From Being A Beginner to Becoming a Banker - My Journey and Strategy !!

Many people have been asking about my study strategy for cracking banking exams and from the day I've cleared SBI PO , the queries have raised exponentially. So, I'm penning down my study approach right from being a beginner to a Banker.

Note: This is going to be a long article as I'll explain everything in detail. I've also provided the  score cards of my various exams for reference. 

First of all, let me tell you my educational qualifications. I am a B-tech Graduate in the field of Computer Science and Engineering and as me being an engineering student, you can assume that I was good at maths from my school days. B.tech is a 4 year course  with each year comprising two semesters , i,e, total of eight semesters , last semester being the industrial training period in which students join companies or some institutions for getting PRACTICAL training. I completed my B.tech in June 2016.

Now, before starting any preparations, you need to be very clear about WHAT ARE YOU PREPARING FOR? or in other words, WHICH JOB DO YOU WANT ? I know many people reading this article would be like , "humein to bas job chahiye , koi bhi ho". Even if you are one of them, still choose one job and direct your preparations as per your choice. This is important because, I have seen many people simultaneously preparing for SSC, State jobs, Bank jobs, Insurance jobs and even UPSC ! The syllabus for all of these exams is very much different from each other and when you try to study something of everything, you end up with just "some" marks in every exam and not enough marks in any exam.

If we go by my example, I had made up my mind that i want to become a PO in SBI, while I was in my 7th semester. During the holiday period between my 7th and 8th semester, I made up all the strategy for my preparations and decided to join coaching for banking exams alongwith my 8th semester B.tech training.

In the mean time, i searched for the syllabuses of various banking exams (clerical and PO ) and found that all of them have more or less the same syllabus. So, i decided to give both clerical and PO exams . After that, it was the time to analyse my strong and weak areas. I was good at Maths and Reasoning. Having been studied in CBSE, English was also not that big a problem and  i had a professional degree in Computers. So, for me, the weakest area was General Awareness (GA). Till that day, neither had I ever read a newspaper in my life nor cared to watch news .  My only source of  WORLDLY knowledge was facebook  😜.  My general knowledge was of the level that i didn't even clearly know the difference between a PM and a CM. So, I realized that this was going to be the biggest challenge for me. And Before telling, how I overcame this weakness, let me just remind you that like GA  was my weakest point, yours may be a different subject or even subjects. Identify it and work to Overcome it.

Here's what I did to improve my General Awareness: 

GA in Banking includes Current Affairs and Static Awareness (about Banking, Polity etc). As I said, I never read newspaper in my life, so i couldn't just start reading newspapers overnight to improve my GA. I googled the alternatives and found that there are so many mobile apps for daily news through which you can read news anywhere and anytime you want . So after some research, I found an app, then named " News in Shorts" (now called " In shorts" ), which i felt was most suitable for me. I downloaded it and started reading news from it whenever i got time. And fortunately, it suited me more than expected. Slowly and steadily, I became regular as well as habitual of reading news from the app itself and thus my knowledge about current affairs started improving.

In Jan 2016, I joined an institute for my B.tech training as well as  started taking coaching for banking from AAA Bright Academy , Sector 34, Chandigarh.  But because I was doing my b.tech training alongside my banking coaching, I couldn't give much time to banking preparations but I managed to do the daily homework, so that i don't miss out any basics.
And it worked good enough for me. By the end of my coaching as well as training (duration of both was 4-5 months), I could feel that both went  productive for me. After completion of my final semester ( project submission and vivas ) and with this, completion of my  b.tech ( nearly a month after my coaching was over ), I was ready to study on my own.

Here's how I benefited from the coaching: 

1. It helped me clear my basics of Maths, Reasoning and English.
2. I became aware of different types of questions of every subject that may be asked in the exam.
3. My  Static Awareness improved the most as we had separate classes for Banking Awareness, Polity and even Current affairs.
4. They had their own books and study material ( almost all the good institutes provide their own study and practice material), so I didn't need to search for any extra study material to start my preparations.
5. Studying alongside other bank aspirants, gives you an idea of level of competition.
6. Mental Satisfaction that is missing when you start preparing on your own without taking guidance.
7. I got to learn many shortcuts and tricks (but I rarely use them).

SBI Clerk 2016 (Prelims):

First exam that I attempted was SBI Clerk 2016. My coaching for banking had finished in April 2016 and all of May 2016 passed in b.tech final year project completion and submission and vivas .  I still remember, I had my final viva on June 3 2016, and my SBI exam was on June 4, 2016. I gave it purely on my coaching basis that too without seeing a book for more than a month. And following is my scorecard for my very first bank exam: SBI Clerk 2016 prelim .

Yes, I missed clearing prelims of SBI Clerk 2016 with just 2 marks. But I wasn't really disappointed as I had attempted 69 questions and got 65.50 marks ( I couldn't be perfect :P ). I analysed my performance and tried to improve the shortcomings in the next exam, which was that of SBI PO 2016. 

SBI PO 2016 (Prelims):

I nearly had a month for preparation of SBI PO 2016 prelims which was in first week of july. Without any second thoughts about where to start from , I started solving RS Aggarwal for Quantative Aptitude, to restore my grip on basics of  Quant.  It took me nearly 15 days for the same . It proved out to be very a wise decision as I covered almost all the formulas while solving it.  After completing RS aggarwal, I now had to prepare for reasoning. I didn't had any book for reasoning nor did i had time to search for "good books" to refer to. Thus, I decided to prepare online for it. I searched for good sites for banking preparations and found that bankers adda was the most widely recommended site. They also have their mobile app. I searched for reasoning quizzes on it and found plenty of them. I practiced nearly 10-15 quizzes of reasoning and same number for english. And just few days before the exam, I took a mock test for the same which proved out to be very  helpful to plan the time management strategy for the actual exam . I felt quite ready for the prelims. 

Now it was the day of exam, As i said, i had only practiced basics, the actual exam seemed quite tough. I remember I attempted only 54 questions with 100% surety  in both Reasoning and Quant and nearly 100% surety in English (believe me,  you can never be 100% sure in English) .  Frankly speaking, I was disappointed with my performance as I was expecting to attempt atleast 60 questions.

I wasn't very positive about the result and didn't really study for mains until the result of prelims was announced. And fortunately, I cleared prelims with 52.25 marks and here's my scorecard: 

 It was now time to study for mains and I had only around 15 days for the same as Mains was on 31st July and i had literally wasted nearly two weeks after prelims, doing nothing.

SBI PO 2016 (Mains): 

So, I had about 2 week to prepare for mains. I knew this time wasn't enough for me as I could still prepare for English , Quant and reasoning but I could never prepare for General Awareness in such a short span of time. One of my seniors who was also preparing for the same advised me to download Current Affairs capsule from bankers adda which covers all the general awareness part necessary for cracking the exam. So , I did the same. The capsule is generally of 60-70 pages. 

I started reading the capsule as I had no other option but it wouldn't have been of any considerable help, had I not been reading news on the news app that i mentioned previously!  The capsule contained a lot of  news headlines and lot of static GK part and I couldn't just "mug it up" in just one reading but because i was regular on "News In Shorts", i could retain many things that were being repeated. All in all, it was like something was better than nothing.  

I prepared for English, Maths and Reasoning by attempting quizzes on various sites like Bankers adda, Testbook , GovJobAdda etc.  I wanted to attempt atleast 5 mocktests before the actual exam but i didn't get time for the same. I could attempt only 1 mock test but that was not enough. Finally, it was the day of exam. Every year, SBI comes with new surprises and so did this time. The whole pattern of English was changed. Level of every section was much higher than everyone's expectations. Keeping in mind the high level of exam , my Exam went far better than my expectations but not well enough to clear the exam. Here's my scorecard for the same :

You can see, I got relatively good marks in all the other subjects but General Awareness failed me. I couldn't even clear the sectional cutoff for it . Had i got even 17-18  marks in GA, i would have cleared my SBI Mains exams in my very first attempt. But once again, i wasn't disappointed as I knew i didn't deserve as per my preparations. Now, i was looking forward to IBPS PO and IBPS Clerk 2016. As both of these exams are conducted in second half of  October or after that, I had plenty of time to prepare for them. 

IBPS PO 2016:

My this exam was in second half of october. After giving, SBI mains, I didn't study for atleast a week because i needed a break as last few days had been quite hectic. Gradually, I started preparing for IBPS PO. By then, i had realised one thing:

Accuracy is of utmost importance in these exams. Cutoffs don't go much high but negative marking affects our score and we fail to clear even the low cutoffs. So, you can attempt less and still clear an exam.  ATTEMPT IT RIGHT OR DON'T ATTEMPT AT ALL. You might not clear an exam by attempting less but you will surely not clear the exam by attempting wrong. 

Now, I knew I can clear Quant , Reasoning and English Section by attempting only those questions on which i had a strong hold. 

These were my strong areas :

Quant- Percentage, Ratio, Profit and Loss, Quadratic, DI, Simplification/Approximation .

Reasoning-  Inequalities, Syllogism, Blood Relation, Directions and Ranking . 

English-  Any type of Error detection/ Sentence improvement/ Sentence completion . (In recent exams, level has raised  the most in  English). 

Notice that, these all are some basic topics which almost all the bank aspirants find easy.  But what i've experienced is that, students, rather than making their hold in their strong areas , try to master all the topics and due to lack of sufficient practice, they fail to score even in their strong areas. I'm not saying that one should not practice any other topics but your focus should be on your strengths.  

After analyzing my strengths and weaknesses, I made the proper study strategy. This time, I studied keeping in mind the mains and not prelims because i was confident  that I'll crack the prelims. Moreover, I had nearly 2 months in prelims, so obviously, i wouldn't have wasted them just preparing for prelims. 

This was my study strategy of  2 months  for IBPS PO 2016:

1. I Spent nearly one week each , solving quizzes of Quant, Reasoining and English, to get familiar with as much type of questions as I could.

2. IBPS PO Mains had one dedicated section of Computers also. As I'm a graduate in the field of computers, so i didn't really referred any study material for Computers. I just solved all the Computer quizzes of Banker's adda. I did it in the 4th week.( Those who don't have any such qualification in computers or are weak in it, I'll suggest referring dedicated books for the same).

3. During all this time, I was regular in reading news on "In Shorts" app . Additionally, I daily attempted Banker adda's Daily Current Affair quiz alongwith some previous Monthly Current Affair Quizzes . 

4. Now, I had one month left in the Prelims. I had practiced all the subjects individually. So, now I planned to attempt Mock tests. I attempted mock test series on GovJobAdda , Testbook and Banker's Adda. I attempted almost 10-15 mock tests in as many days. I used to attempt one test daily and analyse it properly.  I attempted the tests just as i would attempt the real exam. I solved all the questions that i couldn't solve during the test. I analysed my mistakes and improved them in the next test. On rest of the days, my focus used to be on improving my GA.

Please Note that, all this time, I never missed a day studying for GA because I couldn't compromise another exam due to it. I was aiming to just clear cutoffs for it while improving my strong subjects. 

IBPS PO 2016 (Prelims):

It was now the day of the exam. I felt pretty confident. I attempted 60+ questions with nearly 100% accuracy. By then, i'd become experienced regarding the level of cutoffs. I knew 60+ questions were more than enough for me. And I was right. Here is my scorecard :

IBPS PO 2016 (Mains):

I was very confident about clearing prelims, So i right away started preparing for Mains for which i had nearly 1 month. I only attempted Mock tests for mains mostly from the above mentioned sites . I attempted one test a day and analysed it. Sometime, It took two  days. I was preparing very smoothly, without any burden, I was studying maximum 5 hours a day. The only other thing that i was doing besides attempting mock tests was reading news from  "In shorts". Nearly two weeks before the exam, bankers adda released their GA Capsule. I took out the printout and gave nearly one proper week to it. In last 3-4 days before exam, I attempted 1-2 more mock tests and was feeling ready for the exam. It was now the exam day. It was somewhere in November. I was not satisfied with my performance but i had hope that I'll clear it due to my accuracy. And Fortunately, I cleared it. I don't have the scorecard but I remember, The cutoff of general was around 53 and I got somewhere around 63 marks. 

IBPS PO 2016 (Interview):

My interview was in first week of Feb. I've been preparing for interview since the declaration of mains exam. I saw several expert videos on YouTube on how to prepare for interview. From there, I got to know that , Interview demands:

1. Proper Dress Up

2. Proper Body Language

3. Confidence

4. Good Communication Skills

5. General Awareness

I needed to work the most on 2nd and 5th point. 

From my experience, I can  tell you that you can never prepare for Interview alone. Its a group exercise. You can never analyse yourself from the interview point of view. You need someone to tell you about your strengths and weakness.  My institute, from where i took coaching for banking, conducts special classes for interview preparation. I joined the same. The biggest benefit of those special classes was that , we were all preparing for interview. We made groups and started taking each others interview and that was the most productive part. We improved our body language, worked on our weaknesses and identified our strengths, We also improved our General Awareness by discussing various current issues.

Finally, It was my interview day. My interview was on first number on that day. It was a good experience. I was feeling confident. I was asked questions from banking , current affairs and my educational background. I failed to answer some questions from general awareness but the overall feeling was positive. But I couldn't get selected as interview only had a little weightage  in the final result and my marks in written exam were not up to the mark. But it was a very good experience. I was disappointed but not for long because my aim had always been SBI PO. So I took my failure in a positive way as If i would've got selected, I might not have been able to prepare for SBI PO 2017.

IBPS Clerk 2016 (Prelims) :

While i was busy preparing for IBPS PO mains, I had exam of IBPS Clerk prelims in first week of Novemeber. Frankly Speaking, I didn't bothered about it even for once. Only one day before exam, I gave 2-3 mock tests for Prelims. I knew I was preparing for the mains of PO exam , so i could easily clear Prelims of Clerical . And I was right. I found prelims of IBPS Clerk 2016 as child's play. I attempted 96 questions out of 100 !! The 4 questions that i didn't attempt were of english. Here's my scorecard for the IBPS Clerk Prelims in which I scored 92.25 marks  :

IBPS Clerk 2016 (Mains):

My Main exam of IBPS Clerk was on 1st Jan, 2017. I'd already cleared IBPS PO mains, so I was not worried about IBPS Clerk Mains. Infact, my whole attention was towards preparing for IBPS PO Interview. Few days before IBPS Clerk Mains exams, I started attempting mock tests. I attempted nearly 5-8 mock tests with proper analysis. It was now the day of the exam. The level of exam was higher than expected. I went ahead with my same strategy : Attempt Right or Don't Attempt . 
As soon as I was done with IBPS Clerk mains exam, I restarted my IBPS PO Interview preparation.

IBPS released final results of both IBPS Clerk 2016 and IBPS PO 2016 on 1st April, 2017. As i already told, I couldn't clear the IBPS PO  but I cleared IBPS Clerk 2016 and got selected in Canara Bank. Here's my final scorecard of IBPS Clerk :

SBI PO 2017:

Now, I had a job in hand. There was a sort of mental satisfaction. There was no any kind of burden. Now i could more calmly prepare for SBI PO 2017. After my IBPS PO interview in Feb 2017, I was free to prepare for SBI PO 2017. I took break from studies for the rest of the February except the GA part. I was still regular in reading news on "In Shorts" because i couldn't take any chance when it comes to GA.

SBI PO 2017 (Prelims):

I started studying for SBI PO in March 2017. I bought test series on Testbook . Along with preparing for GA , I started attempting mock tests for SBI PO Prelims.  It was SBI PO Prelims, and I couldn't take any chance. I attempted around 15 mock test on Testbook and around 10 mock tests on  GovJobAdda . (They provide Free Mock test Series) .  My exam was in the last week of April 2017. It went well. I attempted 61 question and here's my scorecard :

Here, you can see that I attempted 61 question but i got 61.75 marks. How is this possible ?  This is possible because of the process called normalization where extra marks are given on the basis of difficulty level of the same exam which is conducted in various slots. Some people also say that extra marks are awarded for Accuracy but I don't think so.

SBI PO 2017 (Mains):

As soon as I was done with SBI PO Prelims, I started preparing for SBI PO Mains exam. My strategy remained the Same. I attempted 10-15 mock tests of Mains Exam from the sites that I've been mentioning through out . I used to attempt One mock test a day -  3 Hrs of Mock test + 2-3 Hours of Analysis.

2 weeks before the exam, Banker's Adda released there GA Capsule. I took out the printout. By now, I had developed confidence in GA as It had been more than one year that i was constantly reading News on "In Shorts" app. This time, It took me relatively less time to complete the Capsule as I was already aware of Most of the News headlines. I read the capsule twice so that i could retain most of the things. With this experience, I can say that, Banker's adda or any other site's GA capsules are effective, only if you are in touch with daily news. Otherwise, You can''t just cram 70 pages in 2 weeks and clear the exam !!  

Two days before the SBI  PO Mains Exam, I attempted two more Mock tests. It was now June 4, 2017, the day of the exam. This time too, SBI raised the level of exam as expected, especially that of  English. It seemed like the English paper was set for someone with PHD in english 😠. I attempted a total of 76 questions, far less than my expectations. I could attempt 3 more questions but due to my wrong judgement, I started solving the wrong questions. I thought, SBI PO 2017 had gone from my hands  due to my stupidness but i was still hopeful because if level of exam was difficult for me, so  was for everyone else.  And that's what happened. I cleared SBI PO Mains Exam. And It was now the time to prepare for Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GDPI )Phase.

SBI PO 2017 (Group Discussion and Personal Interview):

Again, GDPI was not something for which you can prepare alone. Its a group exercise. Again, my institute conducted special classes for the same. There again, we made groups and started practicing Group discussions on various topics. We identified our Strengths and improved our weekness. And that's the only way to prepare for GDPI, BY PRACTICING. 

Meanwhile, I got joining letter from Canara Bank. My joining date was 28th Aug, 2017. Seconf half of August went in preparing required documents, Medical etc. And once, I joined Canara Bank, I didn't get time to prepare for GDPI which was on 13th Sept, 2017.

My Group Discussion went good. Interview also went average. I was mostly asked questions about my work profile in Canara Bank.  I was neutral about the result. I couldn't predict the result. Again, I was just hopeful. And then came the judgement day, 24th October, 2017.

I just can't express that feeling when I saw my Roll Number in the final list !! That was a " Khushi ke Aansu " waali feeling. It was a "Dream come true" feeling.  It was the divine feeling of making your parents proud.  It was a feeling which comes when your hard work finally pays off.

Here's My final Scorecard:

IBPS PO 2017 (Prelims):

I wasn't sure about selection in SBI PO. So I also appeared for IBPS PO Prelims but without any preparation because after getting into job, I totally disconnected from studies . Fortunately, I cleared it too. Here's my Scorecard :

IBPS PO 2017 (Mains):

My mains exam was on 26th Nov, 2017. I had no plan to appear for it as I literally didn't study a bit for it. But as it was on Sunday, I made up my mind to appear for it just on the previous night, i.e, Saturday. I appeared for the Mains. Contrary to my expectations, I didn't find any considerable difficulty in attempting it ,considering my zero preparation , except in General awareness section.
I was neutral about the result. But again, I managed to clear this exam too.

Now, Some people may call it my "luck" as I cleared it without any preparation. But people, you are wrong here. It's not my luck only. It's the result of my right strategy while I was preparing for banking exams and my understanding of the concepts.  Cutting-off from studies may slow down my speed but it can't take away what  I've "learned" and "understood". 

CONCLUSION:

My Mantra of success is - ATTEMPT, ANALYSE  AND IMPROVE 

Due to this approach only , I progressed with every exam I appeared for, which you can see here : 

My Journey in Nutshell

Important tips from My Experience :

• Know What You Are Preparing for.
• Know Your Strengths and Weakness.
• You don't need to Master Everything.
• Always Study with a Strategy in Mind.
• Analyse Your Performance after every test.
• Stay Focused. Don't try riding in two boats at a time.
• Accuracy is the key to unlock your success.
• Don't underestimate yourself. If anyone else can do it, so can you.
• Take the Break whenever you need it.
• Don't study under Stress. It only reduces your Efficiency as well as interest.
• FAILURE IS THE PART OF YOUR PREPARATION.

P.S. 
Many People have asked me that how much time did i use to study daily. The answer is, I was never  restricted to the study hours. I studied as per my comfort.I used to plan that how much work do I have to do in a certain period. On Some days, i would study for 6-7 hours while  on other days i would only study for 2 hours. So, it is purely up-to you that how much time can you study with 100% concentration. Studying with full concentration for 3 hours may prove to be more productive than Studying for 10 hours without proper concentration .

Also, only you have to decide that how much time you should give to every subject as per your hold on different subjects. Everyone's grasping power is different. So, Never ask anyone about the hours they spend on a particular subject. It might not suit you and affect your performance.

I HOPE , THIS ARTICLE WOULD BE OF SOME SORT OF HELP TO BANK JOB ASPIRANTS. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS IF ANY OF YOUR QUERY IS LEFT UNANSWERED. 

Made It Without RESERVATION !!

Suspensive Title,eh ?

Yeah..We'll come to that. Firstly, let me tell you that why so "arrogant" title. Well, It's not actually an arrogant title , it's a proud title. Proud of achieving something, all because of your own HARD WORK (and luck, well yes, Luck also does matters ). 

As I've mentioned in one of my previous blog-posts that I'd been preparing for and giving competitive exams for banking from last year. And Fortunately, I progressed with every exam I attempted (will soon be writing on that too). No doubt, I've been lucky enough to get paid off for my hard-work within one year (climax is on the way) which is not the case with everybody.

As a govt job aspirant, I came across so many job seekers just like me. Some started preparing with me while some were preparing for 1 or 2 or 3 or even more years.

So where lies the difference ? I'm penning it down from my experience:

1. Focus

2. Commitment

3. Labor

4. Strategy

5. QUOTA (Should've put it in the first place 😑)

6. Luck

While most people would agree with me on all the other factors listed above but difference of opinions may be there on QUOTA factor.

So, Here I'll be providing my opinion and will use my own scorecard for reasoning.

Well..Yes.. this is what the suspense was all about. I got selected as a PO in SBI which was my dream job since i started preparing for banking exams.

So now, have a look at the cutoffs for various categories.  To qualify for the Interview stage, there is a clear cut difference of 27 marks between a general candidate and a SC/ST candidate. (I'm not mentioning the OBC category here because there is a concept of creamy layer in that, though that's also been ruined now).

27 fucking marks !! Only a bank job aspirant truly knows the value of every single mark in banking exams , especially in SBI exam and that too for  the post of PO. I have a friend who got 88.75 marks in the main examination (in which 89.25 is the cutoff), but she didn't get selected for Interview (do i need to mention that she's from general category ?) but guess why a candidate with 62.5 marks would have been called for interview ?

Ok.. So this all didn't end at mains examination. Now See the difference between the final cutoffs. Before that, let me just tell you, that 250 marks from the mains examination + 50 marks from the group excercise and interview  , which make up a total of 300 marks are converted to 100 marks by a process called normalisation (you can google it ) . So, 1 mark after normalisation  has a hell lot of value !! After this normalisation process, difference between cutoffs for a general candidate and that of a SC and ST candidate is 7 marks and 17 marks respectively !! Again, only a bank job aspirant can truly understand the value of these marks . I don't need to mention that a candidate from general category with 46 marks would not have been selected for this job but a candidate from reserved category with probably 32 or 40 marks would have been !

This was all about the selection process. But this all didn't stop here as well. 

So What next ? Next is the allotment of circles (u can say posting areas) which is also done on merit basis and when i say merit , it automatically includes category !! Here, I can cite my own example. I got 47.33 marks (lucky enough to get selected) which weren't enough for me to get a circle of my choice  ,i.e,  chandigarh (SBI has 16 circles across India) but a fellow friend from OBC category got 41 marks and got Chandigarh circle !! I really don't have words to express my frustration in this case.

Though, there is surely some dissatisfaction regarding allotment of circles ,but at the end, all that matters to me is that I've got my dream job and i was never more happy than I am now.  My hard work has paid off . And above everything, NOBODY can tell me that he/she got more marks than me but didn't get selected and that he/she deserved this job more than I do !! 

And that's why I'm proud to say that I MADE IT WITHOUT RESERVATION !!

" I should've been a Politician or a Journalist "

"You Should Join Politics"

It's a phrase that i'm getting to hear very frequently from past few months.

Though there's  this another "advice" also that I get to hear a lot  that- "Journalist ban ja" or "Reporter ban ja", but the reason behind that is very much understandable to me and that is,  I keep posting various news on my facebook timeline.

But i never cared enough to understand the reason behind that politics thing and always took it lightly because it was always said to me in a light manner only. Just some days back, I had one of those days when you "think a lot about anything and everything". And this time my "thought process" was based on the psychology  (heavy word it is 😉) behind people asking me to join politics merely based on some of my facebook posts. 

Now, let me put into words, the inference that i drew from that very long "Thought process" .

I frequently keep posting my views on various steps being taken by the govt, and most of the times those are critical in nature or should I say I only post views on those steps taken by the govt that I find against the interests of a common man, in best of my knowledge.

But many people think that by posting those "deprecatory" views , I'm doing something uncommon and peculiar ! Perhaps Something that is not expected from me, a common woman and Something that is expected only from politicians and journalists ! Yes. Knowingly or unknowingly, many people have this perception.

Personally, I don't feel that there's anything "out of the ordinary"in expressing your dissent. We all do this in our daily lives and govt policies directly or indirectly affect our daily lives ! Right ? Then why expressing dissent towards them is hyped ? Why can't questioning the policy makers be a normal thing ? Why I have to be a Journalist or a politician only,  merely to say what i feel ?

I say it very frequently and would like to say that again that We are living in the World's largest democracy and this is something that's not so Common !! And let me again remind you that, Govt is answerable to people in a Democratic country and questioning it is our Right (rather Duty according to me). 

P.S. - Neither I want to be a Politician nor a Journalist, because I'm very satisfied being a common citizen of this , so far,  Democratic country !!

Keep Democracy Alive. Salut la démocratie, Vive la démocratie.

"Democracy is when People control the Government." ~ Aun San Sui Kyi

In India, world's largest democracy, its the other way round. People in India really need to understand the essence of Democracy.

Difference between a dictatorial and a democratic govt is that the latter gives you the privilege to question which is missing in the former ! It is an obligation in a dictatorial govt to favor your "ruler" no matter what it does. But if we are doing so in a democratic govt, then we are really walking a wrong road. 

If govt is doing something good, we should show our support towards that govt in elections (that's what elections are meant for) . We don't need to run around and "convince" other  people about the same. It is the duty of the govt to do good for the citizens of the country. That's what they are paid for. But some people act as if the govt is  making "sacrifices" for them. People need to realize that money govt spend on many "social schemes" is their own money, politicians are not spending from their pockets and We have every right to have our money spent on us only.

On the other hand, if govt takes a wrong step, people should have the courtesy to criticize it and to oppose it ! That's the power Democracy has given us. We should not waste it just because we favor a political entity, by "defending" it with all the utter nonsense we can talk ! Their ministers, their spokespersons and even their "bought media" is there for that.

Then there is a faction of people  that lies between supporters and critics of a govt, the faction which is most dangerous for a democratic Regime, the faction with the "let it be" attitude, the faction with the "ignorant" attitude , the faction that thinks that if something is not affecting them then it "doesn't matter". And more than anyone else, that faction needs to realize that "it does matters", your opinion matters, your vote matters and above all your Participation matters. 

When we do not criticize any wrong step that the govt takes, then we are  indirectly giving it the "freedom" to do whatever it wishes to, in the "name" of "welfare of common man".  In such an atmosphere, how we are supposed to get a better governance ?

"If our Democracy is to flourish, it must have Criticism; if our government is to function, it must have dissent." ~ Henry Steele Commager

Govt will be obliged to do something for "common man" only when it will have the "fear" of  the common man, when it will realize that people will not tolerate any unjust policy of the govt ,and when it will have the fear of loosing in the next elections. "Blindly"supporting or not questioning any action that the govt takes, will only make it fearless and render it unanswerable to us, the citizens. Eventually, It would lead to an authoritarian exercise of power. 

"In a Democracy, the individual enjoys not only the ultimate power but carries the ultimate responsibility." ~ Norman Cousins 

Break Free from the Gender Stereotypes

A Woman should be beautiful. A Woman  should know how to cook. A Woman should wear decent clothes. A Woman should do household chores and the list continues upto infinity.

And What a Man should do ? A Man should earn good and everything else can be compromised.

I have grown up in an atmosphere where my dad assists my mom in many household chores. Where My brother cooks new dishes everyday and I can't even boil rice properly.Where I was taught what I should do being a "human" and not what I should do being a girl. Where I don't get to hear "ladkiyon ko ye shobha nahi deta". Where I never really 'realized' that people differentiate between a girl and a boy child.

But then, as they say, Humans are social animals. No matter what our personal views are, we are bound to think  "Log kya kahenge". And same is happening in the case of my parents.

I have completed my studies and now a days, I'm living at my home preparing for some competitive exams. After every few days, My mom tells me "Ab toh ghr pe hai, thoda bohat rasoi ka kaam sikh le" .Whenever she does some kind of stiching work, She tells me " button lgaana toh sikh le, aage kya kregi".  But I refuse everytime because I just don't want to , atleast for now. And Thank God, I'm not forced. She asks again after few days, I refuse again and the circle continues.

It's not that I think these things are not important. One should know how to cook food or how to do something as basic as stitching a button. You can't be dependent on a maid all the time for eating or you can't just rush to a tailor everytime to have your button stitched. But just expecting that learning this all is the "natural" responsibility of only a girl, this is the thing that bothers me and not only bothers me, but it irritates me.

My brother loves cooking, he does it by choice. I hate cooking but still I'm obliged to learn cooking. Many times, my mom tells me , " Hanu (My elder brother) se hi sikh le kuch banana ". Sometimes, I also start feeling ashamed when my brother is there in the kitchen cooking new dishes and I'm there sitting in my room holding my cell phone. But the thing is why that feeling of shame comes in my mind ? He is doing it because he enjoys it . There is nothing to be ashamed of this. But here comes the stereotypes. I feel ashamed because I, being a girl, should be doing that cooking thing and not my brother or should I put it as " Ladki hoke mujhe ni ye sab krna aata or mera bhai ladka hoke bhi ye sab kuch kr rha hai ".  And this thought comes in my mind because I'm a social animal too. No matter how good I'm in other things, but if i can't cook, I should be ashamed !! But to be very frank, I personally don't give a damn to "Log kya kahenge" but  when It comes to my parents , I do give a damn because at last they'll have to bear the real taunts like "Ladki ko kuch nahi sikhayaa ". 
 
A few decades ago, Women were expected to be just ideal housewives, who could do all the household chores and look after their kids.  On the other hand, Men were expected to be able to take care of financial needs of the family. Over the time,  Expectations from men more or less have remained the same and everything above that is just taken as an "icing on the cake" but in case of women,  a new expectation, rather requirement,  has been added that a women should be working too "alongwith" all the stuff already mentioned.

I Can infer two things from this-
1. Society has become liberal enough, to let women work outside their homes.
2. Responsibilities of women have increased and thus burden on men has decreased.

The former is obviously a positive change but what about the latter ? When the society will be liberal enough to treat both men and women equal , in terms of responsibilities they hold. Women already go through a lot naturally and over and above that , these social responsibilities .... Is it fair ? No, it is definitely not.

Today, women are doing everything a man does, but when men will start doing everything that a woman does without being just a "special case" ?  I never saw a man worrying about the career he should choose to maintain a balance between professional and "personal" responsibilities but women are often  advised to choose the career which will fit into their "routine" after marriage.  Why ? "Bahu saara din bahar rahegi toh Ghar kaun sambhalega ?"

But No, I refuse to tolerate this bias. Ghar sambhalne ki zimmedari ghar me rehne waale har ek insan ki hoti hai , kisi ek insan ki nahi.

Dear Men, If a woman is going out and earning for your home, "easing" your burden, have some "dignity" to ease her burden too.  Helping a woman at home is not a matter of embarrassment, it is a matter of PRIDE.

P.S - I'm proud of my father because he doesn't have that male ego in him and he cooperates a lot with my mother in many household works. And  Guess what ? It doesn't make him any less of a Man ,  but just an ideal husband !