Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Cat Story

This is not a story about my pet cats Dyna and Tintin. They also have a cute love story that I will share some other time. J But this time its a story about the Common Admission Test(CAT). The first hurdle to reach the b-school one loves. Till 2008 this exam was conducted with paper pencil. Which means lakhs of question papers and OMR sheets were printed. And maybe an idea struck to the people organizing CAT that lets save paper and go online. After all being eco-friendly is the buzz in the air so how could CAT be behind in proving that they are also eco-friendly.

Well having an exam online has other benefits also like manual computation is not needed. With the help of the software the scores will be recorded automatically so it would lessen the burden on humans. Definitely no one is against online system. India is progressing and we should make use of computers to make our lives easier. We should use computers only to make our life easier and not become a slave of this machine.

This is a true story and the events of this story started from 9th September 2009 and the story is still going on. The registration window opened for CAT opened from 9th September and the last date of registration was 1st October. This time instead of buying a CAT brochure (bulletin) from AXIS bank; one had to purchase CAT vouchers. After that instead of filling up a OMR form with details one had to fill an online form. Also with the online system there was no need to send the form through speed post. As already mentioned the benefits of online system our data got recorded automatically. But in this registration also there were issues. A person filled Jharkhand as the native state but the online system took Andhra Pradesh as the native state. So the registrations were stopped and the dates got extended for online registration.

Somehow the registration process closed successfully. The online CAT exam was to be held in 10 days and each day there were 2 slots. During the registration people selected the suitable date and time for exam. But some of them didn’t know that the date and time selected by them wont be suitable for the CAT server and it would crash because of technical glitches. The 10 day window of exam started from 28 November 2009 and was to end on 7 December 2009. I was lucky enough to witness as to what happens when a exam gets cancelled.

Being in job I could give the exam only on weekends and I love Sundays for exam so I selected 29th November as my exam day. Though I wanted to give a little later and select 6th December but I was a little late. 29th November at 3:30 PM I took the print out of admit card to my center, Silicon Institute of Technology, Patia, Bhubaneswar. On the first day of exams there was no news of cancellation from Bhubaneswar center maybe because the exam was not cancelled at the whole center but only 1 lab. I was the lucky one to be given that lab. Though we were asked not to take pencil or pen leave aside other things. Only our presence with an admit card and id proof was needed at the center. Still I had taken pencil and pen in case of any emergency. Anyways I was asked to deposit that also to the center. Now instead of guiding the candidates in my lab to the exam place we were taken to a classroom. At the beginning everything was fine because we were asked to come 2 hours before the exam i.e. 1:30 PM.

We relaxed and waited for the next announcement. It was 3 and no sign of anyone organizing the exam but only the students doing timepass. Then the tension started building up. People started roaming around and started talking about the exam. In the process I also started having conversation with the fellow candidates. I spoke to 2 girls one came from Rourkela while the other came from Vizag to give the exam. Finally at 3:15 PM a lady from Prometric appeared in our class. Prometric is the one who has designed the exam software for CAT. And in India they have partnered with NIIT.

The lady called out few names and took them to the lab. It was 3:30 PM and I was still waiting for the exam to start. The 2 girls were equally tensed as to whether their exam will happen or not. To calm them down I said that yesterday the exam started little late. Though I was also not sure as to what was happening. Finally the lady came back and we were asked to proceed to the lab and we found few familiar faces. People who had gone before us were also sitting in the lab looking at each other. Yes even their exam was not started. We were asked to occupy the seat. There was nothing to do and with the way things were going on I could sense that the exam has been cancelled.

Finally the Prometric lady announced that due to technical glitches it would take time for the exam to start. One guy from Prometric was on phone and trying to do all sorts of permutation and combination, manipulations to start up the online system. But god had other plans and all his efforts went in vein. He gave up the battle of starting the online exam. It was 4:30 and we knew that our exam has been cancelled. One guy had come from Hyderabad to give the exam and he was really angry. Wonder why he had not registered for an Hyderabad center. Anyways whatever be the reason it was a real pain for those who had come from far off places just to give CAT 2009 online exam. Also for them coming back again for the exam would definitely be difficult. The girl from Rourkela had taken leave from office. Even if the exam got scheduled in between she could not extend her leave. Everyone had thought of some convenience but because of technical glitches the CAT exam was going to get inconvenient for few people.

At 5 PM the lady finally appeared again and declared that the exam has been canceled because of technical glitches. We were asked to collect our belongings. Also asked to get in touch with the CAT Prometric Helpdesk for getting the exam rescheduled. We were handed over a sorry note saying that due to technical glitches your exam could not be held.

Getting in touch with Prometric was another hard challenge. Their number was always busy so I decided to drop a mail. But these people were so busy that they could not check the mails. Wonder why then they had the contact us facility on the site when the things were to be done over phone only. CAT organizers knew that in this 10 days window it would be hard to schedule exam for everyone and extended it by a day. Finally I could get in touch with the Prometric fellows over phone and talk to them. They said that even after extending the exam for one day they would have to schedule it again sometime later. The exam was not just being rescheduled for those who could not take up the exam because of technical glitches but also those who had complained that their exam got over early because of end button. Or any other problem they would have faced during the exam.

The MBA exam communities like Bell the Cat on orkut would not have been so active any year as it has been active till date. People would come up and discuss their exam experiences. Not just experiences but also the questions giving a benefit for those going to take the exam in the later slot as the questions got repeated in the later slots. Wonder why couldn’t CAT come up with more question banks and have a fair exam. Also wonder what benefit these people got by discussing their questions in such online forum. Infact one person had posted a complete set of questions in an online blog. It’s a different story that now that blog has been deleted. But I am sure it would have been helpful for many people giving the exam.

Was I able to give the CAT again? Definitely I was but getting my exam rescheduled was also not easy. Immediately after the first phase got over the CAT organizers made an announcement (without any loud speaker but on their site) that they will have a second phase in January 2010. The second phase dates decided for the exam was 30th and 31st January. I kept calling helpdesk and they kept giving the same answer that it would be rescheduled. Thankfully I knew few people whose exam also got cancelled because of technical glitches. And I got the news that people have started getting their admit card.

I again called up the CAT helpdesk and this time they had a new story to tell me. According to them my lab was shifted on the same day and for them I was an absentee. For them it was true that earlier my exam was scheduled in the lab in which exam got canceled but they had again rescheduled my exam to some other lab. I was in shock with the news. I was angry, frustrated and wanted to kill the lady talking to me over phone. Still with a calm tone I said “Do you think I am fool to go and sit in the lab where the exam got canceled. If you want I have a proof that my exam got canceled. I was given a regret letter from the center.” The lady would have thought I would lose the battle and keep the phone. On hearing this now she went into a shock and said mail us a scanned copy of admit card. I said “I will mail a copy of admit card. Along with that I will attach the admit card sent to me.” She said ok fine and we kept the phone.

At lunch I came back and the first thing I did was to mail the copy of regret letter and admit card to the retake id given to me. Also immediately I called up at the helpdesk to make sure that they received my email. Once I was assured that they had got my mail I went and had my lunch. Days kept on passing and nothing was happening. 30th was near and I was in a dilemma as to how will my exam be rescheduled. Should I call up the media and tell my problem. After all a person got his exam scheduled this way. His issue was that his exam got over soon. Or should I drop a mail to HRD ministry. I don’t know why but I didn’t want tobe a celebrity on television and opted for the second option.

I dropped a mail to HRD ministry stating my problem with the proves I had for being a genuine candidate to get an exam rescheduled. Though I didn’t get any response from them as I am a common girl(aam ladki). But it sure did help me in getting my admit card as the next time I called up the helpdesk I mentioned that I have dropped a mail to the HRD ministry. The person assured me that I would get an admit card on 28th January by the evening and I did get the admit card. First it was for 31st January 10 AM but then they rescheduled it to 30th January 10 AM.

On 29th January they mailed and messaged that because of cold waves in some parts of the country the exam would start by 12 PM and we had to reach by 10 AM. With an experience last time I knew there was no need to carry anything and only took the admit card and my id proof. Though in my jacket I had a Vaseline lip guard and my scooty keys. I reached the exam center and immediately I was given a pouch to keep my things. Then I was asked to go for a security check. The lady frisked me as if I was a terrorist who had come to blow up the exam center. She asked me to put the Vaseline lip guard, the scooty keys and even my non-digital normal watch inside the packet. Keeping the watch away was too much for me. If it had calculator or any other gadgets then keeping aside would have made sense. Also what is a need of a gadget when people can memorise questions and share it across the internet.

This time I went directly into my lab. After having a seat I was called up for a face scanning and finger print check. Thankfully like in jail I didn’t have to hold a card in my hand with my name and CAT registration number written on it. Finally when the organizers were sure that no candidate is a replacement of Munna bhai at the exam center the exam started. Though a guy had to show his id prove many a times and he looked like a gunda. Wonder what was the problem with his id card. Also for one guy his mouse was not working with which he was going to bell the cat. After all the hurdles, checks and trust the exam started. Where a demo of how to give the exam was given. I wont comment on my exam as I am not sure how it went.

As I said the story is still going on and now people are waiting for results. Earlier it was stated that the results would be declared on 22nd January 2010 but since there was a second phase rescheduled on 30th and 31st January 2010 the dates have been postponed. After that the CAT site kept saying sometime in mid February. Then it got shifted to last week of February. Even the media has gone mad along with the students and to scare the students more TOI published an article that the results would be declared yesterday. And now the helpdesk has started singing a new song which says exam will be declared in the first week of March.

So many petitions signed by people, so many mails sent to the HRD ministry, so many parents complained, so many candidates complained, Orkut’s Bell the Cat has become a active community with so much of CAT discussions. So many things happening but still people say bhaiya aal izz well. With this I end my CAT 2009 online system the CAT story.

P.S. With this I have reached my half century of blogging and hope like Tendulkar I will make a double century soon. :-)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow a wel writen story . Read it in 1 go.intrsting n entertaining.

ankit bhatia said...

"She asked me to put the Vaseline lip guard, the scooty keys and even my non-digital normal watch inside the packet"

I hope you got those things back and prometric guys have not made moolah with those, I think they were right in taking your vaseline away, after-all their video suggests that they wanna be prepared against any terrorist activity as well and who knows you are taking in gelatin bomb in the garb of vaseline lip guard!! :P

abhi said...

wow...it was not just an exam...wow :)

Anonymous said...

nice 1 dear..:)

Anonymous said...

Nice read..
My room mate had an interesting encounter too..
Everything was fine with the exam both times he appeared for it except
first time his vehicle was smashed by a truck and second time he caught chicken pox.
I really wished for him that there was no third retest.

Unknown said...

Well written... richa ji

Sumit said...

Really horrifying experience. Had you waited one more week for this post you would've had a lot more to add about prometrics' "Psycho"metric equivalence.

Saikat said...

Nice account of happenings. Although I was a part of the aspirant community 2 yrs before, was really unaware about things this time. Heard the online thing going down in many places but actually felt it after reading the post.

abhinav said...

well written !!

a_najmi said...

just praying that playing with hope and anxiety of so many aspirants must have instilled some sanity among CAT organizers.. :)