Smart Learning : Key to Success

One of my engineering professors used to tell us a story of a sincere student and a practical student and how life differentiates between them when it matters.

A sincere student is the one who reaches classroom before anyone has arrived. He then occupies the first bench and seats exactly opposite to the professor. He takes all the notes in a neat and tidy manner and ensures that none of the classes or statements made by the professor are missed.He also ensures and checks if the teacher has covered entire syllabus.

A practical student is the one who might not take any notes but highlights important points to remember. What he never misses is to listen the teacher with a focused mind, gets his doubts clarified and thinks as he learns..

On the result day, professor finds out that both the students have cleared the exam.

When both the students start working, it’s found that the practical students fare better at the work place.

Sounds interesting. Isn’t it?

The fact of the matter is, sometimes a student needs to understand the depth of subject and not the ticks of the syllabus. Syllabus is for passing the exam but is not the way of life.

The teacher on his part, needs to understand the reality that today’s students are intelligent enough to pass the exams. What he needs to teach them is practicality of the topic and application of the knowledge in real life.

SAP is exactly like that practical way of life. A business user will not give you challenges on the subject you have learnt. Instead, he will come up with an interesting business requirement which as an SAP consultant, you have to correlate with your learning and implement.

A consultant who has an out of box thinking will be more successful than the one who can’t provide a solution because he has never read about it.

Learn to implement the knowledge and not for the exams. Your knowledge is for making a difference to others.

Don’t be bookish sincere ! Be a practical student

&

Keep learning SAP ! Enjoy Transactions! Enjoy the outcomes !

Image Courtesy : pixhere

Disclaimer: The article is a personal opinion and primarily written for students who want to excel in SAP as a career choice and the approach they follow for the certification exams.

Extremely saddened by the demise of the on field Bapu, the great ‘Bapu Nadkarni’.

Bapu as the name suggests was the other name of keeping composure, focus and testing patience of the opponents through his accurate bowling ultimately paving the way for batsman to walk back towards the pavilion.

Some players make a great impact on the game and are remembered even after more than 50 years of retirement. Bapu, as was fondly called was one of those Indian stalwarts who made a difference to Indian cricket when it was overshadowed in a glory called ‘Hockey’.

A typical maharashtrian believing more in his ability than glamour was the core of Bapu’s utility to his team.

A bowler who is applauded for long spells will realise what Bapu must have gone through when he selflessly used to bowl those 40+ overs in a test match.

In the world of IPLs, when a bowler attains greatness with an economy of lesser than 7RPO, here was the man who ended his career with an economy of 1.67 RPO, a rate which will put any modern day great to bow down for this orthodox oldie of the game.

Bapu’s bowling figures of 32-27-5-0 which included a record 21 consecutive maiden overs against Englishmen will still inspire any bowler who wants to be known for his accuracy. Bapu by no means was a mere bowler and has scored a century at the test level as well.

For the record keepers, Bapu played 41 test matches, scored more than 1400 runs and took 88 wickets.

Bapu retired even before people like me were born. But, the impact he created has remained with us forever.

Cricket is called gentleman’s game and probably people like Bapu made the name worthy and justified.

Cricketers like Bapu are born once in a generation and we must feel honoured that he represented Maharashtra and India at the highest level.

RIP Bapu and May your name inspire millions of those aspiring young cricketers for years to come.

Image courtesy: Dainik Bhaskar

Irfan Pathan ! A genuine allrounder winds it up 🙇‍♂️

The fast bowler of the future ! The most talented one to arrive on the scene ! From rags to riches poster boy ! 

He arrived ! He conquered ! He retired ! 

A super talent hung his boots from the cricket scene formally today. 

Irfan Pathan ! 

One of those youth icons has called it quits after 16 years of international cricket, which probably had got over way back in 2012. It might be a prolongation of the zeal, wish or shimmer of hope to represent India that made Irfan continue.

Representing Baroda, Irfan brought in that freshness in India’s dwelling seam attack, first through his looks and then sheer talent comparable to the great Wasim Akram. He proved his talent beyond par in a test match against traditional rivals Pakistan when he took a hattrick in the very first over of the match in Karachi and thanks to Greg Chappell soon made it possible with bat too !

The need of fast bowling allrounder created after Kapil Dev’s exit seemed a reality. But boy ! Some stories don’t last forever.

As they say, the game of cricket is extremely volatile and so is that form. Only few can turn that upside down as dip in the form hits you. Unfortunately for Pathan, it was not to be and the inner fight to be an allrounder or a genuine quickie ultimately resulted in sitting out of the national team. The setback was never overcame and he remained in oblivion for selection to play his last test at a tender age of 24 and few years later last ODI at 28.

IPL and Ranji trophy didn’t help him recuperate his career and ultimate day arrived as he announced his retirement today.

Irfan Pathan deserved more but nonetheless he will always be recalled as one of the greats to represent India at the highest level.

The story has moved to one of the most stylish commentators of recent times and with  command and control over the language, media career seems here to stay. 

Wishing Irfan Pathan, all the very best for his future and thanking him for giving us glorious moments in Indian Cricket.

Disclaimer: The article is a mere expression of a cricket fan in a personal capacity.

Image Courtesy: Cricket Country