LTGTR New Year Issue by Sahil Mehta

“We don’t need NO education”

TGTR is a youth magazine aimed at providing good solid content written primarily by students and young professionals on a diverse and relevant range of topics, and presented in a simple and humorous manner. Unlike other magazines LTGTR provides a refreshing blend of high quality literature and socially relevant articles which are blatantly honest. The content is neither journalistic nor bookish; rather you shall find it invigorating and stimulating in an otherwise monotonous world. We don’t just present facts; we provide opinions and let you choose the ones you like. LTGTR is “not” a campus magazine. It transcends beyond the boundaries of our college and delves into the psyche of Indian youth. It is an endeavor to provide a common ground for people to express their own ideas and opinions. It is an opportunity for people like me and you to find like other minded individuals in a world where even Facebook and Twitter haven’t been able to reduce our loneliness. Finally it is an attempt to bring back a culture of reading and writing and prove to you that these things are for the masses and not just for the elite. In a trigger-happy world, in an age where the media is known to sensationalize everything, in a culture where “making money” is the only truth, LTGTR is an attempt to bring real journalism and writing. It draws on the ideas of the French revolution “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite” and combines it with inspiration from young revolutionaries who used writing as a way to mobilize the masses. In a world where broken hearts, unfulfilled expectations and death form a major chunk of our thoughts, LTGTR is at attempt to break away and find meaning in life. So I can go ahead and without any regrets state, LTGTR is a not just a magazine, it is a movement of the people. It is a revolution, of sorts, aimed at bringing out the rebels in us, getting them to ask the right questions and find the right answers. Finally it is meant to keep you happy and entertain you. It is meant to keep the good times rolling.

the editorial

THE EDITORIAL

KeepTheFlameBurning SAHIL MEHTA

et’s pause for a moment. I know we’re all in a rush to get back to some lifechanging event or the other, but still, just take a breath. Hold it. Take a look around you, observe the world. Another year has passed. Do you see any change from last year? Did you even pay attention to what happened this year? If you didn’t then this is the perfect time to do so.

to showcase the magnificent rise of Indian economy and our strong values and traditions at the Commonwealth Games. Did we? Every year in the budget, the government makes bold statements about how we are going to achieve phenomenal growth rates and how they will bring prosperity to the people. Then why is it that the number of kids begging on the streets has increased? Why is it, that there is more crime in this country than ever before? Why is it, that kids are more stressed about their futures and careers than at any other point of Indian history? This year saw both great triumphs and great shame, but then why is the only thing in the minds of the Indian public “Sheila” and “Munni”?

Personally, I’ve probably never had a more interesting year. I say interesting, not good or bad, because I am far too short sighted to understand the consequences of my deeds in these past 365 days. Yet I can say with certainty that this year has had at least 2 life changing events for me. But enough about me and you. What about India, what about the world? How has the world fared this year? When 2010 started India was one the fastest countries out of the block post the global meltdown. We seemed ready to break through the speed barrier in terms of growth. We were poised

I recall now a conversation, nay, argument or discussion if you’d like, that four of us team LTGTR people had. We had actually assembled in the middle of our exams to discuss the theme and outlay for this issue. And to write an awesome jobless column, of course. What amazed me is that we eventually came up

insult the millions of people who have stood up for things they believed in.

the editorial

with very little on the issue but went on to have a 3 hour discussion on the challenges that India faced and how there seemed to be no solution to most of them. As Vakul summed it up later, we could have gone on for ages and not reached a conclusion.

One vote can’t elect an honest politician, but it will encourage him. Shows him that there is some support and that next time he might win. Standing up to a corrupt policeman may send you to jail, but it will inspire so many more to join you. Trying to find a solution may frustrate you, but it will give our country so much hope. I am one of this generation. I’ve grown up reading all these idealistic stories in text books only to see all my elders do exactly the opposite. I’ve grown up seeing people ignore their conscience under the pretense of practicality. But no more. This stops now.

Well I have reached a conclusion now. I can already sense the skepticism in you. You don’t really want to believe that some 20 year old could have a solution for so many interlinked and diverse problems. You argue to yourself that when so many governments, scientists and economists have not managed to make as much as a dent to the shell of poverty that engulfs India, anything this boy suggests will be nothing short of preposterous, or even worse, it will be some misplaced idealism of the 19th century. Us kids, we don’t understand anything about how the real world works, do we?

I may not be able to make a big difference in this world, but I’m happy making a small one no matter how much effort it takes. That is what we endeavour to do at LTGTR. And if a bunch of young “jobless” college students can find it in their hearts to have hope, I’m sure you can too.Yes, doing small things individually may not have the desired impact. But not doing anything because no one else is doing anything about it is simply cowardice.I cannot guarantee that we will have a theme for each issue of LTGTR, but I can promise you this - this year we will focus on finding solutions rather than blatantly pointing out our problems and criticising the ones responsible. Optimism shall prevade every issue.

Well, you might be partially right. I probably don’t know how the “real” world works. And yes my solution is not ground breaking. It’s nothing that you don’t already know. But maybe the fault lies with you. Maybe you’ve started to see the world in such a way that you simply accept what is. Things will not change by your constantly criticizing , blaming and swearing at the people responsible and then shrugging off your shoulders to fulfill your domestic obligations. I know not a lot of older people read this magazine, but my question is 2010 has been a year of ups and downs, to those few who do, “Whoever told you that both personally and otherwise. But the one giving up is maturity?” thing I’ve learnt is to keep my head up high. And that’s exactly my solution too. Let’s not 2011 will not be a year when LTGTR simply give up on our country, on this world, and on documents history. This year we write history ourselves just yet. Who says we can’t change with our own actions. There comes a time in things? I could recite thousands of examples every civilization when there is a drastic need of people like Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther for action. I do not claim that we have reached King, Muhammad Yunus and Mother Teresa there yet but there is no point in waiting for who have all single handedly changed the that time to come. This year we work for the course of history. Okay, you’re not one of these greater good. great visionaries, but you surely can be one of ..................................................................................... the millions that stood with these people. By This year we keep the flame arguing that you won’t do anything because burning in our hearts. you can’t change anything on your own, you

The Team!

The following page consists of vital information. Please read before continuing further.

Foreword

y friend Sahil has given you people something to think about hasn’t he, well all these problems are way over my head and I choose to ignore most of them. Doesn’t stop me from cribbing about them once in a while, but ya most of the time I don’t really care. So well to stay consistent with my character I shall skip all the talk about responsibility…etc. etc., and get down to business. What I really want to talk about is the metamorphosis of LTGTR. LTGTR started off sometime in March (to hell with the exact date) by Sahil, Iyer and Rajat. After three issues they dumped the plan and got on with life. Well, that would have been the end of it if Iyer hadn’t insisted on restarting the whole thing again. ( Sigh! I thank the Gods for that, saved me from some serious boredom last sem) Anyway the re-start was a very small affair, the team was just a six friends. The first two issues saw just the six of us writing, also we ripped off a few blogs (Mind you we did take the authors permission :P). Things have surely gotten better since then, we have a proper team working on each issue now. We are slowly trying to introduce more regular columns. The book review and the character personas have been our most consistent columns. Here I would like to request anyone who wants to author a column to please approach us with his/her idea. Well I could go on and on but lets end it here. LTGTR is far from perfect. And perfection is what we are looking for. So all I ask is please read, comment, criticize and contribute. Vakul Mohanty P.S. Wish all the people out there a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The Team!

The People Who Make Up

TeamLTGTR

fter coming out with 8 issues we feel that this is a good time to introduce some of the people involved in starting and bringing out LTGTR. This list is in no way exhaustive and there have been many good Samaritans who have helped us along the way. For now we shall just mention the most promiment contributors. PS – While all of these people are students of the same college, it’s only because we had a common base. We’re always on the lookout for interested people who wish to be a part of this endeavour of ours. We do not discriminate on the basis of whether you are jobless or not :P VAKUL MOHANTY – Okay, now Vakul joined us from the third issue onwards. His joining was a lucky accident for LTGTR since he has gone on to become the mainstay of the magazine. Vakul exhibits in many ways a range and versatility which has become the mark of our generation, a generation in transit. A hard core metal head, he can discuss social causes and sports with the same ease. What strikes me most about Vakul is the no- nonsense approach he takes towards life. FYI he plans to take up research as a career :-O. He also believed in social service, till a little incident happened. Help us bring him back to the light :P KARTHEIK GANESH IYER - What do I say about him? Widely known in the world as “The Potato”, this boy is a true eccentric genius. Our design expert, he is our answer to all the fashion labels of the world. Gifted with an eye for making things look awesome, filled with creativity and possessing a barely matched flair for writing, “the potato” is seriously one of the most talented people I’ve come across. If rebirth does happen, then he is Leonardo DaVinci reborn for sure. He hasn’t been able to showcase the best of his abilities yet but the day this boy’s mood stops following the lunar pattern, he will change the world. VIJAY NARAYAN - Probably the most grammatically correct of us all, Vijay has also been a part of LTGTR right from the start. Vijay combines sensibility with a playfulness that makes sure that he is never boring. As a matter of fact I donno if I’ve had more laughs with anyone else. As for his writing, he writes straight from the heart and does not disguise his feeling. Over the time I’ve known him I’ve seen his writing style evolve and his versatility increase manifold times. An avid lover of music, he has probably listened to most English numbers. Oh! Don’t get him started on Rafael Nadal, he has a PhD there. :P RAJAT KUMAR MISHRA - Many of the readers outside campus might not know him because his name appears rarely inside the magazine but there will be very few inside the campus who would not know him. He is our People Guy. I havent yet met a person who doesn’t like Rajat. One of the most sincere and hard working people on the team, he also does what no one else on the team can; talk to people. Very, very high on the socially concerned scale, he also writes beautiful Hindi poetry. If only he stopped whining. Ah well! We can’t have everything now can we. :P

The Team!

SHRUTHI VISHWANATH – Alright, this girl is pushy, really pushy, but in a good way. Many of the things we’ve tried are thanks to her pushing us. While the scope of her interests is wide, nothing occupies a bigger place in her life than music and in particular Classical Carnatic music. Having trained for many, many years she is now on the verge of breaking into the music scene in Chennai. We believe it’s only a matter of time. Trust me, her voice will blow you away. PRADEEP DAMODARA – This “dooodh”, as he pronounces it, is our latest member. I am not sure if I’m the most qualified person to describe him, but what the hell. This dude is a rock-star all the way. He plays the guitar and the girls go all gaga. Yeah, another music lover. Common thread huh! Anyways, apart from music, he also has this uncanny knack of saying something really funny right out of the blue. Again a very talented writer, he has this amazing particular style of talking which is really infectious. Oh, did I mention, he is a ladies’ man. :P

HASITA KRISHNA – They say looks can be deceiving and with Hasita, I couldn’t agree more. To an outsider, her traditionally good looking face, the elegant and sophisticated dressing sense and the sober expressions that usually rest on her face will probably give the impression of a quiet, serious person. But boy she can be chirpy when she wants to. As a writer, her command over the language is quite extraordinary. The best part though is how personal her articles seem. It adds an extra dimension to her work. Now if only we could figure out what goes on in her head. :P SUKANYA VENKATARAMAN – The youngest of the lot but certainly among the most significant contributors. She is what I think the contemporary woman aspires to be; someone who can seamlessly integrate her traditional Tamilian roots with modern ideology. Always vibrant, always enthusiastic and always ready to take up a challenge, that is how I’ll describe Sukanya. The most vociferous reader, she is the future of this magazine. Only downside, she likes Liverpool :P SANKALP SINGAYAPALLAY – It was a real coup getting this guy on board. Rated by most people on the team as the best writer, Sankalp has the ability to churn out fantastic works of fiction one after the other. The ease with which he puts himself in the shoes of the protagonist and his attention to detail are striking features of his work. As a person, I haven’t had much chance to know him well. But what I have learnt is that do not take him at face value. While often appearing indifferent to things, he really does care about certain things. SAYONEE GHOSH ROY – Last but not the least by any means, Sayonee is probably the quietest person in the meetings and completely different when she gets down to writing stuff. In the little time I’ve known her, I found her to be a very sensible person who gives her opinion where it matters. A very descriptive writer, she came up with the column “In A Character’s Persona” and has been carrying the column since then. Another thing which I just realized is how punctual she is. Only complain, too quiet during the meetings, but then again someone has to act sensible :P So these are the people who make up Team LTGTR. There are many other who have helped us with various things, but I shall not name them here for fear of missing out someone. But let there be no doubts, we appreciate their contributions no less. And who am I? I’m just an ordinary Joe, who works with these awesome people, laughs a lot in their meetings and at the same time is doing whatever lil’ bit he can to make a difference to the world. I could be anybody, I could be you! Till the next issue, adios amigos and hasta la vista baby! Signing off, John Doe

Contents THE NEW YEAR DETOX - Vidya Ramamoorthy THE LITTLE THINGS - Sukanya Venkataraman WHAT’S YOUR RESOLUTION? - Edocsil KENNY MCCORMICK - Sayonee Ghosh Roy Band Review - PINK FLOYD - pradeep damodara HITTING ROCK BOTTOM - shruti shyam BEATRICE AND VIRGIL - sukanya ONE OF INDIA’S BILLION - rajat kumar mishra INDECISION-ISH - pradeep damodara DUDE, SERIOUSLY? - vijay narayan LOOKING FORWARD - soundarya subudhi THE FIRST PLATFORM - sankalp singayapallay ICIDE - kartheik ganesh iyer ON FASHION, GLAM AND EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS - Hasita Band Cover - ALMOST SEPTEMBER - Infernius BEST OF FB PhotoFeature - Things we want changed in 2011 8

9 10 11 12 14 16 18 19 20 21 23 26 28 31 32 36 37

Feature

TheNewYearDetox - VIDYA RAMAMOORTHY

o, this isn’t something I read in the latest that the only ones who actually change the world issue of Femina. It’s just a small DIY project are the ones that are crazy enough to think that I thought I’d share with you in time for the they can? onset of the big two oh one one. If you’ve always wanted to: The merriment of Christmas and New Years’ Eve Spend a whole day walking on a nature trail on is now behind you. Pictures of the various parties your own (or) you attended have been stored, shared and liked online for the whole world and its cousin to see, Write a novel (or) and the countless chocolates you received have Sing in front of a really large crowd (or) been tucked safely away in the fridge (to be secretly * insert crazy wish here *… called upon the day you begin your diet). Do it this year. And maybe this month even, if The bonhomie that manifests itself around this you’re sure you can pull it off. season tends to give way to a bit of soul searching. Every New Year is a chance for us to redeem The bottom line is –You’ve waited long enough. ourselves, wipe the slate clean, and make a fresh Just do it. start. TASK # 4: STAY YOU. The New Year detox is your friend.

People change on the inside with every new experience and every new conversation. While TASK #1: ERASE. you’re out meeting people and being fabulous, Stop living in the past. Let bygones be bygones remember to put your ideals and beliefs first. and don’t hold on to past grudges because the only thing they bring you is an excess of emotional Changing yourself and the way you live is like putting me in a “Control the Caffeine” support baggage. group and having me drink herbal tea or something Travel light. - it just does not work.

TASK #2: BE YOUR OWN SIMON.

I remember reading somewhere about how “We all These are just a few ideas I came up with. Hopefully like Paula on American Idol. If you didn’t sing that it’ll help get the dust off of a weary mind, and make well, she’d tell you what a fantastic stage presence room for a lot of fresh enthusiasm. you have and that you could always score next Cheers, and have a good year! week.” PS: When in doubt, listen to John Denver. It almost We’re all like that sometimes. We are quick to always helps. overlook our own mistakes and gratify ourselves with lots of tiny little ego boosts. Sometimes Save Lady Gaga for the workouts. these gestures get in the way of actual character ........................................................................................ development. Vidya. 19. Taurean. Dreamer by day and even more of a Be a good critic - admit you have flaws - out loud. That done, do everything in your power to work on them.

dreamer by night. Her BFFs are roller coasters, brownies, books and an unhealthy obsession with Tom Felton. Her pet peeves are people who match their nail polish with their outfit every goddamn day and people who believe that ‘lolzzz’ is a word.

TASK #3: MAKE A BUCKET LIST. Dream, and dream big. How often have we read

Feature

TheLittleThings SUKANYA VENKATARAMAN

he story of the little things is well, not little, but is to be told in any case. The little things used to be the little ones which were discovered (when we grew up and started appreciating life) to be big in their own little way. And then came along the internet and blogs, helping proclaim the intellectuals in all of us, and the little things lost their subtleties, and that was one less thing that we had to discover. Saved us the trouble, yes, but there are some things that should only be experienced, not told or laid out in verse (And so the hypocrisy of this article, yes, I am aware). Nonetheless, the little things are still the ones which bring about those little moments of joy that one will remember for a lifetime. So, without trying to sound too preachy, here are some of the little-big things that one should try in 2011 – 1. Watch a really crappy movie with a large group of friends. It’s worth the laugh and the *moments* that’ll be there throughout the movie. 2. Develop a couple of idiosyncrasies, but get over them before they threaten to become a permanent habit. 3. Make a fool of yourself in public. Just once. Its called character building and doing good to the society…no, really. 4. Wake up early enough to watch the sunrise, and watch the sunset… preferably by the beach or on the mountains. And while we are at this, watch the moon on a full moon night through the leaves of a tree, with a reddish hue. It’s beauty like no other…  5. Take off on a completely unplanned journey (Not just of the mind and soul, no). 6. Eat an entire bar of Lindt milk chocolate. There’s a saying which goes – “The best things in life cost 20,000 calories”. 7. Stay up an entire night catching up with/talking to someone you love. Conversations… well, I’m not going to attempt to justify this one. 8. Rediscover an old song/movie/book. It’s introspection, in the subtlest of ways. 9. Help out a complete stranger. You don’t always need a reason to be kind. 10. Finally, try out something completely new. What with the world supposedly ending in 2012(No, let’s not go there. It just really helps as an argument for things like these :P) we don’t really have too much time on our hands now, do we?

Jobless

What’sYour Resolution? - EDOCSIL

ell its December, so I was holed up at home ignoring my parents persistent complains about the loud music I play and scheming. About what u ask? Nothing devious, just plans of extorting enough money in the name of Christmas so that I can buy all that I deem necessary for my existence (that would be a bean bags and stuff like that ). Anyway I was staring an facebook and pondering when I chanced upon a bunch of new year resolutions (people wishing to be 8 pointers this time…study hard…bla…bla…bla..!!!). The gentle critic in me just couldn’t resist the temptation of writing something about New Year resolutions after that (believe me when I emphasize on gentle, some of my dear friends would have been brutal). Anyway here are a few New Year resolution for college students. I didn’t make them up, I found them on some career guide site. Yes I’m jobless and yes they do dish out such crap. So here we go: 8. “I will respect all elders” Let’s see how u can stick to that one?? You will be breaking that resolution right after the first test. 7. “I will not litter” Ahem ahem…I gona steer clear of this one (personal reasons) 6. “I will read more literature” Did u know? Chetan Bhagat’s books don’t really count as literature, and if you are planning to read the twilight series, well may god save your soul. 5. ‘I will lose weight” Seriously, if you have gained weight in college you’re a gluttonous dim wit, with no taste mind you. You are doomed to rot in hell. ( For further info call Dante, he got an express tour of hell.) 4. “I will cut down my expenditures” Hmmm…if u really want to do that I suggest you don’t pay your mess bill. If you’re already employing this divine strategy to boost your coffers this resolution is gona screw your happiness. So best of luck with your miserable life this year. 3. “I will attend classes” I have nothing to say. 2. “I will pay attention in class” All the best buddy, hope you get to class first. 1. “ I will prepare for life after college” Man, pass the first set of minors without cooking up insane plans to annihilate the campus. We can talk about life after college after that. So the moral of this discussion would be: “ Keep your resolutions close to your heart and away from your facebook status updates, saves you from the pain of coming up with innovative excuses when you screw up.”

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Literature

In a character’s persona

KennyMccormick T

- SAYONEE GHOSH ROY

hey say cats have nine lives but Kenny seems to have countless! South Park’s most resilient resident completes the quartet which is the heart and soul of the show. Kenny McCormick is a manifestation of the typical small-town stereotype: “the poor kid”, which entails growing up against the backdrop of a large family, unemployed, alcoholic parents and cold waffles for dinner. He’s friends with his fellow third graders, Stan and Kyle and deigns to acknowledge Cartman solely out of pity. His signature orange parka, drawn tightly at the face, muffles his speech a lot, making him illegible to the adults, but his friends understand him perfectly (when have adults ever understood kids?) But don’t go by his muffle, his words are pretty risqué and he’s a repository of all that concerns the birds and the bees. He enjoys jokes of a scatological nature and is willing to do anything to earn a quick buck

or impress someone. However, the most striking thing about Kenny is his frequency of dying and reappearance with little or no explanation. Episode after episode, it’s been a long standing gag to give us kicks by making him kick the bucket, causing his friends utter that cult-status catchphrase and bring him back to life (I wonder if Ekta Kapoor is a South Park fan?) The show’s creators, Parker and Stone, infact, modeled Kenny on a real-life childhood friend of the same name, financial status, parka and speech characteristics. The flesh and blood Kenny had a tendency to skip school, which Parker and his friends would jokingly construe as his death and then ignore this anomaly, when he resumed attendance a few days later. And this attitude had percolated into South Park’s universe. Which annoys Kenny sometimes, that his buddies take his existence (or non-

As is the norm, behind a lot of pointless drivel peddled by popular culture, there is an underlying facet of the human psyche. Kenny’s deaths have been thoroughly dissected by many, to give it a deeper meaning. Some say the recurring gag is a way of making us feel comfortable with the inevitability of death. But the show doesn’t always treat the subject with frivolity. The sensitive portrayal of the dilemma of euthanizing Kenny earned South Park its first Emmy! But allow me to add my interpretation to the growing list as well. Don’t we all die a death everyday when we face humiliation, obstacles, failures? Death of our hopes, our dreams, our little endeavors. What we should be burying six feet under, instead of ourselves, is all the negativity and the naysayers’ unwanted tripe, and spring back to life again. A fresh start every time, a clean slate until it’s sullied again and allowed to fade into oblivion, by the strength of our will.

it was Cartman who got to play Christ (the tubbiest actor to portray Jesus in the history of the Re-enactment!) but Kenny’s still a Saviour, if you consider his un-muffled alter ego, Mysterion, the unknown protector, who watches over South Park, in the dead of the night.

Literature

existence) for granted.

So no matter how Kenny dies - smashed by a piano, sliced in half by a chainsaw, squished by a descending elevator, syphilis (my, kids grow up so fast these days!) or mistaken by Michael Jackson as his son, he’s the funny phoenix who rises from the ashes of hilarity always. He’s immortal (jealous much, Lord Voldemort?), immortalized through his wirepullers’ wishes as well as the love of his fans. And what can’t Kenny do? Kenny can attend Jewish camp inspite of being a Protestant, Kenny can have more Facebook friends than Stan and Kyle, Kenny can date a fifth grader, Kenny can get under Cartman’s skin, Kenny can…………wait a minute… Kenny? Kenny?

OH MY GOD! THEY KILLED KENNY! THOSE Kenny is actually a Messiah, showing us the BASTARDS!!!!! temporal nature of existence. He’s like Jesus Happy New Year guys! Christ, resurrecting himself every time, for the benefit of his loyal followers….okay so

Lifestyle

BandReview

PinkFloyd

- PRADEEP DAMODARA

psychedelia / saɪkə’diːliə / (noun) [U]

music, and gave people everywhere a genre 1 seeing and hearing things that are not to look up to. A style of music to drown there or do not exist (usually caused due to oneself in. drugs) The band was initially led by Syd Barrett, 2 of bright colors, strange sounds, etc. like then by Roger Waters, and then by Dave those that are experienced when taking Gilmour till it was dissolved in 1994. The line-up may have changed over the years, psychedelic drugs. but the music was always as pure as ever. 3 PINK FLOYD Each album has had its own inherent flavor and elements, but always with the typical ink Floyd was started in the 1960’s backbone of drugged exhilaration. by four university students. Four Now, let’s talk about the music. unassuming guys, one common taste ‘Drugged exhilaration’ isn’t some random in music. They took the world by storm phrase-thing I came up with to sound cool. with their psychedelic, progressive-ish rock Play ‘High Hopes’, lie back and close your

Lifestyle

eyes. Lose yourself in the song. Then you’ll Hopes’, their best tracks IMO. And the overall stop sniggering at my flowery language. You feel of the album is faithful to the band’s will have been enlightened. original flavor of music. A good thing, if you The psychedelia persists through every ask me.

song, but the moods/flavours change The live tour in which the band played perceptibly from album to album… and I’m songs from ‘The Division Bell’, ‘The Darkside not sure how to describe this in words. of the Moon’, and some of their most famous Let’s see… In ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ the tracks was christened ‘Pulse’. WATCH. THE. mood is more mysterious and mellow, CONCERT. ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ is whereas ‘The Darkside of the Moon’ portrays not something you want to miss. a more sinister and morose feel. Similarly, I’ve only covered the more well-known ‘Wish You Were Here’ tends to be dark/ Floyd albums here (read: those which I’ve reflective, while ‘Animals’ feels angry and listened to). So don’t hate me, I’m not special resentful, and is clearly anti-political. like them. And I’m no authority on this. Then comes ‘The Wall’. This album featured Each album has had its own style, but has the songs ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ and always been typical Floyd, with the power ‘Comfortably’. If you haven’t heard them, I to indulge, inflame, or carry you away into a feel sorry for you. They are considered the different world. band’s most famous songs, and arguably (I There are some things you can’t really do contest this) their best. without feeling insufficient, or like you’ve After ‘The Final Cut’, Roger Waters left the missed something important, or you just band, and Gilmour led the group to their didn’t do justice to it. And talking about Pink next album, ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason’. Floyd is one of them. So don’t take my word This album is a slight departure from the for it. Go, download, listen. band’s usual style of music, and I personally Some of you may have gotten high on don’t like it much. A momentary lapse of alcohol. Or on that kick from the first drag reason on their part perhaps. on a smoke. The next album released was ‘The Division Bell’. Ladies and gentlemen, my favourite album. It has ‘Coming Back to Life’ and ‘High

I… have been high on Floyd.

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Lifestyle

HittingRock Bottom

- SHRUTI SHYAM

eep blue sea. Man eating sharks. Poisonous jellyfish. Seaweed that coils around your legs and drags you to the murky depths of the ocean. Those were the visions swimming in my head the day before our first meeting with the scuba diving instructors. To be completely honest, I was petrified. That I had to rely on an oxygen tank to breathe. That we were ,in all probability shark bait ( I’ll admit, watching JAWS a few days before the trip....NOT a good idea .). My cousin, Vijay, my brother, Ashwin and I, had just set camp in Goa. On Day One of the great underwater adventure, we studied and wrote a theory exam. Extremely exciting( Don’t read too much into the last line..Sarcasm is really hard to pull off via text. We had to cheat to pass!). We followed it up with a heavy lunch( needless to say...more exciting than the exam) and underwater lessons in a nine feet deep pool, with two of the most patient people I’ve met, Gary and David, our instructors. We learned to assemble our scuba gear, tanks and signal each other

underwater (again...we just copied one another). We wore wet suits, flippers, masks and snorkels - the whole ensemble, and waddled around the poolside pretending to be graceful ducks. Day Two comprised a combination of painful ears, bloody noses and sharp rocks. With one hand on our masks and the other behind our head, we clumsily back-flipped off the boat into the ocean. Every two seconds, we were instructed to ‘equalize’ (pop our ears) as we descended to the depths of the ocean(did I mention...dark and murky) . There was absolutely no sound underwater, and because of very poor visibility, we were barely able to see more than two metres in any direction. We climbed down the anchor line and explored a ship wreck, the SS MARY which had sunk in 1948, causing the untimely death of it’s captain ( Ill give the guy points for sticking with his ship in its final hour..Dying,however....). We didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of his skull. We did however, notice one thing. Fish tend to swarm towards really old, moldy structures

that have sunk to the ocean bed sixty years ago. Swimming in a group was quite difficult, as we struggled not to bang into each other. Swimming too far away from each other was also a problem because we kept losing each other, and only the flashes of colour of each other’s flippers kept us all (trying to sound dramatic) alive. As we swam with colorful fish, and held sea cucumbers, the pressure gauge in our oxygen tanks dropped from two hundred bars to half it’s capacity and we realized it was time to surface. All the while my nose bled like a leaking tap. Thanks a lot, weak sinuses. A Frooti, banana and many biscuits later, we jumped back into the sea without our equipment. Our tanks and scuba gear were thrown into the water, and we learned how to put everything - weight belts et al, on underwater. We sank back into the depths of the ocean while Gary patiently taught us a variety of underwater skills - removing our masks and clearing the water from it while sitting 13 metres under the surface of the water, removing the regulator out of our mouths( still not sure why one would want to do that!), and ‘buddy breathing’ - offering the other diver your spare regulator in case he ever runs out of air. Forty Five minutes passed like a breeze, and we got back onto Sweet Lips (apparently there’s no pun intended....its the

name of a fish), our comfortable wooden boat, manned by Jockey, our boat man. A fifteen minute boat ride onto the mainland, anchoring the boat onto the beach and unloading our equipment, prepared us to hog like never before. Our afternoon siesta dragged into the evening and before we knew it, Day Three had arrived. Day Three taught us how to navigate underwater using a magnetic compass, and swim against the sea’s stormy current. We encountered crabs, lionfish, angel fish, sweet lips and a lot of angry looking sea urchins, which threatened to poke us with their sharp spikes as we swam past narrow gullies in the sea. We learnt how to hover underwater, and make ourselves buoyant, using our lungs. The instructors took photographs of us trying to stay upright, underwater - the only proof we have that we ever went scuba diving. The day ended with us going back to the diving facility and filling up papers to receive our diving certificates. I am now the proud owner of a diving license, which holds a special place in my wallet. Next underwater mission: Swimming with the whales, Pigeon Island. ................................................................................... Shruti Shyam is a 2nd year student of fashion communication in NIFT, Delhi. Her hobbies include photography, swimming, painting, eating and sleeping(a lot).

Literature

book review BeatriceAnd Virgil

SUKANYA VENKATARAMAN

“ A work of art works because it is true, not because it is real “

o tell you what the book is really about, would be spoiling the whole thing. To tell you that it is about the two characters Beatrice and Virgil, well, that would be an insult to your intellect and mine. But then again, Beatrice and Virgil are the protagonists over here. The only difference is that there isn’t just one Beatrice and one Virgil but there are, or rather were, hundreds of them. The theme is something all of us are familiar with, something all of us unitedly condem but it is shown in such light which describes the exact agony, that it sends shivers down your spine, almost literally. The plot doesn’t unravel until the end but when it does, you realise that the author has been telling you what’s going on right from the beginning. If you have read Yann Martel’s first book, Life of Pi, you would’ve realise that he does get very descriptive, sometimes annoyingly so. But you would also have realised the importance of the description, of creating a scene in the reader’s mind, which is this – The connections are always left to the reader to make. The story is not

blatantly put out. There aren’t surprises that spring up in regular intervals to keep the reader engaged. There are philosophical quotes, a touch of wisdom and a truth about humanity to keep you going and there is ofcourse, curiosity. However, in the end, when things begin to fall into place, you will realise the ingenuity of his writing and storytelling skills. And you would then go back, flip through the pages, and re-emphasize on the connections, delving as deep into them as you would want to. So, in a way, you write the story for yourself and hence need every little detail that he gives you. The story is deep, in so many different levels. It makes you think. But at one point, the only thing that keeps you going is curiosity of what might happen next. It seems like anectodes and metaphors which are food for thought, but why would you read a book of fiction for that anyway? But once you finish the book, you realise that it’s worth it. The story unfolds in a rather beautiful way and and makes us bow down in shame because of how we pretend to understand, when we actually don’t and haven’t. It makes us realise the depth, and the brutality, that was. A must read, most definitely. ..................................................................................

People

ONE OF INDIA’S BILLION Dr.DineshKumarDubey

- RAJAT KUMAR MISHRA

The aim of this column is to tell the extraordinary story of the ordinary people of India, for it is they who make the country. For this edition we interviewed Dr. Dinesh Kumar Dubey. Dr. Dubey currently works as the Chief Veterinary Officer at Maitrty Garden zoo in Bhilai. Dr. Dubey completed his M. Sc. from the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Jabalpur (MP). He then went on to complete his diploma in ‘Endangered Species Management’ from Kent University, UK. Dr. Dubey’s inspiration to work as a vet came from his mother. His mother was a caring person and had deep compassion and love for animals and birds, a love that he inherited. His father was a school principal and was often posted in the remote jungles of Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Dubey thus spent a considerable amount of his childhood in close proximity to the exotic beauty of wild life. His mother and his childhood experiences have gone a long way in moulding him into the man he is now. He fondly recollects the memories of him and

his mother feeding birds, leaving out water for them and observing them for hours together. The emotions he feels are clearly visible in his eyes. Dr. Dubey’s work involves breeding endangered animals in captivity, tending for them and then reintroducing them into the wild. The zoo he works at is also involved in research into various diseases that these animals are prone to. They also strive to generate public awareness regarding the importance of wildlife and get them involved in the wildlife conservation effort. Dr. Dubey describes his work as personally challenging, but adds that his love for animals and will to protect wildlife makes it enjoyable for him. When treating sick animals he has to take utmost care to see to it that the healthy animals aren’t affected. Tending to aged animals is also a challenge. Their needs such as diet, medication etc. require special attention. Also, handling these animals is difficult as old age tends to make them more aggressive. He goes on to say that whenever the animals get sick (especially a lion or a tiger) the whole staff

anesthesia couldn’t be used because of the lion’s bad liver. Dr. Dubey extracted the tooth when the lion was still in its senses. “Yes, danger is there” he says, “but with the necessary precautions one can avoid ugly In the course of his duties, Dr. Dubey has incidents”. He also stresses that there is been involved in several touching as well as no point in being afraid, for fear serves no dangerous incidents. He recounted a few for purpose. our benefit: When asked about the condition of wildlife In the early part of his career he was in India, he says the scenario isn’t as dismal as working in Nandan Van, a zoo in Raipur. A it appears to be. People involved are always lioness was caught and brought there, but alert and ready. The negative publicity by her paw had been badly injured by the trap the media is an insult to the efforts of these used to catch her and the wound had turned people, for it portrays only their failures and septic. She was in a critical condition, but none of their successes.

People

is under immense pressure, for they will need to answer to higher authorities. He appreciates the support of his family, his wife Rajni Dubey and his son, for helping him through thick and thin.

after an operation she was able to recover As we left Dr. Dubey his parting message completely. She (Shankari) later became one was: “Everybody should spend at least some of the oldest lionesses to live in the world time to protect these animals who cannot and passed away 2 months ago. express their pain or sorrow, else we risk On another occasion Dr. Dubey had to treat losing these precious gifts of nature.” a lion with a severe dental infection. However

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Jobless

Indecision-Ish - PRADEEP DAMODARA

What do you do if you know you want something, but until you know what it is, you don’t know what it is you want, so you end up wanting something about which you know nothing, always with the remote possibility that what you want is not what you want? You set out to satisfy this need, but until you know what you’re looking for, you don’t know where to search, so you end up searching for something for which you don’t know where to look, always with the remote possibility that what you’re searching for doesn’t exist. Then you sit and think about the craving, but until you know what you crave, you don’t know what to think about, so you end up pondering on something about which you don’t know what to think, always with the remote possibility that what you’re thinking isn’t what you should be thinking about. Finally, you sit and write down your thoughts, but until you know what you’re thinking, you don’t know what to write about, so you end up scribbling something about which you don’t know what to write, always with the remote possibility that what I’M writing is not what YOU should bother reading. Go find something better to do. :p ....................................................................................................................................................................................

Jobless

Dude,Seriously? - VIJAY NARAYAN

So there I was, sitting at the dining table on a Sunday morning reading the jokes in the paper (say what you will… fat, lazy, orange cats are always hilarious) when I noticed the supplement. You know, the nonsense that gets printed on flashy paper with pictures of supposedly seductive looking B-grade actresses. On said flashy paper, was a rather delightful (for lack of a better word) article named – ‘3 Mistakes of the Decade’ (Apparently a play on the name of some cheap, random book). The author’s name escapes me (predictably, a very forgettable one). I do remember reading about him in the past though. You know, the leader of the NEW breed of Indian authors. One of those IIT and IIM graduates who decided that being investment bankers just wasn’t good enough for them.

And the winners are - (If you like, you can picture Scarlett Johannson or some other blonde bombshell saying this… whatever gets you going) 1 - The Agra Summit (July 2001) 2 - The Godhra Riots (Feb 2002) 3 - The Commonwealth Games 2010 For a variety of reasons, I’ve decided to comment mainly on the last one. Take your pick from the list of reasons: 1- The first two occurred when I was too young to even know or care about what was happening to the country. 2- Generally when there are 3 mistakes/ options...the author intends that the 3rd would be the biggest.

But I digress. The writer decided that at 3- I’m lazy (read point 2). the end of the decade, it was time (and The Commonwealth Games 2010 apparently loads of fun, because the article had a picture of him on the side smiling like A disaster all the way (Yeah... tell that to a 1000 watt advertisement sign) to remind the 101 medals that we won, and all the new the country of its worst mistakes this decade. talent that sprang up) and enough has been

There was rampant corruption, it didn’t change the sporting culture in the country (Again...101 medals, ring any bells?), there were quality and hygiene issues (As you have pointed out in all your books, this is India...what have you come to expect? FYI, Secunderabad railway station is supposed to be the cleanest railway station in India… ever been there?), India got its worst PR in decades internationally (No, the worst PR was when an IIT/IIM graduate decided that he could write well and should therefore... become an author. He actually managed to write 3 or 4 of them!), the government has still not punished the culprits and, frankly, the athletes would have won their medals abroad even if we didn’t host them (we won 101 medals in 2010, 50 in 2006....and since you’ve also mentioned that there has been no change in the sporting culture... I wonder how we managed it…?). Under the garb of good intentions, one of the biggest scams in independent Indian history was executed (Try as I might, I can’t disagree. *sniff*). The only silver lining is that the scam was exposed and it somewhat changed the public’s passive attitude towards corruption. More scams have come out since, and people are following the story, waiting for the culprits to be punished this time. It is an expensive way to fix things, but may still be worth it. (I’m sorry...we’re making headway when it comes to curbing corruption... and it’s still

a mistake? I’m sorry, I’ve lost track of time... since when has corruption NOT been the biggest problem in this country?)

Jobless

said on why it is so (and yet you still keep writing about it). The games cost too much (Printing stuff like that previous line also costs quite a bit, did you know?), most of the world doesn’t even care about them… sure, the US, China, Japan and most of Europe is not part of the Commonwealth. (For someone who keeps writing about how we shouldn’t follow the western countries et al., you seem to really want to do stuff that grabs their attention).

Seriously, how do you call peace talks and communal riots ‘mistakes of the decade’? That’s as bad as saying that Justin Bieber is the ‘Artist of the Century’!! (Ok... I’ll admit... it’s not that bad… but still!). True... they weren’t exactly the happiest times for the country... but to call them mistakes? You want mistakes? I’ll give you some examples. Government not legalizing marijuana. MISTAKE Letting Himesh Reshammiya act. MISTAKE Letting Rakhi ka Swayamvar infect our televisions. MISTAKE Letting the Twilight series release in India. *BIG* MISTAKE

My point being this... you want to be critical of our country, do it in your books. Don’t let it take up precious space in the paper. Just so you know, they could easily have fit pictures of 2 hot models in the space that your article took up. Perhaps even three if they were size zero... Think about that. NOTE TO AUTHOR While the tone of the above article might make you think I don’t like you, I should let you know I’m a huge fan. I’ve got a ‘smashingly’ original idea for a novel that you can write. It’s about a young pale looking girl who gets into IIT. On her first day she falls in love with this hot 10 pointer nerd who turns out to be a vampire.... I’m telling you.... It’s going to be legen.....Keep waiting for it...!! ......................................................................................

Feature

LookingForward - SOUNDARYA SUBUDHI

Standing still, I realize… That here goes another year, Closing in to its expiry date… And thus I reminisce with a tear, Some of the unpleasant events I hate... At this juncture, I have… Terrible incidents to put behind, So many people to forgive, Adverse moments not meant to rewind, But heartfelt apologies to give… Thus looking forward, I resolve... To use everything I learned, In enhancing the New Year, So that all complexities are spurned, Showering peace in this life-sphere...

Bidding goodbye to old sorrows, I take joy… In welcoming a new 365 days package, With new resolutions to fulfill, And new missions to manage, Endorsed with a renewed good-will… Delighting in the new treasures so near, I take a moment here... In wishing that every day, Of this much-awaited year, Reveals a new happiness at bay, To everyone I dear…

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Ciao! This is Sound...oops...I mean ‘Soundarya’.[ I blame my impish friends for this confusion in my very-own-name!] now about me, I am more of a peace loving person and believe in the saying ‘to live and let live’. I fall into the book-worm category which inevitably makes me a harrypotter-and-twilight-crazy- freak and I prefer having few trusted friends around me instead of a big, unreliable gang. I just can’t stand self-centredness but really admire altruism in people. I am a true Cancerian to the core. And just so you know, I love sleeping right through physics classes (I just don’t get that subject!) P.S:- I love purple. Give me anything in purple and I might make you my best-friend :P

TillDeaf DoWePart

Till Deaf Do We Part or Till Deaf as we fondly call it in BPHC is the battle of the bands conducted during PEARL-The cultural fest of BITS Hyderabad. Though just an edition old Till Deaf saw an amazing crowd of musicians perform in its first edition, and the stage has only gotten better. The winner of Till Deaf gets the opportunity to open for Dark Tranquility- pioneers of the Melodic Death Metal. Till Deaf Do We Part promises to be the biggest musical event organized by any college so far in Hyderabad, so be there. Either hit the stage and rock the place or the join the sea of headbanging metalheads \m/. For contact information and other details please look up the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?sk=nf#!/pages/Till-Deaf-do-WePart/106482246083339?v=wall

Fiction

TheFirstPlatform T SANKALKP SINGAYAPALLAY

he little boy waited for the train to pass before he decided to jump onto the tracks and cross to the neighboring platform. As he watched the boy’s shape clamber up, he realized that there was no word in the English language to accurately describe the lad’s appearance. The trousers were torn in several places along the thigh and were unequal in length. In fact, it looked like they were worn the other way around. As the boy got onto the platform, he realized that the left leg had a long scar, from the knee to the ankle and this was why the trousers were worn the way they were; the right side covered until the heel.

Before he could complete surveying the boy, something else in the station caught his attention. For a fleeting moment his eyes were drawn to the sway of a woman’s hand holding her daughter’s. They seemed rather happy, he thought and with a view from behind, he judged the woman to be rather

attractive and the girl to be around ten years old. Her hair was bouncing like it had a mind of its own and seemed like it wanted to get away from the child. He couldn’t understand why anything or anyone would want to get away from the girl. Her carefree aura seemed to be calling him and he almost moved before a random blend of thoughts filled his mind and he realized he needed to focus. He gave the mother-daughter pair one last furtive glance and looked around for the little boy. He wasn’t hard to find as the station was rather empty. It was rather unusual for this time of the day but the realization that it was the New Year dawned on him. He was among the few in the city who didn’t believe in the Gregorian calendar and the day was just like any other. The boy seemed to be looking around the platform for his daily rations. Food stuck to the wrappers or the leftover pieces of chips in a packet, though

A ramshackle of a plan formed in his head as he descended the stairwell onto the platform where he would board the train that would take him to safety. The city, with the police and the child protection groups and other self-righteous groups of people, wasn’t safe for him. He just didn’t know why people couldn’t accept his alternate approach to acquiring a state of inexplicable bliss. The world had to be divided into right and wrong and for some unknown reason he had to be placed in the wrong category. He had to get away, if not for his safety, at least to get the clutter out of his head. There was no reason to suspect that the girl would tell. She seemed to understand his problems and everything that he had experienced. He too had sympathized with her problems and her pitiful state at school and home. She was constantly bickering that he was taking her for granted and was never really empathizing with her. Perhaps, it was a hint he had thought, at something deeper and grander. When he decided to

show her, in his rather unique way, he was reprimanded. He felt there was something wrong with the simple premise on which the world was built and functioned. Nothing in him felt there was a reason to run and hide.

Fiction

little, after scavenging from an eclectic variety of bins, should make for a substantial meal. He looked at his watch and saw that there was more than an hour for his train to reach the station. The boy was frantically looking through a dustbin and it was understandable; there was hardly anyone on the station to eat, waste food and throw it away. As he started walking up the staircase to cross over to the platform, he watched the boy sit down, unsurprisingly on the ground and eat. There was no reason for him not to use the bench as it was empty. Had there already been someone else on the bench, established social conventions would urge street urchins such as him to steer clear of the apparent higher breed of humans who saw fit to use the bench but there was no reason now, apart from the inherent acceptance of his place in the social order as a fundamental truth of nature.

Then again, the hiding was a small price to pay. If he decided to stay back and fight it, the repercussions would be severe. On the other hand, if he ran away for a while, something else would take his place in the muddled minds of the world and he would be safe. But it was the interim that worried him. He wasn’t sure if he could live with the trauma. Logical he might be, but a calm mind wasn’t something he always had but the sight of the boy made something click into place. He fished out a wad of notes from his pocket and offered them to the boy as he walked towards him. He liked dealing in silence. The boy accepted the money and didn’t have the faintest idea what to do with the money. For an hour he just sat on the bench with the boy sitting on the floor looking up at him once in a while and counting the money. An announcement regarding the arrival of his train was made and he stood up. He took hold of the boy’s wrist and walked with him into the train. There was no reason to worry about a ticket; a couple of notes would work fine, just like they did with the boy. As he took his seat, he looked at the boy and thought he should reconsider the joy of the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar; there was going to be a new beginning in his life. ...................................................................................

Fiction

iCide

- KARTHEIK GANESH IYER

zzzâ&#x20AC;Ś.bzzzâ&#x20AC;Śand so on, you get the crushes the fly in her mighty ardor. Having drift. picked up the fly in her traversal across the The noise never really stops. Irreverent, toilet, she proceeded to embed it in the guileless, shameless, the flies continued their nearest available wall, adding one fly to the meandering, like Brownian motion all over tens of thousands already present, some again. Their tiny wings, almost translucent limbless, some wingless, all lifeless. Guided in their intrepid flight across meaningless by an external force, the newspaper did only distances flapping furiously, like there was what she was made to do, for she was no nothing more important than getting across tyrant, nor racketeer; merely one who told to the next target, but could not remember their tales. what it was. The thousand compound eyes flick incessantly, watching for signs of movement, for signs of danger, for even the average run-of-the-mill fruit fly wishes two things, to live to see the coming of the great round ball of fire in the sky, and to be the proud (if late) sire of a new, young batch of fruit flies. Nobody wants to die a virgin. Not even flies.

I sat on the dingy toilet seat and had at the various flying paraphernalia provided for a diverting and engaging experience. After all, shit can be so much more. The newspaper in my hand protested, groaning and sagging under the influence of my many ministrations. Ah, what could I do? They rarely put anything worth reading in it anyways.

A rolled up newspaper comes into sight, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m out, I yell, at the teeming hordes waiting sluggish in its languid path across the general to get in. Poor fellas, asking for a hole to scenery, like that dame titanic herself, and shit in, everybody wanted one these days.

Fiction

I walk past, my sunken eyes going over the effects of last night’s revelry, and of the night before that, and, well, you get the gist. An overpowering odor of cheap perfume and wasted alcohol fills the air, until the sensitive person starts choking in it. Then, to the depressing menagerie of smells you also add putrid vomit. Then you take a deep breath and walk out. I walk down the stairs, tripping over them in my eagerness to conform to gravity’s whims. Outside, the day is what people might have gone as far as to describe ass good. Pleasant, breezy winds ingratiated themselves down your exposed neck, and young dogs chased bitches in heat with undisguised ardour, and this applied to not just the canines. My nether regions itched, and I was thankful that urine itself had antiseptic properties. I found a bicycle nearby, with no lock and a post it on it. ‘G’wan’, it said. ‘This is me bicicyle, don’t yo’touch it. Keep yer bally hands off

me preperties’ or words to that effect. In any case, I removed the note, delicately placed my delicate ass on the cycle’s seat, and pushed off. Mumbai is one of the lord’s own creations, I maintain. Original sin, and all that. Jazz on the bay, too. I cycled through slums and sideways, through dilapidated highways strewn with garbage conforming to all sizes and descriptions, broken bottles of cheap beer, crushed cans of soft drinks, glass shards from broken windowpanes, stained with mustard and kajal, used condoms, unused condoms, leftover food, broken tubelights, spoilt transistors, their leaky batteries contaminating all that was around, plastic bags, newspapers, old examination answer sheets that schools had sold off to the nearby bhel-puri vendors, banana peels, frequently with attached bananas, that dogs leapt upon, fought over territorially and then ate together.

The grand tour continued, and my faculties seemed to be diminishing. I had cycled into unknown, uncharted territories, where even the dogs seemed to think of me as an alien presence. The surroundings bobbed and dimmed, like the feeling one gets, the first time on a ferry with a drunken captain. It seemed very quaint, the people stepped in a lively sort of manner as I approached them at a reckless pace, the traffic signals positively danced as I approached. Even the traffic, with all of its customary hustle stopped to swear in an enthusiastic sort of way as I passed by. The sounds and lights bobbed up and down, twinkling and blurring as i wove my way through a crowded marketplace where the racket was so loud that it reminded me of some very fishy business. I was conscious of a dull ache in my legs, but it didn’t really connect with anything that I was seeing, hearing or smelling. With some horror I realized that I was climbing up a flyover. The whole thing seemed very

placid, as if i was watching somebody else cycle up a flyover. But then again, after three sleepless nights, everything seems like an out of body experience.

Fiction

I cycled though a section of town devoted to the wholesale purchase and subsequent sale of electrical goods, then one that catered to the needs of the rich and poor regarding bathroom fittings and other assorted hindware, then one lane filled with shops, if you could call them that, where people anxious to house their idols could avail themselves of those marble constructions designed to meet such needs. It was a bit ironic, though, that the same shop housed its idols on a humble wooden ledge. I cycled onwards, coming to a derelict shop that contained unfinished sculptures of local politicians, now broken and hollow, some upturned and some burned. No explanation was needed to explain how they got that way. I continued pumping at the pedals till the shop was out of sight. The only construances that remained unblemished were some ganesha idols, waiting for their first lick of paint.

I navigated my way through the whole strip of concrete safely, took a right turn, then a left trn, then another left turn, and one more, and found myself climbing the same flyover again. Soon, I was at the crest, and commenced my downward journey, when I realised that all the traffic had gone absolutely crazy and started their travels in the opposite direction. Stop! I cried, waving my arms and gesticulating in a manner designed to capture attention. This did not seem to affect them much. Indeed, one crazy woman actually shouted at me for cycling on the wrong side of the road. I earnestly contrived to convince her of the dreadful folly on her behalf, but her reticent manner would have put off all but the very best. Well aware of the predicament that I was in, a bus or some similar large vehicle had taken the chance and crept up cunningly behind me, and proceeded to administer a rather forceful impulse concentrated at whatever part of me it could establish contact. Upon impact, the bus seemed to start spinning, as did the flyover, the angry woman, the streetlights, the hungry dogs, an onion on the road and the road itself. With an alacrity I wouldn’t have thought possible of it, the ground rushed up to meet me. As the pain started exerting its presence, and waves of blackness started to wash over me, I remember what it was that had been nagging me all along. ‘Shit’, i thought. ‘this is real. .....................................................................................

Fiction

OnFashion, GlamAnd EverythingThat Matters - HASITA KRISHNA

sit at the dressing table, waiting to be made up. The show will begin in fourteen minutes sharp, they say. Fourteen minutes may seem like a very short period of time, but it is extremely precious in the world of fashion where there is no stopping once you have begun the race. Times like these are the only ones you get to contemplate life, your job and what these mean to you. And so I contemplate-more out of an urge to cash in on the available time than out of necessity. I think of the days when beauty and simplicity were mere reflections of the purity within. I look at my face; maybe one long time ago it had a trace of that simplicity. I look into my eyes and look for the person I’ve grown to believe is me and I’m not sure of that person still exists. Nine minutes. A wave of nostalgia wraps around me like the blanket that I need to keep myself warm now. I think of the simple person that I was. I think of the times when I knew I was beautiful and did not need constant reassurance. I think of the times when I wanted a career in modeling, of how my parents were the only people who believed that I could make it big in this twisted world. But what I remember with utmost clarity is standing at my doorstep, promising my family that I’ll come back soon.

tasted like, or what my sister looked like in a plait. Ten years it has been since work took over, and relationships shifted places like dunes. Three minutes. My makeup man has arrived. As he paints my eyes kohl, I take a long look at myself and try to preserve that bit of me that I’d like to believe is still left in me. Suddenly, sitting here doesn’t seem all that worth it. I have to go out there and bring these clothes to life. I have to make them speak while my own heart struggles to remain silent. Fifteen Seconds. I wait near the opening. My time to contemplate is up. I have to go up there and make a mark in the only world that is now mine. But as I step out to cheering crowds and a ramp that looks fit for a queen’s walk, everything else fades away. All that matters is that the spotlight is on me, and for those few seconds, the world is looking at me. Again, everything begins to make sense. Again, all the glitz and glam seem important, even vital. And yet again, the addiction that kept me here for so long takes over. This is my home.

Welcome to the world of Haute Couture where beauty is only skin deep. Then again, Ten years it has been, and my precious beauty is all that matters and leaves you memories are slipping away. I no longer craving for it all over again. remember what colour I had painted my .................................................................... room’s walls in, or what my mother’s rasam

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AlmostSeptember - INFERNIUS

Almost September is a Hyderabad based band comprising of Himadri Chakroborty - Vocals, Rahul Rumalla - Guitars/Vocals/Backing Vocals, Akhil Kodamanchili - Guitars, Anubhav Mehrotra Bass, Vamsi Pavan - Drums. I first saw the band perform at the IIIT Hyderabad fest in ‘10. With most of the band playing either Thrash or Death their sound was really refreshing. Almost September has some really nice guitar work and an awesome drummer. They also performed at PEARL’10 in BITS Hyderabad, where they won the battle of the bands. Their lyrics also show a high level of maturity. I would personally recommend you to listen to ‘Frieda’, my favorite song. Almost September project themselves as a band that is not bound by the constrains of genre, though they do have a alternative/progressive fell to their songs. You can listen to the songs of their new album on their ReverbNation page. 1- HOW’D YOU GUYS COME UP WITH THE NAME ALMOST SEPTEMBER? HAVE YOU CHANGED THE BAND’S NAME BEFORE? This was supposed to be a band secret of sorts. But once in a while we reveal it. Take your guesses, what’s in a name anyway? No, we’ve never changed the name, we have stuck with Almost September from the start. If you stalked us enough, it would be very obvious. (Please don’t stalk us.) 2- HOW LONG HAVE YOU ALL KNOWN EACH OTHER? HOW DID YOU MEET? ‘Almost’ all of us in the band have played with each other at some point in the last 4 years prior to Almost September. Vamsi and Anubhav played together in Ethereal Rush. Vamsi Anubhav and Himadri were playing together in “Groove Juice”, and when that project lost steam, they were looking to start up a new project. Vamsi and Akhil(ex-Skrypt www.

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reverbnation.com/skryptband) had shared a lot of musical ideas which hadn’t had a chance to be worked on earlier, so he had us all meet up and it took about 15 minutes before we were all more or less committed to forming the band. Our philosophies fell into place very swiftly as well. And when Akhil moved to Canada(to apply and audition for music school), Rahul(who was a freelancing at the point) was brought into the picture. And in the summer the band turned 5 piece for the first time when Akhil was back for vacation. Now most the band is scattered across the lands of the west. 3-WHAT GENRE OF MUSIC DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR WORK TO BE? WHO ARE YOUR MAJOR INFLUENCES? ( BOTH FOREIGN AS WELL AS INDIAN BANDS THAT YOU ADMIRE )

We just write music which seems cool to us at the point of writing it, whatever that maybe. Genre is really for the listeners to decide so they may organize their music libraries. For most artists, clearly, it seems to work out, but for us it was just a restriction. Genres imply too many things and expect certain things from both a sound and image point of view, so we just dont really care for the concept as an everyday thing. As for major influences collectively, it would be Tool, Porcupine Tree, Textures, Animals As Leaders, Guthrie Govan, Incubus and A Perfect Circle. About the bands we admire, there are a few too many to list. But the Indian bands we look up to are Avial, Native Tongue, Thermal And A Quarter, Junkyard Groove, Joint Family, Undying Inc, Zero, Them Clones, Panatella, Buddha’s Babies Blown, Motherjane and Shaair + Func. 4-WHEN DID YOU FORM YOUR BAND? WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE MUSIC TOGETHER? Early summer 2009 was our first meeting. We’re all friends first, band mates second. So we rarely look for inspiration to make music together per se, we just feed off each others ideas that were inspired from where ever they were inspired from and create a sense of motivation for all of us to take the songs forward.

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5- WHAT ARE THE MAIN THEMES OR TOPICS FOR MOST OF YOUR SONGS?

We like to put some thought into the message of the song, and have the whole picture speak whether it is zoomed into or not. We dont impose any of our themes onto the listerners’ own philosophies, but we do have pretty strong opinions and will be as sarcastic as needed . Yin/Yang, Nothing Special, Doppelganger and The Peace song are semi-cynical perspectives on life/society. Dumb n Drummer is definitely one of our most psychedelic songs. Freida and Hug the Cloud are the 2 songs closest to love songs that we have. Yes, we write love songs. The themes of our music are actually very obvious so, the songs that have not been described are for homework. 6- HOW HAS COMPOSING MUSIC TOGETHER AFFECTED YOU GUYS PERSONALLY?/ CONNECTION AND BALANCE BETWEEN YOUR PERSONAL LIVES AND THE SONGS THAT YOU WRITE Our understanding of each other personally as friends and as individual has deepened as we write music together, because all we’re really doing is putting ourselves (opinions, statements, questions, blabbering, irritations etc. all in the language of music) out on the table and deciding how we present all the raw stuff as a whole unit as a band in a song. We’ve definitely had some bad runs, and have chucked about an EP’s worth of material along the way, but all in all the lessons learnt haven’t been forgotten. We attempted to write songs in some weird formats and some weirder ones just didn’t work out, but our next effort will probably be much more farfetched while being more solid from our perspectives for sure and hopefully more recognized. 7-WHICH SONGS DO YOU PERFORM MOST FREQUENTLY? DO YOU EVER PLAY ANY COVERS? DO YOU HAVE A SET PLAY LIST? We play all our songs at every show unless we have a time limit, in which case, we try and maintain a balance between playing songs that we’ve been playing a while and songs that we would have finished more recently that haven’t had much stage time. Covers: a few once in a while. We tend to pick covers either for the challenge that they are to play or/and just how much we enjoy listening/playing them. Covers are a fairly insignificant part of Almost September. 8- HOW DO YOU GUYS REHEARSE AND PRACTICE?

We had a couple of jam rooms along the way, but most of our writing and hang outs(which is super important to build band chemistry, we feel) happened were at Anubhav’s place. There is a silly little software called Pyros drums or something like that, which basically lays out a super lo-fi drum kit on a computer keyboard. Now...guitars/bass vocals are pretty easy to have in a room, but suddenly we had this kit, and vamsi somehow played it pretty much as well as he played the real thing. So, that is how we jammed... a lot! Currently, we’re on hiatus and we have some plans of attempting a long distance band writing process, but more on that when it happens! 9- WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE AS A BAND? Getting laid. We also had some rough times with line up changes, not so much each time, but that we had to deal with about 5-6 line up changes over the year. It’s all part of the package.

Getting laid. Being kick ass buddies and making music. 12- WHEN IT COMES TO LIVE PERFORMANCE WHOM DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST?

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10- WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DIRECTION FOR YOUR BAND?

Porcupine Tree is definitely one of those bands which is way up there. But really, when the music is good AND recognized as good, the performances seem to be best as good supplements! When the performance is any better than the music, then, its not about the music anymore. Which is fine, if they’re not pretending otherwise. 13- WHAT DO U HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE RISE OF POP? Pop is just popular shit(not with a negative connotation). Always been there. Just became exponentially perverted(now its “shit” with a nice dose of negativity) with the advent of technology because now everyone can make music. Everyone is capable of learning what music is about and eventually make it, but not with technology, that’s just bullshit. Assuming ‘music’ to have melody, harmony and rhythm as the main pillars and lyrical content and such being supplements to give music a more obvious meaning in a language we all know, playing around with computer stuff to make a remix or a bunch of random sounds put together with some cool effects isn’t not really making ‘music’(although it CAN be cool! increasingly rarely). Pop is fine, its okay to be pop...its ok to be whatever, really...as long as you are who you are and being honest about it. This brings us back to genres again; 14- ANY LAST WORDS? Are you going to kill us? This is a long distance interview, you know...

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SAVYASACHEE JHA A book and a burger, a friend who is a girl, a bolt of red lightening, and my head a-whirl. ANEESH VARTAKAVI Girls always wanna talk...the problem is they don’t wanna talk about stuff that guys wanna talk about!! BALA KOTESHWAR KOLLURI If there’s something like a Nobel Prize for Crisis Management, no one deserves it more than VVS !!! Take a bow Laxman !!! ANIKET SHARMA Wo bewafa na tha yuhi badnaam ho gaya, Hazaro chahne wale the kis kis se wafa karta.. :P :P SUHAS SRIVASTAVA Initially i was tryin to figure out the exact moment when my life got so fucked up. Den my dad found weed in my bag... TANMAY ZÉ SHAH You’re so stupid that they cant even explain it to you in lame-man terms.. ABHINAV PANDEY Diplomacy : telling someone to “Go to Hell” in such a way, that they look forward to taking the trip :P REVANTH CHAUDHARY rajnikanth gifts santa all his presents !!!!! i hope this one wasnt cracked allready...... # fingers crosed # SHASHANK LAHOTI The best way to kill/hide someone is to EAT THEM! JAHNAVI MEHER 10 years ago the words gay wedding just used to mean a happy marriage!!! ABHILASH MEESALA To the optimist, the glass is half full. To a pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. :P NISHI SEKHAR A flash of brilliance is no guarantee of victory!! SHILP VACHHANI Finally legal eh? hatt....you are never legal in gujarat!!

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photo courtesy - Swagat Yadav

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