2010, the Decade gone by and a Wish

We are soon going to enter in a new year and a new decade. A decade that will not only define India’s stand in the world but will also be important for youth like you and me who are on the verge of starting out on their career journey beginning 2010. The beginning of the year 2010 will mark the end of the decade 2000-2009 which by far has been the most progressive Indian decade ever. The economy has grown at a brisk pace and has outnumbered and outwitted even the most optimistic of the predictions. Skeptics have been shown the dust by the storm generated by the splurging economy. I am not talking numbers here- no facts, no figures, no expert analysis, nothing. I have witnessed the impact of the growing economy around me and I know and can firmly state that India is on a developmental path which is unprecedented in its history. Yes, 1991 policies of globalization and liberalization have worked and we now have lesser number of people living in poverty than in any other decade. Yes, the Infrastructure, education and health have improved.
I have witnessed the rising confidence levels of the younger generation which is a far cry from the old license raj days where “hope” was a scarce commodity and confidence an equivocal word. Yes we have grown in stature and confidence as individuals, as a community, as a state and above all as a nation.

We have more optimists now than we ever had pessimists. We have more people now who think they can bring in change and usher in a new wave of optimism and hope. The biggest change of the last decade is that the younger generation now has hope and aspiration which could catapult India into the coveted league of developed nations. When this wonderful decade began, I was 12 and now I stand here 10 years hence with entrepreneurial dreams that one like my conservative family background could never have thought of in the previous decade. This fundamental change in our approach towards everything is unprecedented and worthy of a great celebration. Consider this, more than 400 million active mobile telecom users, Rs. 39100crore budgeted spend on NREGA, $1.3 trillion economy, $290 billion forex reserves, $150 billion exports , and more and more and even more numbers and facts confirm the behemoth that India is and will be in the future. The world at large recognizes the importance India has in the world order now and the growing number of foreign investors is a testimony to that. India has a say in the global issues ranging from WTO talks to Climate Change negotiations.

Yes the decade 2000-2009 was ours and the upcoming decade is most probably going to eclipse the success of this decade even better. I hope for the future to be bright and Indians to be affluent. I hope that the light of this decade doesn’t blind the Indians and that they are able to see even better. I hope that they retain the humility and the humbleness which has characterized our culture from the very beginning. I hope that the Indians understand the difference between humility and modesty. I hope that the affluent Indians realize that right now the glass is only half full, and to make it full they would be needed to build a society where there are no biases on whatever basis, where meritocracy will rule, where there would be full transparency, where there would be no corruption, where the poor would get the same opportunities as the rich, where health and education would not be limited to a few, where the country will proceed towards inclusive growth, where no one, however ill or old or poor, will be left out and that integrity will not only be a fancy word but a way of life, where humility will accompany confidence and above all where all Indians will have HOPE. With this wish, I end this decade and welcome the year 2010. A very happy and a prosperous new year to my fellow Indians. “STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH”

- Sunny Gusain

November 29, 2009 :THE "CAT" DIARY

So, what do you expect from the new CAT( Common Admission Test) on the day of your exam? For some do not expect anything( just like me) while others burn the midnight oil to find out what CAT might have in store. My CAT was scheduled on 29th November, 3:30pm at Thakur College of Eng., Kandivali, Mumbai. As for me, the day was like any other day and I woke up at 8 in the morning not realising the IMPORTANCE of the day. The first thing I did in the morning was...........morning ablutions, attend to the nature's call and brush my teeth of course.......then I went down my 5th floor flat( through the stairs that is) and read a few newspapers at the public reading room, which is what I normally do. So, there it was "CAT 09 begins with Technical Glitches" the front page news of a national daily. My first reaction was......yawn...............  .yawn...................... .yawn........(that's three reactions) . I expected that in the first place not because I doubt the credentials of Prometric ETS, the testing company which has been awarded the $40million 5 year contract to conduct the online CAT, but rather due to the shaky Indian connectivity infrastructural problems we face every now and then. So, while flipping through the pages of the daily newspaper I saw a news article informing me that the Train Services in the western line, where I was headed for the CAT, will remain affected due to construction work going on.What to do then? I started reading the newspapers at 9 in the morning and by the time I read this news it was already 10:30 so I had to take off early as suggested by the news article.

I ate nothing( against the wishes of my friends) and collected all the exam paraphernalia and headed to my destination, Kandivali east. Dadar station, from where I was to board the train for Kandivali, was as usual, Chaotic. Before I went inside the station, I made sure I had something to eat( it is a different matter then that I had to eat Wada Pav which i intensely hate). I bought the ticket, boarded the train and after 35-45 mins was in Kandivali. From there, I took an auto to the testing site. After a few enquiries about the exact location of the site from the local people, I was standing there right in front of the exam site gate. The CAT blues were nowhere visible in me until I saw hordes of Indian media people outside the gate. They made me realize that this day is different and important. I had a few worried heartbeats which I, surprisingly,  managed. The ordinary day was no longer ordinary as the media people wanted it to be a day of embarrassment for both the Prometric and the IIMs. A TV Today journalist was approaching every possible thing coming out of the exam gate.

It was around 12 and I was already getting tired when, through God's grace,  I  saw two beautiful women standing outside the exam gate. They seemed to be in their early 20s, had brown hair and a couple of conspicuously BIG THINGS.  It was all easy after that: why? I kept staring at them for the rest of the time I was outside the test gate. The entry started at 1 pm, which  gave me plenty of time to explore every possible body part they had (and also fantasize a little). Oh yes I forgot to mention, I had a Business Today magazine with me which i pretended to read while staring at them. So that's how I passed my time outside. It was 1 and the entry began. I got through the security measures, the long Q and everything else they had including the fingerprint detector. Still, exam was 2 hours away and sitting in the computer lab in front of a dead PC was no less than a test of patience(should have given marks for that). After a few failed timepassing activities like clicking the mouse, pencil gazing, finger watching,etc., the exam instructor directed us to start the tutorial, which I gladly did. So, after the 15 min tutorial the test began, which was around 30 mins earlier than my scheduled test timing of 3:30. Anyways, I didn't mind that( after all, what can you do in 30 mins when you have not done anything in the last year).

Thus, the CAT began. There were no surprises this time around, except for the fact that the marking system was not specified( what difference that would have made anyways ). The Test was deceptively easier than last year. Quant( which i was hoping to be difficult) was doable, which came as a bolt from the blue for me as it would mean high cutoffs for quant. The other sections were more or less on the same pattern as last years and the difficulty level were also comparable. A good paper for someone who has done a lot of quant while preparing for the CAT( that is not for me). So, I did a few questions in all the sections while thinking about the next CAT at the same time. This would give you an impression like I am giving the CAT next year as well( hell I am). The only saving grace for the day was that I finished my test without any technical glitches(thanks to my good friend who kept her fingers crossed for me). All in all the test went as expected.

After I had finished my exam, I took off for Dadar. While on my way, I saw something truly amazing. I saw a group of people performing a laughter session on the street side. Nothing amazing, right? But, when you consider the fact that this group of people was different in a way that they were dumb and deaf, you realize the significance of what I saw. There was a performer standing in the middle of the group.  The performer was so articulate with his hand movements and gestures that he made me forget the language I know. The communication among them was impeccable and seamless. Every single one of them was laughing and I can bet that that was real happiness which I witnessed in that short span of less than a minute. Even after the CAT exam not going too well, I realized that " LIFE IS MUCH BIGGER" than a few aptitude questions. Right?