Random Thoughts By Av : )

  “Can I tell you a story, puttu?” my grandmother asked me, while I was busy typing away on my laptop. I instantly felt bad that I hadn't even talked to her properly after coming home for the weekend, it was already Sunday evening. After at least four assurances that she wasn’t disturbing my studies or work, she went back to the 1950s, when she was in college. She’d gone there, but didn’t fit in. On the first day, everyone her own age kept calling her “akka” – she was disheartened. She left without paying her fee, not meaning to coming back to the college. On the way back though, she’d noticed an announcement that said that a girl child with no father, no property, and some other conditions, could claim some 1000 rupees or so. She’d immediately gone and registered for it. When she came back home to her single mother who really wanted her to pursue graduation, and told her she hadn’t paid the fee at the college ‘cause she didn’t fit in, she was instructed plainly to go back the next...

Imagine being in an entirely new city with a bunch of people whom you have never known all around you – a new hostel room to stay, a new roommate to share it with, lunch and dinner no longer with your family but people from all over the country. This is how hostel life feels like. Fresh out of school, we’re   always used to being told what to do. But at college, there’s no one to push you around to do stuff anymore, no more of your mom running behind you to make you sit and study. It is adulting at its prime, anything and everything that you do is out of your own initiative. But its not all gloom and despair, I’ve learnt some of life’s greatest lessons in these three months of my first trimester at college. I’ve finally learnt to manage things on my own, take responsibility, travel alone and most importantly - balance studies and self-care. Health is a legit concern when you’re living out of home, but I guess learning to keep yourself healthy is just part of the game. I’m not...

 National Law School of India University. Yes, the thought has finally sunk in. I am going to the top law school in the country. And I feel very proud- proud of myself for achieving this feat, proud of my parents and family for encouraging my unpopular pursuit tirelessly, and proud of my friends for having more faith in me than what I had in myself. Now you might think, oh Avanthika is usually the topper, she'd obviously get into a top college. But believe it or not, if not for the aforementioned people and their support, I wouldn't have made it. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to all of you. In the words of one of my close friends, I carry in me a small part of every person I've met, and been influenced by, in these 18 years. If you've been a friend, you've contributed to the Avanthika that I have blossomed into today. I thank you from my heart and I truly mean it. And if you've not been one by some misfortune, I still thank you. 'Cause even Kabir D...

Stress is such a peculiar emotion, that even I have a tough time describing it. Defined by my psychology textbook as “ the pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person's ability to cope ”, stress has increasingly become a part of our day-to-day vocabulary. The prognosis, doesn’t sound good. Work pressure, deadlines, conflicts in relationships and even school exams have become sources of stress for today’s generation. This stress leads to a number of negative emotions, from anxiety to panic to anger. Everything in today’s world is rushed, no one has the patience or the time to sit back and look around us for once. How many of us can stop for a second, look at how we’re living and say that we’re happy? Or at least ‘not sad’? I asked this question to myself, and was surprised. I had no major problems, yet was unhappy. I have my exams and I have to study- thus I’m not happy because I can’t go hangout with my friends. Ye...

B ooks. What comes to your mind when you read this word? A mystery-packed crime thriller? A fantasy that takes you into an alternative reality? Or, are you one of those students on the brink of collapsing, fed up of reading the endless text"books" during this exam season? Well I can go on and on guessing scenarios, but ultimately we all have our own genres, right? First come the hardcore classic readers, the Williams and Charleses of today. Then we have crime and mystery novels, you've sure heard of 221B Baker Street, haven't you? Next in line we have the witches and wizards of tomorrow, awaiting their letters on the eve of their 11th birthday. And as long as we're talking about Fantasy, how can we forget life and times of the Greek & Roman gods? Moving on, there's that one genre we all have read at least once- Fiction. A bit of reality with a touch of creativity and a lot of relatability makes up this kaleidoscopic world of Fiction. But the actual ice-bre...

60 plastic spoons 30 paper cups 40 paper plates 3 masks Looks like a random shopping list, doesn't it? It is the approximate number and kind of litter that I found in Elliot's Beach at Besant Nagar in Chennai during a recent beach clean up drive. On talking with the regular beach cleaning workers, I was devastated to find out that this is the kind of state they find the beach in ,every Sunday and Monday morning, after the weekend rush. Imagine their situation ,waking up in the morning to go clean up heaps of garbage, all thrown here and there by people without even giving a thought to how badly it will affect the environment. And yet, as I saw them clean up all the litter , they did so with a pleasant smile on their face, probably because of having us ,volunteers, by their sides. However, why is there a need for beach clean up drives like these to be organized to keep our beaches clean? Isn't it a collective responsibility of ours as a society to keep not only our beaches, ...

It was while coming back from a beautiful family trip that we heard the news. "Chennai faces worst rains since 2015" was all that news articles read. As the clouds covered the sky like a thick dark blanket, spreading an aura of gloominess and despair, we students who used to dream of such opportunities of holidays for heavy rains were devastated. Online classes were once again imposed upon us as a measure to ensure our safety from the heavy rains. WhatsApp chats and statuses overflowed with pictures and videos of flooded roads and Velachery turning into Venice. The opening of lakes like Chembarambakkam were being live streamed like a reality show on news channels.  Amidst all this were the citizens of Chennai, stuck in their houses of which some were , unfortunately, flooded with water as people tried to safeguard themselves, their electrical appliances and valuables from the water. It was in such a dire situation that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was deployed ...

Option A- Forehead Option B - nose Option C- lips Option D- chin Remember this age old code for copying? 😁 Ever since this torture in the name of examination started all of us, who have been kids at some point of our life, have come up with codes and bits and what not , only to get good marks and pass this cruel practice. Life was made easier for many students when online classes and exams started. Now students are not subjected to the limited knowledge of the person sitting in front of them during the exam, but have access to answers given by people all over the world. Schools have started using various AI technologies to conduct proctored examinations and prevent the use of such vast knowledge in examinations. What people don't understand is that, if a student really wants to cheat, he/she will surely find a way for it no matter what. Like they say, where there is a will, there is a way ,right?😂. But simple and prevalent daily problems such as power cuts can easily become a cau...

Winston Churchill once said,  'A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and the next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.' The latter ability is something that I think best describes an Indian politician more than anything else. I am not well versed in the field of politics, but I know enough to say that any politician is a work of fine craftsmanship- striking the right balance between brainwashing voters and executing demands of sponsors, add with that a captivating charisma that makes you believe that everything is wrong and a strong leader like him/her is inevitably needed- and oh yeah, a king's ransom worth of money (or a wealthy Gujarati friend if you know what I mean😁) . The influence of money and its power in the political world baffles me. Buying voters with money is an old school thing. Influencing voters with crores of money spent on advertisement is the new trend. ...

 I think every person reading this post would unanimously agree that being a student was the best part of our lives. Oh! What fun we had, I hear people reminiscing. They describe every single detail of the most memorable moments of their cherished school days ; from secretly eating food in the most boring class before lunch to sneaking out and bunking classes back to back , they had done it all. But in all these years, not once have I heard from them about the five letter often used as a short form for a time that we regard as the most dreadful thing every single student has to go through: exams. How do they not remember those days of gloom, when the nerds were busy studying, the teachers reminding us after every single "good morning " the exact number of days left for the exams with an attempt to disguise it unprofessionally while asking whether we had started studying, or the countless late nights we stayed awake studying ?  Or memorizing would be the right word I guess. Fo...

 We have finally arrived at the situation where saying that the cases of COVID 19 are increasing day by day has become an understatement . In about just a week, 1.7 lakh new cases a day spikes to a whopping 3.16 lakh, almost a double of the former. Every one of our fears have come true, from inadequate beds, shortage of ventilators, to the point where people are not even getting the basic substance  for the survival of any human being : oxygen.  On top of all this, we have our great politicians who couldn't even spare such a desparate situation from being used for their own political interests instead of finding a real solution for it. All that is being played is a blame game, where all our netas are scoring points while we stand idle as observers, unable to do anything. In all this chaos, did anyone really think about the people really fighting for us ? Our doctors and nurses are working so hard that I am falling short of words to describe it. Physical stress is in itse...

 The day was 14th April 2021 . After more than a year of online classes and tons of pre-boards, we all were so tired of reading the same books again and again. The first news that we hear in the morning is this: PM to discuss on CBSE board exams in today's meeting - Final decision expected today. Then there it was ; we got to hear the golden words- Our board exams were cancelled !! I expected most of us , 10th graders, to be jumping around and floating on cloud infinity to the power of infinity instead of nine. The comment's section of Youtube videos announcing the cancellation were full of this one line: "Still searching for that one guy who said I hope you get 95+ percentage in your boards😂." Although personally , I was searching for Sharma ji ka beta ( to console him, you know😝). But with all that said and done, I did see a lot of people disappointed with the cancellation. Some of them said " But I was prepared with everything" and "But what about ...

  I hear many people talking about those good old days , with Nokia phones. I, being a 2k kid, have never seen one. Our life was so much much easier , when apple and blackberry were just fruits . Ever since this phone became smart, our social life has been ruined by social media. And this pandemic has made it worse. Why was phone invented ? To talk. That's it. Now we do everything except talking on that phone.I personally regard Facebook as the start of cataclysm . Then came Instagram, Snapchat, etc.etc.etc. People are going to any extent to get likes and followers ( Zachary, the tick tok murder). Honestly, what's the big deal ? Why do I care if you go to your ' prestigious college' or even London or New York for that matter ? It'll only make people jealous. With all the negativity around us, do we really need jealousy with it too ? Now, I am not saying that smartphones have not benifitted us. From fast transmitation of information to awareness of many issues relate...

 You are the leader of you kingdom. The enemy's troops are just outside the walls of your of your land , ever ready to attack. You look at your army ; you're hopeless. The enemy's soldiers outnumber yours by four times. What do you do now ? You turn to your citizens. Try to persuade them to join the fray and protect your kingdom; their homeland. But they seem unmoved by your patriotic and emotional speech. You hear them saying, "Why war ? Isn't there enough negativity and violence in the world ? We must frankly make peace with them". Now what do you do ? Let's say you somehow gathered the required number of soldiers and battle with the enemy. Either you win, but a lot of valueable human lives and resources might be lost and leave you worse off than before. Or you lose. The enemy subjects your citizens to all kinds of totures and exploits them and all your          resources. People now start making associations and protest, either by himsa or ahimsa . If ...

    The Great Indian Education System- sounds good , doesn’t it ? But here in India , the sound does not matter, first you must be one of the 74.04% of our population. Wondering why ? That’s ‘cause the rest of the population is illiterate. If you are able to read this, then you must be one of the fortunate ones. So first and foremost, access to education must be made available to all. And there are different levels to this. First, a school must be accessible to you, and your family’s mindset must be modern enough to send you to one. But considering the fact that most Indian people consider education as a boon and as a path to success in life, this must not be difficult. The second aspect , is that even if you reach the school somehow, there must be teachers to teach in them. Believe it or not , there are tons of schools where you find only one teacher, or worse, none at all. This is an extremely grave situation, and can happen for a variety of undefined reasons. Even if ...

 If I'd called you on 1 January 2020 at mid-night and told you that a teeny-tiny microscopic virus  which we can't even see is going to turn this world upside down , and that you're soon going to be stuck at home for a long- long time, would you have believed me ? No matter what your answer might be, things have turned out exactly as I would have told you. Life in lockdown was not easy for anyone . The world was so lively, yet listless. Lively, because social media had become so important with people actively online all the time , considering it was the only way to know what was going on in the outside world. Listless, because we were stuck at home, drowning in a pool of uncertainty and bored to death like animals in a zoo.  We dreamed of returning to our daily life ; a routine that we so despised. Maybe it takes such depths of ambiguousness to create such heights of longing for our so called " Boring Routine". Yes, this pandemic has made us realize that we were a...

 Hilarious Spotify Ads Are you a free Spotify user? I bet all my money that your brain is more preoccupied with the interesting ads rather than the actual music😂. Seriously, Spotify should really stop making such entertaining ads, or else there'll be more users who don't switch to premium for the sole reason of listening to these ads. And one thing that fascinates me is that the sound quality of the advertisements are a lot better than the actual songs ! The storylines are THE best and the funny thing is that they make ads, which make fun of their own previous ads. It's like writing a post, by roasting my previous post😝.But jokes apart, I really think these ads are great and reach to a very large audience. So what do you think about these charmingly amazing advertisements ? Feel free to leave a comment 'cause I'd love to know what you guys think !     

A Short Story of Indian Schools Now, I am no expert in any field related to education, but merely a class 10 student , but as Shahrukh says , never underestimate the power of a student ( and this one is not common, dealing with 6 different subjects with 15 chapters of 20 pages each , that too in extremely small print   with 2 days to study for the symbols (also called numbers or marks) to determine what I am capable of doing in my own life   😀 ) So I am going to tell my little knowledge about the history of the great Indian education system. It all started (means as old as I know J ) , as we know with the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, with small institutions called gurukuls . It would have a guru, and of course the disciples. But here’s the hunch: the guru and only the guru decides what to teach the students. Yes! The guru decides what levels of study student must be taught , and most of this was targeting towards the moral development   and the enlightenment of the indi...