CAT: A Drunkards’ Perspective
It is sad that most of the innovative ideas, lateral thoughts and out of the box sort of views comes to people whenever they are drunk. Why is it so? Why you find that the people sitting in a bar have more ideas than the person sitting in a group discussion? Is it because they don’t think twice before presenting their opinion? Is it because they have their on stance on each and every topic? For them it doesn’t matter whether the discussion is about their neighbours’ wife or US invasion on Iraq. The best thing is, they have their own say and have lots of evidences to prove that they are right.
Most of the engineering graduates write Common Admission Test (CAT) either after finishing their degree course or after getting experience in some company. They want to do MBA and that too from IIMs, because once they get out of these B-Schools they will be paid more. They will be getting around 7-12 p.a. package initially. And that’s just fantastic…Isn’t it? Huh… even I wanted to do that.
Hey …did I say “wanted”?? It seems that after visiting Apache last night, my views have changed. Oh!!! I forget to tell you about Apache. Don’t worry, neither it’s a CAT coaching institution nor a spiritual institution. It’s just another Bar in the heart of the city.
Most of the cities look awesome during weekends. Its fun to go out and enjoy the glamorous world. Yesterday I went out on a ride with my friend Abhy. Let me tell you one thing, he is an awesome bike rider. And I am not telling this just because he can change gears but because he can bisects the traffic, he can ride his Pulsar in wrong way (with 100 vehicles going in one way and his bike challenging the waves), he can easily get away from Pandu (the Traffic Policeman) and of course he regularly touches 80kmph at busy – narrow roads. That makes him the best rider I have ever seen. I still doubt whether he has got a driving license or not.
Anyway, last night we did a lot of window shopping and roamed around the city. At around 8 o’clock we were joined by Abhys’ friend Manu and we went to Apache. The place was totally crowded. Somehow we got a table at the first floor. The music was so loud that we were talking at the top of our voice. Abhy and Manu ordered for Pitcher and Chicken fry.
As a keen listener I was listening to their discussion. Their topic ranged from Manus’ last visit to an undiscovered beach to Abhys’ girlfriends. Then they started discussing about their friends and for our astonishment most of them were preparing for CAT. They were working very hard to get into the top B-Schools. They spend most of their time reading books, editorials, solving previous question papers, attending coaching classes.... They hardly went out during weekends. Manu said,” Ah!! Their life stinks”. “When I was a kid, my parents wanted me to get good marks in 10th exams. They said my life will be shaped according to my performance in board exams. And when I did that, they wanted me to do well in 12th exam and wanted me to write entrance exams. Again I put a lot of effort and got into engineering. I worked hard even in my college days and got a job. Now I don’t want to study anymore. I am satisfied with the way the things are. It’s better to enjoy this pitcher at Apache rather than trying to solve aptitude questions.” Even though a lot of people disagree with this view, I thought there was some bitter truth in whatever he has said. Abhy strongly supported Manu, he said “Look at this!!! Already you are 23, it will take at least a year or so for CAT preparation and even if you get into IIMs, by the time you pass out you will be around 26. After that you will hardly get any time to enjoy your bachelor life. So it’s better to enjoy the next 3 or 4 years of freedom rather than wasting time in studies and management skills.” Whatever Abhy said was correct and the figures that he gave were perfect. That made me to think a lot about this.
That’s why I think that it is sad that most of the innovative ideas, lateral thoughts and out of the box sort of views comes to people whenever they are drunk. It is sad because once they gain there consciousness they don’t remember anything. They won’t even remember that they have formulated something that would have taken years of hard work and knowledge. Their discussions are so scholastic that we can sit there with a pen & paper and make notes. Abhy and Manu won’t be remembering this conversation, but their discussion made me to retrospect my plans. They made me to think once again, whether to waste next three years in yet another college or to enjoy their company at Apache.
