all adding up to a fast-growing business.

History of Internet…

internet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. the full form of the internet is Interconnected Network, firstly the Internet has its origin in the efforts to build and interconnect computer networks that arose from research and development in the United States and involved international collaboration, particularly with researchers in the United Kingdom and France.

Fundamental theoretical work in data transmission and information theory was developed by Claude Shannon, Harry Nyquist, and Ralph Hartley in the early 20th century. Information theory, as enunciated by Shannon in 1948, provided a firm theoretical underpinning to understand the trade-offs between signal-to-noise ratio, bandwidth, and error-free transmission in the presence of noise, in telecommunications technology. With so many different network methods, something was needed to unify them. Robert E. Kahn of DARPA and ARPANET recruited Vinton Cerf of Stanford University to work with him on the problem. By 1973, they had worked out a fundamental reformulation, where the differences between network protocols were hidden by using a common internetwork protocol, and instead of the network being responsible for the reliability, as in the ARPANET, the hosts became responsible. Cerf credits Hubert Zimmermann and Louis Pouzin designer of the CYCLADES network and his graduate students Judy Estrin, Richard Karp, Yogen Dalal, and Carl Sunshine with important work on this design.

During the first decade or so of the public Internet, the immense changes it would eventually enable in the 2000s were still nascent. In terms of providing context for this period, mobile cellular devices like smartphones and other cellular devices, which today provide near-universal access, were used for business and not a routine household item owned by parents and children worldwide. Social media in the modern sense had yet to come into existence, laptops were bulky and most households did not have computers. Data rates were slow and most people lacked means to video or digitize video; media storage was transitioning slowly from analog tape to digital optical discs (DVD and to an extent still, floppy disc to CD). Enabling technologies used from the early 2000s such as PHP, modern JavaScript, and Java, technologies such as AJAX, HTML 4, and various software frameworks, which enabled and simplified speed of web development, largely awaited invention and their eventual widespread adoption.

The Internet was widely used for mailing lists, emails, e-commerce and early popular online shopping (Amazon and eBay for example), online forums and bulletin boards, and personal websites and blogs, and use was growing rapidly, but by more modern standards the systems used were static and lacked widespread social engagement. It awaited a number of events in the early 2000s to change from a communications technology to gradually develop into a key part of global society’s infrastructure.

The first Internet link into low earth orbit was established on January 22, 2010, when astronaut T. J. Creamer posted the first unassisted update to his Twitter account from the International Space Station, marking the extension of the Internet into space..) This personal Web access, which NASA calls the Crew Support LAN, uses the space station’s high-speed Ku band microwave link. To surf the Web, astronauts can use a station laptop computer to control a desktop computer on Earth, and they can talk to their families and friends on Earth using Voice over IP equipment.

Communication with spacecraft beyond earth orbit has traditionally been over point-to-point links through the Deep Space Network. Each such data link must be manually scheduled and configured. In the late 1990s, NASA and Google began working on a new network protocol, Delay-tolerant networking which automates this process, allows networking of spaceborne transmission nodes, and takes the fact into account that spacecraft can temporarily lose contact because they move behind the Moon or planets, or because space weather disrupts the connection. Under such conditions, DTN retransmits data packages instead of dropping them, as the standard TCP/IP Internet Protocol does. NASA conducted the first field test of what it calls the “deep space internet” in November 2008. Testing of DTN-based communications between the International Space Station and Earth has been ongoing since March 2009 and is scheduled to continue until March 2014.

As the Internet grew through the 1980s and early 1990s, many people realized the increasing need to be able to find and organize files and information. Projects such as Archie, Gopher, WAIS, and the FTP Archive list attempted to create ways to organize distributed data. In the early 1990s, Gopher, invented by Mark P. McCahill offered a viable alternative to the World Wide Web. However, in 1993 the World Wide Web saw many advances to indexing and ease of access through search engines, which often neglected Gopher and Gopherspace. As popularity increased through the ease of use, investment incentives also grew until in the middle of 1994 the WWW’s popularity gained the upper hand. Then it became clear that Gopher and the other projects were doomed to fall short.

In recent years, it’s become very clear that the internet is key to living in the modern age. Basically, everyone is expected to have an internet connection and everyone is expected to use that internet on a daily basis. The idea of doing something as simple as finding work without the internet is alien to most Europeans. I remember entering a job center in Norway and seeing the staff completely baffled and out of ideas when I informed them I was temporarily out of the internet. I also found it near impossible to manage here without some form of daily internet access, I think everyone who has been without it for more than a day will realize how much they rely on it, not just ‘want’ it.

However, when people think, “free internet” I don’t think they mean “we should have free WiFi hotspots everywhere.” I think they instead mean that you should not have to pay for WiFi to be wired to your house, and you should not be charged by a company to provide you the internet. I agree with this fully, the internet should not be a paid commodity like it’s simply something you can go without, it simply is too important. Like water and electricity, most developed countries monitor these services consistently and try to ensure they’re as cheap as possible, otherwise, the cost of surviving is simply too high, that’s why you can often find electricity and water for rather cheap prices. Internet, however, can be damned expensive, and the packages and contracts that must be signed are sometimes akin to signing a contract with the devil. Sometimes the companies won’t even deliver your modem, or they will purposely throttle you in order to ensure you upgrade your package. Internet providers can be, and often are, thieves, it’s almost completely unchecked.

In 2015, Google started the ‘Station’ program to bring free public Wi-Fi to 400 busiest railway stations in New Delhi, India, Google has decided to gradually wind down the service globally as it believes that better data plans and improving mobile connectivity have made it “simpler and cheaper” for users to get online. Google explained that it took the decision to end the program because it was becoming difficult to scale up and to make a sustainable business. The company had worked with various partners in each market where it offered the Station service, but each had different technical and infrastructure requirements. In India, it worked with RailTel, Indian Railways, and Pune Smart City, for example, while in South Africa it worked with Think WiFi. However, Google isn’t the only company to have tried to make it easier for users in developing markets to get online. Facebook founded the Internet.org project in 2013, and in 2016 it launched Express Wi-Fi In India after its previous internet service was banned in the country.

How to attract people in first 90 seconds- Must read!!!

These are the secrets from an amazing book called “How to Make people like you in 90 seconds or less” by Nicholas Booth Man. Likable people are always open, welcoming and friendly in nature and you can notice their sincerity, trust, and self-confidence in their behavior as well, and you can develop all these qualities in yourself by meeting other people in a regular manner. If other people do not find you interesting in first 90 seconds after meeting you, then they would want to get rid of you as soon as possible.

If you want that people like you more, then you have to invest your efforts from the very beginning, and this starts even before you speak a single word from your mouth. Any new person notices three basic things just after meeting you, these three things are your

Body language
Your eyes
Expression on your face

Thus, it is essential that when you meet anyone, these three elements give the feeling of openness to other people. For doing this, you will have to show your interest in them, along with your body, you will have to move your brain as well toward them. This effort will show your sincerity and commitment and openness in the conversation and in them as well after this, you need to see directly in the eyes of other people, this establishes the trust and as soon as you make an eye contact with other person make sure you give a genuine smile to them before they think or assume anything else about you. Let your positive attitude shine with a broad and genuine smile with this simple action, other people will consider you as a genuine, open and sincere person with this simple effort, you already made a warm and welcoming mood for the situation, and now you need to initiate by introducing yourself. You can do that with a standard greeting, like Hi or hello and you must need to do that in a very pleasant tone. Along with that make sure you share your first name to the other person and it will encourage the other person to introduce themselves for example, you can say,….”Hello, I am Akash”. When you say this, then the other person will also share his or her name with you, and as soon as they share their name, you must need to repeat their name like wise you said… “Hello, I am Sahil” you got response… “Hi, I am Sohil” now you have to say, “Sohil, Nice to meet your Sohil.” In his famous book, “How to win friends and influence people,” Dale Carnage shared the fact that the name of any individual is the sweetest sound in the entire world for that person that is why it is essential that you repeat other person’s name in the conversation as much as possible. This method will increase your acceptance and respect, it will also make it easier for your to memorize their name. And finally, you have to lean forward slightly. Just a little leaning would be enough, just like Mr. Obama is slightly leaning forward in this photo.

Image source: BusinessInsider

With your slight inclination, other people will assume you are showing interested in them, and you are listening to them carefully, also, it will give you a pleasant appearance. Just look at photo and tell who is looking more generous in both of them. Of course, it is Mr. Obama, because he is using this principle.

Studies proved that people hire those people that are similar to them and even most of the time they date people with similar people because they make them feel safe and comfortable. If you try to pay attention, you will find, you enjoy the company of those people who think like you, who behave like you and those who make you feel comfortable. You can be comfortable for them just by synching your voice with their voice. The synching of voice is a very powerful tool in communication skills for this, you need to speak at the same pace as other people are speaking that means if they talk slow, then you should not run fast and second thing, you shall try to use the same tone similar to them. If they are calm and relaxed, and you will speak loudly or with excitement, then it won’t work well for you. You need to use same volume and you need to relax while talking. With this, other people will think you are like them and they will feel more comfortable while talking to you.

photo of people doing handshakes — Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

In 1979, Dr. Lisa Berkman did a study on 7000 people, and this study lasted for 9 years with this study, she found that people that do not have more social connections or those who do not meet other people, they get ill more often, and it increased their chances of earlier death as well and who meet other people more often, were likely to live longer. So, go and expand your social circle without having any fear, without any complications.

Devi: A Nudge to the Society, A Short film to Unveil the Paradox, 2020

A powerful suspense drama 13 mins Hindi short film Devi directed by Priyanka Banerjee, endorses the concept of femininity. ‘Devi’ is a Sanskrit word that means ‘Goddess’. The short film “Devi” unites some women who are coming from different backgrounds but a victim of the same kinds of situations like sexual assault, rape, domestic violence, and so on.
This short film is confined in a room but the use of camera and script didn’t let the audience feel monotonous. With the help of close shots, the expression of the characters has become so vividly exposed that the movie reached another dimension. There is a clean play with time, the continuous cut gives an engaging effect to the audience during the conversation of the characters. There are characters like urban alcoholic ( Shruti Hasan), English speaking city dweller (Neha Dhupia), Urban clad lady, a mute girl, there is a medical practitioner girl, housewives, primitive ladies and more. But among them, Kajol is a very calm and silent yet fierce figure who is the pivot of family. The character is god worshipping and it produces a motherly figure and women omnipotence. The scene fades in with a girl slapping on the television to start it. Then by wide shot, the camera covers the different activities of others present in the room. Then with some shots, we get a glimpse of other activities to get some ideas about the other characters. We come to know about the characters when a debate starts on coming to a new member of the family. Everyone disagrees stating their problem to adjust. As the situation escalates, a quarrel starts between Marathi the old lady, and Neha Dhupia. Ultimately Kajol as the avatar of the goddess convinced them to let the new member referring their helpless situation when they came into the house. Kajol is doing a task like glue to take the victims in the same room. Ultimately when the new member comes in, it breaks the heart of everyone, even the audiences. It was a little girl of maybe 5 or 6 years. The camera takes a shot from the back of the girl revealing half of the girl’s body. The little girl goes and hugs the old Marathi lady. At this moment another news of the rape of a little girl on the television takes every characters’ attention, they look at the television with tearing eyes. The scene fades out.
In this egalitarian world and an era of women empowerment, the safety of women’s physical and mental dignity remains a paradox. The movie doesn’t reveal the face of the little girl probably not to specify one girl because in every minute a girl like her is being victimized. So the little girl is the representation of each girl in the country. We can see the evil representation of the society where irrespective of age, class, status, women are being victimized. This is a film, portraying how the women are fighting to survive to bear the brutal stab of the society. The film also gives a message of positivism that if one door closes the other opens. God saves the best for everyone. Here in the film, Kajol plays a character of the avatar of goodness who rescues everyone’s life.
I think everyone should watch this movie to have an idea of how social vultures are continuously chasing to win over. Moreover, it also learns problems can’t be bigger than one’s life. If a little adjustment can save one’s life then it’s far more peaceful than mundane some comforts. It will leave everyone thinking if not me then who?

The Curse Of Love.

Majority of the people look back at their past relationships with regret and many say they are “unlucky in love”. The fact is that whether you find love with one person who lasts a lifetime or find it with 15 other people who were short term, it means you’re lucky in love! The problem arises when you expect a relationship to last forever, especially in today’s day and age where there are so many changing dynamics and you’re surrounded by so much opportunity and so many choices. Lots of people look at the “good old days” when marriages lasted a lifetime as exemplary, completely ignoring the fact that if many of them lasted a lifetime, it was not for positive reasons. Back then, the woman was not allowed to return to her marital home once she left. Being a divorcee was a stigma and almost always meant being an outcast and seen as “threatening” to other marriages. There was also the aspect that women were brought up to see marriage as a final destination and lacked education and the ability to earn and support themselves outside of marriage. So, they had to take whatever came their way, be it abuse, dowry demands, infidelity, lack of rights, and being treated like a slave by the family she was married into. Child brides and couples who were married off the moment they were of marriageable age never had the opportunity to find love or even look for it. They were bound by family decisions and had to live with it for a lifetime whether they liked it or not. The nature of relationships has changed dramatically in just one lifetime, and it’s incredible to see the amount of opportunity and resources available to find a compatible life partner. There is an acceptance of pre-marital sex and to be able to move on if things don’t work out. Experiencing multiple relationships doesn’t mean you’re unlucky. It means it felt right and was right for that period of time, and that you’re lucky to be able to move on from a relationship that was headed downhill. Thank it for what it did bring into your life instead of regretting it. Yes, sometimes the nature of love evolves and lasts a lifetime, but love is not a commitment for a forever, marriage is. And marriage can be a way to force someone to stay with you, but it isn’t a way to force someone to stay in love with you.

Some thoughts and their answers.

I have had a history of bad relationships. I want to break this cycle but I simply don’t know how to. Can I do it by myself or should I approach a mental health expert? I have been trying to understand why I keep making the same mistakes. time I promise myself a better future but it ends in heartache. Please guide me. ( Question by a Girl)

Please define “bad relationship”. If you feel that the people chosen weren’t right for you, ask whether they were right for that period of time and if you let them in, what void exists that they were filling. If what you want is sex and some happy times, realise it and go for it. If what you want is love, enjoy it while it exists. If you want a long term it’s about compatibility, so focus on getting to know the person and not to jump into relationships. If there is a pattern of physical abuse then it’s mostly connected with self-worth and allowing yourself to be punished and for that, it’s best to meet with a good therapist or hypnotherapist to sort out inner child issues. (The Answer)

I am in my late 20s, and wondering about whether arranged marriage as a concept is still relevant in today’s times. My parents want me to meet potential suitors, but I have my reservations about arranged marriages and the way you are rushed into things that you may not necessarily be prepared for. I don’t mind meeting people, but I don’t want to be rushed into things. How do I meet people without the sword of marriage hanging on my head? (The Question)

Whether it’s meeting someone in your orbit, finding someone on the internet, or having your parents find someone for you, the rule remains the same: Ensure you have multiple areas of compatibility and things you like to do together to keep a strong bond. Most importantly, focus on what you both don’t like and what is not acceptable as those become thorns that tear the fabric of respectful togetherness apart. Tell your parents, you’re happy to meet people but will settle down only when you feel it’s the right fit for a long haul. (The Answer)

I am a 45-year-old single woman and have been working at the same organisation since the past 20 years. I feel like I am stuck in a rut, but I also don’t have the guts to leave and look for better opportunities. I don’t know whether I should continue or take a leap of faith and quit. Please help. (The Question)

Sounds like a dead marriage. Except, in a marriage, looking for options is considered cheating, but in work, it’s acceptable for sourcing a better future. 45 is not an age to resist change, go out there… put out your applications, and follow your gut instincts when they accept as to whether it’s the right fit for you. Perhaps you can take a one month holiday and use that time to work at another company to check out the work dynamics at a new place. It might excite you to leave, or alternatively make you aware of how wonderfully comfortable you are with your current job. Both ways, a win-win eye-opener. (The answer)

This Is The Reason Why Gigi Hadid Is The Best “Soul-Mate” For Zayn Malik

Gigi and Zayn fit perfectly into each other and are the extension of greatest “couple goals” of all times. America’s sweetheart and glam doll, Gigi Hadid seems to be every man’s dream girl. But the model had seemed to hold on tight to pop-star and every girl’s heartbeat Zayn Malik for five years straight.

While there is no kept secret that the duo shares an inevitable bond, their unparalleled PDA beams brightly through the transparent walls, and it says it all! And after the much-needed quarantine-surprise, Gigi’s pregnancy tale seems like another fairy tale, the big news has managed to replace a month-year-old frown with an exciting grin. Both snuggled into each other’s private space, happy in their own little world.

Nevertheless, the pregnancy rumors added a little sheen to the Victoria Secret model’s life and there is no doubt about that. And with the latest pictures of Gigi doing the rounds, she looks flushed with happiness than ever before.

There are some reasons why Gigi Hadid is entitled to become Zayn Malik’s “best girlfriend” in the entire world.

The protective tool

Against all odds, Gigi manages to bring out of her high-glam avatar and puts her foot down against all her BF’s uninvited troubles. The 25-year-old model has broken all boundaries to prove her love for Zayn several times. She has stood thick and thin beside him like a rod.

When a string of ‘infidelity’ rumors surrounded the couple, that’s when Gigi came into the picture, and framed defensive statements, proving her bitter-sweet protective nature towards Zayn unbeatable.

Strong fam bond

There is no doubt that Gigi Hadid had been accepted by Malik’s family with open arms, she is often seen strengthening the family bond, leaving us all overjoyed and awed.

A-lister supportive partner

Gigi is unlike the rest! she passionately supports Zayn Malik’s successful and steaming music career and once starred in one of his music videos. The couple had also collaborated for a high-octane song together which was applauded by their fans. In the music video, they both were seen sharing intimate scenes inviting critics to put a thumbs down to one of their most awaited collabs of all times.

Zayn’s mouth piece

Though the “Pillowtalk” singer is shy to express his opinions openly to the world, Gigi had been seen speaking on behalf of him on several occasions. This does not mean that Zayn is spineless, he might follow the rules obediently

A tale of the prank that made history.

Pranks, they have been a staple in every strata of the society from a long time. The only difference being that the pranks of the so called “nobility” or the upper class tend to showcase their superiority and upper classmanship, while that of lower and middle class was viewed as “uncouth”. Usually pranks are often viewed as a fun filled frolic or by some as meddlesome and tiring, but one such prank brought forth many upsides. However, pranks no matter who plays, tend to be short lived, however today we talk about one such prank that went not for a decade or a century but rather played out till a whopping 400 years. This takes place when the Crusaders had started gaining momentum in Europe.

In 1165, a certain letter had started circulating throughout the western Europe. To view it now, we can clearly infer that it was a hoax, however people at that time believed it to be true. The letter spoke of a realm filled with mystical features, such as the Tower of Babel, The fountain of youth, with mystical weapons and animals within their arsenal. It mentioned that the mysterious and fabled land was ruled by the letter’s mysterious author: Prester John. This prank or hoax brought about an age of exploration, inspired an intercontinental diplomatic relation and rather sadly brought forth an civil war. This letter came forth during a time Europe Crusaders were trying to find Christian allies to serve in their war against the practitioners of “blasphemous” religions, mainly the Muslims and the Jews. They were fascinated by an army that had defeated a vast Muslim army in the far east. They were referring to the Mongol warriors that consisted of some converted Christians. However like all news spread by the means of words and stories, it spread unreliably and by the time it reached Europe, the story had changed the Mongol horde to a great Christian army full of soldiers with strength of biblical proportions, with a enigmatic ruler leading them with similar goals as the crusaders of marching to Jerusalem. This was the time the forged hoax of a letter reached the hands of the crusaders and despite its obvious European origin the appeal was too great for the crusaders to ignore. Thus, began a search for the mystical realm in the east that Prester john ruled. Soon they even reached Africa in search for Prester John’s ancestors. This was the time that Portuguese reached Ethiopia and found about a Christian kingdom, and with a mix of confusion and diplomacy the Portuguese thought they had encountered the fabled kingdom of Prester John. This happened nearly 350 years after the letter had instigated the search. A decade later when the sultanate of Adal attacked Ethiopia the Portuguese came as help, and soon realized that they weren’t the fabled kingdom they had pegged them to be. Worse still the increasingly intolerant roman catholic church had deemed the sect of Christianity found in Ethiopia as heresy. This sparked a civil war between the “ideal” Christians and the “Ethiopian” Christians and in the 1630s Ethiopia cut all ties with Europe. Over the next two centuries the legend of John’s kingdom faded to oblivion.

Thus, ends the tale of the medieval version of modern click-bait.

HORROR MOVIES MAKE SENSE?

Definitely, some may find horror movies as senseless but some may find it fascinating. It depends from person to person and the storyline of the movie. Watching horror movies with best friends may come up a bit funny. Unlikely watching them alone can be terrifying too. Some scenes make no sense. I mean what motivates you to go upstairs and investigate and follow the sound? https://youtu.be/X6pHNzqFy2E Asking who’s there, in an empty house. The spirit will answer back, totally unreasonable. I too crave horror movies, movies like The NUN with an interesting storyline can easily attract anyone. I mean this wasn’t terrifying but it had logic.

Health and Horror!

Taking a 30 min walk or watching a 90 min movie can burn equal calories. They actually boost heart rate, probably more pumping. One can come across premature aging on faces due to facial expressions. Adding frown lines can be a result of watching horror movies. The reason is while watching the horror scenes, we tend to change our expressions. According to Dr. Harry Singh, from beauty and wellness brand FOREO, by repeating this expression and stretching of Frontalis muscle we can formulate horizontal lines across the forehead. “What happens for most people is that you have an arousal of your sympathetic nervous system and an activation [to produce] adrenaline,” said AP Psychology teacher Heidi Mathers. Horror movies can cause side effects too. The most common among them is sleeplessness and anxiety.

Hollywood and Horror!

Hollywood movies have shown commercially great success in the Horror category. They are profitable because the movies have a low budget and are generally shot at a single location. The movie “The silence of the lambs” was very appreciated. People believed that “Prestige horror is back” after the movie Get out casting actor Jordan Peele won the best original screenplay in Oscar.

Oscar-winning Horror movies.

Misery(1990)– Kathy Bates won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role starring in Misery.
The silence of the Lambs(1991)– “Silence of the Lambs” has lasted as the most successful in its genre, with wins in the top four categories of best actor, actress, director, and screenplay. It was directed by Jonathan Demme.
The Exorcist(1974)– Oscar Winner for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another MediumWilliam Peter Blatty and for Best Sound. Though it has also been in the nominee list for other major categories.
Jaws(1976)– This movie won an Oscar for Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Music, and was nominated for the best picture in the Oscars.
The Sixth Sense(2000)– This movie didn’t win an Oscar but was part of the nomination list for many categories such as Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Film Editing.
Black Swan(2011)– The movie won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. It was also nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in (Directing, Cinematography, and in Film Editing) in Oscars.
Get Out(2017)– Oscar Winner for Best Original Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Achievement in Directing.

TELEVISION AS AN IDIOT BOX: A PERSPECTIVE

Television in the 20^th century emerged as a potent medium of entertainment, information and education. It has a profound way of influencing our thought process, attitudes and beliefs and it all hinges on the amount of television we watch. When children are exposed to this device, initially the box attracts and eventually, it starts distracting. A child develops a fondness for programs and over a while, the tendency to watch for long hours increases. Ultimately a child ends us spending considerable time watching TV. It is a herculean task to strike a balance between physical activities, homework, house chores and leisure time, especially for school going kids. As they devote time to television, striking balance becomes ever tricky, and a child becomes a victim of hyperactivity. With eyes glued to the box, the idiot box holds a child’s attention entirely, cutting him/ her from the rest of the world.

We understand that the environment is a great teacher, and one must move out to learn and explore life. But now that this child is living inadvertently in isolation, alas there rises a threat to overall development. Yes, the world of TV provides numerous experiences; it offers knowledge that otherwise wouldn’t be available to us. Studies also reveal that learners learn faster and better from TV than classroom instruction and even retain information for a longer duration. There’s a catch though- Not all content is suitable to be viewed by children. There is a dramatic increase in violence, coarse language, murder, crime and emotional ‘atyachaar’. Children entering into adolescence and children already in it are quite vulnerable to such feeding. They are uncritical of the information they receive and may commit acts under its influence, which can bring nothing but bad name. In this day and age, there are complaints of poor conduct, antisocial behaviour and aggressive attitude displayed by children at home. Who’s the culprit? The Idiot Box is one of the many things which condition such behaviour in intense viewers.

Wasting time is an inherent shortcoming of TV. Viewer’s reading ability also suffers. There is no benefit to our academic skills and other skills. Children don’t view programs which their parents want either way. Activities like active play outside with friends, eating dinner together with family or reading are compromised. The Idiot box also takes away time, particularly from sports, music, art or other activities that require practise to become skilful.

There are so many points that go against the television:

It increases the spending habit as people want to upgrade to HD connections and also to bigger LEDs. Children wish to game consoles which further adds to the family cost.
It has detrimental effects on a child’s brain. A child, when growing up, may struggle to engage socially.
Book writer Stephen King believes that watching television kills creativity. Many say it shuts down critical thinking. The noise emitted from screens is so mesmerising to kids that it captures their attention entirely separating them from people around.
Interacting with other children and people is essential for personality development. The lesser a child engages with them; difficulty generates, and there are complaints of poor conduct and antisocial behaviour.
There are some instances where overexposure to TV leads to poor grades at school and develops aggressive behaviour.
Too much junk food on TV can mean too much desire for it.
Some people watch it for pass time. What they don’t realise is that becoming a follower of a daily soap can be taxing their mind. All sorts of anxiety, frustration and depression can happen.
TV appeals more to emotions than logic. People watch it more for fun than learning.
TV addicts can feel that they have lost a friend if they prolong their TV viewing.

Even adults can’t escape the magnetic charm of the idiot box. Excessive TV viewing is contributing to sleep problem, behaviour problems, obesity, laziness, and leads to several health issues. A homemaker subject to too much daily soap viewing will not gain much, and even if she does, the chances are that more negativity will be taken than positivity. The Idiot box lastly provides only a monologue; there’s no scope for dialogue. And we humans must reciprocate to learn, to clear our doubts, to move forward in life and to take the right decision. The only idiot delivers one-way communication; therefore, TV is an Idiot box.

How Surat Boy and NIT Hamirpur Graduate Shantanu Yadav cracked CAT with 99.7%ile and got into IIM Ahmedabad for MBA 2020!

Shantanu Singh Yadav, CAT 2019 topper from Surat, cracked the exam with 99.73 percentile and has converted number of top B-schools including IIM Ahmedabad. A graduate from NIT Hamirpur, Shantanu belongs to a modest service class family. While preparing for CAT exam, he earned 3 years of working experience in a fertilizer industry. Read his CAT preparation strategy and success mantra

Coming from the small town of Surat in Gujarat, Shantanu Singh Yadav cracked CAT 2019 with 99.73 percentile and has converted number of top B-schools including IIM Ahmedabad. A graduate from NIT Hamirpur, Shantanu belongs to a modest service class family. While preparing for CAT exam, he earned 3 years of working experience in a fertilizer industry.

Shantanu appeared in CAT 2018 also, and scored 95.73 percentile but decided to prepare again to get his dream B-school. He likes playing Football and his hobbies and interests include Photography, Trekking and Hiking.

MBAUniverse.com invited Shantanu to share his exam taking strategy and GD-PI experience. Read on for his views and success mantras.

Q: How did you perform in CAT 2019?

A: I scored 99.73 overall percentile in CAT 2019; 89.44 percentile in VARC section; 99.76 in DILR Section and 99.86 percentile in Quantitative Ability section. I also appeared in CAT 2018 and scored 95.73 percentile.

Q: Apart from CAT 2019, which other exams did you appear?

A: Apart from CAT 2019, I appeared in XAT 2020 and scored 99.914 percentile; appeared in IIFT 2020 and scored 98.74 percentile.

Q: Which top B-schools have offered you admission and which one you have finally chosen?

A: Apart from getting final admission offer from IIM Ahmedabad, I have converted IIM Calcutta, IIM Shillong, MDI Gurgaon, all Baby IIMs. I have finally decided to join IIM Ahmedabad

Q: What have been your academics and family back ground? Do you have some work experience as well?

A: I graduated from NIT Hamirpur with Chemical Engineering in 2017 with 82.6 percent. I scored 91.2 percent in class X; 90.2 in class XII and 82.6 in Graduation. I have 3 years of work experience in the Fertilizer Industry. I belong to a service class family. My father is in Service, Mother is a housewife and younger brother is in 11th grade.

Q: What was your overall preparation strategy for CAT?

A: CAT 2019 was my second attempt at the exam, when the first one in 2018 fetched me admits to some new and baby IIMs. I started preparing again in May’19, mostly focusing on mocks and timing my attempts effectively. I started cross-checking and analysing my wrong answers, something I never used to do earlier.

The quants section was my strength but still I devoted equal time to all the three sections with some extra effort towards DI and LR which is I believe is the most unpredictable section in the exam. You could practice a hell lot of LR sets prior to the exam but might still hassle on the D-Day. LR sets are not straightforward like Quants or DI sets. Timing my complete mocks and sectional tests along with thoroughly analysing my wrong as well as right attempts turned out to be fruitful.

Q: Please share your sectional preparation strategy for VARC in CAT

A: For Verbal and RC, I used to read articles from diverse fields to get a hold of difficulty faced to comprehend as well as retain a column when it does not belong to something you’re usually used to. Reading articles from newspapers and business magazines not only helped in VA and RC but also made a solid base to ace the current affairs during the interview and GD rounds.

Q: Please share your preparation strategy for DILR Section

A: For DILR, I focused mostly on LR and LR based DI sets, as for the past few years you rarely get to see a pure DI set in the actual exam. LR being the most unpredictable section in CAT, I followed a strategy to solve and analyse each and every set I face either during mocks or during practise from dedicated books. Try looking for practise material online on GoogleDrive and you’ll find plenty of LR sets to solve. IMS’s mocks helped a lot in DI LR section as they had questions which were closest to the ones actually faced in the CAT Exam.

Q: Please share your preparation strategy for Quant Section

A: For Quants, I thoroughly practised books by Arun Sharma with a timed approach to solve at least 25-28 questions from various topics under 60 minutes. Apart from this I also solved previous years’ CAT papers with minimal use of on screen calculator.

Q: Was there any particular section/area that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?

A: I was lagging a bit in VA and LR during my initial preparation. For VA there’s only one approach and that is to read, read and read. Read from publications you’re not familiar or used to. Read foreign journals/magazines, editorials in intl. newspapers etc. For LR I solved as many sets I could get my hands on with a timed approach, trying to crack the set within 10-12 minutes was my strategy.

Q: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?

A: Mocks are the key to better preparation as well as time management skills. I solved about 40 mocks before the actual CAT.

Q: Did you self-prepare or attend a coaching centre and why?

A: I self-prepared for the exams and took guidance from IMS Surat for the WAT-GD-PI. I also enrolled for mocks with IMS because of their well-structured and closest to CAT mocks.

Q: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?

A: Strategy for D-Day would be to avoid any last minute preparation. Since the syllabus for CAT is so wide and even has no boundaries defined for VARC and DILR, last minute hustle mostly turns fruitless and overloads you with added stress. I appeared for one mock, a day before the exam and scored just 16 in VARC which freaked me out. It somehow affected my actual performance in CAT where I scored merely 40 marks in VARC which took my sectional percentile below 90.

Take rest and sleep well a day before the exam, not much you’ll be able to change with a day’s preparation. I spent my rest of the day watching Netflix after flunking VARC a day before CAT.

Q: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT. Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions?

A: Post the release of response sheets by IIM Kozhikode and realizing I was scoring 180+, I started my preparation for GD and PI. The first thing I did was to prepare an exhaustive write-up about myself, starting from academics, work experience, achievements, projects, interests and hobbies, short and long term goals. Current affairs for GD and PI didn’t require much preparation owing to my habit of reading newspapers and magazines religiously.

I attended a few sessions from experts along with two mock GD and PI sessions, of which one was purely focused on my IIM Ahmedabad interview, which was only my second interview in a long list of 14-15 shortlists including IIM A,C,L,S, MDI, SPJIMR, XLRI and IIFT. I also prepared a few core subjects from my engineering and also mathematics, which eventually aided me a lot during my IIM A, C & L interviews.

Q: Your final message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2020.

A: I want to share following four tips for the prospective candidates:

Always analyse your mocks thoroughly. It’s not at all tough to land in the top 1 percentile.

Try not to appear for a mock on the penultimate day. Relax and sleep well for the D-Day.

Try not get stressed, during the exam and also in the interviews.

Never globe in the interviews. Professors will have a laugh and you’ll walk out looking like a clown.

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Some thoughts and their answers.

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