My Universal Studios (LA) experience

I had heard a lot about the Universal Studios so I was pretty much excited. I was supposed to be travelling alone but then it is not so much fun to be all by myself. I would need someone to encourage, discuss, take pictures and enjoy with me. So I literally dragged my friend who was a classmate at college to accompany me on the trip to Universal Studios. Though grudgingly at first (I was pulling him out of his family time and that too to a place he would have visited umpteen number of times), he very chivalrously offered to give me a conducted tour of the place.

We reached Universal Studios around 9:30 am (a good half hour later than we originally planned) and then upgraded our tickets to the Universal express. (This is similar to the Rs. 300 ticket that we Indians normally take when we are visiting Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati….) They handed us a map of the Studios, but there is an app that one can download, which will give good information about the attractions – rides and shows along with the timings and wait times, if any. One good thing about the US is that there is free WiFi in every public area, so one can stay connected and instantly share pictures and videos too.

The first attraction for every age group is definitely the Harry Porter theme. So we got to see the Hogwarts express, the castle, some magic and the Harry Porter ride on the Forbidden journey. It is better to watch a Harry Porter movie or read a book prior to visiting, so that one can enjoy the ride better, relating to the characters. I was a little apprehensive about the rides, imagining a 360 degree turn or a giant wheel kind of experience, but this one is a sort of tram ride that takes you through a certain route, going up and down, with virtual reality scenes all around you. So you essentially are following Harry Porter in his adventures.

The studio tour is a ride for an hour on a tram. They take you around the studios showing you different shooting spots, experiences of various kinds, earthquake, fire, floods, car crashes, rain, skylines, bungalows used in films and television shows, skylines, etc. The best part is that the tour guide explains these and also shows the same scenes in the movies, so you can actually understand how it looks on screen.

There are rides with Simpsons, Despicable me, Transformers, the Mummy Returns, Kung Fu Panda, et al. I have not watched any of these movies, so I could not relate to the characters, but the rides are fun. For most of these rides, you are sitting at a single location, with virtual reality shows. So you would move front, back, up and down, tilt in all directions, but at the same location surrounded by the characters from that movie. The Mummy ride is a little scary as it is very fast, but then it is also exhilarating and enjoyable. The Jurassic Park theme was closed down as it was being redesigned.

The Special Effects show gives you a good idea of how the stunts are done, different sounds are produced to accompany the actions, how people survive a fire accident. So it is very enlightening. Another interesting show was the Animal actors. How animals are trained to perform in the movies, do tricks, act with strangers, was also very entertaining.

The best one that I liked in the Studios was the Water World show. It is simply amazing. This was like a theatre show. An action show, depicting an island with chases and fights, motorboats, firing from all directions, accidents, fire on the lake, water jets, chaining and killing, rescue scene. It was simply amazing to see the actors with so much energy, climbing ladders, chasing on motorboats, jumping, hanging off cliffs. It is one thing to watch such scenes in a movie, but seeing them performed live is an entirely different experience.

You also see various cartoon characters at different spots where you can get photographed. The food stalls are all over the studios, at every step. As soon as you enter, you see food even before you enter any ride. I think Americans are very fond of food.

All good things come to an end, and so did our trip. The Express pass ensured we did not have waiting time at any of the rides. There were long queues with wait times upto 60 minutes or 75 minutes at some of the rides, so I was glad to skip the waiting. Without the express pass, it would not have been possible to cover all the attractions in a single day. All in all, the Universal Studios is a must-visit spot for anyone visiting the United States.

My first book presentation

My last blog post triggered an invitation from my friend to join a book club. The book club has been in existence for the past 10 years and very systematically, one of the members presents a book every month. Sounded interesting to me and I decided to attend a couple of presentations before deciding to join.

After attending 3 sessions, I was formally inducted into the Happy Book Club. I had been designated to present a book in June. I was asked to do it in April or May, but that was a peak period at work, so I preferred June. I had chosen the book “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins. I had first read this book when I was still in school and somehow the story stuck in my memory. Last year, I came across another book by the same author and that’s when I decided to read it again.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and so, I decided to share the same with the group.

The first step was to re-read the entire book so as to figure out a strategy for the presentation in less than 2 hours. I have a habit of reading books on Kindle, so I underestimated the size of the book. I ordered a printed book and got a shock when I saw the size of the book. There was no way I could read significant chunk of the book. To give you an idea of the challenge involved, here is an intro to the book.

The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, which means it is written as a series of letters. It is generally considered to be the first detective novel, and it established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel.

The Moonstone of the title is a diamond, not to be confused with the semi-precious moonstone gem. It gained its name from its association with the Hindu god of the moon, Chandra. It was said to be protected by hereditary guardians on the orders of Vishnu, and to wax and wane in brilliance along with the light of the moon.

Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. The diamond is of great religious significance and extremely valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond or the Koh-i-Noor diamond). Rachel's eighteenth birthday is celebrated with a large party, at which the guests include her cousin Franklin Blake. She wears the Moonstone on her dress that evening for all to see, including some Indian jugglers who have called at the house. Later that night, the diamond is stolen from Rachel's bedroom, and a period of turmoil, unhappiness, misunderstandings and ill-luck ensues. Told by a series of narratives from some of the main characters, the complex plot traces the subsequent efforts to explain the theft, identify the thief, trace the stone and recover it.

Now, how do I present such a long book, which is a detective novel in a summarized manner, and that too, including all the significant events without missing any links in the chain of detection? Whenever there is a problem, Google will show the way…. I found chapter-wise summarized notes on the internet, that formed the basis of my presentation. I had a starting point. Now, I had to tweak the notes in such a manner as to leave out unnecessary bits, condense it further so that I could hold the interest of the audience and complete the story in less than 2 hours.

Being a verbal faculty probably came to my rescue as I was comfortable with the concept of para-summary. The biggest challenge was to sustain the audience attention. I chose to read out the prologue, the epilogue and a description of events related to the disappearance of the moonstone. For the rest of the story, I used the summary notes. To my bewilderment, the entire group of 12 people managed to stay hooked on to the story, guessing, deliberating, debating and commenting through the presentation. I was warned that there could be interruptions, but being a teacher, I could manage that comfortably. All of them praised my efforts and said that it did not look like a maiden presentation at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I am looking forward to doing more presentations.

Takeaways from Jane Austen’s classic “Pride and Prejudice”

I happened to read the book ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen recently. I had first read this book during my teenage years and those days, I thought of it as nothing more than a love story set in the 18^th century.

When I started reading this book again after a gap of around 25 years, the perspective was completely different. I started with hesitation as I knew the writing style would be archaic and the story would be slow compared to the later fiction that I have been accustomed to. However, this book had so many takeaways that I could not resist penning them down for future reflection.

1.     Writing Style – The long winding sentences, though archaic in form, are so profound and every phrase significant that it is indeed a pleasure to read them.

A sample - “He was anxious to avoid the notice of his cousins, from a conviction that if they saw him depart, they could not fail to conjecture his design, and he was not willing to have the attempt known till its success might be known likewise; for though feeling almost secure, and with reason, for Charlotte had been tolerably encouraging, he was comparatively diffident since the adventure of Wednesday.”

2.     Characterization -

Each character is so carefully described and if you actually look around you, shades of these personalities are seen in the real world even today.

Mrs Bennet – Scheming woman, whose sole aim in life is to get her daughters married. She doesn’t mind parading them in front of gentlemen or military officers. The happiness of her daughters in the marriage is of no consequence. She just wants them to be married and stay close to her.

Mr Bennet – Father of five daughters, with no property of his own. However, never saved his income or planned for their welfare. Took refuge in his books and solitude, instead of shaping the personalities of his daughters.

Jane Bennet – Shy and demure. Never allowed her feelings to be shown to others. Always optimistic and finds good in every person and every situation. Gives allowance to people for their mistakes.

Elizabeth Bennet – Witty, lively and playful. Being the protagonist and the one with the ‘Prejudice’ in the title, her character has been described in great detail, the different moods, the transformation of her prejudice to cordiality to gratitude to love has evolved. Unafraid of authorities or titles, not swayed by wealth or power, of course she had her share of faults too -  her rude rejection of Mr Darcy, the pity towards Charlotte for marrying Mr Collins.

Charles Bingley – Easy-going personality, but one who is diffident and depends on the judgment of his friend more than his own feelings.

Lydia Bennet – Frivolous and insensitive to the feelings of family members or others. Wholly focused on balls, dresses, officers and gossip. No sense of purpose in life.

Wickham – Double-faced person. Appears very charming and pleasing to everyone, but no qualms in double-crossing them. Leaves debts wherever he goes, and spreads rumours. No sense of obligation, responsibility or gratitude.

… and many more.

3.     Various aspects that people look for in a marriage –

Charlotte Lucas -  Marriage is a necessity and if the partner has a good character, connections and job, it is enough to have a fair chance of happiness.

Lydia Bennet – Freedom and opportunity to attend many balls and parties.

Elizabeth Bennet -  Looks for a lively, well-read and superior partner with whom she can carry on interesting debates and learn something new each day. One who can understand her frankness. Wealth and material comforts are not the primary objective.

Jane Bennet – Believes in love and affection in a marriage.

4.     Prejudices can be overcome with an open mind.

Though Elizabeth was strongly prejudiced against Darcy, she read his letter with an open mind. She was able to put away the past instances when she encountered him at Pemberly estate and remain civil. Similarly her prejudice against the happy marriage of Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins was overcome when she visited them for six weeks and observed them.

5.     Good deeds are done not to impress but to see joy in the eyes of one you love.

Most often, people do good deeds to impress someone they love or hope for a benefit from. However, the character of Darcy is shown to be so magnanimous and helpful. After seeing Elizabeth in distress over the elopement of Lydia with Wickham, he ensures their return and arranges money for repayment of all debts and gets them married. Over and above this, he requests that this information should not be disclosed to Elizabeth and her family. He has only done it for their joy and comfort.

6.     Take cognizance of feedback and work on overcoming shortcomings.

Elizabeth turns down the proposal of Darcy with very harsh words and in so doing, she reveals her impressions of his character based on his actions and words. Though completely shocked, stunned and angry, he does not regret his proposal. Instead, he reflects on what she has said and tries to amend his shortcomings, not just in interactions towards her but to all.

Of course, there are many more, but no wonder, this book is considered one of the classics. Even after so many centuries of this book, it can still be read and considered a masterpiece in this fast paced, technologically advanced era.

CLAT 2017 – Rank-based Cutoff Predictions

Now that the CLAT 2017 score cards are released, the next question lingering in the minds of students is ‘Which NLU will I get into?’ or ‘Will I make it to any of the NLUs?’ Here is our prediction of the cutoffs based on the pattern over the last few years. The major factor that determines the cutoffs would be the order of preference that students opt during the CLAT application process. The order is more or less consistent over the years, so the cutoffs can be predicted with confidence.

Also remember that CLAT comes out with four merit lists. After each list, students are given time to pay the fees and the vacant seats are then allotted to other students. Many students opt for Symbiosis, NLU Delhi or other private colleges instead of joining an NLU which is not in their first 5-6 preferences. So these seats fall vacant.

While you are waiting for the first allocation list to be released on 5^th June, you could peruse this list to get a fair idea of where you are likely to land in, and plan accordingly.

NLU Indicative closing rank
NLU bracket	First List	Last List
NLSIU(Bangalore) - NALSAR(Hyderabad) - WBNUJS(Kolkata)	220	250
NLIU(Bhopal) - NLU(Jodhpur) - HNLU(Raipur) - GNLU(Gandhinagar)	550	700
MNLU(Mumbai) - RMLNLU(Lucknow) - RGNUL(Punjab) - CNLU(Patna) - NUALS(Kochi)	910	1300
NLUO(Cuttack) - NUSRL(Ranchi) - NLUJA(Assam)	1080	1500
DSNLU(Vizag) - TNNLS(Trichy) - MNLU(Nagpur)	1200	1750
Private Law Schools Indicative closing rank
Law School	First List	Last List
NIRMA(Ahmedabad)	1000	2000
KP Mehta School of Law, NMIMS (Mumbai)	2000	5000
UPES (Dehradun), - KIIT (Bhubaneshwar)	3000	7500
Domicile indicative closing rank
Law School	First List	Last List
NALSAR(Hyderabad)	600	750
DSNLU(Vizag)	5000	10000

Also understand that once all the lists are released and the CLAT counselling process is completed, if there are still vacant seats, students can approach the respective NLUs and they will allot the seats based on the ranks outside the CLAT counselling process.

Choosing the right college – An Insight

Students arrive at a crossroads a couple of times during their education where they feel lost and unsure of the next step. The first one is when they finish their class X.

Should I take up engineering or medicine? Science or commerce? Commerce or Arts? Should I take up Maths or can I do without it? Will I regret if I take some non-traditional subjects? Once the course is decided, comes the next decision, state board or central board? Which college do I choose?

The next crossroad is when they finish Class XII and need to join an undergraduate program. Whether they have taken up Science or Commerce, the dilemma remains as to which college to join.

Should I join a national institute (IIT/NIT/NLU) or a state college? Should I stay in my home town or state or should I join a college in the other end of the country? I have got admission in a new IIT and an established NIT. Which is better? My friends are going to IIT but my parents say it is better to go to the NIT in my hometown.

These are the myriad questions that go through the minds of the students and their parents. So how does one go about choosing the right college without having to regret in future. This is a conundrum that is faced by many students every year. Being in the field of education and having guided students over the last 8 years, in this post, I have tried to list a few factors that one needs to consider before taking an informed decision.

1. Long-term goal

Do understand what is your long-term goal. A college can never be your long-term goal. At best, it could be a short-term goal to get into an IIT or an NLU. However, that is not your end-goal. It is only a stepping stone to your success. Where you study, shapes your personality, develops your core strengths, brings out your creative abilities and lays the foundation for your career. It is also the place where you would forge some strong friendships that would remain for life. So decide whether you want to study further (post graduation) or take up a job. If you want to take up a job, would you be in India or abroad. This will have a bearing on your decision of a college. If you plan to take up a job immediately after college, then the brand of the college is of utmost importance. You will carry the tag of your college for a long time to come. So it cannot be compromised. If you plan to do higher studies, then it might be ok to compromise on the brand in favour of other factors, with the goal of joining a better brand for post graduation. Once you complete your PG, it doesn’t matter in which college you have done your UG program.

2. Placement opportunities

The placement opportunities in the college you are planning to join is a very important factor. Irrespective of whether you plan to take up a job or you plan to study further, it is important to select the college that will give you good placement opportunities. Even if you intend to go for higher education, it is too early to forego the opportunity of a job. Let’s say you complete your UG program in 4 or 5 years based on the course you opt for. By that time, your priority might have changed and you want to work for a couple of years before going for higher studies. It is very difficult to get good job opportunity outside the campus. The best jobs with minimal effort are the ones that can be bagged while in the campus. The placement cell would have made all arrangements to invite the best companies to the campus so that you have a decent opportunity to kick-start your career.

3. Faculty, infrastructure and ambience

Do your homework to understand the infrastructure and ambience in the college. Talk to seniors to get a good understanding. Faculty and the peers are both important factors. Faculty plays the role of mentors for the students and they could also serve as role models. Co-students or peers also play a very important role, though it is undermined. I don’t mean to say you should join a college where your friends join. But you should join a college where your classmates would be better than you or at par with you, so that you have a lot to learn from them. Learning happens in the classroom and outside as it is a continuous process. So look out for people from whom you can learn. Whether it is to deal with difficult situations, solve challenging problems, quick learning of subjects or practical knowledge.

4. Value for money

Last but not the least, money is an important factor. The expense on your education is an investment by your parents. When you buy a mobile phone, you look for what features you will get, what benefit it will give you in comparison with what you pay. In short, you are trying to get the best value for the money you spend on the phone. In other words, the model of mobile phone you select will be based on the value it provides. In the same manner, try to join the college from which you can derive maximum value out of the investment that you are making. The value could be in terms of brand, comfort, placements. Sometimes the brand might be big, and accordingly the fee, but because the college is new in the location, the placement opportunities could be lesser or the students joining could be of lower ranks. Be conscious of this fact and decide accordingly.

I hope this note helps you evaluate the colleges that you are eligible for and take the right decision. All the best for a great career!!

Anniversary celebrations @ Leonia!!!

Abhyaas Educorp completes 7 years in 2016 and has grown to around 50 employees. The entire team celebrated the anniversary at the Leonia resorts on 6^th October 2016. It was an event filled with fun, frolic, awards, games et al.

The event started with employees travelling by the GVA bus from HO/GVA to the resort. After a welcome drink and distribution of the map and itinerary, everyone dispersed to explore the resort. There were numerous activities ranging from cycling, shuttle, indoor games like table tennis and carroms, swimming, water games/rain dance.

After a hectic tour exploring the various areas, the team assembled for a sumptuous lunch. Post lunch, people settled in their allotted rooms for a brief spell before returning for the presentations. The formal anniversary event started with presentations from the different teams explaining their current achievements, challenges and future goals.

Next came the awards presentations. It was exciting with nail-biting anticipation for the announcement of the winners in different categories. Some of the awardees felt as if they were nominated or won an Oscar award. Such was the enthusiasm and the fervor of the moment.

Dinner was enjoyable and suited the palates of one and all. The cultural programmes included a skit and songs by various individuals/groups. Before we realized, it was 11 pm, but the night was young as everyone was just getting into the mood for fun and frolic. The games conducted by the games committee brought out the best in everyone and the competition was neck to neck. Though it was soon past midnight, no one was ready to retire for the night. The tambola game brought cheer to the lucky and to even one unlucky candidate who got a prize for being the last one to get atleast one number.

The next day saw an early start with most of the team heading to the cricket ground and a few lounging in their rooms or going to the swimming pool. A delicious breakfast spread awaited the team after engaging in one of the above activities. This followed by another set of games and the star attraction was the dance by baby Srivalli who accompanied her mother to the event.

Alas, all good things have to come to an end. Once the mementos/gifts were distributed, the team had to disperse after 24 hours of fun and celebrations as people started for their dussehra break.

A dream come true!!

It was around the summer of 2012, exactly four years ago, that I was desperately looking for a school/college for my niece who completed her tenth standard. She wanted to join the MPC stream with the goal of becoming an engineer. Being in the education sector, I wanted to make sure she has the right guidance, good ambience, like-minded friends and a healthy environment for “learning”, mind you, I mean learning and not studying or getting seat in an engineering college. The first choice was between CBSE and State Board/Intermediate. Students, especially girls, want to get free from the shackles of the school uniform and wear colourful clothes or jeans/slacks. However, I did not want to completely eliminate CBSE schools for that reason.

Now, there are advantages to joining a CBSE school, as the curriculum is good, the emphasis is more on learning the subject rather than rote learning. The drawback is that most schools cater to the board syllabus well, but the preparation for the entrance exams is not that great. Moreover, following the CBSE syllabus, the students are at a disadvantage when it comes to the State entrance exam, EAMCET. So I would need to enroll her to another institution for the entrance exam coaching post school. This would be pretty taxing for her as she would have to go to school and later, for the coaching.

The other option was to join her in an Intermediate college. There are two types of colleges. The old-time colleges that focus on the Intermediate education and the new-age corporate colleges that focus on Intermediate as well as entrance exam preparation. The first option would not solve the problem of separate coaching. Most of the new age colleges have very demanding schedules. The duration would be from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm with no extra-curricular activities. I could not imagine studying only maths, physics and chemistry whole day long for 6 days in a week and then writing exams on Sunday. During this quest, I came across a college in Secunderabad, iClass Junior college, which had classes only from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm and also included entrance exam preparation. I liked the fact that the directors were personally involved in the teaching. So my quest for a college ended and she studied in that college.

During this journey, I had a revelation. There are limited options for students who want to pursue all-round development during their 11^th and 12^th with extra-curricular activities as well as adequate preparation for entrance exams. Further, the options for the students who wanted to study in the commerce stream were further restricted. Worst of all was the fate of students who were averse to Maths. Only the students who barely passed tenth grade got into such streams, so those who joined by choice had only such students for company. Do the students in Hyderabad who want to pursue good quality education be denied of a good environment? Further, is it a crime to take up Arts or Commerce? And that was when the seed of starting an Intermediate College was sown.

Around the same time, our Abhyaas CLAT preparation was in full swing and parents of our current students were enquiring why we only train students for CLAT and not for intermediate. Parents liked our teaching methodology and wanted a one-stop solution for their other children. Most of the CLAT aspirants actually opt for Commerce so as we saw earlier, they have limited options. Now the business need also evolved to initiate Intermediate education. Though we could not satisfy the needs of the parents in that year, within two years, we successfully launched Gyanville Academy in 2014.

How is Gyanville Academy different from the run-of-the mill colleges? For one, we focus on intermediate education along with careers and personality development. Students go through a counselling session where their aptitude is evaluated through a questionnaire to ascertain their interests. Based on their responses, our counsellors identify their aptitude towards different career options like Engineering, law, design or management. Next, they write a test which assesses their capability. Only when their interests are in alignment with their capabilities, a student will be able to exploit his/her potential. After a brief interaction with the student as well as parents, a decision is made to enroll the student into Gyanville Academy. The major factor to consider while admitting a student is the learnability of the students and the proper support and conducive learning environment from the family.

The pedagogy includes intermediate education along with emphasis on improving the reading skills, writing skills and the general knowledge of the students. Personality development with discussions and debates forms a major component. Assignments and tests challenge the students to explore the subject. Continuous feedback on the performance using charts for emphasis and understanding of the data help pin-point areas for improvement.

Two years have passed and the first batch of students were given a farewell by the students last week. We had a mix of science and commerce students with an average percentage of 91% for Science stream and 93% for Commerce stream. Out of the four engineering aspirants, three of them qualified IIT-Mains and the fourth one gained admission in VIT. The lone design career aspirant gained admission into the School of Design at Pearl Academy, Mumbai and is awaiting results from NIFT. Law aspirants have written the CLAT exam as well as the entrance exams for Symbiosis. The lone management career aspirant has written the exam to gain admission to IIM-Indore for their 5-year integrated program. What started as a dream four years ago has now turned a reality and the first set of students is going out to pursue careers of their choice. It is a truly satisfying journey and one that justifies leaving a lucrative but stressful IT career to pursue a career in education.