A friend in need is #DefinitelyPTE indeed!

Soon after completing my graduation, I was offered an opportunity to study abroad. I was extremely excited and optimistic about it all.

The idea of living in a new place, amidst new people and learning about them, was beginning to proliferate in my heart and got my blood pumping with ecstasy!

I was reminded of all those movies where the protagonist would back off their bags and leave to explore untraveled territories and learn new things.

Those amazing foreign universities which were brimming with opportunities and avenues.

With a heart full of optimism, I began my endless strife to finally reach my university of choice.

Little did I know, that nothing was served on a silver platter in today's era.

The challenges seemed endless. The paper work seemed like I was writing all my semester exams together!

Everyday, when I had a talk with any of my seniors, they would start off with another set of 'To-do's' and again a week would go by in tracking appointments and managing documents.

I was beginning to give up hope with every passing day. Trying to convince my heart, that India was equally good in terms of education and opportunity.

Now, when I look back upon those days, I feel so naive. Giving up on my dreams because of these trivial challenges would have been the most foolish thing to do.

The problem is, in times like these, you need people who can help you in keeping up the optimism. Like those movies, which project only the positive side.
After weeks of paper work, visa inquiries and a lot of appointments that had gone futile came the time when I had to take my compulsory English test.

I had almost prepared myself for another round of confusion and worry. I made a call to one of my seniors and to my delight and relief he told me about PTE. 

English being a universal language, one is supposed to attain a certain level of score in it to be able to join majority of universities abroad. So, someone wishing to go abroad needs to give a language based test and get a desired score.
Needless to say it is one of the most important aspects of one's journey abroad and specially if one is going for the purpose of education as your score plays a significant role in your selection to a particular place.

So, I was obviously anxious about the whole process ad confused as to which test should I chose. 
I eventually chose PTE and #DefinitelyPTE was the best choice.

Pearson Test of English Academic or PTE academic is a computer-based language test that offers candidates the fastest, fairest and most flexible way of proving their English language proficiency for immigration and student visas.

PTE has a shortened and simplified pre and post-test process and is designed to minimise the stress.
Needless to say that it is a computer based and chances of human bias are negligible. 
The results are so quick, just within 5 working days.

PTE exam structure is quite intelligently designed and is not just user friendly but authentic too. 

PTE exam structure

I am sure many of you might be worried about how to prepare for it all before actually giving the test and being able to score good.

So, PTE has prepared mock tests and preparation packages for those of us who need to feel fully confident before preparing for the test. 

I used ptepractice and took timed mock tests which helped me perform much better in the real scenario. Apart from online practice test, they also provide books for in-depth and detailed  preparation to improve ones score. So thankful to PTE for this as it genuinely improved my scores.

Comparson of PTE scores with IELTS and TOEFL

Now, recognition of PTE was as important as anything else. And to my happiness, PTE is identifid by all the major universities throughout the world.

Most of the major universities of Canada, Germany, China, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Malaysia, Poland, UAE and UK accept it. Not to mention the prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, and Imperial College London.
PTE is also accepted for visa purposes in Australia and New Zealand as well. 

The amazing thing is that you need to take the test just once and then on you can send your score directly to any number of universities an countries you want!

I also remember that during this process of preparing and making all documentations correct, I had another set of problems that I faced often.
 They were : Clashing of appointment timings for two things like maybe a test and visa inquiry. 
Another was inflexibility of schedule which lead to chaos on many occasions.

With PTE I never had to face any of this. Thanks to the availability of test which is about 360+ days in a year and 5+ days a week, And it can easily be booked online or through phone. 
The details of which is available on their website HERE @ English Language Test.

The test centres are located in more than 50 countries worldwide and with multiple centres in each. 
In India, it is available in states like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Punjab, Chennai and many more. 

Inspite of all the information available, PTE understands that an exam creats lots of confusion in everybody's mind and if one knows clearly what to expect at a test centre, it eases things to a great extent. So, PTE has released this video which is wonderful and detailed at the same time.

Do check it out to know, what to expect in the test centre.

#DefinitelyPTE helped me in getting a good score on the test and apply to the university of my choice. It came as a friend when I needed things and situations to be understanding and easy for me.


I this span of few months of preparing to go abroad I learnt a few things. One of them was that never give up on your dreams just because you can achieve something else easily.
Also, when we seriously and genuinely set off to achieve our target, it may happen that initially we feel we are alone or helped by no one but as we move in the directions of our dreams, friends and well-wishers join us and guide us. 

PTE came to me as one of those and I will be forever thankful to it for that.

Problems and their positive impact on our life

"This phase, a crossroad

Chaotic yet so still

I look ahead, afar

Waging within, greats wars. 

There seems darkness

Uncertainties clouding in

Coloured bubbles broken

Spirits, shallow and sunken

Bruised, almost consumed

Gathering faith and hope

Worn down of patience

Lonely amongst known relations. 

Gloom piles up on doom

Monotony dances around

In search of better days

Slowly hope drifts, fades". 

We all face crossroads in our life, once or many a times. What one needs to remember however is that troubles don't arrive to disturb or upset you. They arrive to make you grow. Grow into a stronger human being and better version of your own self. 

We all get disheartened when put on a crossroad. We feel 'God, why me'. If we understood the positive impact of problems on our life, we wouldn't think of such a thing. 

We would happily accept all the difficulties bestowed on us and try to emerge out as a powerful and stronger being. 

Now, it may sound ironical to some of you that what positive impact can a problem have on someone? Or what good lies in being on crossroad which simply leaves us Confused and chaotic. Isn't it? 

I will mention in some of them to you today. 

1)A trouble faced is some lesson learnt. This is an age old adage that problems always teach us a lesson. In fact, there is no greater learning experience than learning from our mistakes. 

2)Problems give us inner strength. Just like a disease which resides in our body for a while, weakening us but when it leaves we are healthier than yesterday for it provides us with the immunity to fight against similar diseases in later life. Similarly, problems too leave us healthier and stronger when we grow out of them. 

3)We grow. No, not the physical growth of course. But another positive impact of struggles in our lives is that it helps us grow both mentally and spiritually.

We realise that at times circumstances may leave you helpless but a greater power exists which will heal you out of it. 

4)Spiritual growth is one of the most important and fruitful impact of challenges in our life. For once you grow spiritually, life becomes so much easier and some of the troubles that you tend to attract for yourself will not happen in the first place. 

5)When stuck on a crossroad another thing that we learn is to be humble. Our problems make us understand that we are powerless and every single being is equal. 

We also learn sympathy and realise that every one around is facing their own share of problems.

To sum it up, as Shaun Hick puts it 

"You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun".

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Navigating through our souls...

"Whatever you are physically...male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy--all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside". - Cassandra Clare

Life is strange. It bestows on us new challenges each day. It makes sure that we keep on our toes and the warriors in us never gets tired. 

In this whole process of accepting challenges and fighting with the outside world we sometimes tend to forget our insides. What lies within us. Our souls. 

We fail to understand that no matter the problems we face, the conflicts that go around us, the issues we are forced to tackle, our soul always takes part in our fights. And that is why it is utmost important to nourish and replenish it. 

Replenishing the soul is hard and easy at the same. 

All it requires is a way to navigate through it. A way to seep and extract what goes in and the desires it harbours. 

Our soul isn't timid or weak. It is not even shy. It is simply too modest and too patient. It would never shout or nudge you every now and then to listen or understand its needs. It simply waits. Hopeful, that you will eye through. 

To understand its demands. To accept the realities you have been running from. To accept your own needs. To find the things which make you grow and heal and love

"The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear". -Daniel Defoe

Simply put you need to wade through your inner self. Navigate, trying to ascertain where you are and where you want to be. 

Just like while driving, we navigate to find the direction of a place we want to go. We take the help of technology and also listen to what our impulses say. It is by this collaboration that we are able to find our way with ease.

In a similar way, navigating through our souls is important to locate things which would help us move on the desired path. 

Surprising it is that if you part ways or forget to replenish the soul, life seems to be lost somewhere. 

It really gets difficult to cope up with the hardships and problems. 

We may give it any name. Call it depression, fear, sadness, gloom. All of it are just synonymous to this phenomenon of unnourished soul. 

The moment you understand it and begin to seek solace within, things start to get better. The process of 'soul navigation' is the cure you need. It is all the therapy that is required to bring you back to an equilibrium. To set you back on a healthy and happy life.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.