This is a short poem that I wrote after facing dejection in mains 2022. Hope that this will help you all in sailing through tough times..

Mann bechain hai, jaise kuch peeche choot sa gya

Aankhein nam hai, jaise koi sapna toot sa gya 

Darr rha hun main phirse ladne se 

Lekin aadat se majboor hun, main phirse himmat jutaane lag sa gya. 

Aasmaan mein lehraane ki chah thi,

Toh matti par gaseeth jaane ka dum bhi tha

Ek nahi kai kai baar gira hun main,

Islye aaj har mushkil se ladne ko tayyar khada hun main

Chodd do uss banjar andheri raah mein hamko,

Ham phir akele paar karke dikha denge tumko

Khud par yeh yakeen hai, ise mera guroor na samjhna,

Pehle meri raah par chal kr toh dekho, dum bache, tab mjhe parakhna

- Dr. Sachin Goel

(07/12/2022)

Everything You Need To Know 20 Days Before AIPMT.

With Co-author, my fellow batch-mate at AIIMS Pratyush Prateek

Follow his blog here

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The last 20 days before any examination are probably the most crucial. The pressure is high unlike ever before, but dude,  just chill.
From guys, who have been there, experienced that, here is some bro-talk that may help.
You will always remember these last 20 days. Try to make them as fruitful as possible!

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A. MANAGING THE SUBJECTS

1. Physics

Physics is one subject which will help you in getting a competitive edge over others. Here is what we advice:

a. If there are any chapters that you have not yet read, try and complete them as soon as possible, because if they pile up towards the end they would unnecessarily make you nervous.
Do realize that AIPMT requires coverage.

b.  As you go through the chapters, your primary focus should be on the formulas. 
Try to analyse the application of each formula and that can be done best by solving arelated question.
1 or 2 questions per application are sufficient.

c. Be mentally prepared for tedious calculations.Often, options are quite close.

 

d. In physics, contrary to expectations, factuals are sometimes asked.
Do not neglect the last few chapters. Atleast, get a look.

2. Chemistry

Chemistry is also a scoring subject, if you play it right.

a. Inorganic
Inhuman as it may sound, restrict yourself strictly to NCERT and give your curiosity a vacation.
You will find exact lines from NCERT quoted on your question paper.

b. Organic

Try and revise as many reactions as possible everyday.
Giving 1-2 hours everyday would be sufficient as well as would help in recall.

c. Physical
Physical is largely the same as physics so the same rules follow.
You may not feel as confident in physical, but trust us, in the exam hall, physical would be scoring.

3. Biology

Your claim to a medical seat largely relies on this subject which will alone form 50% of your PMT total marks.
It should not and cannot be neglected, however easy it may appear to be.

a. Try to read through NCERT chapters as many times as possible.
And give stress to each and every line.

b. If you have not prepared tables of your own, go through my biology notes here. 
These will help you in rapid revision.

c. If you have time, review your marked questions.

d. Do not stress over too conceptual topics, as questions would be fairly direct.

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B. MANAGING YOURSELF

1. Acknowledging The Stress.

First of all, we want want you to know, and because we have no better words to describe- “Sabki Phat-ti Hai.”Darr sabko lagta hai, gala sabka sookhta hai, but trust me here, darr ke aage jeet hai.
(And trust me here, we did not get any commissions from any soft drink brands.)

We have seen the best of the lot, now double and single digit rank-holders, shiver before examinations.
And experience has taught us, it is normal.
Feeling nervous has nothing to do with your preparation and does not mean your preparation is insufficient or not up to the mark.

The more you read, the more you’ll feel that you have not read. If you are confident that you know 85-90% of a chapter,
that is more than enough and way more than any confidence we ever had.

At times you may feel that you are not able to recall anything or that a lot of the portions that you had previously studied now stand obliviated from your mind.
Rest assured, you are not in college yet, hence everything will come back to you in the examination hall. :D

Stress is hard to avoid.
What is important, however, is not letting stress slow you down.

2. Avoiding Unnecessary Burdens.

Having said that stress associated with examination would be high no matter what you do,
it is imperative that you  do not further add to it.
Here are a few dos and don’ts:

a. If there is any portion or chapter you have not yet completed, we recommend that you complete it as soon as possible 

Leaving anything for the last few days would only frustrate you.

b. Do not experiment with new books, questions or study material.
Give your curiosity a vacation for the time to learn is gone, all you need to focus now is scoring in your examination.

c. Take care of your health.
It is essential that you gradually acclimatize yourself to the exam conditions and adjust your sleep cycle to keep you mentally most alert at timings at which the examination is to be held.
But see to it that you do not make any abrupt changed as any health disorders can severely affect your performance.

3. Beating The Stress.

We understand that at times stress will get to you and all you would want to do is throw away all your books and become a guitarist, pianist, painter, writer, plumber- almost every profession begins to look shinier.
But if you are patient, composed and disciplined through this stage, few things can stop you from getting a very good rank.
Here are some of our suggestions on how to achieve it:

a. If your mind is too flustered to focus on what you are reading, try to read it loud or maybe even shout it out. Try to record formulas in your voice which you can play while you close your eyes and give them some rest.

b. As I read through the chapters I used to write down formulas and short notes in a notebook.
You can also underline or write in the textbook itself.
The aim is to get a sense of completion which will boost your morale and detoxify your brain.

c. Recognize that your body has a physiological limit. If you are too sleepy or tired, it is better to rest than to sit in front of a book in vain and neither study nor rest.
Remember, rest is like a launchpad you build to fire your rockets when needed.

And no rocket has ever been fired without a pad.
Short naps of 20 minutes may come to your rescue as they greatly help in overcoming drowsiness.

With this we wish you all the best and hope that you will do well! :)
And Happy Reading!

P.S.- We are also planning to come up with a third section focused on managing the question paper.
Until then, solve as many past papers as possible.
For Physics, keep in mind that the trends have changed and question paper of years 2012-2014
would give you a better idea than older papers.

Tips to tackle the exam giving year

         Tips to tackle the exam giving year 

               (From January to May)     

These five months form the most important period of the 2 year long struggle towards the target.

You will face a lot of tough situations during this period and you will get a feeling that “ab bas ho gya yaar”, but for god’s sake, please don’t give up! Trust me; you are going to cherish these feelings after the exams.

One of my teacher once said

“Yaar tayyari kar rhe ho toh aisi karo ki maza aaye , karte waqt tmhe aaye and tmhare result k baad sbko aaye , aur jb do saal baad peeche mudkr dkho toh tmhe khud par naaz ho”

Previous year questions are a boon for medical students. Practice them again and again.

First of all set a goal and do every possible thing to achieve it!!!

Self-motivation is the best thing that will help you in achieving your goal.

                                                 January

The students are in a stressful situation since the preboard examinations mark the beginning of the month.

My advice to the students is that they should give this 5-10 days’ time completely to their preboard examination because in a way  it will added to their preparation for 12^th board exams. This is the best time for a student who has not attended any lecture in school or has totally ignored the board exams till now to get aware of the complete course and pattern of the board exams. There are certain topics in all subjects which are important only for the board exams, which a student generally leaves during his preparation for the competitive exams, can be covered during this time.

These topics are :-

In physics

1. Derivations

2. Optical instruments

3. Semiconductors

4. Van de Graff generator etc. etc.

In chemistry

1. Chemistry in everyday life

2. Polymers etc. etc.

In biology

Biology won’t be a big problem since every student reads biology NCERT religiously (I hope so)

Aim of a student for preboard exams should be that he/she should become completely aware of all the topics important for board exams and how much time is required to cover them. This will help the student in deciding that how much time he/she can give to preparation of competitive exams in the month of February.

The result of preboard exams should not be taken seriously because there enough time left for completing the course and a major difference can be created in the board exams.

A farewell party marks the ending of the month. Parties and hanging out with friends should be avoided since the time is moving faster than you think it is.

                                                   

                               February

Board practical exams mark the starting of this month. Student should not play with the practical exams and should take them seriously.

This month is ideal for revision of 11^th class since a student is fully aware of the pattern and course of the board exams and the time required by him for completion of course. Time required for course completion is different for each and every student so it is highly advisable that don’t compare anything with anyone. Its your planning and at least you should be confident about it.

Generally for a student who has sincerely studied the whole year, last 10 days of February are sufficient for board exam preparation.

It is advisable that the student should stop reading anything else other than NCERT for biology.

Revision of things other than NCERT can be done at the end of March but reading NCERT in feb will also help in board exams.

The student should start reading physics NCERT in February since it will help him in board exams as well as in preparing for assertion reason questions (AIIMS) .Assertion reason questions are the main rank deciders in AIIMS ,so ,physics NCERT should be studied in a proper way keeping in mind the pattern of A/R questions. Same thing has to be followed for chemistry also.

                     March

Board exams mark the beginning of this month. Now the time has come when not only the quality but also the quantity of time a student puts in studies matter.

Board exams will take almost 80% of March. Board exams should be taken seriously because they provide the time and opportunity to read the NCERT books properly. Trust me; u will not get this much time in April or in May to read NCERT books. NCERT books will help u a lot in your preparation for AIIMS exams.

This time is the best for the students who are scared of Inorganic chemistry (almost all!) because questions based on inorganic chemistry are picked directly from the lines of NCERT textbook (Same applied for biology) .

The time left in March after the board exams should be utilised again for the revision of 11^th class because a student generally becomes saturated with 12^th class course after the board exams.

It is advisable to revise all the important questions of all subjects that you have marked in last 2 years of your preparation in March only.

The best advice which my teachers gave me was “If you are going to study for 10 hours then 8 hours should be given for revision through questions and 2 hours for revision through theory”

NOTE:-

DON’T WASTE ANY TIME AFTER THE BOARD EXAMS THINKING THAT YOU HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB. THEY ARE NOTHING IN FRONT OF YOUR ACTUAL TARGET.

SO DON’T LOSE YOUR FOCUS AND CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR TARGET.

                    APRIL

This can be termed as the most important month in your two year long journey because it’s the rank deciding month. Every single student is alert and studies with high concentration. So, this month has to be taken seriously and every second should be utilised.

Try to find and give one or two competitive exams which are scheduled in first or second week of April. This will help you in getting acclimatised to the exam hall conditions and you will also get to know your weak areas.

Avoid studying new matter and stay away from new books, if you have some time then devote it in revising your old concepts because they are the one which will come to your mind in the exam hall.

Keep revising NCERT biology diagrams. (Nothing is more important than them)

Don’t just keep revising the notes of organic chemistry because as I mentioned earlier also, the best way to revise is via questions. You will not be able to solve the question of organic chemistry in the paper unless and until you have applied that concept earlier also i.e. during your practice.

Keep revising the formulae of physics (otherwise there is high possibility that you will mix all the formulae in the exam hall)

One of the most important thing is practicing the previous year questions.

Try to do as many as possible number of full length papers. There are thousands of books in the market which have loads of full length papers.

Previous year papers are a boon for medical students.

I would like to share one more advice that my teacher gave me (esp. for physics)

“If you don’t have time, don’t worry, just memorise all the formulae and one-two numerical based on that formulae”

Obviously you cannot do this with every chapter and it should be kept as the last choice.

                    MAY

AIPMT is generally kept on the first Sunday of May.

I know its easy to say but please try to be calm and confident. I have experienced this personally that

 “Performance in an exam is inversely proportional to your stress level”

A lot of people will give you a lot of advices before the exam, TOTALLY IGNORE THEM and follow your original way which you have practicing since the start of your preparation.

I personally didn’t talk to anybody other than my teachers before the exam. Ask your mother or your siblings to take the wishes of your friends and relatives on your behalf because these things can really put a lot of pressure on you. You can talk to your best friend or any other person who you think can motivate you.

I didn’t study on the day before AIPMT. Now, it depends on the student , I am not forcing anybody to follow this advice because this totally depends on the mental setup of the student.

I strongly recommend a 7 hour sleep before AIPMT.

         MAY contd..(For AIIMS)

Time after AIPMT is very very different from your two year journey.

The more you allow this difference to grow, the more your preparation for AIIMS suffers. Don’t think about AIPMT after the exam. The most common mistake that a student makes is by wasting time on useless discussions after AIPMT (even I made this mistake). Don’t be too happy or too sad after the paper because any of these feelings will just waste your precious time. This time can be used for creating the difference (improvement) in your AIIMS performance.

After AIPMT, Sometime should be given to revise or to study some higher concepts in every subject. For Physics, NCERT books should be revised thoroughly for A/R type questions.

Practice lots and lots of A/R type questions but don’t think that the same questions will come in the exam. This is done just to remove the confusion between option 1 and 2.

Just consider AIPMT as a full length paper and try to analyse your mistakes and your weak areas.

There are some topics such as communication, semiconductors etc. which will require special attention. (Topics left during your AIPMT preparation)

If possible, then take antibiotics 2-3 days before the exam so that you remain in a perfectly healthy state on the exam day.

Tips to be followed before the exam are same as that you followed in AIPMT.

Final word:-

Dekho bhai, padhna toh padega , uske bina toh kuch nai hona!!!

Its never too late! (iska matlab yeh nai ki aakhir mein karenge)

Don’t keep high expectations from your centre. If you just get a proper table and chair in AIIMS exam , then consider yourself the luckiest person on Earth!!

my article which was published in hindustan times on 10/03/2011

                                             HOW CAN THEY DO THIS??
Bhopal is well known around the world for its harmonious togetherness and love and affection of its people.Bhopal would like to be a trendsetter of sorts and not a mere follower of others by changing its name.
  
  “WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF OUR CITY?". But surely many things can happen if we change the name of the city.

 Since my birth I have been identified as a Bhopali and not as a Bhojpali. 

my article which was published in hindustan times

Since my birth I have been identified as a Bhopali and not as a Bhojpali.

 I dread to think what the learned people of Bhopal settled in US and other countries would react to this and would instead claim to be from Delhi or Mumbai to avoid embarrassment. The name Bhojpal is an old fashioned name and seems like it is the name of a village of 18th century or even before still ruled by a King.

They are not only changing the name of the city but also the name of our upper lake (popularly known as bada tallab) to Bhojtal. As there is no ambiguity in this, the suggestion is well taken.

 I on behalf of the young generation would just like to appeal to the government plzz don't play with the name of our beloved city. 

We just want to be Bhopalis and not BHOJPALIS.