Its over, over at last. The Common Admission Test a.k.a CAT, which made me realize so many things for the past few months, and which altered my mind altogether, is done and dusted. One can only be happy for that, but u know; my experience has been such a roller-coaster ride that I wish I give it one more shot. I was wondering all these days, why people all over the nation are crazy about this particular test, and why the so called experts in all those career-guidance programs on the 24x7 news channels are of the opinion that CAT is the most wholesome test for an individual, or rather any student.
My preparation towards this was pretty ordinary. Mathematics was always a neither tough nor easy part. I could easily clear the cut-off. English was interesting, and DI was tough. Marks in these two sections varied fairly largely in every Mock-Cat. The same story continued till two days before the main one. Hopes for an IIM call were almost zero. Expected some where around 90-93 percentile. Respectable enuf score, I thought. But its not gonna be.
Test centre was some 225 kms away from where I stay, so had to go there a day before. Took a hotel for the night before with some of my friends, and revised what I can. Number systems, Geometry, Paragraph Jumbling.. blah blah blah.. Took some time off before sleeping, with the ICL match on TV. Justin Kemp’s catch was truly awesome.!! Dozed off..
D-Day..!! Started for the examination a good 90 minutes early but, thanks to my autowallah I reached my destination with five minutes to spare.!!! My heart was in my mouth. I reached the centre and the gates are closed..!! Exactly.. at the same time. Hurried to my seat and the question paper was already there on my bench smiling at me. The question paper was sealed in a plastic cover, like a wedding card and believe me, it took a minute for me to break those hackles and to get a glance at the questions.
Now the actual scenario,
• Jhatka-1: All the mock cats I’ve written consisted of equal number of questions, in all sections, eng, di, quant. But now. Surprise, surprise..!! Maths-25, DI-25, English-40.. WOW..!! Excellent..!!
• Jhatka-2: Maths was comparatively easier for me and English was tough, but all my worries are on DI, which was a pain the arse in the mock tests. However, it wasn’t to be.
• Jhatka-3: The section in which I would have answered 4 correctly out of 5 was missing ( It appeared in the last two years) and it was complete grammar. Touch and go. Really.
Started regrouping my self and the 150 minutes I’ve been waiting for, started to tick away.
1030 AM ….. 1130 AM …… 0100 PM..
Its done..!! Maths was fine. DI was on the edge, and English.. I was confident enough.
So..With that confident, but cautious thinking going on in my mind, I refrained my self from discussing the paper with anyone. I simply closed my ears if my fellow people are doing so. “Lemme enjoy this solitude for some time” I said to myself. Back to the hotel room, slept till 6 in the evening, and there came back to my place at about 12 in the night.
The CAT 2008 key has been released by then, and there u go.
SHOW TIME.. Moment of truth..!!
… … … … …………………………. My face was like all the smileys in yahoo messenger and orkut put together in a straight line. Variety of expressions..
Never did I know that.
• I will loose 5 marks on the fact that 7 raised to its fourth power will always end with “01” as its last two digits. I donno why I ended up marking 21.
• I will make the cardinal sin no.1 in geometry by not doubling the amount u get for the triangle to get the answer for a square.
• I will clear DI with ease and to actually have an accuracy of 85% in it.
• The sentence “ You can’t run over him like that” is nonsense in English Grammar.
• A line or a group of soldiers are called a file.
• I will end up marking the wrong answer in OMR sheet, when I actually solved the bloody question, that too .. in English.. that too two times..!!
• I will not be able to guess how a certain paragraph ends, for 3 times. Period.
• A small child having two ice-creams in both his hands and licking each one is an act of Intemperance but not due to its visual appeal.
Never did I know that I will come this close for a call, within a space of 3 questions, but in reality that it’ll be a missed call. People have given me so many missed calls, so many times, but none hurt me so much. I feel like imitating Saif Ali Khan and say “I miss u so much, it HURTS..”. but u know, CAT is a whole lot different than proposing to Kareena. Its tougher, actually. "Wait for an year” it says.. And I will. I will make sure that this time when I dial the number, the call is received.
Regards,
Abhinav.
P S: CAT is not about which questions u answered correctly, but how many questions u left wisely.
