What is PPDT?
PPDT is also called the Picture Perception and Description Test; it is an important part of the SSB Screening Test. This exam is conducted after the Officer Intelligence Rating(OIR) Test. In this exam, aspirants are shown a blurred picture for 30 seconds. They have to carefully look at the picture, observe fine details, identify the character, and note down their gender, their surroundings, their expressions, or their mood. Candidates then have to write a story based on their perception of the picture within 4 minutes.
After completing the story, candidates are divided into groups. Each candidate later gets an opportunity to discuss his/her story before the group. Later, this will be continued with a group discussion, where candidates discuss their individual stories and reach a common story.
But to learn how to identify characters and on what basis we should choose them, here’s a tip:
How to Mark Characters in PPDT?
Candidates should identify characters based on the visible picture. They should write their age, gender, mood, and nearby environment. Here is a given example.
Age - Mention the approximate age, such as 23, 15, etc.
Gender - Mention their specific gender
Mood - positive, negative, or any other
How to Write a PPDT Story?
- Identify the main character and revolve the story around him
- Understand the situation and try to understand what's going on
- Write about the background and give reasons for that particular situation
- Write down how the main character takes action.
- Conclude your story with a meaningful and realistic conclusion.
How to Crack PPDT?
When you sit down to crack PPDT, keep calm. Use the 30 seconds you have to observe the picture. Do not make up a story and do not add unnecessary details. Speak clearly and confidently when you narrate. In the discussion, listen to others, share your ideas respectfully, and work toward a story instead of trying to dominate the group.
Below are 10 PPDT pictures, with sample stories and explanations to help candidates understand the PPDT test.
1st Image
Title - Helping a troubled friend
Sarita is 19 years old girl. She studies in a college near her village. Every day she leaves her home very early, around 6 in the morning, and returns to his village at 6 in the evening. This everyday rush makes her tired. Her college is 3 hours away from her village, which means too much travel time. Today, she missed her bus to her village and was visibly very overwhelmed and tense. Rohit, one of her college friends, saw her sitting and tense. He tried to console her and told her that there is another bus that just started today, and she can catch that bus in half an hour. This bus is really nice, as it will not take much time to reach her village. Sarita is now relieved and thanks Rohit for helping her.
2nd Image
Title - A Rightful Realisation
Lalit is a robber; because of this, he has gone to jail many times. He never feared anyone, and everyone in the town was troubled because of him. One night, as usual, he went for a robbery. He entered a house which looks very lavish from the outside. He entered the house and went directly to the first floor. Unfortunately, one of the rooms was open, and the lights in the room were on. He first hesitated, but later he entered the room and saw one lady was sleeping. He went near the lady; he realised that he had seen her somewhere. He recalled that she was his school classmate, and one day, when he asked the whole class, no one helped. She was the only one who gave him the notes, and because of those notes she passed the class. After identifying her, he felt bad and left the house.
3rd Image
Title - Education is the greatest weapon
Anita was a homemaker, and she lived in a very peaceful village. The village in which she was living had been suffering from a severe drought for the past few years; due to this, she had walked several miles to fill the pots, and because of that, her whole day was ruined. One day, when she was teaching her kids, she found a chapter on water conservation and deforestation. After reading that chapter, she was very curious to know more about this. She went to the local school teacher and told her about these issues. She thought, why not discuss this with the Gram leaders? When she discussed the deteriorating state of the village forests, the water crisis, the bad situation of village women, and the dried ponds, the leaders took that very seriously. They discussed this with the forest department and local ngo’s. All the people took serious reformative action and worked on pond rejuvenation. Their hard work changed the scenario. Anita is now relieved as she can drink water from her village pond.
4th Image
Title - saving a precious life
Mahima is a college professor. One day, when she was coming from her college, she saw that a car had hit a boy on a bicycle. This sudden accident made everyone hyper and fearful. The family in the car was also terrified, but Mahima stopped thinking and immediately called an ambulance. She had a dupatta in her bag; she tied that dupatta around the injured leg. Mahima seated the fallen boy to the side and picked up his fallen bicycle. After a few minutes, an ambulance came to the place of the incident and took the boy to the hospital.
5th Image
Title - Donation for building a future
Jamuna Bai, a 82 year old women. Last year, her nearby village suffered a flood, and all the villagers moved to her village. People somehow or other made their homes, but the kids lost their school, and their parents were fearful that their kids would never be able to study. The nearest school was miles away. Jamuna Bai had a big kothi, but no one apart from her was in the house; she lived alone. When she heard this, she was happy to donate her kothi for the rural children’s education. Because of Jamuna Bai, the kids in her village will get a basic education.
6th Image
Title - The first railway station
Rohit picks up the train to Sitapur from Shyampaur railway station. Every day at 8 AM, the train departs from the station for Sitpur Railway Station and returns at 3 PM the following afternoon. This is the only train that comes to this railway station. And this is the only train departing from Shyampur, as this is Shyampur's first railway station. Rohit and his family in Shyampur are really happy, as after all these years, their village got its first railway station. Earlier, Rohit had to go far to catch a train for Sitapur; now he, his family, and all the villagers are more than happy.
7th Image
Title - A story of two friends
Madhav and Naman are childhood friends. One day, when Madhav visited his village after ages, he saw Naman working in the field. Seeing his friend after years, Madhav went towards Naman. Both friends greeted each other and started talking. Madhav told Naman that he was now working in a big MNC and was settled down in the city, but he expressed his concern over his friend’s situation, as he wasn’t expecting this situation for Naman. Later naman clarified that he is a farm scientist and, after completing his degree, he thought of working on his farmland and helping the other farmers so that they can also grow stronger and healthier crops. He also informed that he educate other about organic farming and also does it. After knowing his friend's side, Madhav felt ashamed and congratulated Naman for his selfless work.
8th Image
Title - Helping the village women
Rita is a 26-year-old Researcher and runs the “Women and Society” NGO. She and her team used to visit local villages for various social campaigns. This time, she went to a nearby Village to research “how climate change is affecting the lives of village women.”
After months of research, she found out that the village women have to go far from the village to fetch water and wood. There are nearly no trees in that village, and all wells are dry. Because of this, women’s bodies are in poor health. She visited the local governance body and urged two important things. First, to establish ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist), who are female workers from the same village who work for public health in rural areas. Second, to work towards planting trees and refilling wells. After 2-3 years, she again visited the same village and was amazed by the changes the local people had made. She visited the wells and ASHA workers, and they thanked her for this change.
9th Image
Title - A Day in the Life of a Bank Employee
Saket is a bank employee; he works at SBI Bank. After coming back home from his office this evening, he tried to inspect what had happened today at his bank. Today, while working on his computer, there was a queue of people who were waiting for their turn in front of him. Suddenly, a huge man abruptly entered the queue, which created chaos among the people. The man came from an influential family and was not ready to wait. Due to the high-pressure environment, Saket requested the man to join the queue, and he would try to work quickly. Later, the surroundings became calm, and he worked quietly. This made him think about how people these days forget civic sense and can’t even wait for a few minutes. People in any country should understand each other and should not disturb the environment.
10th Image
Title - completing the office file
Rima works in a law firm where she assists his senior lawyer, Mr. Kishorechand. Yesterday, her boss told her to complete a business file and place it on his table early in the morning before his arrival. Rima sat till 11 at night, an extra 4 hoan urs to complete the file, but because the file was huge and lengthy, she was unable to complete it that night. The next morning, when his boss arrived at the office, he got angry as he didn’t get the file. He asked Rima about this. Rema didn’t lose her calm and told him about last night and that only 20% of the file was left to be done. Although Mr. Kishorechand wasn’t satisfied, he became happy with the hard work and honesty of Rima. Rima took the file and put it on the table of his boss in an hour.
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