Essence of MSQE(Indian Statistical Institute) Entrance Exam

First things first, your preparation needs to be pattern independent and you must solely focus on covering the length & breadth of the Syllabus. That being said, Mathematics & Economics are the two subjects you need to study.

For Mathematics:
Get hold of any JEE level objective book (Check in Amazon from here) and cover the full syllabus of MSQE entrance examination's Mathematics portion

For Microeconomics:
Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach by Varian (Check in Amazon from here)
Intermediate Microeconomics, Test Bank by Varian

For Macroeconomics:
Mankiw's book (Check in Amazon from here)
Dornbusch, Fischer,... (Check in Amazon from here)


Reading the above books is essential but practising the previous year question papers is the most important part of MSQE entrance preparation. You can get it from Indian Statistical Institute's website.

Personal Tip : Go through Amit Goyal Sir's Quora & Youtube Pages


Questions : The Gender

What is Gender?

Mainly the stand you have apropos the gender debate. You could believe in the dichotomous binary definition or buy the 'spectrum of gender' idea. Our own mythology is full of such debates about gender. A good resource on this would be 'Shikhandi: And Other Tales They Don’t Tell You' by Devdutt Pattanaik[Although, I am no way a fan of his works, just a good source to gauge the discussion going around; Read Pattanaik's works with a bagful of salt]. Quoting from it, "...Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife Mahadeva, who became a woman to deliver a devotee's child Chudala, who became a man to enlighten her husband Samavan, who became the wife of his male friend and many more...."


Do you believe in 'Gender Roles'?

Go to any restaurant, after you finish the meal and ask for the cheque, the waiter invariably would slide that towards the eldest male member of the family. This might come of as patriarchy to a lot of people but it seems practical to that waiter. Whether it's about doing the dishes at home, cooking for the folks, earning money, looking after kids/elders, talking to various kinds of outsiders for insurance/investing/etc..., all these activities  seem to be taken care by one particular type of gender. So, that's the premise. Nowadays, all people in their working age are professionals or want to be if the situation is favourable. Under this new paradigm, the relevance of 'gender roles' definitely stokes few debates. 


Is their pay parity?

A lot of feminist & women rights activists are still fighting for equal pay for all the employees in the same job, regardless of gender. Well the nuanced view here would be to understand the extent to which women and men are employed differently. A precursory look in the roles in which men and women are employed would actually make the debate more fruitful. It is to this end, the question urges you to think on. 


What is Feminism?

Though, it seems obvious to almost everyone, ask any feminist few questions on the topic and they would stutter and beat around the bush or resort to male bashing. Well, this might not be the case, universally. So, that's the question, it's similar to asking someone on their views about 'existence of God'.


Is their a connection between liberalism and feminism? 

Not a yes-no question. Think about it!

Questions : Ab Initio

Q. Who do you want to be?

Not just the profession, vocation or any hobby.
This means finding out your stand, your Swadharma(स्वधर्म)! Swadharma loosely translates to swa = own +  dharma = duty.
The idea is similar to what Ikigai(生き甲斐) in Japan means; "a reason for being." At the risk of repeating myself, this is not your job title or whatever you write on your visiting card. I am asking about the reason/cause which makes you live for it. A person with a clear cut स्वधर्म  displayed through his/her conversations, tasks & initiatives is the person who invariably remains perpetually happy.

Q. What is God?

I don't need to explain this question any further


Q. What are your views on Money?

The currency in your wallet, the card you swipe, the SIPs you invest in, etc. The idea is to gauge your love and understanding of money. You could see money as just an enabler but that is for you to decide. Think deep about the places you have kept or invested your money; check whether they are really working for you or you are working for them.


Q. How much Money do you want?

Notice that I didn't use 'need', I have specifically mentioned 'want' so that you can estimate your desires' price. I am not labelling your desires as good or bad.
Money & desires are beyond labels according to me. You could need money for eating, shelter & clothing. Your usage and applicability of money is not merely limited to the above needs. You could have an ambition of becoming an entrepreneur, travelling the world, writing a book(without a job), taking a sabbatical from work, etc.
All these things needless to say, require money.


Q. Do you see yourself accumulating that much wealth? 

Well, now that you have understood the price tag of your aspirations, you need to see if your direction in life is in line with your dreams. Find out how much time it would take to reach there. The piggybank for your dreams is finite and the coins you put inside are of small value but given enough time, it fills. So, see for yourself when the driving force of your life is going to get wheels?

Have you found your Swadharma(स्वधर्म)? Do you see yourself achieving all that you want from life? Do you have enough resources or for that matter money to do that?

Read part 2 & part 3 of this series on Questions :

Questions : The Gender

Questions : Measured Approach




Of Students, Parents & Money

If the people whom you entrust on, betray the very essence of their profession, you know that there is something inherently wrong in our upbringing. India as a nation might be very poor and weak to even consider professional ethics but when you don’t, people who believe in virtuous values lose hope. You kill the generous and innocent souls!

No one needs a course on ethics to let them take their professional decisions wisely; At least, not in one of the noblest professions of teaching.

The very idea of moulding a kid may sound very overwhelming to the genuinely interested and concerned professional teacher. However, few of the stakeholders involved in the process essentially use it as an opportunity to milk their innocence and naivety. Everybody party to such crime milks the growing kid to fill their bank accounts. This is very unnerving.

Teachers in our society are looked on as people who will fulfill the greedy ambitions of ignorant parents. The student generally is unaware about almost everything which awaits him in future. Parents and teachers bear a huge responsibility to make him aware and self-dependent. Every kid must learn to gather knowledge, choose wisely and own their decisions. By not letting the students make their own decisions and enforcing upon them some prejudiced career path, parents and teachers are committing a crime.



Few years ago, a teacher was brainwashing one of the kids. His choice of words was very simple, “What will you do with commerce? Take Science for a bright future”. No, he is not a professional counselor nor did he even consider digging deeper into the psyche of the student. He did not care for his likes, interests and aptitude. What is the motive? It is very simple; his bread depends upon students choosing science, getting into the grind of IIT-JEE coaching which generates revenue. This is not only the problem of teachers but also parents. The inordinate aspirations of parents never stop fuelling the mushrooming of test preparation companies. We are a nation which has falsely internalised that education is the easiest way to be rich and have a comfortable life. It is delusional.

If someone is genuinely interested in studying the concepts of rolling cylinders, hanging pulleys, spinning tops and moving cars, let him study science. If someone would like to bury him down under the weight of reaction mechanisms, let him study science. If someone would love to read calculus, let him study science. If someone wants to study science for entry to the hallowed walls of IIT & other elite engineering colleges, prepare him for the uphill but selfishly foolish task. But not if any of the conditions are not fulfilled.

Just for generating revenue or fulfilling your desires through your child, never force a kid to take a wrong career path. Please, don’t tell me that money excites you to commit such a crime and stop justifying it.

What worries me more is that most of the justification for the wrong career advice by teachers is the motivation of earning money. Is money the only motivator for doing things in the long run? Yes, you need money for survival but not anymore than that. You need a satisfying career to earn money from or just use your time judiciously. As teachers & parents, we must not make our kids money-minded scrooges. We need to have a nobler purpose in life.

Please, don’t make our kids a bunch of opportunist sloths. Let’s teach them first the values & ideals needed to lead a happy and satisfying life.



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