"After working hard, I expected it" says a smiling Pavneet, who was waiting for the results since the midnight of Thursday, 8^th January 2008. When the morning of 9^th January finally dawned, it brought happy tidings for

"I always knew I would score this much",beamed Pavneet Singh Gulyani with confidence, as everybody applauded him for creating history by scoring 100 percentile in CAT prelims. Compliments and accolades are flowing in, but it's his mother's happy tears that Pavneet thinks are the best compliment. "She has played a big role in my success,"he says. While Pavneet's mother Jagjit Kaur works in Punjab National Bank, his father Upinderjit Singh is a retail shopkeeper and his younger brother, a student of Class XII.

With a total score of 215 out 356, Pavneet has now his eyes set on IIM Ahmedabad. Not a believer of burning the midnight oil, the topper says confidence is a must-have attribute.

"Since it's an aptitude test, I studied for three to four hours every day, but made it a point not to overdo it. Moreover, it is just a revision of what we studied in school, so it all depends on how well one practises,"says Pavneet.

Though CAT translates into 'fear' for many aspirants, this winner says that he followed a simple strategy. Reveals Pavneet: "It 's all about common sense. I practised every single format. It was my first attempt at CAT and I knew one need not be super intelligent to crack it. I am an average student who is good at Mathematics but a little weak at Language but my hard work took me to the top. It was not that I studied like mad but I made sure I never let my routine get disrupted," he revealed. Pavneet's preparation, consisting of continuous mock exams, trained him for every possible situation that the surprise-springing CAT is known for. Eventually, it was thinking straight and executing a strategy to perfection that helped him crack the CAT.

"Verbal ability was my weak point and the first look at the paper gave me made me nervous! Since there were 40 questions in the verbal ability (VA) section, it meant nearly more than half of the score would depend on English. But since I was strong in data interpretation (DI) and quantitative ability (QA) I wrapped up both the sections quickly and gave more time to VA. Still, I expected the least score from English," he said.

Adds his mentor Colonel Gurmeet Sethi, the Center Director of PT Education, Chandigarh, where Pavneet underwent his training: "It's not only about aptitude as attitude also matters, and Pavneet's humility and helpful nature kept him grounded throughout."

Say his teachers at PEC: "Pavneet shatters the notion that toppers are good in academics throughout as what could not be seen in his mark sheets came out in this aptitude test." They also feel that Engineering's loss would prove to be Management's gain!!

Adds this budding entrepreneur "Recession, lay-offs, bail-out and stimulus packages have become household words. In a capitalist system, this happens as it did for a brief period in the 1980s," he says. Nevertheless, this final-year mechanical engineering student sees a ray of hope. "I guess there is someone out there making money even in these grim times. Someone like Warren Buffet has faced tougher times than what we are facing today and is still going strong." Pavneet is a strong believer in the power of the domestic economy. "In India, I think recession or slowdown should not last for more than a year or so. In the long run, things will be better and Indian markets could regain their lost position."

It is with this confidence that Pavneet hopes to fulfil his entrepreneurial dreams of bringing quality education to the Chandigarh region. "My focus will be on the education sector and especially on higher education. To begin with, I would like to begin a business school in the region since we lack quality education," he adds.