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 Previous Week Topic |
| February 09 |
 The prescribed way forward More... |
09-02-2009 |
| It takes more than one's own hard work to crack medical entrance examinations, says Bindu Gopal Rao | |
 Gurlyn Ahluwalia is a second year MBBS student at one the most renowned private medical colleges in India.
While many may envy her current position, few know the tough path she had to tread to get there.
After she passed out of the prestigious Cathedral And John Connon High School and junior college at Jai Hind College in Mumbai, she was certain she would make it to the merit list of the numerous medical college entrance exams she had taken. This, with coaching classes for the 12th standard board exams and private tuitions for the common entrance test (CET) examination. However she was in for a rude shock when the results were announced and to her dismay she had not made it. And now facing her was the choice of waiting another depressing year or opting for dentistry.
Sounds like a familiar situation? Students appear for medical entrance exams in hordes and with the limited number of seats available, a lot of them lose out. Very often there is immense pressure to perform, not just from the family but also from other quarters whether it is the school or the coaching institute. Much of it has to do with your own motivation levels and how you would like to turn things around for yourself.
“I wanted to be a doctor from the time I was in the fifth standard. My aunt Rupa Naik, was a huge influence and motivating factor in helping me not to lose focus. Unfortunately I had to lose a year as I took the competition lightly and thought that my own hard work will take me to the merit list.
“The second time round I had time to think, plan, strategise and I did not lose my determination to succeed. And I made it to the top line of the merit list and that too in the first preference college of my choice,” recollects an ecstatic Ahluwalia. “To avoid burnout as well as lack of preparation, it is suggested to allocate one year of sincere preparation for the exam, which would consist of eight months of exhaustive preparation and three months of intensive revision.”
“It is not easy to predict how long one would take to master a particular topic, since some students may find a topic difficult while others find it easy and vice versa. However, it is necessary to pace your preparation according to schedule so that none of the important topics are left untouched,” says Dr Murali Bharadwaz, Head of Medical Entrance Exams Programme run jointly by Career Launcher and Dreams Learning Innovation.
Planning and more
Second time lucky, perhaps is what you would think. But delve a little further and one understands that this time around, she planned things better and her approach had a definite strategy. “I now refused to appear for one dozen entrance exams like the first time. I short listed them to just three colleges and gave it my best shot with a lot of systematic planning and discipline,” she explains.
Career Launcher offers three courses to prepare for the medical entrance exams that include 600 hours of multimedia based video lecture, 30 subject tests spanning all topics and discussion and 30 full length mock tests. The courses offered are Doctor Plus Classroom Program (DPCP) – for candidates appearing for the first time, PG MED Mock Test Series, a short term crash course and PG MED Mock Crash Test Series.
Another benefit of joining a coaching class is easy access to assignments, question papers of past years and mock tests that help you prepare for the D-day.
“The trick is to solve as many MCQs (multiple choice questions) as possible. Everyone enrolls in some tuitions or the other at the start of his or her admission in Class 12. Commence your MCQ immediately. Each chapter you read, you mark the potential MCQs yourself and form a bank for yourself, which you keep on repeating through out the year. Trust me, only this works. Which means you start your preparation on day one of your 12th standard,” opines Aluwalia.
What is critical is that, depending on the board of your 12th standard, you short list your choice of colleges in India. For instance studying in a State government curriculum may make you less prepared for an exam with an all India format like AIIMS or AFMC.
Says Bharadwaz, “The PG Medical entrance may be a tough cookie to crack, but with preparation that consists of the right material, balanced allocation of time, sufficient practice tests and perseverance, it is reduced to a years worth of sincere effort.
“The first priority is to be equipped with the right material. For example, preparing from Harrison for medicine is being over ambitious, while depending on a small review book for a subject is a fatal oversimplification. At the same time, the student needs to strike the right balance between cramming and understanding while using the preparation material.
“There are several topics like acidosis and alkalosis, which need to be approached with reasoning, whereas for other topics such as incubation period of SPM, cramming is unavoidable.”
Perseverance is what brings helps tie up the whole preparation. So stay focussed, prepare well and have a cracker of an examination.
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| Is the Exam Pressure getting on you ? More... |
16-02-2009 |
As the exam times near, students are starting to get more worried. There would be many who would sit down to study but instead end up thinking about their results and get worried. As the days pass students only get more worried. So much has been said and written about exam blues but what exactly helps students? Is it entirely upon student to control his nerves?There are so many questions regarding exam fever that it seems impossible that a complete cure will ever be found to the disease. The problem is that there is so much competition, and children are grown in such a way that they realize that there is a huge competition, that a student is unnecessary burdened about qualifying an exam.As far as the subject of tackling those exam blues goes, it is upon both the students and the parents to realize that exams are not the end of the road.Check out : WBJEE 2009 | AFMC 2009 | AIEEE | IIT JEE Parents had lived in an era where doing a BSc landed you in a fine job but students today would only add up to the crowd of unemployed people. Also, what parents know about but had not experienced is the competition. They know about the fierce competition hence they force their child into it and force them to win it, without realizing that the competition isnʼt as easy. The other thing that they think is that the child can and should study 24*7 in order to crack the examination, both however, are not true. So, do not force the child into it. Parents should understand that a child sees them as the support they have had since childhood but when you start acting this way, they are hugely disappointed. When outsiders say humiliating stuff it does not matter as much as it does when parents act the same way.The other responsibility is of the child to ensure that the negative do not find a way to creep into your space. Those negative thoughts are like thorns in your bed, you sleep in that bed but you can not sleep either. Do not let the thorns grow. If you feel there are negative thoughts just call someone who is reliable. That not just helps you to let go of those thoughts but also cheers you up. Another important thing is to believe in yourself, have the faith that you are good enough and that you have done it before and you can do it again. Yeah! Those magical words made a person the most powerful person in the world so donʼt you think you can at least crack an exam. So, remember YOU CAN DO IT. |
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| MAHA SHIVARATRI CELEBRATIONS More... |
23-02-2009 |
Marriage of Shiva and Shakti The legend of marriage of Shiva and Shakti is one the most important legends related to the festival of Mahashivaratri. The story tells us how Lord Shiva got married a second time to Shakti, his divine consort. According to legend of Shiva and Shakti, the day Lord Shiva got married to Parvati is celebrated as Shivaratri - the Night of Lord Shiva.
The Legend
Legend goes that once Lord Shiva and his wife Sati or Shakti were returning from sage Agastya’s ashram after listening to Ram Katha or story of Ram. On their way through a forest, Shiva saw Lord Rama searching for his wife Sita who had been kidnapped by Ravana, the King of Lanka. Lord Shiva bowed his head in reverence to Lord Rama. Sati was surprised by Lord Shiva’s behavior and inquired why he was paying obeisance to a mere mortal. Shiva informed Sati that Rama was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Sati, however, was not satisfied with the reply and Lord asked her to go and verify the truth for herself.
Using her power to change forms, Sati took the form of Sita appeared before Rama. Lord Rama immediately recognized the true identity of the Goddess and asked, "Devi, why are you alone, where's Shiva?" At this, Sati realized the truth about Lord Ram. But, Sita was like a mother to Lord Shiva and since Sati took the form of Sita her status had changed. From that time, Shiva detached himself from her as a wife. Sati was sad with the change of attitude of Lord Shiva but she stayed on at Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva.
Later, Sati’s father Daksha organised a yagna, but did not invite Sati or Shiva as he had an altercation with Shiva in the court of Brahma. But, Sati who wanted to attend the Yagna, went even though Lord Shiva did not appreciate the idea. To hre great anguish, Daksha ignored her presence and did not even offer Prasad for Shiva. Sati felt humiliated and was struck with profound grief. She jumped into the yagna fire and immolated herself.
Lord Shiva became extremely furious when he heard the news of Sati’s immolation. Carrying the body of Sati, Shiva began to perform Rudra Tandava or the dance of destruction and wiped out the kingdom of Daksha. Everybody was terrified as Shiva’s Tandava had the power to destroy the entire universe. In order to calm Lord Shiva, Vishnu severed Sati's body into 12 pieces and threw them on earth. It is said that wherever the pieces of Shakti’s body fell, there emerged a Shakti Peetha, including the Kamaroopa Kamakhya in Assam and the Vindhyavasini in UP.
Lord Siva was now alone undertook rigorous penance and retired to the Himalayas. Sati took a re-birth as Parvati in the family of God Himalaya. She performed penance to break Shiva’s meditation and win his attention. It is said that Parvati, who found it hard to break Shiva’s meditation seeked help of Kamadeva - the God of Love and Passion. Kaamadeva asked Parvati to dance in front of Shiva. When Parvati danced, Kaamadeva shot his arrow of passion at Shiva breaking his penance. Shiva became extremely infuriated and opening his third eye that reduced Kaamadeva to ashes. It was only after Kamadeva’s wife Rati’s pleading that Lord Shiva agreed to revive Kaamadeva.
Later, Parvati undertook severe penance to win over Shiva. Through her devotion and persuasion by sages devas, Parvati, also known as Uma, was finally able to lure Shiva into marriage and away from asceticism. Their marriage was solemnized a day before Amavasya in the month of Phalgun. This day of union of God Shiva and Parvati is celebrated as Mahashivratri every year.
Another Version of the Legend
According to another version of the legend, Goddess Parvati performed tapas and prayers on the auspicious moonless night of Shivaratri to ward off any evil that may befall her husband. Since then, womenfolk began the custom of praying for the well being of their husbands and sons on Shivaratri day. Unmarried women pray for a husband like Shiva, who is considered to be the ideal husband.
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