HE MIRAGE OF VAJIRAM & RAVI G.

S IAS COACHING OF DELHI WITH N KARTHIGA STUDENT OF VAJIRAM & RAVI 2011 BATCH OCTOBER SESSION: Long Queues for admission in October for GS PCM batch. A huge crowd gathering around Vajiram and Ravi.. Astronomical fees, but still people willing to join as it's considered the best institute for GS As a student, I encountered the same things two years back when I came from Chennai to Delhi. Though the fees was too high compared to institutes at other places, I joined as everyone said it is the best. But the reality that I faced was totally different what I call as the height of economic, educational and social corruption. I list down the facts for all the three and leave it to you to decide whether you should join or not. Economic Corruption: I wanted to pay by cheque from my salary account of Chennai. Throughout my education, I have paid my fees through cheque. But here, Mr Ravindran, Director refused to accept even a local cheque!!! They accepted only draft or cash. It's very obvious that no one would pay draft as for a figure of around Rs 55000 (GS + Optional), the commission is enormous. So everyone would prefer to pay by cash. And here is where the corruption starts. After paying cash, they give you a manual receipt (and not a computerized or printed..). And, they take back this receipt after the commencement of the class in lieu of the identity card that they issue. Thus, students have no proof of any cash payment and clearly, it is the fuelling of black money economy. There is every reason to believe that the money they receive is possibly unaccounted. The infrastructural facilities there are so bad that it looks like a madhouse. The classes take place in the basement of a building that has been declared unsafe from MCD in view of the building by- laws. That means, it can crumble any time. If it happens, it could be the greatest mishap as there is only one small exit from the class room and no emergency exit there. Plus, being in the basement, there is no ventilation and the situation becomes horrible when the light goes (which normally happens in Delhi) and the AC is switched off. Just imagine 300 students sitting in a hotch - potch conditions with no ventilation and immense humidity and heat.. Yes,. this is the condition that we faced during almost whole six months. But we tolerated all just with a belief that whatever we were taught was going to be useful. But this too was utter false Educational Corruption Now coming to what they teach.. just a minute. Do they really teach? If you think dictating or making you write the material is teaching then yes, they teach. They only make you write and write like a donkey and nothing else, just piling up and making your life difficult. Secondly, in polity, Mr Ravindran dictates at such a fast speed that you end up with a bad hand- writing and not able to read what u wrote finally. And what a stupid reason Ravindran gives Listen. "Instead of me walking along with you, you start running with me. By the end of the class you will develop speed for mains.". Disgusting. Mains Exam requires a speed of just 16- 18 words per minute. But here, they make you write at a speed of 40 wpm. My goodness, a good portion of his lectures are often missed by the students. In almost all the subjects, the material is out of focus. Ravindran teaches polity like Political Science. You just can't figure out what you should write out of his material when a question appears. Finally, he flatly blames the students for not having been able to do so.

Geography starts with Physical Geography. With due respect to Mr Manocha, you can easily figure out after a few class what kind of character he has. He teaches so much of irrelevant physical geography from either mains or prelims point of view that students start getting frustrated after seeing the actual UPSC paper. I bet if you can answer any of the UPSC questions after attending his lectures. The last portions are taken very hurriedly mainly by giving photocopied material. In history, situation is equally worse. They teach you the entire history without telling you how to tackle the questions. The Modern history teacher reads out the questions in the class but never explains how to answer. He also only makes you write the entire history. But the most dismal issue is- there is no time management in history. The modern History teacher started with Ancient History. When he reached Medieval, another Ancient History Professor started coming. After a few days, a Medieval History teacher started coming and believe me, those were focusless boring lecture. As a result, Modern History teacher took the medieval portions hurriedly and started Modern History. But by that time, it was too late, and he could not cover even upto 1942 properly before the Prelims. He took the rest of the classes after prelims, but what was the use??? In Economy, Kathuria Sir was good in teaching, Historybut I could not find any of his material or questions coming in the Prelims. So what was the use? There was a young teacher called Gangadhar, a highly egoist person who claimed to be an IFS and was taking the agriculture and external sector in Indian economy. It was hopeless beyond even expectations. There was not even a single current affairs class before prelims . How pathetic!! when the area covers 50% of the GS prelim paper. It is my objective assessment that in no subject of GS, there is any outstanding teaching . I simply wasted my money but the more precious things that I wasted were my time and energy which I can never recover back. Social Corruption Now a question arises, why at all the students take admission in Vajiram inspite of poor infrastructural facilities and astronomical fees? The place is situated in a crowded market and there is no reading room either. Plus, the local population there is the migrants from North East frontier who came here during partition. Needless to say, in the absence of the institute providing any accommodation facilities, we have to stay as renters in the local people's premises at their mercy Needless to say, they charge exorbitant rents and their behaviour towards outsiders especially south Indians is very exploiting and discriminatory. Inspite of that, I chose to stay there for six terrible months with a hope that I am doing a good job for my career. I mugged up each and every word that I wrote in the class notes and the questions they had given. But to my utter discontent , not even a single direct question came from their notes. I am not exaggerating. It's a fact. The result was, I, along with many, could not clear PT- 2006. There was hopelessness and despair all around. Now let me bluntly raise a point. Most of the students go there with a hope that the questions they give are 'important' from prelims point of view and the questions asked in UPSC are based on what they teach. THIS IS TOTALLY FALSE BEYOND ANY DOUBT. And finally, the behaviour of their staff is too indifferent, insensitive and pathetic. there is no direct number where you can call and get Mr Ravindran and the staff is normally reluctant to transfer line to

him In these two years, I could never get Mr Ravindran on telephone. Just the way you have to meet a bureaucrat, you have to wait in a long queue of students to meet him and yes, his attitude is also truly bureaucratic in nature So friends, you all must be thinking who I am and why I am doing this negative publicity of an institute. Well folks, I am an unsuccessful 2006 candidate who cleared prelims this year and writing mains this October- November. I do not intend to create any negative publicity of Vajiram. I just want to warn the students of the consequences I faced. I am also not an agent of any other coaching institute. Otherwise, I'd have made some positive publicity of that institute as well. I am just a simple individual, who treats IAS aspirants a community. And if you can spend some time and energy in writing this blog without any monetary cost, what's the harm? I have anyways wasted thousands of hrs in hopeless classes and millions of Joules of energy already. So folks, if you have a lot of money, time and energy to waste and you are not serious in clearing prelims in one attempt, then Please Join Vajiram N Karthiga karthiga07@gmail.com