ক্যারিয়ার আড্ডা @ মুসলিম হল, চট্টগ্রাম (১ম অংশ)

Those of you here who haven’t even begun their careers yet—are they truly falling behind? What does it even mean to fall behind, anyway? Let me tell you how I started. I began working at least 4.5 years after my friends did.
Life’s course altered again and again. A story of indecision. There is always enough time to realize that delay is happening.
I had no Aim in Life, except on exam papers. Someone once asked me, “What’s your plan for the next 10 years regarding life and career?” I answered: I’ve never even managed to plan 10 minutes ahead in my life. Still I’m happy. No regrets! How much does one get in a single lifetime anyway? I’m someone who lives in the world of each moment. What’s the point of being so much of a careerist?
What is a career? What does a ‘good’ career—whether a job or business—contain? I think it has three things. One. Social recognition. Two. Solvency. Three. Time to spend your earning in your own way.
To live a brief life without regret is far better than to sigh through a long life of abundance. Yes, you can run the rat race the way everyone else does, chasing victory like all the others. But there are two problems with this race. One. This race never ends. Two. Even if you win it, you’ll still end up just a rat. The problem with being a rat is that rats can’t enjoy a human life. What does a person really get from a job? We never know which will come first in our lives—the next day or the next life? So we should choose our careers with one thing in mind: that before death comes, we are able to live life on our own terms.
Career and family—the story of filling a glass jar.
It’s not true that beautiful things always take a long time to create. I believe that to do something beautiful requires emotion more than hard work or cleverness. The art of doing many things in little time is quite a magnificent skill. …… No one kept their word. You fill up my senses. Kumar Sanu’s 28. Dostoevsky’s tale. …….. Be lazy. It will reduce the desire to do the same thing twice.
Looking back. The story of remaining a nobody. The boy with the worst results; the one who shouldn’t have even completed honors, whom no one ever dreamed of. Not being noticed by anyone is a terrible kind of pain. People study alongside tutoring. I tutored alongside studying. Not out of necessity, but out of passion. Later I wondered: what does tutoring really give us? ……. Mostly money and disrespect; sometimes honor. Days of humiliation, nights of tears. The cup of poison offered and what followed. Just surviving is enough for much. Have you read The Swimmer and the Mermaid? Suffering is better than getting nothing at all in life. Cry, only to smile better. The most beautiful achievement is doing what no one ever thought you could do. What does it mean to do something good? It means doing what brings a smile to your parents’ and loved ones’ faces, what makes their heads held high—that is doing something good.
The story of not living someone else’s life, not compromising with life itself. An accidental engineer’s tale of happy failure, a discouraged entrepreneur’s story. I am deeply content because I didn’t get what I asked for. God sometimes grants our prayers by not granting them.

Thank God He never granted the prayers of my youth.
Here’s something profoundly true: being a good student academically doesn’t necessarily mean your career will flourish. Far from it. Good students often become easy targets for others. Use their weakness to your advantage. Try to have the last laugh. Let some part of the middle years pass—not in tears, neglect, or contempt, but somewhere beyond that. The real trouble is this: thinking like everyone else means your potential gets locked into a predetermined mold, and your achievements become something unremarkable, something you can’t point to and call distinctly your own. Whether you’ll reduce your life to mediocrity or not—it’s your choice.
There are two hardest steps in undertaking any work: First, deciding what you truly want to do, how you want to do it, and why. Second, actually beginning it. The easiest technique for starting any work is simply to start it.
Does success require self-confidence, or does self-confidence require success? I can’t answer that. But here’s Shah Rukh Khan saying: I can’t do this anymore, I can’t go on, I quit! And then his story unfolds.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” The difficulty level of most competitive exams is vastly overrated. Why? Because the people who top the civil service exam—they’re human too, aren’t they? I used to wonder about that. So don’t keep telling yourself your BCS won’t happen, your BCS won’t happen. Your prayer might just be answered.
Your passion pays!! Books, movies, music & of course Facebook!! No matter, whatever it is!! Basically, you were what you loved, you’re what you love, you’ll be what you’ll love!!
If you are not thinking about your dream, you are not thinking at all.
Success is never deserved—it must be earned. The way you silently judge yourself after succeeding is your achievement; the way others silently judge you after you fail is your due. One mirrors the other.
Why ask Bill Gates for advice on the rice and lentil trade? Be strategic.
What people cannot do, or what they’re unaccustomed to, they assume you cannot do either. Some people are viruses—they can never praise anyone or tolerate another’s success. Don’t let their words touch you. Someone who cannot appreciate your right actions has no right to condemn your wrongs. Throw them out of your life. You don’t need everyone to move forward. Kind words are healthier than a bowl of chicken soup.
Being known as a good student in childhood is a wretched thing—you can never see yourself as small again. The inability to accept that others think you’re foolish becomes unbearable. Sometimes it’s your bad luck! People want to see you as they want, not as you want to see yourself. Still, live in your own life. Don’t listen to others, listen to your heart.
Don’t be serious, be sincere. Not everyone can do everything. Accept that. Find the one thing you do best.
Stop overthinking. If you’re going through hell, keep going. Que sera sera — Whatever was, was; whatever is, is; whatever will be, will be.

What must happen will happen.
Life didn’t come to us with a user-manual. So, it’s our right to use and to abuse it! Sometimes, failures are just too good! To fail successfully is an art.
Deciding what you really want matters. It took me almost 2 decades to decide what I really want. When I’d decided finally, it took me only a few months to get what I really want.
Don’t only work hard, also work smartly.
Success. It’s not the opposite of failure as popularly believed, it’s just living without sighs. It’s just dancing in the manner you want and making people think you dance well even if you don’t. It’s making your style others’ favourite brand even if it’s foolish. It’s sometimes making people laugh listening to your even worst jokes. It’s making others hear you even when you don’t speak. It’s taking the opportunity to tell others that meeting your previous millionth failure was essential, anyway. It’s making your failures worth-mentioning by you or by others.
Only your results are rewarded, not your efforts. This is the way the world accepts or rejects you.

IBA Admission Exam and BCS Exam

DOs & DON’Ts

I’ve always found the difficulty level of BCS and IBA admission exams somewhat overstated. True, they’re competitive examinations, but here’s what’s equally true—and perhaps more so: the number of genuinely prepared candidates who actually sit for these tests is far smaller than most people imagine. The majority seem to prefer spreading fear about these exams rather than confronting them honestly. People talk about what they know, and they talk about what they don’t know too. Let me share two facts with you. First: roughly 50% of the candidates who appear simply show up to have a look around, with no serious intent whatsoever—almost like they’re attending a social gathering. (Here’s the amusing part: some of them actually succeed! The “I came, I saw, I conquered” types. There’s no point grieving over their success.) Second: only about 7% of the candidates who actually sit are genuinely prepared competitors. What does this mean? Your real competition isn’t nearly as formidable as you imagine. Since neither BCS nor IBA admission exams have a fixed, defined syllabus, complete 100% preparation for either is frankly impossible. Remember this: you might think you’ve learned everything, only to forget sixty percent of it, and what remains—the forty percent—becomes the art of using it well. More important than knowing what to study for these exams is deciding what to leave out. The next slides will address this. Use this guideline as you see fit. Take what you need, discard the rest.

The Basics of IBA Admission Exam

Thoroughly understand and solve previous years’ questions from IBA’s BBA+MBA, BIBM’s MBM, DU’s EMBA, and private university MBA admission exams. Get at least ten to fifteen years’ worth of past papers if possible. Build a clear sense of the pattern and style of questioning. This is your first step in preparation.
Learning the GRE word list doesn’t guarantee you’ll get into IBA. Keep this in mind: the easiest GRE and GMAT questions are what appear in IBA exams. One question often leads to several others.
Here’s a secret: typically, no segment has a cutoff mark above 50%. So aim to secure at least 50% in every segment, just enough to carry you through to the viva board.
In competitive exams, preparedness matters more than preparation itself. Once you’re in the examination hall, hold onto this mindset: I am the best. It works like magic! It gives you the nerve to tackle unfamiliar questions when the moment comes.
Time Management—because it truly matters! Keep two things in mind. First: no matter how much you’ve prepared, you must use it to its fullest. Preparation is one thing; using it wisely is another altogether. Second: you must pass each segment individually. You can’t afford to pour all your effort into only what you excel at. So divide your time strategically. Use two-thirds of the total time to answer everything you’re confident about. Use the remaining time for the questions you’ve left untouched.
To do well in IBA admission exam, solve as many questions as possible. Study GRE and GMAT questions regularly online, carefully and methodically. Not all of them—only the ones that typically appear in the actual exam.
Now, let me say something about which books to use and how much to read from each.

Verbal Part

Vocabulary. You can look at Barron’s GRE Wordlist and Word Smart for this. If you’re pressed for time, the books available in the market will do just fine.
For the Analogy section, refer to the GRE Big Book (old edition). To ease the burden, you can pick up a couple of guides and work through them.
For Sentence Completion, consult the GRE Big Book (old edition).
The Comprehension section will benefit from IELTS books.
Work through the Error Finding section using TOEFL books (such as Cliff’s TOEFL). By all means, read through the Essential Grammatical Rules in Barron’s TOEFL. S@ifur’s Grammar is also worth looking at.

Mathematics

You can work through problems from S@ifur’s Math, S@ifur’s Geometry, and NOVA’s GRE. If time permits, ARCO SAT is also worth reviewing.

Analytical Analysis

For Puzzle and Logical Inference, consult the Official GMAT. You can also keep a couple of market guides on hand.
For Critical Reasoning, work through short comprehension passages from the GRE Big Book along with the Official GMAT.

More to come later about the IBA viva.

On the various topics of the Preliminary exam…..

Bengali Language: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions + class 9-10 grammar textbooks + Hayat Mamud’s Language Teaching + guide books
Bengali Literature: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions + Soumitra Sekhar’s Jijñāsā + guide books
English Language: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions + English for the Competitive Exams + Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary + guide books
English Literature: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions + guide books
Bangladesh Studies and International Affairs: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions + newspapers + Internet + guide books
Geography, Environment and Disaster Management: New guide books
General Science: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions
Computer and Information Technology: Job solutions + previous BCS written exam short questions and notes + new guide books
Mathematical Logic: Previous BCS exam questions + job solutions
Mental Ability: Previous BCS written exam questions + guide books + Dhaka University Evening MBA entrance exam question bank
Ethics, Values and Good Governance: Common sense + new guide books

My Experience with BCS Preliminary and Written Exams

From the 10th to 34th BCS, buy 2-3 job solution books and methodically solve through PSC’s non-cadre exam questions (ideally 250-300 sets if possible). Mark them up and revise at least 2-3 times. Read the mind of the question setter, not the mind of the guidebook writer. Four hours of unfocused study is no match for one hour spent on questions. If you study questions smartly, you can cover four hours of material in two. Apply the POE. The more question patterns you study, the faster you’ll learn which topics are worth skipping. This is your foundation—invest real time here. Drop the notion that you must study everything everyone else is studying. Invent your own style. Once new topics appear in the revised syllabus, grab 2-3 guidebooks on them and read through. Skimming is even better. Get a model test book and take at least three mock tests daily on your own. You don’t have time to overthink new topics anyway. Difficult questions rarely come from new material.
Most students read reference books first, then start solving questions. Two problems arise. First, you never get enough time to solve numerous questions—and the more you solve, the more you gain. Second, most of what’s in reference books is useless for BCS; reading the whole thing wastes time and breeds needless anxiety. Besides, you don’t need to memorize everything. So walk the opposite path. That’s what I did.
Stop wasting time on frivolous reading. It matters far less to decide what you will study for a BCS cadre position than to understand what you won’t. Whether you read reference books or not, solving more and more questions is mandatory. Knowledge doesn’t guarantee success; success, however, guarantees knowledge. (Even if you don’t know, you’ll know.) A successful fool beats a failed scholar. Those who chase BCS become two types: one, BCS experts. Two, BCS cadres. Be a cadre. Here’s a tip: the best technique for reading reference material for any BCS subject is to read for marks, not for knowledge. Knowledge makes you learned; marks make you a cadre. To do this, first study past years’ questions and understand what types never appear. Better still, examine the preliminary and written exam questions carefully, then read your reference books selectively—skipping sections wholesale. For instance, if you’re reading Bengali literature—say, Mahbubul Alim’s History of Bengali Literature or Soumitro Shekhar’s Jijñasa (just as an example)—first map out in your mind what kinds of literature questions appear in the preliminary and what short-form questions come up in the written. Then read. The best way to excel in competitive exams isn’t to read reference books first and solve questions later, but to solve questions while reading reference books simultaneously. Tame the instinct to devour everything.

Read necessary topics repeatedly rather than touch an unnecessary topic once. When it comes to the Prelims, skip those books on current affairs, current world events, today’s news, economic surveys—that whole category. At most, five or six questions on cutting-edge topics make it into the prelims, and those only appear in those specific books. Of those, you can answer at least two just from reading your papers. Why would anyone torture themselves over the remaining four marks? Truly, it baffles me. The thing is, read those torturous books and somehow you feel like you’re studying, studying, studying—that’s pure self-deception of the highest order. Let me share a fact: some questions are so difficult that even repeated reading won’t lodge them in your memory. Stop trying to memorize them. Because one such stubborn question will dislodge several easier ones from your mind. The Prelims isn’t a test to score the highest marks—it’s simply a test to pass. Don’t spend energy comparing what others can do to what you can do. The fear that others might do better than you in the end may never materialize. The BCS exam depends largely on four subjects—English, mathematics, science, and Bengali. Focus hard on these four. Those parrots who merely stuff themselves with general knowledge typically fail the BCS or produce mediocre results. There’s no real advantage in becoming a general knowledge encyclopaedia, because that segment usually yields average scores anyway. You won’t gain much competitive edge over other candidates there—not like you would in those four core subjects. People talk about preparing, preparing—instead of actually preparing and proving it to yourself and others, it’s better to truly prepare. ‘The talk of preparation, the lack of preparation.’ This is what happens in competitive exams. Better to work hard with understanding and pass than to toil and fail. You must perform well or at least decently in every segment. So during preparation, you can’t pour all your effort into only what you’re good at. My technique is this: I nurture what I’m strong in, so I gain far greater advantage there than others do. But before that, I check whether what I’m strongest in actually offers that advantage. Suppose you’ve memorized Clinton’s wife’s friend’s pet dog’s name, but you can’t write “My grandfather had a black dog” in English—what’s the point? The BCS exam can be taken repeatedly, that’s true. But here’s the bigger truth: the punishment for not clearing it the first time is having to read all these tedious, exhausting subjects again. For me, that fear worked as motivation. You can retake SSC and HSC four times too. Back then, if someone had told you, ‘Make it an experience this time, do better next time’—wouldn’t that have made you furious? First attempts don’t go well? Who said that? I became a cadet on my first attempt. There are countless other examples. *Pather Panchali* (Bibhutibhushan and Satyajit), *Nagarik*, *The 400 Blows*, or *Wuthering Heights*, *The Catcher in the Rye*, *To Kill a Mockingbird*, *The Kite Runner*—their stories. Doesn’t the thought of taking that tedious BCS exam again terrify you? That alone should be reason enough to study. Why must you, like everyone else, sit for the BCS repeatedly? Though here, fortune does play a hand sometimes—luck favors or doesn’t.

Those who become cadres are simultaneously both worthy and fortunate.

When certain questions seem difficult, read them multiple times. If that doesn’t help, skip them. Let me share a fact: some questions are so difficult that even repeated reading won’t lodge them in your memory. Stop trying to memorize such questions. A single difficult question like this can dislodge several easier ones from your mind. Remember this—a difficult question is worth one mark, and so is an easy one.

In the BCS written examination, for subjects like Science & Technology, Bangladesh Affairs, and International Affairs, draw the necessary diagrams and maps. Include relevant data, tables, charts, and references in their proper places. Present something in your answer sheet that makes your paper stand out from the rest.

Identify those segments where candidates typically score lower but where higher marks are possible, then prepare yourself thoroughly in those areas before sitting for the examination. Study short questions, notes, brief summaries, abstracts, thought expansions, translations, and grammar carefully.

Read guidebooks with focus and concentration. If possible, at least three to four sets. But remember, guides often contain errors—that’s normal. You must correct them as you read. There’s no special need to take notes while studying. You won’t have enough time anyway. Instead, keep track of which source you’re reading each question from. This will help during revision. Stay regularly informed about the Constitution’s interpretation, official websites of various institutions, Wikipedia, Banglapedia, the National Web Portal, and certain international newspapers. Collect information and data. Reference them appropriately in your answer sheet when needed. (Just because you mix your heart’s essence into your notes doesn’t mean you’ll write with that same essence in the exam. And if what you’ve noted doesn’t appear in the test, it’s a complete loss. I didn’t note even a single question. There’s no guarantee that writing the best answer will fetch you the highest marks.)

Read newspapers regularly for BCS preparation. If possible, at least five to six of them. You can read them online. Rather than reading the entire paper at this stage, focus only on those sections relevant for the examination. Quickly scan through and save whatever is needed for BCS in word files if necessary. How will you know what’s needed? Study as many previous questions as you can. Question-mapping will reduce your effort.

You must absolutely read various references, textbooks, and authoritative books. Many questions in the BCS exam don’t repeat. If you’ve read these books, answering becomes easier. When answering questions, you’ll score higher marks if you cite passages from various authors’ works, newspaper columns and editorials, internet sources, official websites of institutions, relevant articles of the Constitution, and various references. Use blue ink for these portions so the examiner’s eye catches them easily. Try to include at least one quotation, data, table, chart, or reference per page—something or the other. I know you can’t memorize all those quotations. So how do you manage it? Let me share the techniques I followed. Many of them were shortcuts. The color of the cat—black or white—doesn’t matter much. What matters is whether it catches mice. Fair point. And by the way, there’s absolutely no need to memorize the Constitution. I didn’t.

Beautiful handwriting is nice to have, but it’s not essential. In the written examination, you must write very quickly. So practice writing one page every three to five minutes. Make sure your writing is legible. Good presentation increases marks. The BCS written examination is extremely taxing to write. Sometimes I felt my finger joints would simply come apart.

I thought to myself: I really have to give it everything when I’m performing! I just breezed through the retention exam by thinking of my parents and Tendulkar. Let me share a story with you—the story of a sixteen-year-old boy and his ‘Main Khelega’ attitude. A story about not getting lost. The best attitude I’ve learned in my life. In my view, to achieve greatness in life, you need that habitual ‘selfish’ weakness turning into drive. When you belittle great people, it doesn’t diminish them one bit—it reveals our own spiritual poverty. To see Humayun Ahmed not as a writer but as Shaon’s husband is our own mental illness. For your own sake, try to replicate the qualities of those who’ve succeeded in their fields. Whatever goal you’re chasing, hold deep reverence for it. Otherwise, your preparation won’t have genuine sincerity in it. God honors the humble. Never leave a single question blank. If you don’t know the answer, write something from your understanding. If understanding fails you, write from imagination. If imagination won’t come, force it if you must! Leaving a question unanswered isn’t the problem—someone else answering it is. Create your own suggestions; don’t follow anyone else’s. Don’t listen to false reassurances like “This question is bound to come.” I prepared at least four sets of suggestions. And remember this: you won’t get more than 40-50% common questions in the retention exam. (Even that much is quite a lot!) Practice writing non-stop on various topics now and then. Develop a habit of reading widely. This will improve the quality of your writing. You don’t need to memorize any answer. Read repeatedly instead, from different sources. Build the habit of writing from understanding. Nobody becomes a cadre by writing everything perfectly. In retention exams, everyone makes things up. It’s not a big deal! In fact, making things up skillfully is an art in itself. The amount of cleverness with which I’ve written nonsense and still made it—there’s no way to explain that! (I’m truly among the fortunate ones!) Which language should you answer in during the BCS exam? English or Bengali? Many have this question. I wrote in Bengali and topped the exam. In this language, you can move forward comfortably saying “I think”—what a strange magic, isn’t it? Still, you can write in English if you prefer. In that case, fluency and clarity are paramount. You’ll have to write a lot, and remember, the examiner probably won’t have time to read it all carefully. Many will boast that they’ve finished studying certain topics. Take it easy. Just because someone finishes before you doesn’t mean they’ll have the last laugh. And if someone studies more than you, that’s not your fault. When I started preparing for the BCS exam, I found that many had already studied so much. You’ve seen 3 Idiots—a friend’s bad result saddens you, but their good result makes you ten times angrier. When I realized I could do virtually nothing compared to others, I did two things. First, I tried to understand whether what they could do was even necessary. Second, I stopped comparing myself to them and started comparing today’s me with yesterday’s me. Sometimes you won’t feel like studying—I didn’t either. Constantly wanting to study isn’t a sign of mental health. Why so serious? Job for Life, not Life for Job. You don’t have to become a BCS cadre! Your sustenance is already written. There’s so much else to do! So, take a break. Give yourself leave from studying. Now and then. Close the door and windows of your room, turn the music up full blast, shake off every thought, and dance! Sing at the top of your lungs! What else is there in life! If you didn’t study for two days, there’s no sense in feeling miserable about it and wasting another two. Who ever learned anything without making mistakes? Where’s the time for regret? You haven’t committed the world’s greatest blunder! You’re not the saddest person on earth either! What about group study? How necessary is it? It depends on what works for you. I never had that habit. I didn’t do group study for two reasons. First, whenever I saw that everyone could do things I couldn’t, I’d feel terrible. I don’t like thinking that I can’t do something. Remember that dialogue from The Pursuit of Happyness? What good does it do you to hear from everyone that you can’t do something, to understand it, to accept it? When everyone says it, you won’t suddenly start being able to do more—instead, you might lose the desire to do more. Second, when I studied with others, I’d want to chat too much, and I’d think they were doing the right thing while I was doing it wrong. I don’t like blind imitation.

“Age after age, human perseverance

seems like another’s good fortune.

…………………………………………………………

Yet by human hands alone does humanity become undone;

there exists in this world no pure employment.” ~ Jibanananda Das ‘The Ark of Creation’

Nobody will ever remember you after your retirement!

Career Talk

Lessons from Life …….

The day you wish no one would remember—that very day could become the finest day of your life! The story of deactivating a Facebook account on your birthday.
A single second can turn your life around. A strange moment can wipe away all your past suffering. God never leaves anyone dishonored forever. For the day of your dreams, you must wait with humility.
Just one mistake can thrust you forward with tremendous force.
Intellectual Humility is essential. Why Google doesn’t care about hiring top college graduates? Those who aren’t accustomed to making mistakes cannot go far.
Accept that the mistake was yours. Forgive everyone else except yourself.
Stop trying to be perfect. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing all along, you’ll remain exactly where you are.
Whether you’re an Oxford, MIT, Stanford, or Harvard graduate doesn’t really matter to anyone. In the end, only your impressive conduct, your manner, the way you speak—that’s what stays in people’s minds. Nothing else.
Most people love success but secretly despise the successful person. Not everyone will like you. If you don’t accept this, those who don’t like you gain anyway. You need some enemies in your life. If you don’t have any, create some. Birds of the same feather feel jealous of each other. Accept this simply.
Doing something well matters more than doing it quickly. People remember how well something was done, only that.
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Saying someone’s face is ugly doesn’t make my own face any more beautiful.
There are two ways to grow. One: by growing yourself. Two: by belittling others. The second way is easy, but risky. Why?
Being a follower of the wise on Facebook is better than being a friend of the foolish. Keep learning with a humble spirit. You cannot learn without humility.
The power of not speaking is far greater than the power of speaking. If you want to teach someone a lesson, don’t do it with words—do it through your actions. Your day will come. Until then, let people talk.

The Story of Someone Nobody

Those of you here who haven’t even begun their careers yet—are they truly falling behind? What does it even mean to fall behind, anyway? Let me tell you how I started. I began working at least 4.5 years after my friends did.
Life’s course altered again and again. A story of indecision. There is always enough time to realize that delay is happening.
I had no Aim in Life, except on exam papers. Someone once asked me, “What’s your plan for the next 10 years regarding life and career?” I answered: I’ve never even managed to plan 10 minutes ahead in my life. Still I’m happy. No regrets! How much does one get in a single lifetime anyway? I’m someone who lives in the world of each moment. What’s the point of being so much of a careerist?
What is a career? What does a ‘good’ career—whether a job or business—contain? I think it has three things. One. Social recognition. Two. Solvency. Three. Time to spend your earning in your own way.
To live a brief life without regret is far better than to sigh through a long life of abundance. Yes, you can run the rat race the way everyone else does, chasing victory like all the others. But there are two problems with this race. One. This race never ends. Two. Even if you win it, you’ll still end up just a rat. The problem with being a rat is that rats can’t enjoy a human life. What does a person really get from a job? We never know which will come first in our lives—the next day or the next life? So we should choose our careers with one thing in mind: that before death comes, we are able to live life on our own terms.
Career and family—the story of filling a glass jar.
It’s not true that beautiful things always take a long time to create. I believe that to do something beautiful requires emotion more than hard work or cleverness. The art of doing many things in little time is quite a magnificent skill. …… No one kept their word. You fill up my senses. Kumar Sanu’s 28. Dostoevsky’s tale. …….. Be lazy. It will reduce the desire to do the same thing twice.
Looking back. The story of remaining a nobody. The boy with the worst results; the one who shouldn’t have even completed honors, whom no one ever dreamed of. Not being noticed by anyone is a terrible kind of pain. People study alongside tutoring. I tutored alongside studying. Not out of necessity, but out of passion. Later I wondered: what does tutoring really give us? ……. Mostly money and disrespect; sometimes honor. Days of humiliation, nights of tears. The cup of poison offered and what followed. Just surviving is enough for much. Have you read The Swimmer and the Mermaid? Suffering is better than getting nothing at all in life. Cry, only to smile better. The most beautiful achievement is doing what no one ever thought you could do. What does it mean to do something good? It means doing what brings a smile to your parents’ and loved ones’ faces, what makes their heads held high—that is doing something good.
The story of not living someone else’s life, not compromising with life itself. An accidental engineer’s tale of happy failure, a discouraged entrepreneur’s story. I am deeply content because I didn’t get what I asked for. God sometimes grants our prayers by not granting them.

Thank God He never granted the prayers of my youth.
Here’s something profoundly true: being a good student academically doesn’t necessarily mean your career will flourish. Far from it. Good students often become easy targets for others. Use their weakness to your advantage. Try to have the last laugh. Let some part of the middle years pass—not in tears, neglect, or contempt, but somewhere beyond that. The real trouble is this: thinking like everyone else means your potential gets locked into a predetermined mold, and your achievements become something unremarkable, something you can’t point to and call distinctly your own. Whether you’ll reduce your life to mediocrity or not—it’s your choice.
There are two hardest steps in undertaking any work: First, deciding what you truly want to do, how you want to do it, and why. Second, actually beginning it. The easiest technique for starting any work is simply to start it.
Does success require self-confidence, or does self-confidence require success? I can’t answer that. But here’s Shah Rukh Khan saying: I can’t do this anymore, I can’t go on, I quit! And then his story unfolds.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” The difficulty level of most competitive exams is vastly overrated. Why? Because the people who top the civil service exam—they’re human too, aren’t they? I used to wonder about that. So don’t keep telling yourself your BCS won’t happen, your BCS won’t happen. Your prayer might just be answered.
Your passion pays!! Books, movies, music & of course Facebook!! No matter, whatever it is!! Basically, you were what you loved, you’re what you love, you’ll be what you’ll love!!
If you are not thinking about your dream, you are not thinking at all.
Success is never deserved—it must be earned. The way you silently judge yourself after succeeding is your achievement; the way others silently judge you after you fail is your due. One mirrors the other.
Why ask Bill Gates for advice on the rice and lentil trade? Be strategic.
What people cannot do, or what they’re unaccustomed to, they assume you cannot do either. Some people are viruses—they can never praise anyone or tolerate another’s success. Don’t let their words touch you. Someone who cannot appreciate your right actions has no right to condemn your wrongs. Throw them out of your life. You don’t need everyone to move forward. Kind words are healthier than a bowl of chicken soup.
Being known as a good student in childhood is a wretched thing—you can never see yourself as small again. The inability to accept that others think you’re foolish becomes unbearable. Sometimes it’s your bad luck! People want to see you as they want, not as you want to see yourself. Still, live in your own life. Don’t listen to others, listen to your heart.
Don’t be serious, be sincere. Not everyone can do everything. Accept that. Find the one thing you do best.
Stop overthinking. If you’re going through hell, keep going. Que sera sera — Whatever was, was; whatever is, is; whatever will be, will be.

What must happen will happen.
Life didn’t come to us with a user-manual. So, it’s our right to use and to abuse it! Sometimes, failures are just too good! To fail successfully is an art.
Deciding what you really want matters. It took me almost 2 decades to decide what I really want. When I’d decided finally, it took me only a few months to get what I really want.
Don’t only work hard, also work smartly.
Success. It’s not the opposite of failure as popularly believed, it’s just living without sighs. It’s just dancing in the manner you want and making people think you dance well even if you don’t. It’s making your style others’ favourite brand even if it’s foolish. It’s sometimes making people laugh listening to your even worst jokes. It’s making others hear you even when you don’t speak. It’s taking the opportunity to tell others that meeting your previous millionth failure was essential, anyway. It’s making your failures worth-mentioning by you or by others.
Only your results are rewarded, not your efforts. This is the way the world accepts or rejects you.