Things that I learned from CAT

     Unlike all other examinations which involve a one-to-one philosophy i.e. read a specific volume of material and regurgitate it on the answer-sheet during the exams, CAT is not something which tests your recollection capacity. Nor does it test only your application skills, it tests your psyche and that is a very different experience for me!

     The nature of study which I've been doing for the past 10 years has straitjacketed my vision and blinded me to new perspectives and ways of conceiving knowledge. It was always interim and as semesters passed, I lost most of what I'd studied to oblivion; to the extent that after two to three semesters whatever had happened previously was lost to amnesia! But, with CAT, I've come to realize that everything that comes your way is potentially my teacher! Every passage, every sentence correction, every logical reasoning or bar graph question has the ability to mould the way I think in obvious as well as subtle ways. One particular example that I would like to point out is that of thinking critically! The critical reasoning section has opened my eyes! The extent to which I was vacuously haughty about my logical and reasoning skills was grossly unjustified; not that I have made leaps of progress in that field, but as the quote goes " The acknowledgement of being asleep is the first step of waking up", I am trying to progressively groom my thinking in that direction. 

     The sad thing is that the shift in the study pattern has hit like a juggernaut which has shaken me completely. Getting used to a completely new mindset will sure take its time but this change is essential to make me learn to look at the world with not your own eyes but with that of the ones who's judging you. I personally find it a sucky feeling to give up on your perception and adopt the one which the examiner/ asker of the question tries to put forth because then, it would be reduced to a monotonous paragraph which everyone has to look through a colored glass very similar to the view which every child holds towards a scenery viz. a mountain, a river, a plain and a sun with a small house having two windows and a door. But if I have to pursue an MBA, this is the direction in which I have to groom myself as I would have to look at the world with other's eyes for which the preparation of the exam helps substantially! 

     With the exam nearing, the tension is building up! Wish me luck guys :)