Posted in Tips and Techniques

Exam Hack: How to prepare 1 day before the exam

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

First things first. In this article you will find the tricks and techniques that you need to follow in order to complete most part of the syllabus. I will be assuming that you have not studied anything in the entire semester or year and here you are, hitting your head on the wall, with no idea what to do. Don’t worry, I have been in the same situation, and fortunately for me, I have got things worked out. I will share those with you today.

Let’s get to work…Source: irishtimes.com

Requirements:

  1. The whole syllabus: Keep this with you no matter what, and yeah, get a print out of it. NOT to be kept in front as a PDF. You will need this to be marked later.
  2. Gather the previous years’ question papers. 3-4 years will do the job. The PDF version will work, as you just need to go through them.
  3. The notes you need to study. If you cant get hold of everything then search it on Google and keep it bookmarked.
  4. A pen and a notebook. Well you know why you will need them. If not, the go join the kindergarten again!

So now that you have these things ready with you, lets get to the steps.

Step 1:

Take you syllabus and go through it. Just simply do it. Once done, you now have a clear idea of what you are going to face. 

Important: This is the most underrated step that most students don’t follow. Make sure you don’t miss out on this. Go through the whole syllabus thoroughly. It will only take 10-15 minutes of your time.

Step 2:

Gather all the question  papers and again go through them. Now when you have an idea which part of the syllabus is more common in the previous questions, you target those parts of the syllabus.

Small trick: Remember I told you to keep the syllabus printed? Now, take a pen or pencil and mark all the important parts in the syllabus. This will help you stay focused and keep you away from getting panicked.

Step 3:

Now that you have all the parts that you need to cover in front of you, you need to do the real thing now… STUDY.

So, before you head off to your notes, make sure to do this:

Go over to YouTube and find short 3-4 minute videos about the topic that you are going to start. Watch those videos. This will allow you to have a basic idea of the subject. This will help you to understand the notes at a much higher rate. And this is really important. I have experienced a time benefit of 30-45 minutes if when I watch a video on the topic before I start reading the notes.

Step 4:

READ. STUDY.

After you have seen the video, go ahead and study.

KEEP YOURSELF AWAY FROM ALL DISTRACTIONS !!!!!

This is extremely important because you have just 1 day to cover the syllabus. No bullshitting now. Keep your social media interactions out of the way for today. Be serious now, because you haven’t been the whole year. 

IT’S PRIME TIME.

Additional study trick: To study faster, follow the POMODORO technique.

I have explained more about this technique in my other blog: Top 3 techniques to concentrate better in your studies before exam

This technique involves studying for a long time and then taking short breaks. Let me give you the format that I use which has helped me a lot. I study for 50 minutes and take 10 minutes break. But the most important part is setting targets for those 50 minutes. When you set targets, you are more focused on your job and you get things done faster. And in those 10 minutes, give yourself some treat. Have something good. Make it a reward for studying hard for those 50 minutes. This will help keep you going for the longer time period.

Step 5:

Whatever you study, write everything in bullets. You don’t have time to make your own notes now. So write everything in bullets. Just the important stuff.

By doing this, you have two benefits:

  1. You get a better chance of remembering the stuff because writing something makes you remember it more than just reading.
  2. If you get some time to revise, you can revise it very quickly just before going for the exam. Even if you have reached the exam hall and you suddenly remember that you missed out on revising something, you can do that real quick before the exam starts and write the answers accordingly.

Additional tips:

  1. Don’t get panicked. You have a lot of time. One day is more than sufficient for you to get 70-80% of marks (provided, you have attended the classes sincerely). I myself managed to get 8.0 SGPA following these steps, but I had attended my classes seriously. So, I had that to my advantage. And if you are thinking you just need to pass, then that is super easy. Just follow the steps, you should be easily getting the pass mark. 
  2. Make sure you are hydrated and have stuff to eat. This will help keep your mind feed on the nutrition to keep working.
  3. Don’t spend a sleepless night before the exam. I have seen people having brain fades during exams just because they didn’t sleep the last night. Make sure you get at least 3-4 hours of sleep. 

So, that is all about the tricks that you need to follow to prepare for your exams. 

All the best. But make sure you study consistently from the next year.

Cheers!!

Posted in Changing the society

The Autobiography of a roadside Dustbin

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

Hello there, I might be known to you. Have you seen those plastic or metal buckets placed on the road sides, with a caption written on it, which says, “USE ME”? Yeah, that’s me. I am called a dustbin. People use me to dump their garbage, well, I mean, they are supposed to. Basically I am found all over the globe, but used in very few; which is a real shame for me. It seems like I have lost my importance to the people. But things were not the same back when I was invented.

Early days:

Back in the year 1884, a guy named Eugene Poubelle invented me in France, in order for households to dump their garbage. This slowly went further ahead to the point the whole society has a common dustbin where every household would gather their garbage from their small personal dustbins and dump into into a huge, common dustbin. 

That was the beginning of a new era. The era of Dustbins. I was the king at that time. People loved me. Even people who had me felt superior to those who didn’t. I was becoming a symbol of cleanliness. I was the Clean Supreme

.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Things went on pretty nicely for many decades. But slowly, people started getting bored by me. Maybe they wanted me to do something more than just store their sewage. Maybe they wanted me to crack jokes or something. But I wasn’t able to do that.

The Downfall:

Days passed and I was losing my fame. But I didn’t have anything else to offer other than just provide a space for them to dump their shitty stuff. I was losing my value. The society was progressing at rapid pace. But I was still that good old plastic bucket. 

Source: youtube.com

But all were not the same. Some still loved me. They took care of me, and did what I loved most – they dumped their shit in me. I was happy with them. After all humanity is still alive. 

Although there were countries who almost forgot about me. I was present right in front of their eyes, and yet they would throw their garbage beside me in the road. It felt like I was invisible. Some even played basketball with me. They treated me as the basket and they would throw their garbage from a far distance, aiming for it to enter me. It felt nice when it entered. But the times when it didn’t, they didn’t give a second effort. Such losers! They just dampened the mood for the game. No sportsman spirit at all.

Current situation:

Well, I am still invisible to most, while some still recognize me and use me. I love them. But there are people who hold a piece of garbage in their hand, a bag of chips, or a candy wrapper, and they see me at a distance. Yet they don’t come close to me and throw it right where they are standing. It breaks my heart.

Source: pajhwok.com

Am I that worthless? What have I done to them? I live in depression most of the time now. Thinking of the good old days, when I was the Supreme icon for cleanliness. Now everything has changed. Time changes, people change but my duty will always be the same.

I will still be standing there by the roadside, in the storms, in the hot sunshines and in the snowy weather. I will be doing my job.

I wish Eugene were here. He would know how to tackle the situation. But he is gone now. And people are making a fun of me.

I only have one request to all those reading this, ‘If you want your country to be clean, so that when someone from elsewhere comes to visit your state, you don’t feel ashamed of the dirt in your roads, then –

USE ME!‘

Posted in Changing the society, Relationships

STOP dominating your girlfriend!

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

If you are that guy who thinks that keeping you girlfriend under your control is the way you should treat your girl, then you are a fucking asshole. Who do you think is that girl to you?? A slave?? No dude, that’s a human being who is much more superior to you in many other aspects of life.

I have seen in my life many guys who have this notion, “If you can’t keep your girlfriend under your command, then they will get out of control and will make your life hell.” You sir, are a complete moron.

The greatest flaw our society has had since the beginning of civilization is demeaning women in the society; underestimating the power that women possess and thinking that since men are physically stronger, they should dominate over the women.

And this we see in your homes, where you will see many housewives, but how many househusbands will you see?? Any in your notice?

Our society has blended these thoughts and nurtured them so well over centuries that now we take it for granted that women are less powerful than man.

My dear guys, it’s time that you stop nurturing these myths in your mind. This is not the reality. Women are as good as a man in any aspect of life. Start recognising this.

And this is the reason why guys feel that it is necessary to dominate over their girlfriends. And the most funny part is that they find it really cool if they are able to control their girlfriends and they brag about to their friends, who unfortunately end up enjoying the story because they are greater assholes than that boyfriend guy.

Listen ladies, stand up against it. You are stronger than you think you are. Believe in your abilities. You find a dominating boyfriend, dump him. He doesn’t deserve you. Teach them lessons that they never forget.

And guys, please respect women for who they are. We all are equal. So let’s treat each other equally. Let’s bring harmony into the society that has been missing.

Hope we can change the flow of the tide in our society by our actions.

Cheers!!

Posted in Changing the society

Is being angry cool?

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

Are you short tempered? Do you get pissed off really soon? Even at the slightest things that don’t follow your path of thinking? And you think that it’s really cool that you have that ‘ANGRY YOUNG MAN” attitude in you?? Then you are following the wrong path mate. Let’s see how.

Lets talk about the scientific aspect first.
Our every action utilizes energy. Our every thought utilizes energy. So, when we are angry, we spend too much energy in our anger. And as a result, we are left out with minimised energy source to act. Hence, whatever we do without anger will be much more fruitful than what with do with anger.

Anger reduces productivity

-The Verbal Explainer

Now let’s talk about the social aspect of this.

When you are angry, you create a negative vive all around you. The people around you start feeling uncomfortable when you are around with all your rage. You start becoming a unwanted by the people. This is when you start feeling lonely, you get frustrated because people around you don’t like you anymore. And this gives way to more anger. Finally, you start doing things that harm others just to prove to yourself that you were right in the first place and others were wrong.

Listen mate, being angry is not cool. Being calm and collective is. When you are angry, you make biased decisions. You follow your anger, which lasts for a very small time and then you make your decisions based on them. And these are types of decisions that harm you in the long run. It may seem that you have done something really brave and outrageous at that moment, but when you calm down and start thinking deeply about it, you realise how much harm you have caused to yourself just because of your uncontrollable anger.

So, stop getting angry at every little thing, just because you think it is cool. It is fucking not.

Here’s what you should rather do. When you are angry, don’t do anything. Let you mind calm down. You better sleep or spend some time on your own to let your brain soak the rage in. Now that you have a calm and composed brain and you are unbiased, think about the situation and make a decision. And these are the decisions that you will never regret because you made them when you were sane and conscious.

When you get super angry, you lose your consciousness of what is right and wrong. In that moment, you anger leads the way. You lose the ability to think reasonably. So start getting reasonable with your life. Every decision that you make must be reasonable.

Being happy and peaceful is cool. You need to learn how to be Happy and Peaceful. That’s how you stay good and you keep the people around you cool as well.

Good luck with that.

Cheers!!

Posted in Changing the society

STOP judging people based on their academic success

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

It fucks the brain out of my head when I listen to the middle- aged uncle and aunties of India, judging a teenager by how good he/she is in studies. It seems everything in life is just about being good in academics. For them, you can be a magnificent signer, musician, player, actor, speaker, writer or any other talent that you can possibly develop in your entire life, but you will still not be judged as an actually good guy/gal unless you are good in your studies.

I don’t know why they don’t understand that education is not just present in academics. Education comes in a variety of forms. It can be music or sports or marketing skills. It doesn’t mandatorily have to be through academics.

And what pisses me even more when I see them watching television, and Virat is batting or Arijit Singh is singing or Shahrukh is acting and they are so much in love with them. Why don’t they ask these superstarts the same question that they keep on asking all of the other teens, “How good are you in your studies?” and then judge them based on that.

So it would go this way:

If Virat has not been good in his studies, then we will not respect his game.

If Arijit was’t good in his studies, the we won’t respect his singing abilities.

 If Shahrukh wasn’t good in his academics, then we won’t admire his acting.

But NO, this doesn’t happen. Because in this case they don’t have the guts to ask them that, because they are successful.

Here is a message to all the stereotype uncles and aunties:

Stop judging people based on their academic merit. Stop demoralizing them. Let them nurture their talent so that they can give themselves a chance to prove their worth in this world. Everyone is special in their own way. Let them be. 

STOP judging people based on their academic skills. Because they can kick your ass off on other departments where you will have no idea how to crawl, and they will be the masters in flying.

Posted in Relationships

How to STOP having fights in a relationship

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

The major concern for most of the people in a relationship is that they have a lot of fights. And this is very very common. Some fights are small and couples get over it very soon, while others are really complicated and sometimes end up breaking up the couple. 

Here I am going to share a way by which everyone can avoid having fights in a relationship. But before that, there are two criteria that you need to fulfill before following this.

  1. You need to make sure that your partner is the most important part of your life. If you think they are important enough for you to give it your all in the relation, then this is for you. But if you are just having a time-pass sort of thing, then you can leave the post right now. It’s not for you.
  2. You need to let go of your ego. Plain and simple. If you think that the first point is applicable to you, then I guess your partner is more important than your ego. So, let it go.
Source: zoosk.com

Now we can move on the solution. Here it is:

Learn to say ‘Sorry’.

It’s a real cliche right? Well it’s a cliche for a reason. It works. Let me explain.


To be able to say sorry is a sign that you have moved ahead of your egoistic complications

The Verbal Explainer

It doesn’t matter what goes wrong in a relationship. Whether you are a guy or a girl, say SORRY. Fights start when either of the two in a relation does something wrong. So, what I am trying to convince you is you should say sorry no matter whose fault it is. It may be your fault, in which case, you MUST say sorry without any question. Or, it may be that your partner is wrong. Well, in that case as well, learn to say sorry. Take it all on your shoulders. 

Now you may ask, “WHY THE FUCK WOULD I DO THAT??? IF I HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING WRONG, WHY SHOULD I APOLOGIZE?”

Well, the main matter is not about apologizing. It’s about self realization. Why do you think fights happen? It’s when your partner does something wrong and you start showing your rage against them for doing something that you didn’t like. Don’t show your rage. Apologize instead.

So how does it work?

When you apologize when it’s not even your fault, your partner will automatically realize that it was their’s. Because you can hide your mistakes from the whole world, but not yourself. Your partner may realize and at occasions may not confess it to you. But when you keep on doing it over and over and over again, then your partner will realize it and you will see a drastic change in your lives, how the fights have reduced and you two are having nicer lives together.  

It’s all about putting your loved one ahead of your ego. Because your ego can result in you losing something that might the most precious gift life has given you. So, start giving priority to people who are really close to you, and keep you fucking ego on the side.

P.S. : I am in a relationship for 2 years now, and we have never been in a fight even for a single time. We both follow this, even without letting each other know. Sometimes I do it, sometimes she does. So trust me. It works.

Good luck. 

Cheers!!

Posted in Motivation for Students, Tips and Techniques

How to wake up early

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

Waking up early can be a real pain in the ass for most of us. But it can be a real blessing if we learn how to do it. It is extremely essential to keep this in mind that waking up early does’t mean sleeping less. It means sleeping for the exact amount of time that you need for your body’s proper functioning, but a little early in the night. Make sure you get at least 6 hours of sleep in the total 24 hours of the day. 

It is understandable that it will be hard for all of us who are late wakers to  get into the groove real quick. And that is the reason why I have come up with this solution that would help you wake up without much hesitation.

Source: wellnessmantrablog.com

In order to do that, we need to just do one thing. Select a Purpose.

Every single night before going to bed, thing of one task that you would do first thing after getting up. But in order for you to put get your ass out of bed, you need to make that purpose as exciting as possible. It might be a hobby, it might be a fantasy or any sort of shit that you would love to do.

Let me give you an example. I love playing cricket. So, whenever I would plan to go out to play the next morning, I wouldn’t hesitate even once before waking up. Because I would be doing something that I love. And procrastinating in that case was not even a question. So, as soon as my eyes would open up, I would get out of bed, brush and run out of my room to the field. I had an extra energy.

That’s why choose something that you are passionate about; because…

 Passion always beats procrastination

The Verbal Explainer
Posted in Tips and Techniques

5 techniques to write great answers in examination (+1 BONUS tip)

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

Image source: UPSC today

Many of us find it tough to figure out what type of answers would the teacher love so that we get good marks in our exam. It sometimes gets really tricky and we fumble by not being able to construct an answer in the correct format.

Here I will share with you 5 techniques that I have implemented myself in the past to get good benefits out of it. I am pretty sure this will help you as well. So, let’s get to business.

1. Have a good concept of the subject matter:

It is one of the foremost thing that you need to have before you are ready to write an answer. Once you have a good grasp of the concept, it will allow you to write a perfect answer in a well constructed manner. Unless you have that, you will falter in putting out good information and end up having an answer that’s more of a repeated stuff of the same content. This is not what you want. So, understand the subject in a way that you are able to teach it to someone else. This will make you be in full authority over writing the answer.

2. Divide your answer into suitable segments:

It is really important for you to understand that a well constructed answer needs to have a good brief introduction on the topic, followed by the main body, where you explain the main subject matter. And at the end, you need to have strong conclusion. What this does is that it makes your answers systematic. This will allow the evaluator to have a clear idea of what you are trying to convey. So make sure you have atleast these three segments in your answer: The Introduction (keep it brief. No one likes a huge intro), The Main Body and a Conclusion.

The important thing about the conclusion is that you need to make it a good one. Because when you conclude something nicely, it ensures the evaluator that you have understood the subject and you were not bluffing in the answer. It puts a good impression.

3. Write the answers in small paragraphs:

It is one of the most undervalued part while writing an answer. Think of an answer that you are asked to check that contain 1-2 pages of writing without any changes in paragraph. You are bound to get bored or even irritated while checking it. But if you see an answer sheet having well spaced paragraphs it makes it better for you to go through the answers. So, it is aesthetically very good to have short paragraphs of writing. It will make it easier for the evaluator to check.

REMEMBER: You don’t write an answer for yourself. You write if for someone else who is going to have a look at it. So make sure you present it in a nice way.

4. Add diagrams or flow charts:

It is also an extremely integral part of writing answers. Adding diagrams to answers makes you answer script not only look nice, but also it makes it easier to understand with diagrams than with just writing. Also, adding diagrams into your answers will provoke the teacher to realise that you have a good knowledge of the subject.

Sometimes its not possible to add diagrams to all answers. Then go for flowcharts or graphs. These things also help a lot to represent your answers in a nutshell.

Again I say, remember that you are writing it for the evaluator. So present your answer script nicely. You don’t want to piss off that guy.

5. Add references:

This one is tough. I admit. But if you can do that, it will boost your answer’s level to the top. By references, I mean, if you have gone through any research paper or even any article on that subject matter, then mention it while you write the answer. Put a small bracket after the end of the line and write the name of the scientists or authors. Here is a small example:

Telomerase enzyme can have anti aging effects ( John, et al., 2001).

[The name of scientist and year are fictional.]

Doing this is so great, because, not many students will put in that much effort to be able to write references in the answer scripts. So, if you can do it, it automatically gives you an added advantage over the others. Go ahead and try it.

BONUS TIP:

When you write an answer, think that the evaluator doesn’t have good knowledge on the topic and you are imparting the knowledge to him through your answer. When you start thinking like this, you will automatically start writing the answer in a well organised way so that the evaluator can understand the subject matter properly.

If I have to say it in a raw way, think that you are the teacher and you are creating notes for your students. So, you will never want your students to learn a poor answer, would you? So be in the driver’s seat when you write an answer.

That’s all for this segment.

If you think that there are some techniques that can be followed then do let me know. I would appreciate that a lot.

Also, try these techniques and let me know in the comments if you benefited from these.

Cheers!

Posted in Uncategorized

Why should you read my blog? : A letter to all my readers

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

To,

The Reader,

A place called internet,

Anywhere in the world

Subject: Reason to read my blog

Dear Reader,

You might be wondering, “Who is this guy? What is he trying to do?” And most importantly, “Why should we listen to what he says?”. Well, these are pretty relevant questions as we might have never met. So this makes it very understandable that you won’t want to listen to anything I say. But I would love to tell you why.

I am a student from India studying in a national institute pursuing my master’s degree. So, it is quite reasonable that I am not having enough experience about life to give you any significant suggestions to apply. But this is my last year as an academic student. Thus, I have had a complete experience of what a student faces in his journey. I have faced a lot of highs and lows and I have tried to get myself of out of the harsh conditions either with someone’s help or all by myself. I have faced situations where I had no support from my family to do things that I had a passion for and there are some dreams that I had to leave aside. But there are dreams that I am pursuing, like writing these blogs, and some that I really aspire to live in my future life.

And that’s why I am here. To share with all you students out there, the things that you need to do right, so that you don’t face the situations that I might have faced during my life as a student. I want to share with you the things that I have learnt with you so that you can shine in Your life.

I am not a mastermind. I am not a trained life coach of any sort. But I have solved problems that has helped me to become more confident in my life. Things that have given me the will power to do things that I love. So I want to share my experiences with you so that you can solve those problems as I have and find success.

I love the quote from the movie Rocky, where Sylvester Stallone said that epic dialogue, “The world ain’t all about sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place. And I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

We all get hit by life, but we need to learn how to get up on our feet to keep fighting. Fighting for our dreams, for our family, for our loved ones. And I am here to help the students out there to help you to get to the life that you want.

So, if you are a student and you think you want to fight for it, then come join me in this journey to become the best versions of ourselves and give in all that we have to live our dreams. I am here for YOU.

Cheers!

Thank you.

Yours loving,

The Verbal Explainer.

Posted in Relationships

How to maintain long distance relationships

Posted on by Tirthankar Roy

I hate the stars, because I look at the same ones you do, without you

-Unknown

Why long distance relationships break easily?

You all will know the answer to this question. It’s obviously that one of the partners may get bored with the relationship or they lose trust on their partner and suffer from many misunderstandings or they cheat on their partner. It sounds really simple when we read it, but it’s fucking tough in reality. To bear the pain of that is immense.

So comes the next question…

What to do then?

The most important aspect of long distance relationship is trust. No matter what happens, we have trust our partner. We have to trust that he/she is truthful to us in every step and never thinking of betraying us. It’s plain and simple. Because there is no alternative. Let me tell you why…

When we start doubting the other person, we ourselves bring into our own lives a lot of tension and frustration which over the course of times becomes overwhelming and we start to hate our relationships.

This is extremely unhealthy. This is the trigger that ultimately leads to breaking up. We must remove the idea of doubting our partner completely from our mind. Just trust. We may have fights and bad moody days, but should never fail to trust that our partner loves us a lot.

This allows us to stay happy and this is directly proportional to the happiness of our partner. This is how we bring joy into the relationship. Even though far apart, we still need to have the connection.

The other important factor: Patience

We need a lot of patience in long distance relationships. It is sometimes too much for some to bear. But we need to hold on. If our partner is really special for us, if that person is really “The One” for us, then we should hold on. Let’s hold on to our patience, because no big thing in this world happens on the snap of a finger. Not everyone is Thanos after all. Every great things demands a lot of patience, so if it really something great for us, then we must be.

The moment we lose patience, that is the moment bad things start to happen. We become restless, we lose control, we say and do stuff that hurt them, and some words one spoken can never really be taken back. So let’s keep our nerves calm, because someone special is waiting for us.
But what if they actually betray us??? What then?

Let me make on thing really clear, if we give your best in a relationship and our partner still leaves us, betrays us and cheats on us, then we have nothing to do. Either their desire from us was much more than what we could deliver or they would have left you even if we were with them. They were meant to leave us.

So let’s make sure we give them our best, make them feel like they are the most special person in our lives. Then if they still leave us, then we know that we were not the reason for that. The fault is not with us. This is how we can console ourselves and move on.

So let’s love and be loved. #AS #STAR

Trust and be Patient

Cheers!!