Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Opportunity knocks…
As the days went by, life went on, one fine day,
an opportunity happened to knock my door,
asking me if, welcome it, I was willing to
to reject it, a fool I wasn’t , my arms spread,
welcoming the opportunity, wide in embrace.
Thoughts of success, spread fast and furious,
happiness blooming in thoughts, themselves;
willing, I was to work for it, take it what may,
shed my sweat, toiling for it.
Time went by, as things began to turn,
for the good or bad, I could only wait,
to know, as the story found a twist,
putting my patience and cool on test.
Impediments cropped up as the once set things
seemed to tumble, the base quiet shaky, cracking
open to the world. Determined to hold on, very,
I was, my months of work in line of fire, that was;
still quiet, patient, waiting, vigilant and watching.
The opportunity share decrease, a result that sighted,
a deep loss it would be, continuing on the path further,
a try to clear up, smoothen things, was all I could do,
yet, it was certain, it wouldnt work, a namesake, it was,
work that required, not presistant experimentation.
Already set up, to both aspects I was, making them
perfectly feasible, a decision which saw me out of it,
with no sense of regret, only happy and cheerful.
Another door shalt open, the belief, an opportunity,
welcome, meant solely for me, the time shalt come.
– De Nocturnal Poet
It’s my life…
Travelling on de journey through life,
a thought on every step, shedding light,
on de various aspects of life, teaching me,
de technique to survive. I am learning…
I learn when de self is satisfied,
others needs, hardly a few care for.
There can be no reason for fights,
enmity, a prejudice, sometimes is.
Priorities set themselves, people
become, so friends for de calling,
things seem good, falls never betrayed,
that truth, realization was soon to bring.
Every step was a new world,
a few stepped along with me,
a few more joined in, few left,
I learnt I always walked alone.
Experience, situations taught me,
de hard way as it happens to be,
you hardly got a refill for a pen,
use and throw, they usually were.
This little world, a mirror, it is,
only yourself, every person reflects,
What they are, you realize,
but its too late to apologise.
Where a new world begins, a new hope takes birth.
A few more masked people entering your world,
to unearthing identities, when it goes back again.
What is right, de world never looks at,
their way, when done, things are right.
Where work fails to seek recognition,
confrontation showing what you already knew.
Out of nowhere, like a ray of hope,
a faint light in de distance, you were.
Walking towards thee, making sacrifices,
never bearing witness; a result of darkness.
When de distance finally looked covered,
de guarding light proved to be blazing fire,
de distance too near, de heat inescapable,
bearings insufferable, a victim, I could only be.
Weariness of de journey was taking it toll,
realization of being alone made it only worse,
born in de process, as a result; de writer,
seeking enlightenment, a path with no spare time.
Every step was a new world,
a few stepped along with me,
a few more joined in, few left,
I learnt I always walked alone.
Every step, a story in my life,
how far you understand, in your ability,
it lies, another step otherwise which,
is only fair, thy name, to be reserved in.
– Nocturnal poet
Why can clearing CA exams be difficult??
“Days back, the memories freshly watered,
a thirst to convey, deep hunger to vent out,
the break, as if cool breeze blowing around,
taking along with, the experienced words;
now, weaved, stale though seemingly fresh.”
You have about two months after PUC before the exam to prepare. As you glance by the syllabus you feel most of it is dealt in PU, so its hardly a big deal. Moreover its a multiple choice questions! Just need 100 out of 200! The probability seems quite near to 1!
Why then, do you end up flunking?
– MCQ yaar!:
Multiple choice questions aren’t as easy as they seem. You might feel; answer toh wahi pe hoga, bahut aasaan he! But once you see the options, everything seems correct unless you are absolutely sure. Further, every option would be related to the question, so an oversight might as well make you mark the wrong answer, and you thought you had got it right!
– Writing off a subject:
Its a common practice for you to write off a subject as ‘chalega’. You ask a non-maths student how is he finding maths, his reply would be I am not reading maths, just about 25 marks, so wont be a problem. He fails to conceive the fact that he isn’t a master in the other subjects (accounts, law, economics and stat)
– Negative marking:
I have answered 160 questions. I will surely pass. WRONG! You tend to over see the fact that there is a negative marking for every question you have bluffed! You lose a mark for every four wrong answers, which could as well be the reason for you ending up below 100, where you could have actually passed!
A few things to be noted so that, these can be avoided!
– Don’t underestimate MCQ’s. Get your basics strong, for that is what you will be tested on. Before you look at the options, think about the answer. Once you are sure about the answer, look for it in the options. If its present, done. If not, you know you are wrong.
– Never write off any subjects as irrelevant. Study as much as possible. You might be a non-maths student, or non-economics student. That’s not an excuse to write it off. Its any day better to get something by studying, instead of getting nothing, by not studying.
– Avoid as much bluffing as possible. You might feel chal yaar mila to ek mark milega, ek do galat hua toh kya farq padta he! Don’t be in such a state of mind. Failing costs you six months! Bluffing could as well be the reason for above 100 to fall below 100. Bluffing to a certain limit is allowed. Only to a certain limit.
– Tuition/coaching is not actually necessary, but that totally depends on the person in concern. Don’t go by others words. If you feel you cant understand studying by yourself, then you need coaching. Also by going for coaching you can be sure of completing the portion. How useful it is depends on how well you comprehend.
– Pile of reference books, notes, etc isn’t necessary. Follow a single book. Reading too much will only confuse you. Say, two books contradict each other, which do you believe?
– A few months of “dedicated” study is enough to get you through CPT.
CPT toh aasani se clear kiya par ye IPCC!!
– Preparation v/s non-preparation:
What generally happens is that when a student clears CPT, he will be high on spirits, decides to write both groups. But then, the nine months spell works its magic on him, making him decide on one group, and in the end his preparation would be at such level of readiness that he ends up writing the exam for the sake of writing it. There are also those others, who write to see what they are up against. They fail to realize that every experiment of theirs would cost them six months. Being prepared and feeling tensed on seeing the paper is one thing, being unprepared and feeling tensed on seeing the paper is a whole different thing all together. For one thing they are unprepared. In addition to that the paper comes with expertise to make even the well prepared, sweat. When the actual exam comes, they would be facing double pressure, one, as a result of their previous experience, the second being, its no longer a practice paper! Hence its important that you decide well in advance how you will be going about with the study and stuff. Its always advisable to clear in the first attempt. In CA, failing is not at all an issue coz its very common, but failing can prove costly, if it adds to your fear of clearing.
– Pre-conceived notions:
A student’s usual adaptation is that questions usually appear the way they usually did, a pre-conceived notion based on the previous questions that this would be what I am up against. WRONG! CA exams are an exception to it. Never expect a question to be simple. Never expect a question to be like you have learnt it. Never expect a question to be like it appeared before. In fact never expect a question. Never expect a particular patter. Never expect anything…
– Theoretical approach:
The other thing that usually students are used to is theoretical approach. Of course, that’s what happens else where but for CA exams! They are an exception to everything. It will be the most practical paper you can ever think of. Even a theory subject will seem practical after facing a CA exam. If you are still in the world of question and answers, then stop dreaming. Wake up! “The question paper setter’s thinking begins where yours stops.”
– Time & efficiency:
The questions set would usually would be such that an average student would be able to complete answering the paper within the allotted time. Doesn’t work so with CA exams. The paper is usually set at such pace that even if you know everything you wont be able to solve them. The paper doesn’t provide for time to think. No time to understand the problem. You are expected to know everything. 100% efficiency would be insufficient to finish the paper. You can expect your fate. You challenge the paper, you will always end up losing. It wise to be smart in answering the paper.
– History v/s relevance:
Its usual practice of students to write the whole story where the climax is asked. What is expected is, to-the-point answers. You write history, you only end up wasting time that you don’t have. The other dis advantage of writing lengthy answers is that in the process, you tend to miss out what is actually required to be mentioned. History doesn’t mean anything to the evaluator. He knows better than you. If he doesn’t find what he seeks, you don’t get what you want.
A few DO’s/DON’Ts:
– Its a professional exam:
As soon as you have decided to write IPCC, make it clear to yourself that this ain’t your semester paper, where you wake up on the day before your exam, and still come out with a distinction. Plan your course well ahead, keep enough space for uncertainties. You never know when something might crop up. As far as possible, try to avoid writing for the sake of it.
– The paper will never fail to surprise you:
Again as said this ain’t your semester paper wherein you could as well have become the paper setter, for, you already know what you are up against. No matter what anybody says, never assume anything if its going to make things seem easy! Yeah, coz that’s never gonna happen.
– Practical approach:
Right from the beginning take a practical approach, theory subject is no exception! It will help to a very great extent.
– You are half dead before the exams begins:
Each day seems like ages, you wait for the exam to approach, nah! not so soon.. the anxiety and wait will half kill you. (Course, the exam does the rest of the job ;)) Get over it.
– Avoid discussing topics with people knowing more than you:
Discussing with others is not at all bad, no doubt, but not on the day of exam. What generally happens is, you go to somebody with a doubt, he, already knowing it, says its quite simple, its like this, this, this.. What then happens is he raises a question over and above your doubt. Lo! your went with one doubt, you return with two! You are already carrying enough burden, you don’t want more! Also its important to remember not to discuss about a paper after its done. “What’s done can’t be changed, but what’s to come can be done better.”
– Have your own way of dealing with things:
Just because somebody is doing something some way, it doesn’t mean you need to go the same way. Going the same way isn’t a problem. The problem is that it might as well not work for you! You have nobody else to blame but yourself.
– Pressure:
One thing that a CA student knows properly inside out is, what is pressure. Learn to handle pressure. The more cool you remain, the better for you. Seeing the paper you feel you know nothing, or maybe you just have 30mins to go and you have completed only two/three questions.. many such situations might arise, where in if you can’t keep your cool, you end up making a mess of everything. Not just that, it has an adverse effect on your confidence! The sooner you realize that the first paper is just the beginning, the better. For one paper, you cant afford to screw other papers. It will be very costly. More than time loss, what matters more is the confidence loss! ” What is past is lost, you can’t bring it back. What you can only do is let it haunt you.”
– One or two good reference material will suffice:
The more books you refer the more chances of messing up yourself. Its important to bear in mind that solving more numeric problems correctly will not necessarily mean superior conceptual knowledge. Its important that you concentrate on conceptual study. Problems are nothing more than applications. If you are not sure of what is what, you will never be able to solve problems. Its advisable to dig deep, rather than digging wide.
– Nine months of time is sufficient to study enough, to clear the papers easily, provided the study is done in accordance with the requirements.
Started with the thought of covering IPCC, but then thought inclusion of CPT too might be helpful.. anyway in the end its an opinion and doesn’t necessarily require your agreement. Hope it is of some help to those other aspirant CA students like me.
An extract from Sridhar Kamath’s comment mentioning some valid points that I missed out! (Mr. Kamath is a practising CA.)
-Time management: I’m one of those who wrote the old-fashioned CA Foundation paper. Have always thought the MCQ version is better than the traditional four-exams-over-four-days deadly combo(20% pass-out then v. 34% now says it all!). I think students seldom strategise. Writing model exams and effectively planning your time during the exam plays a key role. I know of students who started by attempting 50 Qs in the first 1.5 hrs only to end up marking 50 Qs in the last half-hour. You don’t plan your time well, you are bound to panic and get unnecessary negatives.
-Baggage: Another psychological point which you might have missed is baggage. Your reputation in the class-room, among your relatives, you sitting up to late nights and impressing your neighbours, your baggage of bagging 1st rank in the local BCom exams, always standing first in the class since you were in nursery –> all this goes to the trash-can in CA Exams.
What matters in the end is how good your basics are and how confident you are on exam days, both points you’ve beautifully brought out in your blog. Well written.
Instinct theology…
Of darkness, a witness thy life shalt be, such times,
unknown, the next step; uncertain, if there be one.
Into arms of dishonor, a wrong decision shalt lead,
desire to live foregone, more pleasing death shalt be.
Panic stricken moments to act on instincts; theory,
the thought of which would horrifying in itself be.
Applicable shalt it be when, use it, thou art able to,
leave added pages of theory, shalt its practicability.
How well thou persevere, shalt those moments decide,
thy faith in thine work, shed light, a opening shalt wait,
for in such moments of loneliness shalt none assist thee,
apart from thyself, thy belief in the grace of thine God..
Finally shalt light fall, an end to the dark times marked,
never to be erased, those memories though, rock stead,
lesson virtuous, taught, for, the being, no matter where,
inspiration as guiding light serves, those times shalt be.
-Nocturnal poet
Sands of time…
Past is gone, never to come back,
leaving behind happiness, sorrow,
pains and gains, alike. It goes by,
only to be recalled as a memory.
On bothering to notice, we find its only
etching its effects on the sand of time.
As said, everything will have two outlooks,
a positive and another negative. Its better
to learn from the negative part and also,
console ourselves through the positive.
A pessimist will be sad to find the past gone,
those happy moments passed away,
and thus by sulking over the lost he,
tends to forget he left behind the pain.
An optimist on the other hand will be glad,
that past events are not written on a stone,
coz what is inscribed on a stone is rather
difficult to be erased, to be forgotten…
So lets be optimistic in our approach,
looking forward for a happy today
and a wonderful tomorrow…
-Nocturnal poet
Boards
The first thing that comes to one’s mind on hearing to the word ‘Board exam’ is uncertainty. Now whats so special about it that makes you speak so much about it is something to wonder. It is a simple difference between a normal exam and the boards that gives it all the fuss and attention. Normally you write an exam and the day you finish your examzzz you will know how you have performed. But not so with the boards!! It has got the unique ability to give you surprises, very huge ones, which comes right out of the dark, hitting you square and hard knocking you off the ground. And if you aren’t prepared for it, which is most likely the case, you will find it tough to regain your composure and balance. It also has the ability of giving you pleasant surprises. But for that you got to be lucky, very lucky. There are instances of people getting way beyond their expectations even after performing poorly and vice versa. A silent tear goes unnoticed in the crowd of happiness. That’s boards.
Here is a small little story that might be of some interest. There was a student who was hardly serious about studies. He wasted time instead of studying by watching TV when he should have been studying, etc, etc.. Days passed and his exams came by. On the day of his language exam minutes before the exam was to start, he was arguing with his mother that he would not attend the exam as he hadn’t prepared for it and didn’t know anything. In the end after a lot of persuasion he agreed to go, and wrote the exam. When the results were out there was a surprise!! He scored 100 in the subject which he dint want to write!! Now whats more ridiculous.. Is it that fact that he scored 100 in a subject he hardly knew to read or write or is it that there are even such valuers who don’t even bother to think that the future of a student is in their hands.
Its as a result of such careless valuers, that many students have to suffer. Now the student might rejoice at scoring such good marks, but another student who really worked hard but falls a prey to such people will feel really bad about it. In some cases the genuine student tends to falls back. This becomes a serious breakdown for him/her. Everybody will console them telling that its not the end of everything, but the true emotions and feelings that they go through is known only to them…
“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”
No matter how hard you work or whatever efforts you have put in, it becomes secondary to what your fate has for you. All said and done in the end what you get is what is in store for you. Time passes on, incidents are forgotten, but the feelings of the unfulfilled desires stays on forever reminding you that you couldn’t achieve something you wanted to. No matter how much ever you achieve, you truly think of yourself only in rare moments and those are the times when you need somebody to judge your thoughts and give you the feeling that you are not as bad as you thought you were.
Kabhie khud pe hasa mein, kabhie khud pe roya…..
Mint your way
“A person earns 1.5 lakhs a month”.
This is a normal statement and might make one wonder whats this about. This would be the first thought. Now I say that this post is about one such person and your immediate thinking about the person would be as a professional. If not for recession many would have been dead sure I was speaking of a software professional who worked hard to achieve this. But if these were the thoughts that crossed your minds then you were entirely wrong. Speaking of a software professional would also remind the long days of work, busy schedule etc.. waiting in the the store. Now the person I am speaking off happens to be no such professional, but a simple layman.For people who have thought of a professional life to be the way to earn here is a small story, no an example set by someone would sound better I guess, to show that innovation and creativity can bring achieve wonders.
I am speaking of a place at Manglore wherein there is a simple sandwich stall. Its nothing big and dashy, but a normal stall. The stall opens up at four in the evening and by five thirty at the max the stall is closed as the products are all sold out (I believe the timings are right). The style with which he goes about preparing it is a sight worth watching. He does it with such simplicity which I am sure if we tried, would either lead to some injury or else we will mess up everything. I am sure anybody who watches it will be impressed. The quality is just too good to speak about. At the first glance it looks as simple as the stall but have it and you will realise you were wrong.
Joy of life
This, I believe is going to be a slight drift towards philosophy. Kindly forgive any opinions expressed wrongly.
How often have we been satisfied with what we have?? We always seem to want something thats a step ahead of us, like in out of our reach. We work our way towards it and get it. Then?? The funny thing is most often we dont even take time to cherish and enjoy what was just gained,but rather find that there is a new want on the horizon, there is a new desire… And so the process goes on and on.. We are seldom contained with our current positions and the wants never seem to end.. Of course they don’t. But then we must learn to be happy with what we have gained, even if its momentary. Its not wrong to keep chasing wants but if we don’t have time to enjoy them then whats the use of it?? Why the mad rush?? We should be able to derive a certain amount of joy from whatever we do and whatever we have. Past is a history and future, a mystery. So its only the present thats with us. Each passed moment, be it good or bad, is gone forever. So cherish each moment..
It is a momentary glimpse I caught, that triggered all these thoughts into my minds. I had been to Manglore recently and while returning, was lucky to find a window seat..(Not that I board a bus if I don’t think I will get a window seat) Its my customary practice to study the surroundings while travelling. It fulfills two objectives. One, I wont be bored and the second, I will find a lot of interesting things that fascinates me. Now there is a fly overbeing constructed and somewhere near Surathkal they have piled up a lot of cement bags. It looks like a small mountain since its almost twenty foot high and ten foot wide. Upon it a young man of around twenty years or so was lying with his head head supported on his hand. He was almost dipped in cement dust. It was his expression that kept me spell bounded. He looked so happy despite the place he was in, a busy traffic infested roadside. There was such a twinkle in his eyes that gleamed of happiness… I just couldn’t get my eyes of him. I believe he is a worker of the fly over and has to work in the scorching heat all day. But at the end of the day he had the look of the happiest man in the world. I donno the reason for the happiness in him, but then it kept me wondering… If a person working in such a state can be so cheerful, am sure we all can find a lot of reasons to be cheerful too.