The Big Air about TOEFL

yes, just about 2-3 days after my GRE i took the date for my TOEFL.....17th aug .....which is 14 days after my GRE.....i should have been crazy or overconfident....but had no choice.....no suitable center available for 25th n the next date after 25th was 12 sep....so had to...

but neways TOEFL is really easy.....the easiest nut to crack of all

these foreign exams....it has 4 sections --> reading - listening - speaking - writing.

reading- u get 3 passages n den questions on dem n questions as simple as "what does apparently mean in this passage?" and an obvious answer which can be given even widout readin da passage...

listening- u listen to lectures or conversations and answer questions based on them.....very easy again

speaking- thts one section tht is difficult....u rly need courage to speak....n more than courage quickness in thought....coz u only get 15 seconds to prepare and hav to speak for 45 seconds.....man it is tough....but u look at the sample high level answer and u get relaxed....coz we mumbai university students are mostly way better than the ppl in these sample answers....all u need to do....jus speak nethin related to the topic....forget right or wrong....forget framing the speech....jus fill up the 45 seconds....but ur english n grammar should be good....thts wat toefl is really all about....eng n grammar rather than content...

writing- well most of u know by now tht i m vry good at writin ....so didnt prepare at all...but it is neways easy....so dont worry

for all those who hav given their GRE all u need to do for TOEFL is jus give 1 or max 2 practise sections of readin n listenin.....bliv me it is more than enuf...speakin requires some rpactise....4-5 tests of speakin...thts it....u dont hav to study nething....n rly this is one xam whr u r not much tensed...u hav nothin to study since the 1st day, neither on the last day

on the d-day....well wasnt a d-day actually....was jus a normal day.....had my test at 4 30pm..sick time....but no option....so got up late....reached the center at 3 30 ...my center was at karrox, shoppers pt....jus opposite andheri station....den waited....till 5 15....yeah it started late....in da meanwhile though all da test takers had a gr8 chat goin....all of dem talkin abt themselves...all were from different fields...well all others were girls n only one boy, me...[:D]....one girl was jus in her 12th wanting to pursue bio-tech....one was from medical field....one 4m commerce....another was an engineer but senior to me by one yr...

finally i entered at 5 15 and started by 5 30....den all sections went on smoothly....reading was a bit tougher than in da practise tests but still nothin compared to GRE....but still got me tensed a bit ....coz in TOEFL evry question is imp...and u have to score high on readin n listenin coz speakin u cant say...n even writin

but neways was decent on da whole....did speak well....though fumbled....a test of 4 hrs+ ....gets a bit boring....but a gr8 experience overall

Yes, at 9 30pm i had finally finished all of these tests ....all da headache now gone...i had gr8 food at McDonalds....den went home wid content n happiness.

Life is Full of CONTRASTS!!

Well first of all i hav to giggle when i hear this statement...well only we "members of the elite TACHAS grp" know why (right kshitij...remember we sitting in Garcias...and tht moment when u were abt to have ur neck clasped in Faheem's hand)...ha! ha! ha!

talking of contrasts, many examples flood our minds immediately, like-life n death, happiness n sorrow, truth n lie, good n bad, success or failure, etc. But is life all about contrasts! Yes it is. Contrasts are the major part of life. Its either a 1 or a 0. Its either black or white. life is beautiful and at times ugly. it is long but often we're out of time. we hav good luck as well as bad. thr r two sides to evrything.

let me give u the most practical example from the engineers perspective. the very basic sinewave is a contrast having highs and lows. well thr r millions of examples to show....coz thr r two sides to evrything so evrything is a contrast....a lie can be good at times....and a truth can b harmful. technology, development all hav pros n cons.

how often we get wat we dont want or dont deserve and we dont get wat we want. so we shud never b disappointed on bad luck coz sometimes we may not hav things goin r way....but at other times we may hav things goin better than we expected!!!

at the end, remember....it is only better contrast tht makes pictures visible, clear, distinguishable and more appreciable!!!

A Beautiful Metaphor to My LIFE

The Bud that blossomed into a flower overnight...

Once upon a time there was a small bud in a beautiful garden. It was firmly supported by the roots and had a gardener (an angel - a substitute of GOD 4 the bud) to look after it, nourish it all the time. Those were the young days where it was cared for, liked and loved. It had a lot of fun.

Then one day, the gardener suddenly disappeared. the bud was left alone, no one to take care of it. Initially the bud did not realise (or probably did not want to realise) wat had happened and how its life is going to be changed. with no one to take care of, it was uprooted and placed in a forest thinking it would grow on its own as the other forest plants. thus it was assumed to hav grown, assumed to be strong tht it cud compete wid the others plants and flowers for food and light. well it had to pretend to be so coz for the roots it was the sole purpose of their being. now the roots really fulfilled their duty meticulouslyproviding it wid water and sisterly leaves provided the food and nutrients. but all this seemed to lack tht feelin of unity, of being one entity. it probably looked more lik an office, all jus fulfillin their duties.

tht was the scenario, the bud really starting to miss the care and affection after some time. it was left to grow, probably expected to hav grown. it was now tht the bud realised its attachment and its dependence to the gardener. the days went by, the bud tryin to be quite strong and almost succeeding in doin so. it fought and did grow up to be independently. it blossomed into a flower tht had thorns within but beauty and fragrance was all tht it had for the outside world.

soon it had many bees to be its friends. it was happy to hav gained a vry good company and it provided the bees wid nectar(all tht it had). but thr came along a butterfly, vry beautiful and caring. the bud kept its best nectar(a form of its love and care) for the butterfly. and the two of dem started gettin along well. the bud felt tht it had finally found someone again who cared and loved it, and on whom it can rest its string of control and be dependent on. but it seems tht fate had something else in store 4 the bud. the butterfly soon started drifting away...leaving the bud alone...not caring 4 it as it did.

the bud was vry disappointed....now its carapace broken....its strength gone....and its stability on a decilvity. its string now floats wid no one to control and it wafts along wid ne impetus.

the roots still thr, the leaves still alongside the bud, the bees still thr....but still the bud feels incomplete and alone....feeling weak ....needing some support to rock back on.

now the bud looks up to wonder is thr someone out thr to listen...wondering wats in store in the future....and searching for its purpose, aim.....

The big test - GRE

It all started with my mother's dream of me going to the US. Thats when i decided i will fulfill her dream. Like all my classmates i joined the only known name in the world of GRE classes....KP Singh....though everyone ends up feeling it was worthless and uttering unwarranted animadversions. Well u can guess that i have just given my GRE...the words flowing mellifluously.

In late October 2006 me and 2 of my friends started this class...probably 26 oct. As it went on we realised it is no big deal and doesnt require a teacher to train u in GRE. It is basic English language that we learnt in school but with a larger and much difficult vocab.
Yeah, and vocab is the main part of GRE. Its the only thing u need to learn. And we all started with those boxes ....30 of dem....that seem interesting at start...but they pall you eventually.
with initial plans of giving it around march/april we began the drab path of ratofying words. did it regularly till ...i guess it was the 6th box....den gave it up...got busy with college, nirmaan etc.
though the other 2 friends Parekh and Lamba managed to somehow give it in april( salute tht effort man)...i decided to give it later on...
and i planned it in mid july...18th to be exact...coz i thought tht wud b jus perfect...will get around one month after xams...wid no coll ....so wud get sufficient time.
But this argument seems to be based on a flawed assumption that there is something known as a perfect time for GRE. so it is not convincing. At the end i realised no matter how much time u get...its never enough...and u r never fully prepared 4 it. coz god damn it! there r millions of words in a lexicon(non-GRE readers please look in the dictionary for the meaning and then smile as i do here :D ) and it is inhuman to know them all.

well gre consists of 4 types of questions in verbal section...
1. antonyms
2. analogies
3. sentence completion
4. reading comprehension

the 1st 2 types and partly the 3rd as well can be solved only if u know ur wrds. (3rd can be sometimes guessed 4m logic flow of the sentence). but the gre question makers r vulpine...they will give 2 options tht r very similar...both seem to be the ans....and as i is said "U have to select the best ans not the right ans". the 4th type has to be done only by understanding.

soon i postponed my gre further(the most unwilling decision i had to take coz of passport problem and unprepared state) and now i set the date as 3rd august. 2 weeks away 4m it and i hadnt even finished 1st revision of the boxes....i finished it only 2 days b4 3rd. and in da practise tests tht i gave i found tht RCs and sentence completion can b done widout wrds but the other two cant...so i stopped further practise and i stuck to the tedious task of completing the 2nd revision. as it was even on 3rd i was not so sure of wrds.

other two sections of gre were quant and writing(i.e. 2 essays) ...and as is evident in this narration i had neglected them both till the end....maths i never touched the books....jus da practise tests tht i gave....and i m proud to state tht my score was 800 since the 1st test and till "da last". writing ...well ....i really got worried abt it 4-5 days prior to my gre....but useful tips 4m my friend faheem saw me through.

well, now talking of the D-day- 3rd
i woke up at 5 15 ...left home at 6 45 .....reached the much dreaded marwa house(center 4 gre) at 7 45....and den i jus cudnt settle down....i was terribly nervous and shivering....feeling cold....throat gettin dry evry minute....heart beating like nething....den at 9 i was taken in (till den we have to sit outside ...complete some formalities and wait...the looooooooong wait).....still the jitters accompanied me....i carefully went through the instructions though knew dem b4 hand and were quite trivial(imagine someone teachin u to use a mouse and keyboard....man u see us using dem and u will feel we were born knowin dem.....sry, its grandiloquent i know)....den the 1st essay...the issue....at 1st sight i got worried coz both topics seemed difficult to write on....i selected one....but as i started writing....i jus went on writin...and i remembered faheem's wrds "udhar sab ideas click hote hain".....den the 2nd essay...the argument....wat to say abt it....we all r vry good at arguments...are'nt we??!!!.....next thr is a 10 min break....i went out ...drank some water....eased a bit of pressure....den came back in.....and there it started.....the most feared section....well finished it in time.....but was vry vry tough and i was not at all sure abt my answers...den my fav quant....but truly it was challenging and thought provoking though i managed a 800 on 800.

after tht cam the most perplexing choice....to view the score or to cancel it.....my heart was beating rly fast wid fear as i clicked to view the score.....and den i had the most amazing experience....in a split second there was change of feelings....heart still kept beating....but earlier it was fear...now with amazement disbelief on wat eyes had seen and wid excitement....

yes i had scored a 1440...which is a vry good score....a brilliant one 4 other colleges....but my class abases its value....but now i say wid pride "I BELONG TO MY CLASS AND IDENTIFY WITH IT"...yes i cudnt bliv my eyes....i had crossed 1400 whereas my highest score in practise tests was 1300...i had crossed the 1350...den the 1400 mark tht i had set 4 myself.

it was a breath taking experience. but i still say it was a windfall and serendipity....rare case whr i had luck by my side.
US and MS ...here i come