Shopping blues!!

Whew!! the weekend is over. Hope you all had a great one. This was the penultimate weekend of this year, and it couldn't have been any better for me. Biwi did a lot of shopping, and I, well, let her do a lot of shopping.

I told ya, the weekend couldn't have been better.

There is no sight more beautiful than seeing your wife's dazzling smile after she gets that cute bag or the smart top. You can be damn sure you are in for a great dinner. Mmmmmm... yummy!!

By the way, have you ever noticed the guys waiting for their wives in front of the ladies trial rooms. Its a sight to behold. Pandemonium and yet an elegant display of patience.

I mean how much more patience do you need from a guy who stands half an hour for his wife to try 15 different tops to decide that MAYBE she has overgrown her XL size and needs the services of the "Big Women" collection.

There are different sub-species in the waiting population. This division is mostly decided by the hairlines and waistlines of the populace. Or maybe the age of the relationship. Lets take each of them one by one:

The Gadget Gurus: These guys are submerged into their mobiles. They may well be playing Snakes, but they give an impression of reading the most important mails of their lives. When their better halves come out to showcase their "hunt", these guys will simply give a glance (one eye never leaves the mobile screen) and give a quick disenchanted nod. As if it was seriously jeopardising their conquests.

The Babysitters: There is always a circus going around, people cajoling their bitchy-2-feet-tall-new-generations not to break anything.

"Johny!! Come here". "Johny!! Don't touch that". "Johny!! Heel" .

The Ayahs: Guys are very accommodating. They find the smallest corners on the sofa and start feeding their newly borns. While their "liberated" wives roam around in the supermarket, these supermoms take care of the kids. Talk about motherly affections!!

The Oglers: These are the worst of the lot. They look at every gal coming out of the trial rooms except their wives. While their wives may be showing them the new XXL size salwar suit that she liked, they will be looking discretely as the girl behind in the halter neck.

"Ae ji! Hows it?". "Mmmmmm... Seductive."

The Fashionistas: They will choose every thing for their wives. They have opinions about every thing, the polkas, the boat necks, the tanks, the capris..... They will roam around the shop and get all the new fashion for their wives.

The Spectators: People like me. They will look around and thank their stars for not being like the others. Lucky me! But then they know, "Mera Number bhi ayega".

The CAT Fiasco

"We would like to assure all concerned that the outcome of the process on completion would be fair to all candidates." So ends one of the most infamous press releases of recent times.

Well, to be frank, I appeared for CAT on 1st December and found everything nice and easy. Lucky me. Coming out of the exam hall, with around 45 attempts, I was almost happy. Only till I heard people attempting 60 with 10-15 questions straight out of last years' or last slots' papers. Damn! I was heart broken.

For the last few days, all these discussions about repeating questions, blatant cheating, already marked answers and what-nots have been plaguing my mind. Has the CAT gone to the dogs?

Not that I am desperately looking for an admission in the IIMs or that I am in need for a change from my job, but screwing up the CAT for no fault of yours definitely hurts.

Starting CBT was a brave attempt by the IIMs and I am sure that's the only way forward. But then bungling up the best exam of the country is not acceptable too. IIMs and Prometric must accept that they have fucked up BIG time. They may not take a retest, but they must accept that they have faltered the first time. Coming out in open honestly about their mistakes will help students regain trust in them.

They should also come out with a well defined strategy of how they plan to normalise the scores, keeping in context all the allegations of cheating and repeating questions. Atleast come out with the marking schema, goddamnit!!

We all know this is life, and in life shit happens. But then why so much secrecy by the IIMs about it!