I break bread with Bansal Sir

Last Sunday, I had my morning meal at Mr. Bansal’s residence, following my remarkable performance in the last test. It was a grand house, adjoining the coaching centre in Vigyan nagar. There was a BMW and a DC modified van parked among less august company.

The feast started at 0930 sharp and had the usual fare – parathas with sauce, kachodis, chips, muffins et cetera – all at one place. As expected, there was a lot of talk, and we were told a lot of history of BCPL. We got to know that Pramod Mishra, the owner of Career Point was a Physics teacher at Bansal – the best ever, he said – and taught Ninja (ex-HOD, Physics; now at vibrant) and Amit Gupta sir (present HOD, Physics) among others.

The sumptuous feast ended by 1030 and we left for home feeling  good about ourselves. This certainly was something to boast about. Besides, we were also told that we (Xl) will get to see a movie on the Fourth of October. In an auditorium at Gaurav Tower.

Comments would be appreciated.

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Mr. V.K. Bansal invites me for breakfast

The last test was unexpectedly good and though my preparation did not deviate significantly from earlier ones, the difference this time was that I more or less got the questions I could. Minimum silly mistakes. My net score was 373/600 which fetched me rank 5. Maths (80+91) was the main highlight of the event, which, incidentially were the highest.

Following this, I, along with 9 others have been invited by Mr. Bansal, founder, director and Chairman of Bansal Classes Private Limited, to his home tomorrow to have breakfast with him. This is amazing.

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JEE ‘09 Post Mortem

So, the JEE 2009 figures are out. We know now that reverend Nitin Jain scored a total of 424/480. The top 500 closed at 302 (it was 287 last year) and top 1000 at 278 (263 last time).These figures actually went up even though all institutes had concurred that the questions this year were harder. The cut-off for CML was 178. The Extended Merit List included all zombies who had scored between 56 and 177. Besides, my earlier analysis proved to be correct and no candidate was assigned an AIR after 8295. This means that my EML 96 translates to AIR 8391.

My score, 177 (P-73, M-70, C-34) fell one mark short of the cut-off. Damn. There’s no end to the number of questions that I messed up under pressure. Some of them were questions that I had done previously or were too easy to err, but I did. I simply lost my cool and made mistakes in basic arithematic. Imagine. And I couldn’t even make it to CML. Apart from that, I really don’t think that 95 people who had the same marks as me could have scored better than me in Physics. My Chemistry score is really low, which means that my physics score should be comparatively higher. Judging from my Rank (EML 96), I might be ranked the last among candidates who scored 177. Can someone please explain?

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X01 guaranteed

It’s been some time since I last wrote and I have much to share. I have more or less adjusted to hostel life, except for the occasional meal, though the prospect of washing my dirty linen still makes me cringe.

My batch is X01, the best there is. My last six weeks have brought about a paradigm shift in my grasp of physics and I am beginning to understand chemistry. The teaching here is testosterone for the mind. We are encouraged to see questions one way, then the other, understand the common mistakes and conduct their autopsy. The chemistry faculty, though doesn’t let minor issues like curriculum restrain the immor(t)al fountain of learning. Things are done in great detail.

There are some 50 rankers in total at Bansal and some guys are really good. It comes as a surprise that people with such a good command were turned down by JEE, but that’s life for you.

We have had two tests and it would necessitate gross exaggeration to call my score exemplary. My rank was 67 in the first test and 33 in the second, giving me a cumulative (calculated on basis of net marks) of 40. That’s 40 in a bunch of ~5200 IIT rejects. So, my batch concerns have been resolved. I am going to remain in X1. I will be one of 120 people to have this ‘elite’ tag. Life wouldn’t really be worth living otherwise.

Our batches will be reshuffled on Monday and we are expecting to see some new faces from the former X3 and maybe others. The 2009 JEE info will be released tomorrow and I will definitely check it out. There will be another post shortly along related lines.

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Can I have some feedback, people?

The blog is new,

the content is little.

Is that why

the readership is brittle?

They come through Google,

they come via Yahoo.

They find what they want

and then bid adieu.

Eighteen posts and

One Thousand views later:

Twelve comments?

Shouldn’t it be better?

Is the language too high,

or the posts too long?

Why so shy?

What went wrong?

I give you e-books,

I give you analysis.

What’s the issue?

You suffer paralysis?

A word of gratitude,

some appreciation,

would go a long way

to ensure my dedication.

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In The Face of Uncertainity

I am leaving for Bansal in a few hours. I have a grueling eight hour train journey  that will take me to Kota and consequently, the hallowed halls of Bansal to commence some rigorous studies.

I am taking only a third of the PCM books I have come to possess during the last two years (tomes bought, borrowed and inherited) along with the essential paraphernalia required for living away from home, but the burden is still staggering. There’s no hope in hell that I would be able to lug the luggage weighing significantly more than me. It seems I will have to hire a coolie, something I am averse to do. Let’s see.

My classes begin on 22nd this month and I hope that the two extra days will help me grow accustomed to a completely new experience. My batch no. and time-table will be out sometime today. As everyone who has ever enrolled for coaching knows, it is the batch you are assigned that determines the quality of teachers, batchmates and education in general. With EML Rank 96, I have reason to hope.

For the next few months, I will be cocooned in an academically charged climate where I am expected to study at least eight hours a day in addition to the six hours in class. Coupled with hostel food, it is the perfect recipe for dramatic weight loss.

Where a laptop is considered an ostentation, an internet connection is an added opulence. So there will be no new posts for a long time. I might just manage to login when I visit a cybercafe to see my IITJEE marks in August. Besides I have kept some pre-written pieces that are scheduled to be published later this week. You can subscribe to the RSS feeds in the top right corner to keep updated.

Wish me Luck.

Sayonara.

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Not All’s Well

The past week has been a lesson in humility. Earlier, I had presumed that my performance, though not exemplary, was moderately competent with a 99.3 percentile in AIEEE. As always, life threw back my stinking socks at my face, much before they could be washed.

Yesterday, I learnt that all the seats in IIST are grabbed by the rankers in JEE (last year, the last admitted student got rank ~5800) leaving exactly zilch for the EML qualified who are tabulated precisely for this purpose. I feel cheated. It’s like the diversion of subsidized supplies meant for the poor to the rich who don’t really need it. But in this case, it’s legal. It’s justified. It just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I also found out that many of the UPTU toppers do go to HBTI, thus negating any possible trickle-down effect that may otherwise have granted seats to the less bright amongst us. So I would not get a seat in Harcourt Butler even if I wanted.

On the same note, the results of AIEEE’s second provisional seat allotment are available and I have not got CSE/ECE/EEE/Mech at any of the Tiruchi, Warangal or Surathkal NITs. With ten days still left to go for the closing of choice submission for seat allotment, things can only get worse.

Though these bits of news make no difference to a dropper, it certainly shatters my illusion of choice. My decision is no longer a reckless venture leaving behind the promise of an easy life. Now, it’s more of a forced reconciliation than an assertion of free will, a fitting climax to a series of extra-ordinary failures that rounds it up as a truly spectacular car crash.

My disastrous performance in these exams contrasts sharply with the laurels achieved by my former classmates. It turns out that my class nurtured some of the brightest minds outside VMC in the region. Seven people (out of twenty-five) got ranks in IITJEE and half of the remaining got into EML. A few bagged under-500 ranks in AIEEE. Many scored 280 and over in BITSAT. UPTU Rank no. 21 and DCE rank no. 60 hail from the same sweatshop.

This bleak scenario has jolted me back into reality. After hanging out with some of the most academically-challenged people I have ever known – some of them got a supra-one lakh rank in a state entrance exam like UPTU- my dismal results had begun to look satisfactory.

So, now I am back en route to my goal.

IIT Delhi.

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