dayum! | category
Titiksha Rout Graphic Design Intern
She’s super talented and has a lot of beautiful piercings. She has a reason for every single one of them, it’s for her good days and bad days. She enjoys watching the moon, yeah she’s super sane.
Anand Bhat Editorial
AB constantly reminds us about our flaws and by that we mean he pinpointed every single of the 3,962 typos that we made in this magazine.
Mansi Misra Graphic Designer
Graphic Design Intern
Nia’s laptop’s password is friesbeforeguys. We shouldn’t have revealed that. Shit.
Shreyans Jain Co-Forunder
He’s 24 by age and easily 70 by nature which is clear when you see him passionately sing Kishore Kumar songs.
Sreelekshmi Prithviraj
Ashutosh Sharma
Content Writer
Social Media/ Writer
Sree makes way too many grammatical errors for someone who writes for a living. We plan on sending her to a Grammar school sometime next month.
One fine day, if you ever meet us, we’ll tell you a brilliant story about how Ashu fought with a Russian statue. Yes, he fought with a statue and yes, we have videos.
Ammaar Rayed
Anto Philip
Social Media
Co- Founder
While we wrote this, Ammaar was stuck in a massive life changing conundrum. He had to choose between working with his ex or his ex’s nemesis for his group project. Trust us when we say we gave him the right advice.
Anto recently came to us and passionately explained how he wasn’t weird and two seconds later, we saw him do the chicken dance facing a wall.
Shibi Shetty Content Writer
His Instagram bio is BLR | 21 | Ugly and this is a generic funny bio about a person who still finds fart noises very funny.
Harshith Prabhu Content Intern
He’s an intern. He stays at the office even after we’ve left the office and he eats 2 burgers . Ajeeb. Harshith isn’t in this photo because he was too hungover to show up, haha, noob. 3
dayum! dayum! || category Meet The Home Team
Niranjana Nair
Mansi thinks Dayum is colourful diarrhoea and that’s a lot considering she designs this magazine.
P.S for more of our faeces, click on our faces
Psst... we need to talk.
Don’t worry. We ain’t breakin’ up! (yet)
HAPPY 6 MONTH ANNIVERSARY TO US! Yeah, you can judge us. We did it guys, we released 6 successful versions of Dayum and we are here to toot our own horns cause we did not procrastinate on this one!
dayum! | From The Home Team
At Under 25, we believe every single youngster has a voice. The way they express that voice changes from person to person and that’s what makes our youth stand out. Through Dayum, we’ve created a space for every single person in our community to be themselves and be applauded for who they are. This month we covered the best of Dayum and also added in a few surprises! P.S There are links hidden around the magazine, feel free to click and get lit!
ALL THE DOPE: PEOPLE There are youngsters out there who are consistently redefining themselves and as they do so, prove to be an overwhelming source of inspiration to us.
OMG READ
RUM & COKE
It’s not like you pick a book up in this tech world but we suggest you do cause these are some kickass book for you to read when your WiFi dies on you. Yes, that is a possibility.
Drunk stories are absolutely killer, so we wrote about two. Sober, of course. Jk.
A PARALLEL UNIVERSE From Star Wars to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are a few things in common; big budgets and a remarkable journey that lasts years.
OMG WATCH Bae’s home and you need to commit to watching something on Netflix before you “Chill”. No stress son, we’ve got you. We are wing team goals.
BOMBAY IN A ROOM Staying in a hostel room for 7 months straight is pretty exciting, eh? NOT.
VIDEO REALLY DID KILL THE RADIO STAR Music videos ain’t that simple to make and it’s a trend that started ages ago. We’ve spilt all the Tea regarding this in the article!
OMG LISTEN What will you sing in the shower this week? Yes, we know you do. We’ve got a playlist for you.
NETFLIX AND PILL Ever wondered what it’s like to be on a Netflix movie set with Chris Hemsworth?
dayum! | Contents
THE JOURNEY OF UNDER 25 It’s that time of the year again! The Under 25 Summit is HERE! We’d like to tell you how it all started cause it’s been 6 years dude!
dayum! | All The Dope! People
The name “Mahesh” has been in and around the ears of many this year as he dropped his first ever EP “Accept” in September and followed it up with an India tour that he just concluded. Mahesh is currently taking a short break from literally everything at the moment. While on tour with ‘Accept’, he shot 5 music videos, a concert movie and shot some parts of a documentary. So yeah, break well deserved I guess. It’s actually just the calm before the storm. We’ll get to that later, we’ve got a kickass story! Mahesh’s ‘big break’ story is straight outta the movies, it didn’t disappoint us at all! Here goes. Roughly 2 and a half years ago at this friend’s birthday party or ‘gathering’ as he calls it, Mahesh was playing his famous song ‘Sleep’ for the crowd. We think it was one of those instances every musician must’ve faced. Friend to Crowd: “Hey, my friend is a singer” Crowd: “Oooooo, so cool” 1 member from the crowd: “SING!” Whole crowd: SING! SING! SING! SING WOHOOO *Musician shakes head in disapproval but then moves to the stage after too much pressure* These instances are pretty normal, but the one that happened with Mahesh sorta changed his life. Someone shot a video of him singing and put it up on the internet. The next thing he knew was the video went viral online. It amassed around 60k views and 1000 shares on Facebook! Sounds like the TVF’s Humorously Yours Plot, doesn’t it? Like we mentioned before, Mahesh’s ‘hiatus’ is legitimately the calm before the storm. It all begins with the documentary that still is in production which they’re aiming to release in the second half of the year. While we know what the documentary is about and we’re super excited, we won’t tell you cuz we’re horrible people and we want y’all to
find out about it with the world. No, we’re kidding, we just don’t wanna spoil it for you. Mahesh believed that collaborations with everyone are what brought him the taste of success. Especially with the EP, coming from middle-class family, collaborations with everyone made it happen. Even collaborations with people outside the music industry (like us!) are super important for any budding artist. We think that advice is applicable to anyone! Every person advice-giver and stellar musician, Mahesh, everybody!
Mahesh
Raghunandan
In the midst of the hustle, Vishak hasn’t had
the time to go back to live performances as he thinks it’s a whole other ball-game in comparison to a cinema. While it’s obvious he’s comfortable in a comedic role, he wants to go out there and try fitting all kinds of roles before even thinking of creating a niche for himself. He plays a variety of characters in his upcoming films. So guess who’s seeing more of Vishak Nair? ALL OF US!
Vishak Nair
dayum! | All The Dope! People
It’s weird how Vishak got to where he is right now. His interest in film came way back in high school where he did a bunch of short films but it was never about being an actor. Vishak knew films was his calling but believed that it was behind the camera. Only when he reached college and was introduced to theatre did he realize his passion for acting. Is this what they mean by God’s calling? If yes, can somebody please tell me where ours is? He auditioned for the role of ‘Kuppi’ in the film ‘Anandam’ for the fuck of it and ever since he got it, he hasn’t looked back. “The Malayalam film industry has a very strong comedic influence.” The minute we heard that we started jotting down notes. This was gonna be fun! And so, we started there; comedy. Vishak used to be a constant presence at open mics, comedy shows and improv gigs across Chennai, where he used to study. Oh, the things we’d give to see him do a stand-up routine. With a strong background in theatre, it’s safe to say that physical comedy is something that comes pretty naturally to him. Although, the Malayalam film industry had other demands. With Malayali audiences resonating to dialogue-heavy sarcastic comedy, Vishak had to adapt. And that’s what he did. Although he still believes that visual humour hasn’t fully been explored in India, yet. After the success of ‘Anandam’, Vishak has been super busy with multiple other projects, his IG game and his own production house called ‘MadGenius Production’ which he runs with ‘Anandam’ director, Ganesh Raj.
dayum! | All The Dope! People
It was the first of December and the holiday season had just kicked in. Under 25 and Saavn decided to partner up and do something exciting. Go to Echoes of Earth. Not to attend the festival like one would imagine, we decided to have a conversation with a certain youngster way before his set started. Sid Sriram is a lot of things but we decided to keep it super casual, just ask him some of the basics. That is college, love and maaaaybe music (Jk jk, a lot of music). “Music is just something I did every day but I never knew it was like a career path per se, I just knew it was something I was passionate about like second nature almost.� He told us when we asked him how it all started. Most would know him from his famous Tamil hits like Ennodu Nee Irundhaal, Thalli Pogathey, Endhira, Logathu Sundariye, just to name a few. But we know him as this super chill guy who wrote corny poetry back in High School.
Thali Pogathey spread like wildfire! The song clicked and people responded to it well but that’s also when he realized he needs to be around this rush that the industry gave him. He needed to understand the industry a lot more, so being present there was absolutely crucial. As someone who often writes his music, writer’s block is no joke. So, we asked him how he gets over this dilemma and that’s when we discovered his artistic side. “To get over writer’s block I just started doodling and just to turn my mind off and do something that I could do without thinking...really get in touch with my subconscious. Over the last 4 years, I’ve started doing it a lot more. At first to get over writer’s block but then it became a form of creative expression.” Isn’t that amazing, finding talent when another talent is acting a little difficult? He described it as an escape from reality and something he didn’t have to stress about, he didn’t have to worry about getting it wrong either. After the amazing conversation we had with him we realized he’s just a regular guy like you and me which is probably what makes his music and voice super exciting and vulnerable. The interview was a lot longer and there is only so much words can do, but luckily we shot the whole thing! So head to our YouTube channel and watch the whole conversation we had with Sid Sriram in our new segment called College Stories.
dayum! | All The Dope! People
As mentioned earlier he never really took music seriously when it came to a career choice but with time he did and found himself at Berkeley University. That’s right ladies, he did the whole ‘formal’ education thing. “My education was fully in music, I just committed to being a musician”, said Sid Sriram. Moreover, his parents were fully supportive of his choice and encouraged to give in 100%. What about those who didn’t have the same support from their families? Here’s some advice from the man himself; “If you’re hitting that kind of resistance from home, let’s say a family member might be sorta okay with your career choice but your social circles might say “Oh, that’s not a viable career” you just have to buckle down and say “This is what I’m gonna do.”” So question is, did he party and have the ideal college life? You bet he did! He partied all night and had his fun. He lived his moments, made memories and made mistakes but came back to track because of his burning hunger and desire to become a unique musician. It’s all about that driving force and passion. Towards the end of the day, we’ve come to realize that if you want something you’ll probably get it but only if you work towards it. You owe it to yourself. When asked what influences him to write his music, he told us it was all based on experiences, something as simple as being homesick could trigger an emotion that could be made into a song. That’s what brings out the authenticity in his art and music. There are always difficulties when getting into the industry. Initially, even though some of his songs were hits, it wasn’t like he was being bombarded with phone calls from music producers.
Randy Scarhol
Fashion for Randy goes way back in time because she identifies as Trans and clothes were never made for the Trans community. Clothes were always made for a specific gender and that was either male or female. Hence, she is strongly against and is working towards taking gender away from fashion or rather, letting go of the connotation as a whole.
dayum! | All The Dope! People
Growing up, fashion was her escape. It let her be whoever she wanted to be and as she grew up pop culture became an inspiration. Fashion in a way was a way to express herself without giving a shit about the norms. Fashion is always changing and evolving and Randy too is always changing and evolving through fashion. As life passes there are so many changes and emotions she’s felt through the years and her approach to fashion and style has also changed depending on her mind space or physical space.
When it comes to the movie scene, we often talk about the directors, actors and producers, but truth is, there are a lot more people behind the camera who make the movie what is is. Meet Saloni Jain, a costume stylist who has worked on movies like OK Jaanu, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Lust Stories and many many more!. You’d assume a stylist’s job is pretty easy considering all they have to do is make the actor look good, NOT. Saloni told us that reading the script is always the first step. From there a team will make pointers on the actor’s characters and create a characterisation through their style. It’s only after this are the DOP and Director approached, with a presentation showing various looks of the characters and after a few meetings, a trial round with hair and makeup is tested on the actor. Now, that’s a long process! But hold up! This is only for the basic idea. Once the idea and feel is approved, the styling team starts researching and sourcing. Moreover, the actor also needs to relate to the character he is playing and styling plays a huge part in that process.
Saloni Jain
We asked Saloni if she ever has the pressure of getting things wrong, to which her reply was “Pressure is my best friend”. She told us, in this industry you could have a Plan A and a Plan D but things could still go wrong. You might be killing it one minute only to realise you’ve failed another but she works best under pressure. It’s all about the end product. She told us that it’s all worth it when she sees her work on the big screen.
dayum! | All The Dope! People
Growing up around Bollywood movies did not just trigger the love for the movies but also triggered the love for fashion. For Saloni it helped her grow her imagination but never did she think a costume stylist would be on the cards.
“The former first lady is a woman capable of muddying your stance on things you stood firmly against. “ - Afua Hirsh, The Guardian
Everybody wants to know what the people in the White House are up to. For some, it’s all about politics and responsibilities and for others, it’s a mystery. Michelle Obama pins down everything in this book and gets super real. She was the First Lady and boy, was she a great role model without a flinch. She’s relatable and dare we say, can grab your attention by the balls. Imagine. The first Black Family to walk into the White House. A house built by slaves. A House that catered only to the White folk. Suddenly that house was home to the First Black President and his equally powerful wife. This book was a beautiful read and we suggest for you to pick it up the next time you visit a bookstore (jk. amazon.in !)
MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER BY OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE
This book made zero effort when it came to telling you who the serial killer was.
The story revolves around Korede, a nurse at a hospital in Lagos. She is also in love with a doctor (who doesn’t share her feelings) and her go-to person for relief is a coma patient (the irony).Korede also has a sister named Ayoola. She is beautiful, smart and her only problem is (surprise surprise) that she can’t help but kill her boyfriends. It’s definitely worth a read! It’s dark, twisty and super powerful!
dayum! | OMG Read!
The book is about a serial killer (duh) and her sister (double duh) but if you are expecting some slasher/blood bath kinda story, sorry to disappoint you, there isn’t A LOT of that.
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The following article is testimonials from two of the funniest women I have met. They love to drink, they love to talk, and mainly they love to do stupid shit.
dayum! | category
Here is what I gathered from these two women when I mentioned the words
THE
the kind that has 7 drinks down and terrible choices). Our physical life together was super PG-16 (or so, depending on your kink). So guess what?
For the longest time, I saved my flower for the right man. My prince charming, my knight in shining armour, and more such stupid fairy tale nonsense. I even kissed a bunch of frogs and hoped they’d turn into princes but, I was disappointed.
I called him that night. A night that was supposed to be a ‘Girl’s Night’ turned into something I’d like to compare to a terrible chick-flick (or slasher horror film- you will know why in a bit).
VIRGINITY
One such lonely-boring weekend, being the college kid that I was, I decided to pop open a bottle of Old Monk. Your Girl was getting trashed with her friends that night for sure, I thought to myself. A couple of drinks down got my body feeling super restless. It was right after my exams and like the dumbfuck I was, I decided to give in to my body’s demands. So I started slow.
So, he came home and we spoke a little (we were civil like that). After we finished the unnecessary small talk, we decided to do things my parents would disown me for. You know, what I mean... *wink wink nudge nudge*. Long story short, I got my cherry popped that night. I say cherry because there was a lot of blood involved (slasher horror film makes sense now, doesn’t it). Did it hurt, you ask? LOL no. Honestly, I didn’t even feel a thing. Was it the rum/coke or was it the fact that the sex was horrible? I don’t know what was more painful, the fact that I could never make virgin jokes or the fact that I hardly remembered the night. Either way, to serve his ego I told him I had a great time and maybe I did but too bad my brain decided to wipe that part off. Or was it my heart that wiped that bit of?
DANCING.
Now, this seems very safe but
I LOVE DANCING
dayum! | Rum & Coke
It always gets me into a mood and well, I’m not in control of my feelings at this point. So, my body asked for more… I was hooking up with someone at the time (and that, by my definition was the occasional make out session), I’d see him every now and then during nights like these (you know,
Honestly, liver did all the thinking that night.
DUDE,
PASS THAT
JOINT Always been an alcohol person. Never really tried the other forms of intoxication, not that I didn’t want to, it’s just that every time I held a joint my mother would pop into my head saying ‘Oh, first the tattoos, then the drinking and now drugs? Do you want to end up on the streets?’. This was enough to make pass the joint. Now, parties can get a little fun sometimes and you’d understand when people are off doing the drinks and the drugs. Picture this. It’s a Sunday afternoon, the sun is hitting the small of my back and my body starts to let loose. It’s the typical Sunday afternoon; the take out has been ordered and the Netflix show has been picked. That’s right, it was a zero stress afternoon.
so, them coming over wasn’t a big deal. By the time the stoners came home, we were done with our lunch and drinks. I decided to continue drinking cause now we were having a Sunday afternoon party. One of the stoners decided to “peer” pressure me into smoking the joint and in a lot of instances, I would have said no. For some reason, that particular day, I decided to give in (or was it the rum and coke?). Plus, like I mention earlier, it was a Sunday. The odd image of my mother took the day off. I knew how cigarettes worked so smoking a joint wasn’t difficult.
HA PSYCH! After 3 minutes of non-stop coughing, I finally got the hang of it. SO, here’s the what my friends decided to leave out of the ‘How to smoke up for the first time’ talk, ‘The Crossfade’. Mind you, I was a few drinks down and oddly enough, my body responded to 4 drinks the way it would usually respond to 8. Half of my head was booming and the other half was taking a walk in a park. Here’s what my mind felt like when I was crossfading. There were little minions walking from left to right because of the alcohol. Thanks to the devil’s lettuce, there were little minions walking from the front of my head to the back of my head as well. Now, these fuckers meet at the centre of my brain. These minions are also men filled with testosterone and decide to pick a fight right at the centre. Making my head spin.
My roommate and I decided to have a couple of drinks along with our lunch. Our excuse is that we were 20. Our poison of choice was Run and Coke and that’s when it happened, our stoner friends decided to come home. Now, my roommate played with the greens
Finally, I decided to get my system out. I puked for a while and cried for a bit. Once everything was out, I sat with my stoner friends, laughed and said
‘dude, pass that joint.’
dayum! | Rum & Coke
What the fuck, brain?
dayum! | category
We’d firstly like to pay tribute to one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Mr. Stan Lee for inspiring generations that have passed and the generations that will come. Your contribution to the millions of childhoods shall never be forgotten.
Thank you, sir. Rest in Peace. (1922-2018) Excelsior!
ADVISORY: Major spoilers incoming. Now we’re not telling you to read it but come back after you’re done watching everything. Just read it, will you?
Before we begin, picture this. You’re the owner of a massive film production house and while you’re chitchatting with your colleagues, a bald man strolls into your room. He says he’s got an idea that “will revolutionize the way cinema is looked at”. You’ve heard that one before, haven’t you? You let him continue. After all, he’s your spouse’s far off a relative. You don’t wanna be making family dinners awkward now, do you?` As he struggles to switch on the projector in your office, he talks at lengths about how his idea will contain multiple movies that run simultaneously, all under one big tree. He’s saying protagonists and antagonists will join forces to try to take one another down and by now, he’s grabbed your attention by the balls. He shook hands with you and thanked you for your time. It’s been an hour. While you’re still reeking in the thought of what just happened, you kinda signed a deal to not just one movie. You signed a deal that consisted of several movies, over several years. You my friend, just signed a deal to create a shared cinematic universe.
dayum! | Parallel Universe
CUT.
dayum! | Parallel Universe
dayum! | Parallel Universe
“Have You Ever Had Shawarma?” Tony Stark, Avengers (2012)
Marvel absolutely slayed this game! They took full advantage of the fact that they had a lot of time to show each character’s personality trait. With independent films for their lead characters and even for their supporting cast, each character got ample amount of screen time to evolve into the characters that we love so much. While Marvel’s characters are completely fictional (we think), they’re still very fucking relatable. Each one of them have characteristics that we see in ourselves and that’s why we they always hit home. They made us believe that even superheroes have flaws and villains might just have a heart (If you didn’t cry when Thanos pushed Gamora off the cliff, your heart is made of stone). For example, Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008) is seen as the arrogant rich kid with access to whatever he wanted and whenever he wanted it. He had no feelings and no respect for the people around him. He eventually grows into dating Pepper in Iron Man 2 and is seen bonding with Spiderman as if he were his own son.
We kinda miss the arrogant son of a bitch. The last time we saw him in Infinity Wars, he’s seen discussing the thought of a family with Pepper. Something you’d never expect from the Tony Stark who lived. Another remarkable scenario is the growth of Thor. Initially perceived to be a person who’s serious, uptight with a mighty sense of pride and honour, we see a complete turnaround in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). He’s let loose and we finally see past the massive muscles for the soft-hearted cutie that he is! Especially in the famous scene “He’s a friend of work”. While the film usually revolves around different ways superheroes save the day, the conflicts set in these films go way deeper. They are more humane than they seem to be, hence hitting the right chord with us. For example, in Civil War, Captain America has to choose between Iron Man, a friend who’s trying to avenge his parent’s death and Bucky, his long-lost friend who killed Iron Man’s parents. Even Captain America had a really tough decision to make. Either choose to stand for what’s right or stand by a friend. They nailed this emotion in Black Panther (2018) as well. While the villain’s methods may have been radical, many people walked out of cinemas strongly believing in the ideals of Killmonger over Black Panther.
dayum! | Parallel Universe
We’ve all dreamt of waking up with a spider hickey on our neck, haven’t we? Hoping that the next time we rolled our fists, we’d be spitting web to save the universe. Or at least, open the door while sitting on the sofa. With so many characters involved in a shared universe, each character has a distinct characteristic which differentiates them from one another. Apart from their superpowers, of course.
“You Said It Yourself, Bitch!
We’re The Guardians Of The Galaxy” Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014) Hell, we fucking are! Across the world, queues filled with anticipation and excitement just keeps getting larger and larger. The love for cinematic universes is unreal! A bunch of theatrical releases doesn’t suffice the love it’s received over the years. Their culture is now ours, people of earth. Point in case? Marvel. (Duh, bruh) Marvel’s significance began way before the films were ever released, with comic books celebrated by many but, the Marvel cinematic universe has just taken it to the next level.
dayum! | Parallel Universe
With hundreds of comic cons happening each year, thousands of cosplays happening every day and millions of fan theories written every hour, we’ve kinda lost our shit over these fictional characters. With the fan base growing each day, there isn’t any looking back. Guess the guy who pitched to you was right, it had revolutionized the way cinema was looked at. Money well spent, I guess.
dayum! | category
FOUR MORE SHOTS PLEASE Four women, a tight friendship fuelled by loads of truth bombs and vodka. (We could stop here and you’d still go watch it). The show tells us about four young women who wade through various obstacles in life (like marriage, sex, career, sexuality, body image) but crave each other and you guessed it, Vodka! Its funny and keeps you interested and doesn’t disappoint.
dayum! | OMG Watch!
YOU We, *pats ourselves* could have found the next series for you to binge watch the whole day. This psychological thriller will speak to the hopeless romantic side of you or the stalker side (there is no winning here). The story is about how Joe Goldberg chases after what he craves, her name – Beck. He uses every tool at his disposal, goes to any lengths to come close to her (sound familiar? Like any ex, maybe?). But that’s where the similarities end. YOU is bound to get your heart beating faster and make you reconsider your partner choices, just saying.
PERFUME The Germans gave us Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW and beer (Still burping from last night) but we have found another reason to love them but this comes in a brilliantly directed T.V series. A group of six become friends through their intense passion for scent but everything changes when one is brutally murdered (Heart beating faster?). This gripping series, full of twists and turns will keep you hooked until the last second. If you need more motivation then we’ll give you one word, Armpits (If that isn’t motivating we don’t know what is).
This movie is nothing like any Bollywood horror movie ever made! A little boy’s hunt for treasure fuelled by greed and curiosity gives you a totally fresh outlook on treasure hunting and that isn’t even the best part. The treasure is protected by a spirit who awfully sounds like a grandma who’s had helium for breakfast (YAY!). It’s fast paced, scary and has a grandma that sounds like David Beckham, I mean, what more do you want?
dayum! | OMG Watch!
TUMBBAD
COMEDIANS OF THE WORLD 47 comedians from 13 countries, convinced? So hit the lights, get comfortable, tuck yourself in, turn on the phone but the only thing you’ll be pulling out tonight is awesome comedy specials from around the globe that’ll keep you just as satisfied and after your done, you’ll fall asleep with a smile on your face just like the good old days.
dayum! | OMG Watch!
SEX EDUCATION Very few times do we find a comedy show that makes us LOL super hard and think at the same time. If you’ve ever looked back at your childhood and cringed or tripped nuts on the person that you were, well, Sex Education is right up your alley! The show follows a socially awkward high school kid who’s mother is a sex therapist. The kid who btw is a virgin (yes, we know that’s an unnecessary detail) sets up a clinic just to deal with fellow students and their weird biological problems. It was soothing to know most of us had the same problems growing up. The show’s got this unreal sense of relatability, even for people on the other side of the world.
1 hostel. 7 months. 12 beds. 3 washrooms. 4367809 buttcheeks.
dayum! | category
This is the real Bombay.
“How long do you want to stay here for?” “Uh, just for a couple of days, I guess.” ~ 187 days later ~ “I’m leaving tomorrow, I swear. I ain’t lying”. In all fairness, I must have said I’m leaving the next day at least 20 times and must have hidden from them for the next 3 days on each of those occasions. Living by its rules can be a tough ask on oneself. Now that we’re past every writer’s nightmare (i.e) the abstract as shit intro only for clickbait. Let’s back it up a little bit. __ ‘You deserve only the best. We’ll change that’ read an ad by a failing airline the minute I landed at its airport. At 7 AM in the morning, life couldn’t be better. Just my gut constantly telling me that it was never the airline’s intention to make fun of themselves was sadistically so fucking satisfying. Twenty minutes later, I’ve come to the realization that my bag isn’t at the baggage counter anymore.
Karma.
The saying, “life is super unpredictable” is something everyone knows about. I mean, you’ve either googled the saying for an Instagram caption of you standing in front of a car which isn’t yours or it’s happened to you. Until that moment, I was a proud member of the former bunch of losers. You must be asking yourself, where the fuck is this writer going with this shit? He started with him staying at some place he wasn’t really welcome at for 188 days and then he’s staring at ads at an airport. At this point, even he doesn’t know. Read on if you’ve got hope tho. __
dayum! | Bombay In A Room
Moving to a new city is tough; especially if the city is known for its drama, horrible weather and the supreme confidence of its citizens to take shits on railway tracks. Let me introduce myself. I’m hella awkward and anti-social behavior is something I dwell in without any sort of regret. Also, I’m a momma’s boy, through and through. I was told to go live (by my mum, of course) at a backpacker’s hostel until I found a ‘permanent solution’. Lol.
I don’t wanna come off as an bougie bitch as I say the following but man life can be tough for the formerly privileged man. 40 people at average occupied that floor on any given day of the week and the number of washrooms, you ask? 3 showers and 3 commodes. Fucked.
After multiple renditions of my tales from Bombay, I’ve come to the realization that not all of those stories were kickass and hence, here are a few that made the cut. 1. Apologies for my language, but the hostel was constantly filled with annoying dim wit foreigners being all chirpy about everything as they ask irrelevant ass questions about India. It may have been different kinds of tourists but all of them having one question in common.
In short, people didn’t have time to change inside the washrooms so waking up to bare male butts just facing you unfortunately became a norm. Very honestly though, one of the only takeaways I had in sharing bathrooms with multiple people was if god forbid, any idiot left their shower gel in the bathroom that day, it was mine, regardless of how it smelt. There were days I’d smell like rose petals and the other day just plain old half soggy Medimix. By now I’m sure you pretty much know who owned what.
“How do I get to Rajasthan?” “MAP IT BITCH”. “FFS, aren’t we supposed to be the third world country?”
Back I went into my anti-socialite shell. Fucked.
__
Realisation: Middle class cost cutting is legitimately only based only on which luxury they’d like to spend on. For example: While I stole other people’s shower gel, I’d still order myself an entire pizza on Sunday. I may sound fucking cocky as I say this but I can fucking beat your ass at holding my
dayum! | Bombay In A Room
My annoyance comes from the fact that I’d have to constantly strike same conversations with new people as I, was the only constant in an ever-changing society. There was the initial excitement in meeting different people from different parts of the world but it died the second I was seen as a tour guide for many.
piss and taking a two-minute shower. And if you ever see a big piece of shit on the floor of a bathroom and manage to still go ahead and pee cuz god knows when you’ll get to go next, hit me up! __ This one’s sorta on the serious tone. While at the time, I feared I’d lose many, many important things in my life, I look back at it and trip nuts on my bad luck. . After a long day’s work, I strolled into the empty dining area and proceeded towards my room. Only to realize that my bed was taken by somebody else and there was no bed left in the entire hostel.
Say what? She had complained and as I rubbed my eyes and walked towards the hall, I could hear her speak about how there was a man in the “Women Only” dorm.
Except one.
Fucked. Fucked. Fucked. Fucked.
I know I should have reached out to hostel authorities and fixed this but it was 4 AM and I didn’t want to be a bigger nuisance than I already was. This is around day 120 or so. I’ve been asked to leave at least five times by now.
Now, I did apologize to everyone in that room and tried justifying my presence and how I wasn’t really aware of the dorm being only for women. I’d been staying at the hostel for over 4 months now, me genuinely not being aware didn’t really have any suitors.
I casually hopped into the empty bed and before I knew it, I was dreaming and I woke up to this. “Kya bhaiya? Aap idhar kyun soya? Ek ladki ko pasand nahi aaya ki aap idhar soye. Police bulaa rahi hai” (Dafuq’s wrong with you, dipshit. One woman didn’t really like that you crashed here and now she called the cops on your ass)
P O L I C E.
She started yelling at how I made her uncomfortable and my tone flew the roof as well. I mean, trying not to be super subjective here but all I really did was sleep on another bunk, away from hers. Long story short, the cops were never called and it was just another one of those half assed Indian traffic threats. That’s all great but, do you remember how sadistically satisfying that self-depreciative airline ad was? Well, I have another one for you.
dayum! | Bombay In A Room
The woman left the only woman dorm and shifted into the unisex dorm and guess where she slept? In the bunk right below mine. Imagine how awkward that was. Now if I were you, that would be so sadistically satisfying.
VIDEO LY
RADIO REAL STAR
It’s a Sunday afternoon and MTV is running in the background. One of the biggest music videos MTV ever featured, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is playing, leaving hundreds of people confused and wondering what the concept was all about. ‘Is Michael Jackson starring in a horror movie?’ was one of the most common questions being asked as the idea of a conceptualised music video was so bizarre to pop culture fans.
MTV did. By that we mean, they quite literally killed radio. Moreover, MTV’s second ever music video was ‘You Better Run’ by Pat Benatar which was another sly dig by MTV targeting record companies that didn’t believe in the channel. Savagery game on point.
Back in the day, children, teens, adults and even old folks would wait in front of their cable TV for the next big music video or song. Much has changed today with access to music being just a click away.
Although, it wasn’t always like this for MTV. Initially, the idea of a 24-hour music channel was super bizarre. The plan to have a channel positioned as a ‘radio with pictures’ was rejected when the pitch was made at first but, that changed in 1981 when the idea was finally approved. The MTV founder had only 7 months to build the channel as they wanted teenagers and college students to be talking about it that summer. The dream was simple; MTV was supposed to be the only conversation in town. At the time, MTV was only aired in the smaller towns of America and it also showcased a lot of artists and bands that weren’t heard of. Kids would listen and rush to local record shops and grab an album of the artist they heard and saw on MTV. The first music video to air in the summer of 1981 was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, pretty ironic huh? Considering that’s exactly what
Thriller: The music video for Thriller was such a shocking concept because people had never seen anything like this before. It was so scary and Michael Jackson wasn’t even a frightening person at the time. The Library of Congress added it to its National Film Registry in 2009. It’s the first music video in their registry. It was a cultural break. The choreography, costumes and dialogue were all a start to something new and huge.
dayum! | Video Really Killed The Radio Star
MTV had always been one of the largest distributors for music videos and music was always released there first. It was the platform that would either make or break an artist’s career. They’d kill to get a slot on MTV as it was super hard to even be considered to be featured on their platform. It’s hard to even imagine issues like this now. With the power of the internet, music videos are easily uploaded onto YouTube no questions asked.
The grass wasn’t always green for MTV. They lost almost $50 million in their first year and were $1 dollar away from bankruptcy! The channel only showed around 250 music videos every 24 hours at the time and that wasn’t enough to sustain themselves considering record labels spent big bucks on producing these music videos. Music videos add huge value to the artist’s song and sometimes it is what makes the artist’s song go viral. In order to do so, MTV had to be in more homes and needed to be watched a lot more. So you know what they did? They used that $1 they had to get MTV in every home possible, through Mick Jagger. Through multiple strings pulled they finally got hold of Jagger and a meeting regarding an Ad that would feature the Rolling Stones. They offered them the $1 they had and Jagger agreed because well, he loved their confidence. Just like that ‘I want my MTV’ was a commercial aired and everyone wanted it because Jagger was in it. The rest is history. MTV started to change the way the industry was looked at. Sure, the song mattered but so did the act. A music video secured an artist’s image and style. It was the platform to be showcased on. Remember how we mentioned Michael Jackson playing in the background one Sunday afternoon? Well, Michael Jackson struggled to get a slot on MTV as well. In fact, a lot of black artists have had trouble in being showcased on MTV.
dayum! | Video Really Killed The Radio Star
Why? It was the 80s and racism was a whole other issue altogether. But here’s the gossip! CBS had threatened to pull all their artists outta MTV if Jackson was ignored and suddenly Thriller and Billy Jean hit the channel. Coincidence? We think not. With the outbreak of ‘Thriller’ and the hype it followed, people realised the music video industry was no joke. It could be bigger. AS BIG AS A MOVIE! Jackson rocked the fedora and single glove in Billy Jean’s music video which in turn became a look for all his stage shows.
Trevor Horn wrote the song after reading a science fiction story about an opera singer in a world with no sound. The music video aired on MTV on August 1st, 1981 and that’s when MTV knew they were going to make it. The Buggles believed that everything in life is artificial even music and hence Trevor Horn sings in a robotic voice while the instruments were made to give a computerised feel.
The song and music video was charged towards America’s police brutality, gun violence and racism. The song is also sprinkled with ad-libs from some of the most popular black artists likes 21 Savage, Quavo, Young Thug and more. Apparently, the song took a few years to perfect. 80% of the song was completed in 2 hours that is, the main hook. The rest took a tad bit longer.
A world where MTV is great but let’s be real we have the internet. Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’ was a song that released before the music video dropped. Initially it was doing well but then the charts blew after the video was released. A simple concept like a slumber party turned empowerment session was enough to keep the song on charts, but the truth is the video is relatable and real. They aren’t only about the glam and reliability. Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’ released in May which showed a lot of issues America faces currently. From racism to gun violence, it showed us everything through sleek dance moves. The music video was talked about for months and people tried breaking every single easter egg it offered.
Proving that if the content is good, it’s here to stay. Music Videos also help us understand what the artist has in mind. Most artists pitch in when it comes to the ideation behind a music video. So, when your favourite artist drops a new song you tend to go check if they’ve released a music video as well. A song often hits you at all the right places and you kinda-sorta understand what the artist’s been through. Moreover, a music video just increases the passion you feel for the music cause it’s a lot more personalised. Additional quirks include seeing your favourite singer dance (Ed Sheeran in ‘Thinking Out Loud’) or act which in turn ALSO adds to the success of their song.
It made us believe that music videos aren’t just about the Glitz ‘n’ Glam but could be another way to talk to about political and social issues. People are constantly believed to want only funny
Music videos, before the trend started out were strictly a marketing device artists used to promote their music but thanks to MTV’s popularity, people noticed there’s more than just money to the growth of this industry. Music videos have the capability to popularise an artist and even help their career growth. Music videos are no longer just the song and dance, it’s so much more.
content but this music video and song was on top of the charts in the first week of its release.
There are intricate storylines that keep the song and the music video away from each
dayum! | Video Really Killed The Radio Star
Cut to 2018,
like a virgin This song faced a lot of controversies but then again it is Madonna. Some Christian listeners thought Madonna was mocking their faith. Needless to say, Madonna is also another name for the Virgin Mary so we understand their eyebrow raises
other. This has been a trend that’s been going on forever, only that we notice them now since production value has doubled. This results in the final output because only if there’s proper planning will the audience consume the product. Madonna, for example, was only noticed as a talented (sexy) dancer due to her appearance in her music videos. Her music video to her hit song ‘Like a Virgin’ was so scandalous for it’s time it made MTV lose their shit. It was everything MTV was looking for. The power of music and a music video was hyped and shown off. This was also backed up with proof considering her song hit the top of every single chart there ever was.
dayum! | Video Really Killed The Radio Star
For fuck’s sake, we have awards for music videos. Yet, music videos being a dead form of art is a rumour that keeps floating around but it isn’t. It’s like we all know Santa isn’t real but we’d still refer to him a hundred times around Christmas. In the last year, any song that hit the charts has a smashing music video behind it. It also shows the country’s potential (K-pop being one perfect example) in pushing for a music video. The music video industry is only growing and we have more ways of watching the desired video. Social media is one such driving force. Twitter and Instagram is another way people share videos. Now, people also have the power to hate on something they don’t like. In comparison to watching a video on MTV
Panic! At The Disco has a lot of brilliant music videos but their most iconic ones are Say Amen, This is Gospel and Emperor’s New Clothes. Say Amen being the latest of the series, which also BTW is super gory. Firstly, no one realised those three music videos were connected until the internet pointed it out. Not that it was a hidden secret but because they were all released at different times (we talking 3 music videos in the span of 5-6 years) without any context. You’d have to be a strong fan to notice.
back in the day and not liking a clip would only mean switching up the channel but now you can dislike it, hate on it and even report it. Enough to make them want to take it down.
Fans are left wondering what each easter egg in the music video is, they are usually left solving hidden meanings that are scattered around the music video. The song is not even a concern, in fact, sometimes it’s not even connected to the music video apart from the base theme. Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’ has a dark humour narrative, which is something we see in bigger productions but now it’s in a music video that’s about 4 minutes long. Amine’s ‘Red Mercedes’ took another route with their music video by showcasing the racism
boys charlie xcx This is strictly here cause it’s one of the writer’s favourite music videos till date. The whole video sexualises men in the cutest ways possible and sure, that’s what our system is trying to end but Diplo playing with puppies is something you wouldn’t get anywhere else. For god sake have you seen the cast list? There are 62 of the most handsome actors, musicians, activists, influencers and more! It was truly the purest form of the term ‘Cherry of Top’.
dayum! | Video Really Killed The Radio Star
Music videos have been super creative. It’s no longer an idea that’s expanded. It’s more, it involves a screenplay, a director, a kickass budget and a brilliant editor. Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Humble’, ‘Thankyou, Next’ by Ariana Grande, ‘The Gospel’ series by Panic! at the Disco all have amazing sets, production value and a brilliant screenplay.
African-Americans face in America. While the societal norm is something that’s often discussed, Amine addressed it with a humorous twist. Pop stars ignoring their music videos is a myth. This isn’t just in America, look at the budget India has for music videos. From the likes of Badshah to Diljit Dosanjh, everyone’s got kickass music videos. Including fashion, these boys are in high-end fashion from head to toe creating views on YouTube like never before. They are close competitors to Bollywood as well. That’s a fact. They are even allocated movie budgets for crying out loud! That leads us to the final question. What makes a good music video? Well, the concept, the storyline, the set, the treatment, lights, camera, editing and blah blah blah. But the one thing every standout music video has in common is its art direction. It’s the art direction that makes a music video standout. There’s only so much you can do to not let the video look similar to another music video. It’s the art direction that brings out perfection to the theme of the concept.
dayum! | Video Really Killed The Radio Star
Over the last few years, music videos have changed. People think twice before picking up a camera of their choice. Filmmaking isn’t just
about making films, it’s become so much more and the art of creating music videos is now considered as serious filmmaking. A good music director can now make an artist’s career. Britney Spears built her career through her song ‘Oops...I Did it Again’ which surprise surprise has an insane music video for its time. Oh the early 2000s, what a great time to be around! To be very honest, music videos not only tell the story of the song it’s for but also tell the artist’s story. More than what they are, they also showcase what they wish to be. Through their songs, we have a lyrical reference but thanks to music videos we have visuals as well.
APNA TIME AYEGA
dayum! | OMG Listen!
GULLY BOY
SHALLOW
LADY GAGA & BRADLEY COOPER
This song is everything we needed! Ranveer Singh yet again proved that he’s in the industry to stay.
This is a song from the famous movie A Star is Born. Cooper and Gaga’s voices are so beautiful it might just make you cry! It was also nominated for the Grammys and the song won a Golden Globe Award for best Original Song.
SHOTGUN
PROMISES
GEORGE EZRA
CALVIN HARRIS & SAM SMITH
Do you even need convincing? His voice is amazing and he is super cute. Moreover the lyrics to the song definitely make you want to sing along. It is the perfect song to listen to when on a road trip!
Sam Smith is great. We’ve established that, the music video to the song is all about LGBTQ represent! It has this cool documentary vibe along with a lot of fun colours!
MARK RONSON & MILEY CYRUS
Miley Cyrus is back! (She didn’t actually go anywhere though.) This song was absolutely amazing and super fresh compared to a lot of her other songs. Do listen to it cause she’s absolutely nailed it!
SHE MOVE IT LIKE BADSHAH
This is here because @sree_prithvi really likes weird Punjabi music and wants some fake family representation. Team Under 25 is accepting of all kinds of people, even if you’ve got debatable music taste.
LUCKY STRIKE TROYE SIVAN
MUSIC VIDEO AESTHETIC IS EVERYTHING! Troy Sivan will bring out the Tumblr bitch in you! Seriously, how does he subtly drop music and videos like these? He’s pretty low key but this song brought us new highs!
FUTURE LIKE (EP) NO HONEY
Upcoming band No Honey just released their first EP- Future Like, and we suggest you get on Spotify right now and listen to it. The EP is definitely a mood. It has songs you could listen to when you wake up in the morning and songs you could sway to in the evenings.
dayum! | OMG Listen!
NOTHING BREAKS LIKE A HEART
MERE GULLY MEIN
BOO’D UP
Everytime Shibi raps this song, he feels closer to Naezy and Divine. This is a track from their earlier days and boii it really takes you the gully! Indian hip hop culture is bigger than you think and its getting bigger.
Ladies! If you wake up one morning feelin’ like making some pancakes and great coffee, this is the song you need to listen to while dancing in your kitchen. Chances are you’ll end up making a mess and mostly order in but hey! You had a great dance sesh.
SUNFLOWER
CHLORINE
DIVINE AND NAEZY
dayum! | OMG Listen!
POST MALONE, SWAE LEE
For those who’ve watched the movie probably recognise this one. For those who haven’t the music video will give you a little glimpse of how cool the movie is! Moreover this song this super feel good and exhibits a whole lotta great vibes!
ELLA MAI
TWENTY ONE PILOTS
This song really sends you to places. Weirdly enough it is super relatable and painful. The basic message is to cleanse yourself from the ‘fake you’ and bring out the real you. Be true to yourself fam!
A
20 something year old’s
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memoirs from a Netflix set.
and pill.
“We can’t fuck this up, we got only one more truck left!” - Safety Sam
If you’re an Indian, what could be worse than Demonetisation, poverty, gender issues and political instability? Let me tell you, it’s definitely telling your mom you won’t be coming home for Diwali when you’ve been away a long time.
What did I do to work for a Netflix project starring Chris Hemsworth? Replied to a DM, with my eyes half open.
My biggest takeaway from this; sometimes life, instead of lemons, gives you champagne. Little did I know, that this champagne was being distributed in a state where liquor consumption is prohibited. Ahmedabad was calling! These are those great moments you want to cherish in your life, the moment where you feel you’ve made it. Three years of middle class mediocre media degree, had finally paid off. I met sinusitis on my flight to Ahmedabad, eyes filled with tears and a flinching headache, such was my welcome. Should’ve known it was a sign, for everything yet to come We’re all suckers for clichés. You’re lying if you haven’t imagined yourself to be the greatest and the most important person in certain situations. You start making up
situations in your head, place yourself in them, and somehow end up triumphing against all odds. The only difference is Rohit Shetty makes a movie out of these thoughts when he has them, while you’re still stalking your crush on Instagram. The point being, one DM, a one way flight ticket and a driver waiting for me at the airport, made me feel like I’d probably be one of the most important people in the entire project. Yes, logically a production assistant is the most important person, the director can just go fuck himself. At this point if you still don’t realise that I’m being sarcastic then you must know you should just stop trying to have a career in the film industry.
dayum! | Netflix And Pills
When you gotta choose between a Hindu festival or seeing a fictional white superhero on a Netflix set, the average 20 something year old Indian will choose the latter. In this case, the average 20 something year old being me, made the most obvious choice.
No, I was not the most, second most, or even the 1000th most important person on the set. Initially, I felt like if a zombie apocalypse had to happen, the zombies would spare me because they would find other “useful” people on the set to fuck with. Post few days, my big takeaway number 2 would happen; there’s no one who’s less or more important on a film set, everyone is equally important. This point gets validated x45 million times if you’re shooting with a majorly white crew in India and the guy with the mosquito repellent went missing. Chandan = Chris on set. At this point if you’re thinking I’m being sarcastic, then both Chandan & Chris > you.
Big takeaway number 3, sometimes you gotta be shameless, ask for that picture or an autograph. But obviously, by doing it at the right place and time. If he/she still says no, publicise and brand them as an arrogant celebrity. If you’re reading this and still don’t understand the sarcasm, you should know, nobody is asking you for an autograph or a photograph ever in your life.
dayum! | Netflix And Pills
Anti-ageing creams are a fucking sham! That shit isn’t real, when was the last time you heard an ointment defy all laws of existence and science? Stop buying that shit people!
I believe there’s only two things which are the most difficult in life. #1. Refilling a toothpaste tube with all the toothpaste you’ve squeezed out. #2. Pretending not to give a fuck when Chris Hemsworth’s right next to you. You see, if this was Salman or Shah Rukh or any brown actor, I wouldn’t actually give a lot of fucks, but then, as brown people, we have a strong weakness when it comes to the white complexion. I’m not sure if it’s because the British fucked us up so bad that we actually still like it. All I ever wanted was to be a basic fanboy. But I decided, for the sake of my country and brown representation, I’d be normal around him. (I cried a little the day Chris left the country after his schedule ended.)
You know what’s real though? This very minute of your life which you’re spending by reading this non-contextual piece and realising that you just grew a minute older. Now that’s real. At the end of this schedule I was 31,680 minutes older, with 31,680 and more moments to look back on and cherish about. On my flight back to Bangalore, I met my old friend sinusitis again. Teary eyes and a flinching headache, realised it was time to pop a Crocin this time.
Journey of Under25
Everything Young
dayum! | Journey Of Under 125
From listening to The Artidote soothe the minds of thousands by talking about Mental Health to singing Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Chodenge with Bhuvan Bam, good vibes were literally being thrown at you and we caught everything we could. People kept adding to a massive line outside. Every second became way longer than usual. It was 10 A.M and our Sunday hadn’t even begun. The colorful flag buntings made the place look beautiful from afar and there was this energetic buzz of excited chatter from the people waiting to get in. Realising that there were more than 10,000 people under the same roof for one thing and one thing only was pretty overwhelming. They FINALLY let us into the YMCA Grounds and in seconds everyone spread out like absolute wildfire. We swayed to the music, made amazing conversations and learnt a truckload about everything and everyone young. People of all ages turned up, which was weird at first. I mean, the company’s name is pretty clear isn’t it? What I realized then was it was never about the age, it was about the emotion. To feel young. That day we left with great spirits. In a lost, confused age such as ours, being amongst our own was nourishing, to say the least. To me, that was, the Under 25 Summit 2018. “Bro, we need a community for the youth of this country that represents everything young.” said one to another. We think. We weren’t there at the time alright. Pfft.
Meet
Before we get into that, we have a question. What do you think happens when two seventeen- year-old boys meet for coffee? Well, because they’re Mallu and Marwadi respectively, we’re sure the bill was split to the paisa! Anto and Shreyans are your everyday college going kids. From the regular Saturday nights (which they still do!) to festing in college, they did it all. They realized their involvement in this space meant a lot as it shaped up who they were, which they believe was very important. Eventually, they came to the understanding that India does not have a community strong enough for it’s youth. Ironically, the voice of the youth in this country is by far, the loudest. We realized that they only wanted two things To know more about the kind of problems out there that youngsters faced and how they could fix it. Things needed to be addressed but not as individuals, moreso as a community. There was no platform out there that was specific to youngsters and
catered to their needs and so, they did their first ever event, The Under 25 Startup Summit. A space they jumped into because they wanted to focus on young entrepreneurs and drive them to change the world. We remember this one and we thought it was a huge success, but truth is, they lost a lot of money. Another difficulty they faced was the fact that they weren’t being taken seriously by people in the industry. Well, duh! because they were college students. dayum! | Journey Of Under 125
Anto Philip and Shreyans Jain
This pushed them to hold the event the following year. Remember when we said the first Summit was a success? Well, it was a success because of what they saw. They saw young people come together and interact with each other in a space that’s not college. Seeing people with various ambitions and passions mingle and find their own voice is what got them going year after year.
dayum! | Journey Of Under 125
Two editions on, things changed. All of a sudden, they were no longer in college and now needed to decide if this dream that they envisaged was going to be a full time one. Clearly, we know the answer to that question. Something they’d built within the walls of college had to finally be taken to the outside. It was easier in college, we suppose. They had staff that helped out with attendance when they missed class and friends who helped run the show.
People signed up to be volunteers for the idea that they were creating. Two of those volunteers at the time are still with Under 25. Anand Bhat (Guy’s too cool for Instagram) Rishab Agnihotri @rishabagnihotri (Instagram hoe)
2016, the year of the first ever Under 25 Summit. Removing entrepreneurship from the idea was solely due to being able to build something larger. A voice for the creative youth. The Summit was held at the World Trade Centre and well to their surprise, they sold out 2 weeks in prior!
Anto & Shreyans out of the blue decided to announce the sale of 200 more tickets. Even though there were restrictions on capacity, the demand for the festival was way too high!
This Summit was a validation of sorts. It gained a lot of attention across the news and was at the tip of everyone’s tongue. There are so many likeminded people waiting to voice out. The inhibition of being wrapped by various factors in our society was something they’d let go off at the Summit. To be able to try and stop invisible boundaries let the youth be the best version of themselves,was validating.
This was only happening in Bangalore, so what about the rest of the country? Delhi, Bombay, Hyderabad & Chennai were painted with the Under 25 colors and they were all a success. 2016 was a great year.
dayum! | Journey Of Under 125
10 days before the event,
For the co-founders, growth was the only thing that mattered. How do they bring change, how do they push forward with this? Enter, the Under 25 Summit, 2017. To be able to get everyone that was trending and on stage at the Summit was eye-watering to say the least, even for us! Every single one of them, from Arnab Goswami to Tanmay Bhat. International media had their eyes on the company as this was the year it finally became a youth revolution. The more they dived into making the company bigger they discovered so many more communities that needed a stage. Now if you’re thinking “Oh, what a lucky bunch of entrepreneurs. Everything they touched turned to gold!” Um, nope.
dayum! | Journey Of Under 125
The 2017 edition was a massive success and things were growing way too quickly for them to grasp. As a result, by trying everything that came their way, there seemed to be a lack of clarity with both the voice and the direction the company was taking. This almost led to not holding a 2018 edition (IMAGINE THAT) because there was just so much going on. Steadying the ship was necessary and so, they took some time off soulsearching. What they did and where they went is something we forgot to ask. Come December 2017, they went “fuck it!”. The soul searching had worked. The 2018 Summit which wasn’t supposed to happen, was happening. They had a community to answer to and they wanted to deliver their all. The success of the Summit we spoke of very fondly up top, only resulted in getting them back on track and ready to slay the game. They knew they made a few mistakes and had a few losses but like we said earlier, challenging themselves and learning from their mistakes is something they like to do. They realized things could have
Did you know? Both Anand and Rishab hadn’t taken salaries till June of 2016, 2 years after they joined!
- Anto Philip on the youngsters in our country
well, we were hired. A team of 4 slowly grew into 15 members, based on the number of tangents the company started to get their hands into. Now, with a full fledged editorial, design, video and core team in place representing the ideals of our ever growing community, there isn’t any looking back. Across 4 platforms, Under 25’s digital real estate is the biggest it has ever been! With a bunch of editorial and video content being put into the works along with creating digital experiences for the community, things are just getting started! Another great thing that happened in 2018 was the Under 25 Creator Summit! The Creator Summit took place in Bombay and it’s safe to say, it was absolutely kickass! Under 25 Creator Summit 2018 is a festival that recognizes and celebrates impact of social media, globally. Brought to you by the team behind India’s Largest Youth Festival, the Under 25 Summit, there was nothing but top notch curation, intimate experiences and a great vibe at Under
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been done better and the responsibility of growing the community was now Under 25’s biggest priority. The 2018 Summit was a learning curve which led to the company taking another course. This Summit lasted for 7 days. People met, experienced and saw different kinds. A community had been made and it was growing with every heartbeat. Such experiences last a lifetime, but that doesn’t mean you stop there, do you? The Summit was a great offline property that was in the hearts of many by now, but what the company felt was different. Creating such a safe space for youngsters to feel amongst their own couldn’t just be a once in a year thing. Something needed to be done in order to bring people closer to one another across the country. And so, we also started focusing on digital in a big way. Now we have the right to say we, because
25 Creator Summit! There were speaker sessions, workshops, panel discussions, experience zones and a whole range of experiences that have never been seen before. By the time you’re reading this, The Under 25 Summit ‘19 is either happening or has already happened. In order to make this happen, we did a bunch of things prior to the Summit! Let’s start with Dear Obama, December saw us do the biggest ever thing we’ve dreamt off. Over the last few months, everyone in the team worked super hard to even attempt what we did! So what did we do? We attempted to bring down none other than Mr. Barack Obama down to India to address the world’s largest youth population as the keynote speaker at the Under 25 Summit ‘19! Casual. We’ve always believed in being a bunch of irrational optimists and with our campaign ‘Dear Obama’ we took that belief to a whole
other level. Dear Obama is an open letter from the youth across India to invite former US president Mr. Barack Obama to India and have conversations about winning against all odds. Ever since the launch of the campaign on the 11th of December, 2018, ‘Dear Obama’ has gone viral across social media platforms such as YouTube - 80,000 + views, Twitter - 11,638 Tweets with a total engagement from 7,337 accounts along with 437051 impressions & Instagram - 5 Million +. The campaign also created ripples across news platforms in the country. Though Mr. Barack Obama couldn’t make it this Summit our attempts for the same will not stop. We at Under 25 won’t stop reaching this goal and your support for the same would mean the world! All we believe in is staying true to being the voice of the creative youth. That’s what really matters. Now as we’re a part of the journey to bigger achievements, we can’t wait to open the gates for you at the Under 25 Summit, 2019, Bangalore!
Here are the people that made it happen! Directed By: The Youth of India Produced By: Under 25 & One Digital Entertainment Writers: Kushal Menghrajani Shibi Shetty Sreelekshmi Prithviraj
Editors: Shaun Reneaux Pranoy Biswas Music - Sridhar Varadarajan | Studio 304 Vocals - HanuManKind Cast: Team Under 25
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Director of Photography: Ashfaq Ahmad