Year End Message From The Board Chair: Fill & Download for Free

Bear with me cause this might be a long answer.I am a student of FIITJEE South Delhi and had been an average performer throughout my 4 years of preparing for the prestigious IIT’s and NIT’s.Back then,I had no idea that NIT’s, or for that matter BITS Pilani exists. For me, I had one goal in my mind -> IIT.This continued through the 3.5 years and then things started turning a bit out of favour.December 2018 : I was at my peak of preparation. Preparing for 8–10 hours everyday, studying theory, reading NCERT’s and practising FIITJEE Booklets. I had even given some test series paper (AITS,to be precise) and was quite satisfied with my prep. I expected a rank of upto 8000.January 2019 : A bit of bad luck. I was bedridden for a week with fever and acute cough.. which seemed to increase and detoriate day by day. However, I made sure that atleast I revised and studied atleast 6 hours each day.D-Day 1: Didn’t feel well. Mustered all my courage and went a distance of 40km to a centre in Rohini. I had got 12 Jan Shift 1.The staff there was quite helpful and kind and offered me a bottle of warm water to keep my throat warm. Or maybe they were quite disturbed by my constant coughing. As soon as I went home, I got to know that my shift was probably one of the most difficult papers in the entire week.Results-JEE Main Jan : I woke up early in a good mood.I entered my details and waited for the result screen. I couldn’t stop jumping up and down. I had scored the following marksPhysics-95.10Chemistry - 94.07Maths- 93.18Total aggregate - 95.689I know these are not great at all but back then I didn’t know that as NTA was new and I didn’t quite understand the percentile system. Talked to my father and after going through Quora and rank predictors,I got to know that it was a mere rank in the 40–50K range.I broke down.I coudn’t show my face to my father and tried to hide myself from him. He however motivated me and told me I still had a chance in the April shift and I shouldn’t lose my spirit.February: I started from the scratch. As boards were approaching,I thought that first I should master my basics once again and score as much as I can in the boards without losing my Goal of JEE. I went on to study NCERTS.For those people who are taking boards seriously, I would like to recommend Arihant CBSE Chapterwise Solved Papers, especially for English and Maths (I was weak in maths from the start).Scored quite well in my CBSE boards. Marks given belowBest of 4 : 96%(Physics,Maths,English - 95%Chemistry - 96%Computer Science - 98%. (Messed up the K Map question)Average : 95.8%March 2019 : I was ready to tackle the April shift and started studying 12–14 hours each day. I was quite determined to score at least 99 percentile this time.D-Day 2: I was quite well this time. No excuses, felt fresh and went to the center in Noida (Not far from where I live). However, I was quite overconfident and took the Chemistry section for granted. Didn’t even review chemistry once.When the Answer Key came out, I started from Chemistry section, expecting at least a 100. Attempted 29 questions and it turned out to be the biggest disaster of my life. I scored 31. Yes, thats right!! A mere 31 . It turns out that being overconfident is indeed a vice. I scored 122 in that paper.Results : Wasn’t too happy. I knew I had messed this time and was expecting even worse percentile than the January Attempt. And boy!! I was right (Not that I was proud that I was right)The results are as belowYes. I dropped to 92.74 in my second attempt. I felt as a failure. I had secured a rank of 48452. I though of myself as a failure, a disgrace in my family. I couldn’t show my face to my relatives and neighbours even though they themselves weren’t some distinguished engineers or something.I started listening to songs.. songs that empathised with me. I grew fond of Linkin Park and one song , I used to play it in loop for hours. A line that touched my heart from that song was this“And I know I may end up failing tooBut I know you were just like me with someone disappointed in you”I will let you guys guess the song. ( It’s easy though). This song tremendously eased my sufferings.April 2019: Decided I will not lose hope, at least not till 27th May, the day JEE Advanced concludes. I didn't study for more than 10 hours. But I rigorously did at least 2 full papers each day. FIITJEE’s Ranker’s Test Paper files helped me a lot. I started to learn from my mistakes and started perfecting my strong areas and instead of studying for the weak areas and spending time perfecting them, I decided to look up for some shortcuts that work for a number of problems. I didn’t eat properly for days and lost 3–4kgs in that 3 weeks time. (I was not obese but not fit either).D-DAY:I was not ready!! Didn’t want to go and fail again!! My father was the one who made me go that day. He just said a phrase and that was it. I didn’t fear JEE any longer. I will tell you what he said after a while. Went to the center. It was just 2 km from my home and I reached two hours earlier. No one was there but for me and my father sitting in my car. I didn’t want my mind to wander in negative thoughts and hence I started to read a book. Not JEE but a book that has been a source of imagination and wonders for me in the past few months. I would say that you guys personally give this book a try. It is somewhat like A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking but not that detailed.The Universe in Your Hand: A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond by Christophe GalfardAfter an hour of imagining electrons converting into protons and the limits of quantum tunneling ( Google it!), I entered the center and was numb in thoughts. I wasn't excited nor was I afraid. I was just there… if you know what I mean.I took my seat and after a pee break(XD), I sat on my chair and looked around. I noticed that some of the other boys were also looking around. In their defense, there were actually a few good girls here and there. The exam started and I started with Chemistry. I was not overconfident and handled the questions with care.Ended the paper without doing many mistakes. I personally believed that the Paper 2 was much easier for me. I was expecting a rank of 3–4K.Results: DELAYED!!! QUITE DELAYED!!The results were supposed to be announced at 10 am that morning on 14th June but had to wait till 4:30 in the evening.Checked my results and was not happy nor sad. You can see it below.Some of you guys must be thinking -> “Yeh kya rank hai?? 6K hi toh hai. Kaunsa top 1000 main aagaya ye?”. Even I feel the same but If I compare my Mains and Advanced result I am quite happy with my performance.My father had been my inspiration throughout my 4 year journey of coaching and schooling. He , who had farmed in his hometown(village, to be precise) till the age of 14, who had failed in class 10th once and had done his BTech with just 45% and had journeyed from there to being one of the most respected Software Engineer and Businessman in the field on ERP told me on the morning of 27th May 2019 , hours before my paper, which motivated me on the day I needed it most.“JO BHI HOGA DEKHA JAAEGA. TU APNA BEST DEKE AA.”It may not sound that lucrative or motivational, but it did the job that day .I took almost an hour to write all this. And I wrote this not to boast but to give hope to all the students who are average and wish to join IIT or are droppers and are losing courage. DON’T LOSE COURAGE WHATEVER HAPPENS. Remember, JEE is not everything!! Life is much more than those 2–4 years of coaching and results. There will be many D-Days in one’s life, days that he thinks are significant in his life and he couldn’t do well. But in the end, with enough hard work, one would achieve what he desires. I didn’t desire a rank but desired IIT which I am quite sure I will get, even though not Delhi, Madras or Bombay.A small message from my side for all those D-Days you may encounter ->“ HAARNA HAI TOH HAARENGE, JEETNA HAI TOH JEETENGEJO BHI HOGA DEKHA JAAEGA, TUM APNA BEST DENA USS DIN. “This is Kartikey Sharma. A Future IITian. Abhi toh JOSAA counseling bachi hai!Edit 1- Now an IITian!P.S. - This is my first post ever on Quora and I believe that the past one hour was not wasted at all if this helps someone who is thinking that he will not do good in JEE Advanced if he messed up his JEE Mains.Message me for any queries or tips regarding JEE prep or CBSE preparations.Happy to help !!!!!P.P.S - The song was NUMB by LINKIN PARK.Edit 2- Thank you so much guys for 2K upvotes. This was my first ever answer on Quora and this response from your side motivates me to write more and more helpful answers.Edit 3- For those of you who are asking my college, I am currently pursuing Electrical Engineering at IIT GOA

I don't think it's that famous, but it's a fine mystery.Pictures and text of the telegram from: The mysterious disappearance of the Eilean Mor lighthouse keepers., by Ben Johnson. My apologies for not adding this note before.Off the west coast of Scotland lies a small island, part of the Outer Hebrides, named Eilean Mòr.A lighthouse was built there between the years 1895 and 1899, and by the year 1900 was attended by three keepers: Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur. Apart from the lighthouse keepers, the island was completely uninhabited.The first to notice that something usual had happened was the captain of the steamer Archtor, who noticed on December 15th that the lighthouse wasn't operating. He duly reported it, but no inmediate action was taken.On December 26th, the Hesperus, a provisions ship, reached the island. The Hesperus' captain, James Harvey, led the ship towards the landing platform, noticing that nobody was waiting for their arrival. To call on the keepers, he blew the ship's horn and lighted up a warning flare to attract their attention. Nobody came from the lighthouse.He also noticed that the flagtaff was bare of its flag, and the empty provision boxes, that should be on the platform, weren't there.The replacement lifehouse keeper, Joseph Moore, disembarked alone and went to investigate. The lighthouse's door was unlocked, and there were only one of the three Oilskins in the entrance hall. Moreover, in the kitchen he found half-eaten food and an overturned chair. All the clocks in the lighthouse had stopped.He couldn't find any of the three keepers.Moore returned to the Hesperus to inform Captain Harvey: he left Moore and four volunteers behind in the island, and went to the shore station, to sent a message to the Northern Lighthouse Board Headquarters in Edinburgh:A dreadful accident has happened at Flannans. The three Keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the occasional have disappeared from the island. On our arrival there this afternoon no sign of life was to be seen on the Island.Fired a rocket but, as no response was made, managed to land Moore, who went up to the Station but found no Keepers there. The clocks were stopped and other signs indicated that the accident must have happened about a week ago. Poor fellows they must been blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to secure a crane or something like that.Night coming on, we could not wait to make something as to their fate.I have left Moore, MacDonald, Buoymaster and two Seamen on the island to keep the light burning until you make other arrangements. Will not return to Oban until I hear from you. I have repeated this wire to Muirhead in case you are not at home. I will remain at the telegraph office tonight until it closes, if you wish to wire me.'Blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to secure a crane or something like that'. Given the nature of their jobs, that was a rather sensible conclusion, right?The Board's superintendent, Robert Muirhead, went personally to the island to investigate: he found nothing else besides what Captain Harvey had reported. However, he found ropes hanging from the platform:The ropes were usually stored in a crate, to be used in the supply crane. Maybe the crate fell into the sea, and while the three men were trying to recover it, a wave came and took them away?That was Muirhead's conclusion, and that was he wrote in his report to the Board.But that doesn't explain what happened with the oilskins: why, in the middle of winter, one of the men had left his behind? Furthermore, why all three left the lighthouse at the same time, something strictly forbidden by regulations?And what about the other thing that Muirhead found, the lighthouse’s log?The last few entries were rather strange: for example, on December 12th the second assistant, Thomas Marshall, wrote about ‘severe winds the likes of which I have never seen before in twenty years’. Marshall also anotated that James Ducat and William McArthur had been behaving strangely: Ducat was ‘very quiet’ and MacArthur had been crying.The annotation of December 13th indicated that the storm hadn't subsided, and that all three men had been praying. Three seasoned lighthouse keepers, in a brand-new lighthouse 150 feet above sea level, scared into praying for a storm to stop? Why, if they were completely safe?Moreover, nobody else in the area had reported any storm on December 12th, 13th or 14th. No storm started in the area until December 17th.The final log, the one from December 15th, the same day that the Archtor noticed the lighthouse wasn't operating, reads: 'Storm ended, sea calm. God is over all’.

This happened to me recently .Background : My parents created my profile on one of the matrimonial websites to find a suitable match for me. They keep searching over it. They send or receive proposals/requests over there.Scene 1 : One evening, I came from office and saw my mom going through the profiles of girls who had sent the request to start a conversation further. My mom showed me the picture of a girl. She accepted the request from a girl and hence my phone number became visible to that particular girl as she had a premier membership on that website.Scene 2 : Same day, at night, I received a call from an unknown number. (My mom had added my number unconsciously while creating the profile) I picked up the phone. The lady on the other side explained that she had sent a request/proposal for her daughter as she liked my profile and the request was accepted from my side in the evening. I told her that my mom had created my profile and it would be better if she talks with my mom directly for this matter. She asked me basic details about my job and told about her daughter. She said, she would talk to my mother and took her phone number.Scene 3 : Next morning, I boarded the metro train from Kashmere gate metro station (Delhi) on yellow line towards Central Secretariat (My office). The moment I entered the metro, I saw a girl who was standing opposite to me. She started staring at me (I was also doing the same else how would I know that she was staring at me ? :D ).I thought I have seen the girl somewhere. By her continuous staring, I thought, she must be thinking the same. I started thinking about her with full concentration . After 2 mins, I realized she is the same girl whose profile my mom showed me last evening on the matrimonial website and her mother called me later in the night.I had doubts about it. Instantly, I messaged my mom to whatsapp me the picture of that particular girl whose proposal she accepted last evening on that matrimonial website. She sent me the screenshots of her profile. I kept staring her and looked at my phone several times to confirm.By this time, the girl had also realized what I was doing or trying to do. She was also clear about her doubts (I thought so) and recognized me (I thought this too).Eventually, I took the courage and turned my phone’s screen towards her and asked “ Is this You ?”She was already smiling like a little kid, her face filled with innocence and shyness.She nodded her head and said “Yes, I recognized you”.Edit 1Scene 4 - While I was looking at my phone to confirm that she is the same girl, I didn’t realize that my destination station was about to come.When, I turned my phone towards her to ask whether she is the same girl or not { This station is Central Secretariat, Change here for the Violet Line} <—this musical line had already been announced and the train had already stopped on the platform (It was my destination and I had to get down from the train).The moment she nodded her head and said “Yes, I recognized you”, I heard “TIN-TIN” (The warning tone for closure of metro gates).I quickly jumped out of the train and I was like this (In this case, I was out on the platform and girl was inside the train){image source: Dil Chahta hai (Bollywood Movie) and google}We exchanged a charming smile for few micro-seconds. The train started moving towards Huda City Center and I kept standing at the platform till the time it became invisible to me.Suddenly, I realized that I was late for a meeting and walked down quickly to my office. I kept thinking about this incident till the time I reached the conference hall. I thought, It was just a mere coincidence and I am never gonna meet that girl again .I diverted myself to the official agenda and got busy with my work. My meeting got over around 1 pm and I went out of the building with my colleagues to eat something.The adjacent building to my office serves south Indian food and we decided to treat our taste buds with Dosa and Sambhar that day.We entered the canteen. My colleagues (2) went on to order and they asked me to look for a table for three of us.I saw a table with 4 chairs, out of which only 1 chair was occupied. I went to that table and exclaimed from the back side “ Excuse me !, Can I sit here ?” The person turned towards me and I went into a sudden shock for a second.She was the same girl whom I met in the metro.Edit 2Scene 5 -The moment she turned her face towards me, one of my colleagues shouted from the cash counter, “Babu (my nick name, yes they know it) “Do you want anything to drink?”, I took the fastest about-turn of my life and went towards them at the cash counter.One of my colleagues already had two plates of Dosa in his hands. He started walking towards the same table where she was sitting (with 3 empty chairs). I was looking at him from the cash counter. He grabbed a seat on the same table, sat opposite to her and shouted “ Hey guys ! come here”.My other colleague, who was standing with me gave me the bill and asked me to collect the Lassi (butter milk) for him. He straightaway walked to the same table and sat with the other colleague.Now out of those 3 vacant chairs, only 1 was vacant which was adjacent to that girl. I just wanted to run away from that place. I kept standing there to collect the Lassi and prayed to God for a minor earthquake so that we all run from that place suddenly.I wanted to spend more time there (at Lassi counter) to avoid her. When I got it, I returned the Lassi back to the guy by giving an excuse that there was a mosquito in it. (More time in Prep = More time consumed in extra curricular activities to avoid “ the probable/may be “Jeevansathi”)Time had stopped for me. I was thinking of a solid excuse to avoid lunch and go back to my office then suddenly, one of my colleagues yelled - “ Mother-fcuk****, are you bringing the Lassi from Punjab ?”Eventually, I took those steps towards the eternity with that Lassi in my hand. I sat on that empty chair adjacent to that girl with a lost face, shivering hands and almost “ready to get embarrassed haunches”.The girl tilted her charming face towards me and pulled the trigger of her adorable smile. I was looking at her from cross/side eyes. After the execution of her smile, I looked at one of my colleagues who was sitting opposite to me, he gave me a tricky expression.Now more than my meal, I also had the curiosity to know what she was eating. I looked at her meal and found she was also eating Dosa. A second later, one of my colleagues did a deliberate blunder and delivered the master-stroke to shower me with massive embarrassment, he said “Dude, eat your own food, don’t poke into someone else’ meal”.I wanted to kill him at that moment but my attention was all diverted to run away as soon as possible. With a massive focus on Dosa, they got busy with their meals. The girl and me exchanged micro-smiles for almost 5 to 7 times.She finished her meal, got up and left the table. A big sigh of relief for me but a big session of entertainment for my colleagues. They hovered me with :“What’s the matter man, looking at her again and again with slant looks”“Shall we talk to her parents”I kept ignoring them. I wasn’t able to digest whatever was happening. I remained completely lost through out the lunch. We finished and left for the office.Scene 6 - With a fear of an another metro encounter, I decided to Uber home this time. I ate lunch and slept. Around 8 P.M, the same day, my phone rang and woke me up from my profound and deep -sleep. I picked up the phone:Me : Yes !X : “Hello, I called you last night (and this was enough). I tried contacting your mother but her phone isn’t reachable. Can you please hand over the phone to her”.Me : Sure ! Just a second (got up, went outside and told my mom that there is some lady on the phone)My mind suddenly froze. I was thinking the lady would describe everything (my daughter and your son had an encounter today) to my mom and my mom would pinch the last note to get all the details. (I was in no mood to explain her things that day).After 3–4 minutes, my mom came to me to hand over the phone.I asked her furiously “what did the lady say?”My mother : she took your details from the website (Date and time) and consulted the priest but unfortunately the horoscope didn’t match”.I : Okay No issuesMy mother : she said “ We can’t proceed because this is a necessary condition for us”.I : “Oh kay. did she describe anything about me or any other thing or incident?”My mother : “what incident?”I : “Nothing”………..and then, there after, we lived, happily but separately !Sorry guys for such a quora type -2 and un-classical endingNote 1 : The girl was neither stalking nor spying. It wasn’t any plot or pre-planned thing. My mom, in her last conversation with that lady had asked about the work and office of her daughter. When my mother told me about that conversation in detail later that night, I realized, the adjacent building where I went to eat that Dosa housed the same organisation where she was working.Note 2: Why didn’t she get down from the metro at Central Secretariat if her office was there ? I still have no answer for it. May be, she was lost? May be, she wanted to avoid me? May be, she had some work further ? I don’t know.Note 3 : Every single place, person, dialogue, etc described in all the scenes is pure truth and It has full bearing with only those persons who are mentioned in this story.Note 4 : Those two of my colleagues are almost 7–8 years senior to me. They are neither creep nor cheap. They are actually two gems.Note 5 : While I was writing the scene 3, my mom was screaming at me from the other room to leave laptop and eat dinner. Hence, I left with that “to be continued” thing but after few comments on this post, I decided to hold rest of the part for the next day.Thanks and Apologies.The EndThis is the biggest coincidence I have ever experienced