NID 2021 Topper Interview: Khushi Purohit, AIR 1, says stay focused, be original in ideas

Khushi Purohit topped the NID 2021 exam with All India Rank (AIR) 1 in open category. Know about her NID preparation strategy, success mantra and a lot more. 

Khushi Purohit, who belongs to Jaipur, Rajasthan, bagged AIR 1 by securing 85.5/100 marks in NID DAT Prelims 2021 and 99.94 percentile in NID DAT Mains 2021. Khushi, who has largely grown up in Vadodara, Gujarat, believes that one with a creative, innovative and curious mind can easily crack NID. She is currently pursuing BDes from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. She is an avid learner and likes to read, write, draw and watch movies in her leisure time. She is currently trying her hand at snooker and digital illustrations. 

Shiksha spoke with Khushi where she shared NID Entrance Exam preparation strategy, important books and tips. Read the complete interview below.  

Q. Did you expect to be the topper of NID exam?  

A. I did not expect to qualify for NID Mains 2021, let alone be the topper. I did not see it coming at all. 

Q. Could you tell us about your preparation strategy that helped you crack NID 2021? 

A. My strategy was simple – Prepare for NID the way IITians prepare for JEE. I used to work on something or the other daily, be it sketching or GK or creative thinking. Even when I wanted to take a break I used to go for walks to observe things around me or observe tiny details in movies and read books and all of that helped me in my NID preparation. I was not following a particular timetable or anything, I just used to question everything around me. Why does a lady finger have a hexagonal dissection? Why do hummingbirds fly backward? What if we reach another galaxy someday? Are there aliens? Asking myself such questions helped me tap into my creativity and believe in the power of creation. And that is all you need to crack NID -- a creative, innovative and curious mind. 

Q. Did you take any coaching for NID 2021? 

A. Yes, I took coaching from a private institute, which helped me in my NID preparation. 

Q. Which books or study material did you read to clear the exam? 

A. I consulted books from various design coaching institutes. I also referred to a few books recommended by various platforms such as Shiksha.com. I also read other books such as Gaptopedia and Manorama alongside novels for my personal NID preparation. 

Q. Are there any important topics to score well? 

A. General knowledge is one topic in NID that is by far the most scoring if you have prepared well and watched news regularly. People should not fear it. Even logical and visual reasoning is very scoring -- the MCQ altogether should be given equal priority because that is where you fetch sure-shot marks. Everything else in the paper is subjective and so, you cannot say anything for sure. That is the thing about design exams, there is no correct answer unless it is an MCQ and that makes MCQ the most scoring part of the paper. 

Q. What as per you are the mistakes one should avoid while preparing for the exam? 

A. Don’t stress -- It will only hinder your creativity, having fun while preparing for NID is important. 

Don’t use references -- If you look at ideas before you put your brain to work, it is not your idea and copying anything that is intellectual property of someone else is a crime in the design industry. Also, using references makes you dependent and you cannot be original then. 

Don’t lose focus – It is extremely important to be focused. 

Q. How did you manage time while taking the exam? 

A. My time management technique was simple. If you notice the NID exam pattern, you will realise that if you take a minute per MCQ you are left with twice the time of the marks allotted to drawing questions. NID DAT is a three-hour paper. We have 40 MCQs, so 40 minutes for that. Now, 60 marks means I need 120 minutes more which is two hours. So, I have a buffer of 20 minutes for touch ups, checking, rechecking all of that. 

My time management strategy was do not give more than one minute to an MCQ. In fact, do it as fast as you can and then allot twice the time to the drawing questions in line with their weightage. If it is a six-mark question, try to do it under 12 minutes.  

Q. Which as per you was the most difficult part of NID exam? 

A. The most difficult part of NID 2021 is generating an idea which should be original, unique, hits the brief and is creative. This kind of idea needs time, which you do not have while writing the NID paper. And coming up with solutions without time is difficult. 

Q. How did you deal with your strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the exam? 

A. I worked on my weaknesses during my NID preparation, but ultimately I only played on my strengths. I am pretty bad at sketching but I am great at cartooning. I am not good with painting or colouring, but I am good at pen work so I stuck to my strengths during most of my paper and wherever I felt the need to sketch or colour or shade, I did it a little to enhance my answers because I had practised it. My focus remained on my strengths and ways in which I could project them. 

Q. What other design entrance exams did you take or are planning to take? 

A. I took and qualified both UCEED and NIFT exams. In UCEED, I bagged a rank of 108 in open category and in NIFT, I qualified with a rank around 700. I cannot recall the exact number. 

Q. Was design always your first preference? Why did you think of pursuing your studies in design stream? 

A. Yes, I was pretty clear that I wanted to study design. I will be exploring communication design at large. Design was very much my first preference and I chose this field because I have always had an interest in it and post my career counselling, my reports showed that I also have an aptitude for it. It was a clear cut choice for me.

Q. Any tips for students who are planning to take the exam next year?

A. I would like to tell future aspirants to follow the below mentioned tips to ace the NID exam.

• Observe  everything  in your surroundings 
• Learn  as much as you can. Try  to explore something new everyday 
• Sketch  daily because  it is one thing that cannot be learned overnight 
• Take  up challenges and participate in art and design events 
• Do  not  forget about GAT (General  Ability Test) 
• Do  not  be overconfident about CAT  (Creativity  Ability Test) 
• Explore  yourself and your personality because that’s what you will have to  put on paper 
• Solve  previous  years’  NID  question papers  and analyse  your  mistakes 

Q. What are your future plans?  

A. I am currently pursuing BDes from NID Ahmedabad. After that, I may pursue MBA or enrol in an MDes programme and eventually research. I have not decided on anything in particular yet. I am flexible, I will go wherever the wind takes me. 

Read more: 

• NID Entrance Exam Syllabus 2022 for BDes Admission  
• Colleges accepting NID Entrance Exam Scores for BDes & MDes Courses