CATalogue

Why did I give the CAT?
Well, firstly, I do not have a specific activity scheduled for the third Sunday of November each year, secondly, invariably I get to travel halfway across Bengaluru and see places which otherwise I would have made no effort whatsoever to move my bottom on a Sunday, and thirdly, the most important of all, the number of cute girls giving CAT has gone up by several basis points (just trying to get a finance feel with the usage of "basis points", no other connotation).

So, I woke up this morning and the day started dismally as there was a power cut almost as soon as I switched on the heater. After all ablutions, I began the first quest - The search for an auto. Some times I wish google would get beyond the realms of the internet. Eventually I managed to find an auto, the driver of which gave me my first test of management skills for the day. A few minutes in and I managed to convince him that jayangar is not too far off, at least not as far as Srinagar ( not the Jammu one!).I cursed the highway department for the road they managed to engineer around the pot holes & craters. I felt like I was on the moon, why waste the Chandrayaan?

As the auto motored along making more noise than motion, I slipped into a reverie of how I would spend the rest of the day. "How do I go to National college, Jayanagar". My reverie was broken. I looked left to see a pretty girl asking for directions. Unfortunately, her dad with a big moustache came in the line of sight. I managed to pass on the information. Looked left and I see two persons clutching their admit cards, look right and I see three more. I did not look back. The competition began not with the pencil, but on the road, to perdition. These guys were going to beat me to the center, for sure.

National College, Jayanagar, 9:30 AM. The milling crowds waited. I felt like I was waiting for the premiere of a movie. One thing strange about this time was the fact that until being let in to exam hall, I did not come across a single face I could recognize. I say this because, CAT is almost a opportunity to socialize, considering that almost 2 lac people give the exam each year. Hence I was pretty shocked. Though I did manage to extract a few words from a couple people. Due to the severe lack of conversation, my mind had begun wanderlust. I could almost see these very words scroll before my eyes like the marquee on a website.

Finally the floodgates opened and the horde was let it. Time to sharpen, the pencil that is. I managed to find my spot of bother without any navigation device. Now, thats a first considering that I generally manage effortlessly to get lost in the college before the exam. This wait for the exam to begin is the worst for both kinds of people, those who are prepared and the not so solitary loons like myself. I couldn't wait for the exam to begin. I looked around at the tense faces and recalled vividly being in the same position in 2005. Wow, it seems like ages have passed since...

I had 15 minutes to kill before the exam. I looked around. The walls and benches were filled with graffiti. I wonder what is it that makes us scribble graffiti while college, be it just some language or the name of your first crush or some of those witty statements that could feature on your gtalk status message. Possibly its devil incarnate in an idle mind that had to endure an incredibly boring class. My reverie was broken for the second time as one more of the damsels walked past to take her spot of bother. I continued to ruminate on several thoughts at one( I wonder if my eyeballs were scrolling indicative of thought process). The public address system jarred away completing the hattrick of broken reveries. I would say that the third break could be because the speaker said "Testing 1..2..3...", possibly that had a profound effect on my recently acquired sense version 6.1.

Thankfully, neither me nor my neighbor had to endure a greater wait than already ( I have a strange feeling he took me to be an alien life form). The one thing I love about CAT is that its breezy. Its over before you know just like...

I cant miss out on one incident though. As I rummaged through the verbal section, I came across a pretty interesting read in terms of language and similies. Some so hilarious that I could not control the snigger, much to the displeasure of the bretheren trying to concentrate and solve. I ended being at the receiving the disapproving looks of several persons in the room. Pathetic must have been their thought or maybe the lunatic.

All in all it turned out be an interesting experience. Whether or not I clear this, hear me out all you IIMs, I CATegorically state that I will be back, just for spending the third Sunday of November in the only possible way!

CATatouille!

Today, I completed my annual ritual of submitting the CAT application seeking admission to the II of M's. As I stood in the queue at the Post Office for the speed post(trust me, there was one for a change!), I noticed that 5 CAT applications were submitted amongst the 8 persons in the queue. A CAT question with a statement of the sort like, "At most, 62.5% of the population in Bangalore gives the CAT examination in 2008". Typical sort of statements filled with at most's and at least's (punctuated by words that sometimes make me wonder when they were added to the dictionary) that are intended at bamboozling the candidate rather than provoke thinking of any sort.

Let me make a comparison here. Avani Avittam, this is the annual ceremony where brahmins change the 'sacred thread' or poonal. This happens once a year and brahmins congregate in small numbers world over to perform the "ritual" irrespective of whether they have been regular or not in performing the prayers that have be performed after having adorned the thread. See a similarity? I do! I do! The CAT exam, "candidates" congregate at centers across the country, irrespective of whether or not they have prepared or not, oh and did I mention, its once a year!

There was some talk recently that they IIMs wanted to make the CAT online, at the click of a mouse (he he he, forgive for that!). I'm not sure if thats ever possible considering the logistics of having over 1.5 lac people accessing simultaneously. Just imagine the investment needed, the bandwidth. If they do manage to make it online, the speed of the candidate will not be the only speed that matters. I doubt if that is possible in the next 5 or 10 years even, unless the bandwidth and internet capabilities grow enormously (which I'm sure will happen) and the number of candidates does not increase at the rate at which it has increased in the last 3 years, which I doubt is going to be the case, considering that in India, we have universities churning out engineers like mass production of ball-point pens. So, just not happening mate!

While I was in college, I felt only freshers should be given a chance at CAT. Being the hypocrite with "work-ex", I wish the freshers were banned. Eh, what the hell man, I do not have any intent of being politically right. Why should freshers be allowed (Think I'll take that separately, though I cant leave the curses out), Let them go and feel the real world of management, schedules, time lines and what not.

Anyways, to sort of set the icing on the cake, the exam itself is not an exercise to "identify" the manager in a person. Thats about as true as being able to spot a wart on an ants left butt. Considering that over a lac of people give the exam every year for a few thousand seats, this is the best way to eliminate people. Why change a system when it serves the purpose?