The Journey (One draft from 2016)

Many a time rejections are considered as failures. Indeed it is as per definition but if you learn your life experiences from these, they could be proved a milestone in your journey. When you will be lost in distant future then you can see those stones in your proceeding path and can say to yourself that if you have crossed those hurdles then you must have that ability to get over of the next hurdle too. Of course, it hurts, these bitches hurt like hell. I can't claim that my journey throughout my life was quite smooth, but at the same time I had an awesome life and a height of 6'2"... ok now I am bragging... So, what if faced some rejections in schools, college, personal, or professional life. Each one looked like they would take the life out of me. I survived and when I look back I see myself as a different person. Worst or Best they are my own earned experiences. I can take pride in claiming them even though I failed miserably several times but I have no regret so ever of not taking the chances. I at least don't have this question in my conscious of what if? I lost people, sometimes people lost me. But this is what I am. I learned there is only one thing in life, and that is the journey. Sometimes you lose your hope, sometimes you can't even see the end of the tunnel and it would feel like this journey would never end or would suck you out of it. But I survived. I will survive and I want my state to be a sovereign country, okay now kidding :D

Right now, I am completely writing this impulsively, so language structure doesn't fucking matter right now to me, fix it later baby.  Perhaps, another rejection is waiting for me around the corner... perhaps an unexpected miracle might be waiting too, who knows but I am sure whatever it will be, I will kick its ass, or it will kick my ass... One thing is for sure, someone's ass is going to be kicked...lol.. Cool, so as of now, my examination results are out and I performed exceptionally well even according to my standard, ya failed one subject also, but the degree is almost won, nonetheless my master is nw killing me. Anyway let's chill I should give myself a treat, It's celebration time and I am going to buy myself an awesome gift - a mac :) bravo manu!

Draft date: 28 Aug 2016

IELTS Listening Time Strategy For 8-9

In my previous post, I had mentioned that if you find yourself consistently scoring 7 with Official Cambridge IELTS listening practice materials, then the only technique that you might need is reading ahead. You really do not need to be an advanced English speaker to excel in this examination.

Let me first explain, why/how did I make my own timing strategy. While doing the practise tests in the strict examination conditions, I used to scan questions in the same order as recording, which used to make me lose a few marks in Section 3 and 4. In my opinion, it was due to a lot of information to read but having comparatively little time to soak all of them. Afterwards, I tried a different approach and first allowed myself to read all the texts without any recording and then also noted down my own scanning time for each section. I then tried the same questions with recording. This made me feel at more ease and I felt almost no hurry when the recording was playing. I was astonished to see that I was able to score 9. Moreover, I let a whole recording play and just noted down the time gap between sections and subsections. Thereupon, based on my scanning speed and time gaps, I made my own timing strategy [See below figure].

My Timing Strategy for IELTS Listening

In summary, you should try to use the time gaps wisely. Below was my timing strategy:

• At the beginning of Section 1:
• Scan questions 1-7 (Section 1) in 30 seconds
• Scan questions 31-37 (or 31- 35 questions, Section 4) in 1 minute
• Scan questions 21-23 (Section 3) in 30 seconds
• At the mid of Section 1: Scan questions 7-10 in 30 seconds
• At the beginning of Section 2:
• Scan questions 11-17 (Section 2) in 50 seconds
• Scan questions 24-28 (Section 3) in 1 minute
• At the mid of Section 2: Scan questions 18-20 in 50 seconds
• In Section 3:
• At the beginning itself, scan the rest of the questions (Q 29-30)
• Again scan questions 21-26 (in the first half of recording)
• Again scan questions 27-30 (in the second half of recording)
• In Section 4:
• At the beginning itself, scan the rest of the questions (Q 36/38 - 40)
• Again scan questions 31- 36/38

Remember, reading ahead is one of the imperative techniques to get the highest band. Use the breaks to read the next section of questions before the recording starts. Based on your scanning speed, make a timing strategy for yourself. If Cambridge does not change the examination pattern, I hope to use this strategy again when I will be taking my next IELTS in 2022. But as of now, I must wait patiently for Tomorrow's sunrise where the Canadian ITA along with a new life would be awaiting at dawn.

तेरी कोशिश, चुप हो जाना,

मेरी ज़िद है, शंख बजाना ...

IELTS Listening Preparation Tips For 8-9

This post is suitable for those candidates who could consistently score at least 7 with Official Cambridge IELTS practice materials and would like to make their score in listening module 8 or perhaps 9. Moreover, this post identifies the areas where a 7 scorer might need to improve and provides some tips and strategies. However, I strongly advise you to not be fooled by the simplicity of the exam pattern. Although the examination may appear straightforward, you should practice and start scoring continuously the desired marks in your practice tests before you can apply for the exam. In my opinion, if you cannot continuously score 8 or 9 in official Cambridge IELTS practice tests, then it is highly unlikely that you could score the same on the examination day.

Let's get started. First thing first, get thoroughly familiar with the format of the listening test and then take 2 or 3 listening test from the official Cambridge IELTS practice materials to gauge your skill level. Be brutally honest while checking your answers. If it does not exactly match with provided answer keys, consider your answer wrong.

Description of Band 7 Scorer As Per Cambridge:

"You have an operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally you handle complex language well and understand detailed reasoning."

Possible Strengths of a Candidate With Score 7:

1. A wide range of daily use vocabulary,
2. Knowledge of synonyms and paraphrasing, 
3. Can understand connected, fast, and natural speech, and 
4. Lastly, can understand different accents, namely, British, Scottish, Irish, American, Canadian, and Australian (For me, I was comfortable with all these accents except Australian and Scottish. I listened to few talks in those two accents during my commute time over mobile app Stitcher).

Probable Weak Points of a Candidate With Score 7:

1. Lose of attention,
2. Not following word/number count instructions thoroughly, 
3. Unaware of IELTS traps, such as usage of distractors (e.g; but, however), unexpected turns, and generalization, and 
4. Most importantly, the candidate might not have a strategy to manage time. Remember, for the listening test, timing is the key!

Be mindful of the fact that only doing practice test would not be enough, as it will not really improve your examination skill that much and besides this is a very boring way to prepare. You first need to figure out the reason behind your missing answers and fix those areas. So, let's move forward to identify the traps that IELTS employs to check your attention to details and address the tips and strategies for different sections.

जो बीत गई सो बात गई

जीवन में एक सितारा था
माना वह बेहद प्यारा था
वह डूब गया तो डूब गया
अम्बर के आनन को देखो
कितने इसके तारे टूटे
कितने इसके प्यारे छूटे
जो छूट गए फिर कहाँ मिले
पर बोलो टूटे तारों पर
कब अम्बर शोक मनाता है
जो बीत गई सो बात गई

जीवन में वह था एक कुसुम
थे उसपर नित्य निछावर तुम
वह सूख गया तो सूख गया
मधुवन की छाती को देखो
सूखी कितनी इसकी कलियाँ
मुरझायी कितनी वल्लरियाँ
जो मुरझायी फिर कहाँ खिली
पर बोलो सूखे फूलों पर
कब मधुवन शोर मचाता है
जो बीत गई सो बात गई

जीवन में मधु का प्याला था
तुमने तन मन दे डाला था
वह टूट गया तो टूट गया
मदिरालय का आँगन देखो
कितने प्याले हिल जाते हैं
गिर मिट्टी में मिल जाते हैं
जो गिरते हैं कब उठतें हैं
पर बोलो टूटे प्यालों पर
कब मदिरालय पछताता है
जो बीत गई सो बात गई

मृदु मिटटी के हैं बने हुए
मधु घट फूटा ही करते हैं
लघु जीवन लेकर आए हैं
प्याले टूटा ही करते हैं
फिर भी मदिरालय के अन्दर
मधु के घट हैं मधु प्याले हैं
जो मादकता के मारे हैं
वे मधु लूटा ही करते हैं
वह कच्चा पीने वाला है
जिसकी ममता घट प्यालों पर
जो सच्चे मधु से जला हुआ
कब रोता है चिल्लाता है
जो बीत गई सो बात गई

- हरिवंश राय बच्चन

Clever Insults

I found this list of sick burns in my old Gmail draft (dated Sep 08, 2012), now I don't really remember why did I keep this collection in the first place (perhaps I know, I was stupid, that explains), nonetheless, some of them could be truly witty if used in an appropriate context, but perhaps you might be better off without them. Though I do remember, I was once blocked by Facebook (had one during that time period) for some time due to some comment I had made on some post - it must have been one of these. So enjoy and don't (mis)use them :-)

• Do you still love nature, despite what it did to you?
• If opposites attract, then I hope you meet someone who is attractive, honest, intelligent, and cultured.
• I see that you’ve set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
• If laughter is the best medicine, your face must be curing the world.
• I don’t think you are stupid. You just have a bad luck when thinking.
• I’m glad to see you’re not letting your education get in the way of your ignorance.
• Aww, it’s so cute when you try to talk about things you don’t understand.
• You’re so ugly, that Hello Kitty said goodbye to you. (Who the hell is Hello Kitty, is it Big Bang's Sheldon's soft kitty warm kitty :-/)
• If you were twice as smart, you’d still be stupid.
• Here is 5 rupees, call all your friends and give me back the change. (What was the context here, only Rab remembers!)
• Is your job devoted to spreading ignorance?
• I don’t think you are a fool. But then what’s MY opinion against thousands of others?
• What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic thing I have ever heard and at no point in your rambling incoherent response where you are close to anything that could be called a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points and god have mercy on your soul.
• When you don't get a lot of porn on internet, do u log in to your own fb profile?
• Anderson, don't talk out loud. You lower the IQ of the whole street.
• You are as useless as "UEUE" IN A "QUEUE".
• You must have been born on a highway because that's where most accidents happen.
• You must be the arithmetic man; You add Trouble, subtract Pleasure, divide Attention, and multiply Ignorance.
• I would slap you, but then PETA will be all over me. (I don't anymore consider this as an insult. Animalism emphasizes the universal value of all sentient beings; while humanism only relates to human's philosophy which can be deeply conditional, and possibly skewed).
• So what part of your personality did you have to give up to become so stupid, was it intelligence? <---That wins the MeanEst award, doesn't it :P
• Does your IQ match your shoe size? Truddddd, even that might be overrating your intelligence!

Disclaimer: It must have been copy-pasted from various sources. If you get in trouble because of using one of them, well apologize and good luck :D

Aleatory stuffs

This time it’s not of my own but instead something I revisit more often these days (2nd3). However, the first itinerary is something, you might also like reading further in your leisure time.

1. Midnight conversation of an old school friend with sister over Maggi: <LINK>
2. One feature - One commit [By work colleague]: <LINK>

3. The story of a shepherd

A perfect day

What if you had one day perfectly healthy, I asked? What would you do?

“Twenty-four hours?” Twenty-four hours.

“Let’s see ... I’d get up in the morning, do my exercises, have a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls and tea, go for a swim, then have my friends come over for a nice lunch. I’d have them come one or two at a time so we could talk about their families, their issues, talk about how much we mean to each other.

“Then I’d like to go for a walk, in a garden with some trees, watch their colors, watch the birds, take in the nature that I haven’t seen in so long now.

“In the evening, we’d all go together to a restaurant with some great pasta, maybe some duck—I love duck and then we’d dance the rest of the night. I’d dance with all the wonderful dance partners out there, until I was exhausted. And then I’d go home and have a deep, wonderful sleep.”

That’s it?

“That’s it.”

Go on break the rules, forgive quickly, love truly and never regret anything that made you smile ~ Morrie.

- Excerpt from "Tuesdays With Morrie" by Mitch Albom