Thenk God I know the Pythagoras Theorem!

“I don’t know how to go about managing my money but I know the Pythagoras theorem! But where will H square = B square + perpendicular square help me?  In helping me decide my career? No. In helping me get a job? No! The validity of our education system is being questioned every day. Teach us something coherent is what the students demand.

Vikram from class XIth who wants to become a director says Chemistry is one subject which he thinks won’t prove useful to him. How is H2So4 and sodium sulphate related to casting actors in a movie is what he wonders!

Gunisha who wants to pursue Fashion designing says- “The fashion world is all about glamour, creativity and colours. How is Sanskrit going to help me in designing costumes? Pathti, Pathta, Pathanti why?”

Shrey who wishes to become a lawyer one day says Trigonometry won’t ever help in fighting a case.  

The Indian education system needs a change right now. The system should be based on practical teaching rather than rote learning. That is what the need of the hour is! 

The Evolution of Comic Books

·         In 1842, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" became the first comic book published in the United States.  This was the beginning of a new era altogether.

·        Tintin (1907) I say that name and the image of the boy with the golden hair and the white dog flashes in your mind. Didn’t we all love Tintin for his exhilarating adventures? And the captain for his famous one-liner ‘Blistering Barnacles’? Or the two detectives Thomson and Thompson? Oh! I could go on and on!!

·         The common man (1951) R.K Laxman’s ‘The common man’ holds a very significant place in the history of Indian comics. The strip has very nicely showcased the fears, hopes, and troubles of the mango people in India.

·        Asterix (1959) The famous French cartoon follows the exploits of a French village as they oppose roman captives. The interesting part? The puns and the tongue-in-cheek humour.

·        Richie Rich (1960) Haven’t we all dreamt of becoming Richie Rich one day? The boy with the sprawling mansion, a redhead girlfriend, his butler Cadbury and his dog dollar everyone loved. Don’t you miss him already?

·        Chacha Choudhary (1971) The old man with a red turban, white moustache and that giant man at his foot. Ring a bell? Don’t say it doesn’t! Humour was the basis of this cartoon. Every family has its own wise man; chacha ji was the wise man of his village. Oh! How I loved reading his books in dim lights on the long train rides.  

Dream. Believe. Achieve.

All of us have a dream. A lousy day dream it might be, making it's way in your head during the sunny hours when all you want to do is shut your head to the world. But give that one thought the benefit of doubt. Give that one dream a chance to turn into reality. Give yourself one chance to live that dream. Sit up, believe-in yourself and the dream and fight, to follow it, to achieve it. Because if you do you'll be the happiest person on the planet. A person who imagines and dares. 

So make a wish. Dream it. Believe in it. Achieve it. And show it to the world what you’re capable of doing.  What you can achieve, and who you are.

Quote for the day

So you're six years old, you're reading 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,' and it becomes rapidly obvious that there are only two kinds of men in the world: dwarves and Prince Charmings. And the odds are seven to one against your finding the prince.

Emily Levinea

Still recovering!

Recovered? No, not yet! If you are wondering what was it that I had to recover from here's the answer- Miley's VMA performance.
I logged into twitter the other day and saw the twiterrati going mad about Miley’s performance. The numerous tweets excited me a lot and I decided to watch the VMA’s that night. Only if I knew what lay ahead!
A nasty hairstyle, red lipstick with a tongue awkwardly sticking out of her mouth Miley came onstage wearing a bear onesie and sang her hit number ‘We can’t Stop’. Everything was going well until the Blurred Lines star Robert Thicke joined her onstage and Miley stripped down to a pair of nude lingerie and with her hand in a foam finger pointing at her own genitals twerked away to glory. (Read criticism) The crowd in Brooklyn arena was taken aback by this act of ‘cheapness’ with several weird and ashamed facial reactions from the guests.

The Smith family's EPIC reaction to the performance. The last award function for the Smith kids? Probably!                                        

 

Drake reacts to Miley's performance. 

                                   

Rihanna sure was disgusted! Do notice the expression on Liam's face. Mocking the star Zayn? 

While the other people were shocked, Taylor and Selena here were.. scared? Shocked scared.

The performance was branded as cheap, disgusting, atrocious, and too desperate on Miley’s part to be dancing (read twerking) with a 39 year old father of two.

There she goes! 

I sincerely hope all those who felt personally victimized by her performance recover soon.. after all we need to concentrate on some other things as well like Why is Liam not tweeting!
See you soon
Girl behind the glasses

Love.

Letter to the Editor- My first :))

1st August’13

The Editor

ECO magazine

216-A

Gautam Nagar

New Delhi-110049

Subject: Hazards of open fire cooking

Respected ma’am,

The cover story of the previous edition of your magazine was an eye opener! Women cooking on open fires are a common sight in our country.

  Reading about the various threats it poses to the women and the kids was shocking! Smoke from the fires is definitely dangerous, we all knew about it. But the other harmful gases emitted were definitely something to ponder upon.  The article made me realise how difficult the life of a rural poor woman is! Travelling all that distance to collect firewood and settling for ill health!

  India is a country where poverty is rampant and the literacy levels are low. I believe that to bring about a change it’s the youth who should be engaging in creating awareness about the new fuels. Biogas is an amazing alternative for open fires. It is one time investment, cheap and very effective! Plus it doesn’t require for one to compromise with her health! It’s time we stop talking, writing and reading about it. It’s time we get up and act!

  I hope that this article was an eye opener to a lot many people out there!s

Thanking You

Akshara Srivastava 

Nothing but a book drunkard!!

God once said let there be happiness and then there were books. A book is not a mere bundle of pages stapled together but an amalgamation of hopes, dreams and possibilities. Books become the most amazing of friends, the most patient of teachers and the wisest of counselors. Books are train, the plane. They are the journey, the destination. They are home. What books do to me is unexplainable. It’s like I’m an addict. Books have the same kind of temptation for me that liquor has for its devotee. They are irresistible. I believe in them. I believe in the magic of books. I believe that during certain times we’re drawn to a particular book. Like while walking down a aisle in a bookshop and coming across the most perfect, the most wonderfully suitable book staring right at us. I believe that books ultimately find their way into our lives. Like they’re meant to be. Finding someone you love is a wonderful feeling. But finding a true soul mate? That’s an even better feeling. Books are my soul mates. My special ones. They've taken me to places I've never been to. Given me hope. Taught me how to dream. But above all they've taught me how to love and live! 

W for Woman

W stands for wisdom. W stands for wonderful. W stands for wow. W stands for women. She is the most amazing creature god ever made. The one who gives birth and the one who nurtures. But W also stands for many Why’s. Why is this happening to me? Why is it supposed to happen this way? Why doesn’t it change? India says it is the largest democracy in the world. A country boasting of several fundamental rights being offered to its citizens- both Men and Women. Then why is it that the society can’t let a girl be her own master? That’s not democracy!
It’s time she gets the answer to the many W’s she’s learned to live with. Time she gets her due. Time to shake the stereotypes and question the age old norms. Time to redefine sense and sensibilities. Let all the W’s- why, who, where and what of women go free!

MNC's - devils in disguise or not?

The threat that “MNC’s are paving way to neo-colonialism in India” where multinational companies could control the policies is not valid in present context. When East India Company came in 18th century, there was not one ruler in India and it was easy for British traders to capture small kingdoms first and whole of India at a later date. But today India is a sovereign democratic country. There are several laws to protect the interest of Indians and it is not possible for any multinational company to bypass these rules and start controlling India. If they bypass rules they will not be allowed to work in India. Another argument is that multinational companies start arm twisting after having strong presence in the country. But this is also a far-fetched drawn argument. The companies are there to do business and earn profit. Besides, it is not easy for any foreign business establishment to arm twist a sovereign government. This is the age of globalisation. It is impossible to remain cut off with the world and sustain in present scenario. From 1950 to 1991 India had a closed economy. Due to the license-permit raj, infant industry protection and import substitution Indian growth rate was very low. At that time the domestic industries had ample time and resources to prove themselves and turn into profitable companies. But nothing of that sort happened. Due to the lack of competition, the domestic industries exploited consumers. However after 1991 i.e., after liberalization of the Indian economy, the scenario has completely changed. Due to the increase in the Foreign Direct Interest, India is growing at a very high rate; the disposable income, the standard of living is up. They have boosted our economy.


The MNCs operating in India are major source of job creation. Lots of people lost their earnings when Coca Cola and IBM were asked to leave the country in late 1970’s. When Indian economy opened in 1990s number of multinational companies came to India. They both wanted to do business in India as well as to make India their production hub because of favourable conditions. This paved the way for more job opportunities. Today look at some of the cities of India whether it is Bengaluru, Gurgaon or Hyderabad, all major multinational information technology companies have opened office and giving jobs to lakhs of Indians.


Not only this, to stay in competition with multinational companies, domestic industry also pulled up its socks and some of the Indian companies are now giving tough competition to their foreign counterparts. Consumers are the kings now. They are getting best of the products.


The last but not the least of all points is, that after liberalisation, some Indian companies are operating in every continent of the world and have attained the status of a multinational. So my dear friends who are supporting the topic - would you agree that if multinational are paving way for neo colonialism in India, the Indian firms are doing the same in other countries too?





I think MNCs act as a window through which we can see the world. In the end I would like to conclude by saying that MNC’s are here with a good motive and let’s not look up to them as “devils in disguise.”

Commitment is a key ingredient to success

Try, try and you will succeed. This is an old saying which tells us to try again and again in order to taste success. Gaining success is certainly not an easy job. You have to be fearless to try and take chances again and again even though every time you've tries before you've failed. That is when you’ll actually enjoy success. After all your hard work pays off you feel like you’re on top of the world.

  There has to be a certain amount of commitment in your work. Your dedication should be reflected through the work. You have to be sincere about it and if you truly want success that’s how you get it.
  You will have to be passionate about it. Only if you’re passionate and committed to something, success tastes good.   Only if your efforts are sincere and you truly want it, will make you satisfied.

  It becomes a tale of magic once you achieve success after lots of hard work. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand. Without it any happiness is only temporary because there’s nothing to make it last.
  So be a little passionate, put in a little effort and mix in a lot of dedication and commitment. Garnish it with some sincerity and your tale of success is ready! 

Beyond Our Trepiditions-- The Peer Educators

When we were first told about the peer education programme, we weren’t sure about it. And even though we had said yes we still weren’t sure about how were we going to do everything, about how were we going to cope with the things, but somewhere in the back of our minds we knew we’d do it. So that’s where the journey started. We were no longer just students; we had responsibility on our shoulders. Big ones! We had to sensitize students about so many things but before that we had to mend our own ways. It took us a lot of time, we attended various workshops at NSC where we groomed and then one day we were handed over our batches, we were the Peer Educators of our school! We now had the power to do whatever we wanted to.  But, with great power comes great responsibility. We had the responsibility of grooming the students in school, the responsibility to help them solve their problems, the responsibility to encourage some and so much more!! We did this through taking workshops on various topics, having discussions, organizing rallies and putting up nukkad nataks. And as we had thought earlier, it wasn’t a cakewalk! It took lots of hard work, and determination to organize the workshops. Be it writing scripts, making movies, getting material for the workshop... it took lots of time and hard work and throat as well! (Shouting to have the work done!) This two year journey was a tumultuous one. Lots of hard work, lots of determination and lots of fights. But all the hard work does pay in the end....so every workshop we held was a success! Peer Education wasn’t just limited to holding workshops we had to take individual counselling sessions as well.  Sitting with kids, and listening to their problems was very difficult for us. It was overwhelming to be a part of such a programme, the way we were earlier and the way we are now....anybody can notice the difference! We are more gentle, more sensitive towards other people, more understanding. We aren’t perfect. We have fights. We are still learning. But from where we started and where we are now, we have come a long way!
This was the most amazing time of our lives.... we’ve made friends who we know will stand with us through every problem. We had mentor teachers who aren’t teachers but best friends. We had the most supportive Principal of all times. This was an experience of a lifetime. We all are Thankful to Expressions India for launching such a programme and to CBSE for giving it a nod.

Is Our Expression Truly Free?

The freedom of expression of a billion plus Indians is being compromised in different ways. As we are starting to get busy with our exams, an actor down south is fighting for his freedom of expression, which the Tamil Nadu Government has forced out of the cinemas, just because of 40 people protesting about it being an Anti-Muslim movie... even though the lead actor  is a Muslim himself! The Tamil Nadu government has forcefully taken away the right of any person who wants to watch the movie. But aren’t we used to such hounding by the government? This isn’t the only movie banned by the government. Have we all forgotten about the controversy surrounding Dancing Queen Madhuri Dixit’s comeback film? Or maybe Shah Rukh Khan’s MNIK?  This isn’t limited to just movies but other things as well. A few months back two girls were arrested for posting their OWN views on a social networking site. They were taken into custody and fined! With the Indian constitution boasting of several fundamental rights- freedom of expression being one of them- we Indians are unofficially censored by the government of our country. We do not have the right to freely express ourselves. Jai Hind!

Should There Be Homework or Not?

 Practice makes a man perfect. Homework is practice.. Many parents and teenagers frown upon the idea of giving homework for students because they think homework is just unnecessary workload. But as everything has its own advantages homework has it too! It improves the grammar and languages. Because to be fluent in a language you have to have a lot of practice and just an hour in school isn’t enough for it.  Home work is a must for all the children.
Before I proceed I would like to ask every one of you a question. What would you people do if you didn’t have homework?

We would play, watch T.V, surf the internet! What else? This is what not having homework would do! It would make us irresponsible and careless. We would be free minded souls. If Homework is given to children they at least try to read & write something or the other.  Homework helps us realize the value of time as well as its utilization I a proper way. Homework helps us revise the work done in school. It acts as a recap. Even the teacher gets to know how much a child has understood about the topic. It helps the teacher plan what to do next. It works in our benefit.
But that does not mean that homework can be endless. Homework up to a certain limit is appreciated but lots of homework only acts as a burden.  It will only act as a deterrent.
Homework (to a certain extent) should be encouraged rather than being frowned upon. It has more merits than demerits.

PEARLS OF TWISTED WISDOM

The Delhi Gang Rape case triggered a series of sexist remarks taking the whole country by a storm and leaving everybody shocked. .


Abhijeet Mukherjee: - The ‘dented and painted’ remark made by the President’s son took the youth of the country by a storm questioning his election as an MP in Lok Sabha
Statement – “Those who claim to be students - I can see many beautiful women among them they were highly dented-painted - they're giving interviews on TV, they've brought their children to show them the scenes. I have grave doubts whether they're students because women of that age are generally not students."

Mohan Bhagwat: - The RSS Chief generalized too much when he said that crimes against women don’t happen in Bharat but in India.
Statement- “Crimes against women happening in urban India are shameful. It is a dangerous trend. But such crimes won't happen in Bharat or the rural areas of the country. You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gang rape. Where 'Bharat' becomes 'India' with the influence of western culture, these type of incidents happen.”

Kailash Vijayvargiya: - BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya stated mythology to emphasize why women should not cross their limits.
Statement- "There’s only one word- morality. Whenever it is violated Sita (read women) will be harmed.”

Botsa Satyanarayana: - Andhra Pradesh’s congress chief dismissed the incident as a ‘No Big Deal’!
Statement- “India got freedom at midnight, (but) do women have to roam out at midnight?”

Asaram Bapu: - Godman Asaram Bapu also joined the moral brigade giving a ridiculous statement at the gang-rape case which worked as fuel in fire.
Statement- “She should have taken God's name and held their hands and feet mistake is not committed from one side. The accused were drunk. If the girl had chanted hymns to Goddess Saraswati and to Guru Diksha then she wouldn't have entered the bus...”


P.S. These people derived inspiration from the Khap Panchayats and the State governments of U.P, Tamil Nadu and Haryana