I am a person very much fascinated by the Japanese culture and something that has always attracted my curiosity is the their Shinto religion though now Shinto has many modern structures of Shinto shrines and deities its origin is from the ancient belief called koshinto which is solely based on the nature worship, in this every natural element is considered as divine and all of them has a spiritual manifestation in form spirits. These natural elements include mountains, rivers and seas and also sun, moon and north star, thunder, storm and even seasons are considered to be divinities. The uniqueness of this religion is that it has no codes, has no distinction between sacred and profane. It is believed that these natural elements can bring about a change in the life and can be invoked through rituals. This foundation of Shinto is evident from the position of Shinto shrines which are always situated in beautiful nature mostly in mountains. Shinto is more than religion, it is a culture that everyone in Japan follows and respect because even if the Japanese assume other religion they will still respect the nature and will build small shrines even in front of multinational buildings as a respect to the Shinto spirits. What I love the most is that this religion stands as a reason for preserving nature because Shinto shrines are expected to be built in nature grooves. In this world where everyone has forgotten about nature, a religion like Shinto is very significant.

In every crime thriller movies we watch the chilling scene where the eyewitness points out the real perpetrator and that probably becomes the climax of the movies because we believe there is nothing more true than an eyewitness but the forensic psychology break downs this belief and says that eye witness testimonies cannot be trusted as we do. The assumption that eye witness testimonies are like video camera recordings is false assumption because human memory is very easily changed and influenced by many factors according to each case. We think that shocking events and occurrences makes the memory more detailed but the truth is that such terrifying situations actually inhibit memory formation and the memory also tends to evolve with the extra details that are collected from outside information. A factor that tampers with the testimony which really surprised me is that the race and class of the eyewitness and the perpetrator influences the perception that a certain person as guilty which once thought is very possible because if a slum boy was present in a crime spot the eyewitness will most likely will assume that the boy has some relation to the event. After the discovery of the DNA system it was proved that many people who were found guilty using eye witness testimonies were actually innocent people, which is really shocking. The main reason for this widely accepted myth that eye witness is the most trustable evidence is that in many forms of literature it said to be so, not only that, we humans overestimate our memories which in reality is influenced by many factors and can evolve already existing memory without we ourselves knowing and it usually happens unconsciously. This is something very shocking to me and will be to many of you out there but this a proven truth.

There is an epidemic going on in the world that will surprise us, it is happening even in India too, it is the witch hunt, I have known and most of us know the infamous Salem incident in 1600’s where a large number of people were killed for being witches but I thought that we as humans are long past from such cruelties but the truth is that it is continuing in many countries all around the world and most of the victims are girl children and women. It is estimated that around 1000 people are killed around the world for witchcraft each year and the ones who are banished and tortured are close to millions. Witchcrafts is something that is gaining in popularity people who believe in potions, spells and chants are increasing day by day even in modern places. Such believers think and believe that everything is happening due to witchcraft be it good or bad, if it is good it is believed that those people have a pact with the de*il, if it is bad it is thought to be a curse of some witches, though belief in it is increasing in developed places, in undeveloped places witches are killed for using spells and potions to their advantage, there are even church priests who accuse certain behaviors as possessions or witchcraft, there are places around the world where witch tests are done and if a person fails in the test that person is killed. These tests can be absurd like checking whether a woman is lighter than air or throwing women into water and checking whether they drown or not. The main problems of these killings are its grotesqueness because these accused witches are bu*ned, beheaded or lashed to death. Wide spread poverty or illnesses are attributed to witchcraft, there is a man in Zambia who has killed 16 people accusing them of witchcraft, in Papua New Guinea dozens are killed, in Nigeria children are bu*ned, poisoned and abused and there is a case where a lot of Albino people were killed for using their body parts in witch potions. This wide range of killings are obviously not based on witchcraft because there are no proofs of whether witchcraft ever existed, so what we can understand is that people are using women and children on whom blames of everything bad is put on because humans have always wanted answers to everything and when that answers are not available humans tend to create their own answers by using weaker sections as scapegoat, it is really disheartening to know that many lives are wasted for something that doesn’t even exist.

We are all at least bilinguals being Indians, because we have a large set of language in our country and we also learn English if not more other languages. when I was a child being a non native speaker of English was seen as something to be ashamed of but native speakers of English most probably will know only English and no other languages. Which puts us in a better spot than them because it is proved that bilinguals or multilingual have better benefits then monolinguals. Knowing more than one language also means that we know more than one culture which brings us closer to understanding the world and also shows that we are adaptable to two or more environments. Bilinguals are said to have better ability to focus because when bilinguals use one language the brain has put in efforts to not process it using other language which is an exercise to the focusing of the brain. Learning of new languages also stretches our mind and gives it a good workout which is even believed to delay Alzheimer’s. Bilingual people are better at multitasking because our brains are accustomed to such multitasking. Bilinguals also have deeper understanding of what the concept of the language is and its linguistic parts and even the difference in human comprehension. so be very happy that we did not become native speakers of English.

Someone kidnapped me I was tied to a chair, no one was around me, but I could hear faint noises of some people talking then suddenly someone comes up to me, strangles me I could not breath I woke up from my dream but still I could see the person strangling me, my parents were in the adjacent room just a call distance between us but I couldn’t make any voice, I couldn’t move my limbs, I was dying in reality, just like in my dreams, I struggled for some minutes and then I was free from the dream and jumped out from my bed. This phenomenon is called sleep paralysis and most of us might have had atleast one sleep paralysis experience. This inability to move the limbs is known as atonia but when this happens in wakefulness it is called sleep paralysis often the sleep paralysis episodes are scary and my experience of suffocation and presence of an intruder is common experiences of sleep paralysis though these can happen separately too but very rarely some people also have pleasant experiences during these episodes too. Sleep paralysis come under parasomnia and repeated happening of sleep paralysis can be one of the symptoms of narcolepsy. But mostly it is just a rare occurrence and it can be due to insomnia or unscheduled sleep, being too tired and all. In other cases people suffering from mental disorders like trauma stress and anxiety can also have it. For me it happened just once and it is now an interesting story to tell my friends though it was horrifying while going through it. We should only be cautious of it when it happens continuously.

Disney princess movies are something we have grown up watching, they are our ideal role models until we start to see other movies, we have seen each of these Disney movies more than a hundred times carving it permanently in our minds. But most of the things that these movies teach us are many stereotypes and nonsense that will only give false ideas about the life that awaits children outside. In these movies the main characters are all princesses, giving the idea of princesses as someone who is always sitting idle or if the protagonist is someone like Cinderella they are ones who are always doing house chores so happily, have you noticed that snow white and Cinderella are remarkable in cleaning and cooking, it’s almost glorifying such things when not even one Disney man character is seen to be cooking or cleaning. All the characters are either already princesses or by the end of the movies becomes princesses, money and pomp are the ultimate destination shown in the movies that too is not worked for by the characters but just happens to them through love. These princesses and to-be princesses just wait life-long for their prince charming doing nothing else but waiting, it is only recently that some small amount of women empowerment started to creep in these movies. Love is shown as the only dream of these ladies so does teach the children the same, children think that true love happens, they think that a kiss is everything for a girl, they want to wear puffy gowns and walk down the aisle when in reality true love doesn’t happen so often, it doesn’t just come to a person, sometimes walking down an isle can be the greatest disaster of our lives. These Disney characters create ultimate toxic beauty; they are skinny and have fair girls as princesses giving the ugly message of racism and body expectations. Children become obsessed with being skinny and the chubby kids get insecure because they are not skinny, brown and black skinned girls think that nothing special will happen to them in their lives, this racism just ended temporarily with ‘the frog princess’. I love these Disney princesses just because I grew up with them but I don’t want any more children to be obsessed with it.

Autism is always identified as some kind of disability widely across the globe. Their difference in physical and facial structures is the thing that makes them stand out, there can also be variety of movements that majority of people just don’t do, frantic head bobs cupping of ears, and such. They can also be very sensitive to sounds and touches which makes their life harder, but autism is one of the main disorders that prove that what they have is not a disability but different ability. The ‘savants’ in autism are the autistic people who have extraordinary talents in memory, music, mathematics and arts, their ability in these is something very extraordinary and high level that the so called normal people won’t be able to comprehend, the reason for many autistic person to have such talents is still unknown or is still under study. These are also showed in many movies and similar platforms very frequently which now has lead to another problem where the parents is constantly asked about the talents of the autistic child which is kind of rude because not all autistic children might have this ability, so just be happy for the savant ones and let the others live a normal life, because they won’t need our sympathy.

Have you heard that during this lock down since no one is able to go out of their homes some group of people are using astral projection for going out and exploring the world since astral projection does not place any risks of communication with other people or spreading of viruses? There are experiences by people that record the out of the body sensations they faced during near death situations while astral projection is intentional way of going out of the body. There are many people that claim to have acquired the ability of astral projection which they learned through some means, some people experience it while sleeping while there are people who can do it while simply resting. These experiences are where our soul can travel to different places once It escapes from the physical body. It is not known how far it can go but it is believed that these souls can go through walls and ceilings because these souls are the same air like existences that we see in movies. For those who have seen the movie ‘doctor strange’ can easily understand how this is though it has some unbelievable elements in the movie. If astral projection has no limits then many things that cause risks to the human body can be done easily, like finding humans under earthquake rubbles and like. The main reason for the lack of scientific approval for astral projection is the existence of soul because science has still to prove the existence of spirit and also these astral projections has no tangible proofs other than anecdotes. So it is still not clear whether astral projection is possible and if possible it can be both exciting and scary.

Music do have therapeutic benefits which we clearly know because it is a therapy we give ourselves in every mood, be it sadness or happiness, romantic or enjoying. These therapeutic qualities are used in professional healing ways to cure many diseases mostly related to mind. This treatment is done by professional practitioners according to an individual’s need, it can be listening to music, singing along to music, moving along with music, meditating or playing an instrument. This healing process can traced back to even ancient times to keep away evil spirits which was the way how mental disorders were seen those days, it was also used in military camps to instill morale. Today it is used for a variety of things like stress reduction, decreasing anxiety and depression, improved memory, reducing blood pressure, pain redution, lower ch*lesterol and bringing down risk of heart disease and stroke. Music is prescribed to relieve stress before surgery, music sessions are proved to have ability to improve psychological and physiological conditions, creating music together is effective in children with developmental delays, learning issues, autism, spectrum disorder, dementia, and other similar conditions. Tuning forks are used to produce certain kinds of vibration to different parts of the body to release tension and energy and promote emotional balance. We all know how soothing music can be now we know how music is more than just soothing but is a medicine itself.

Dreams are something that we daily see but know hardly anything about it. It is said that dreams are not that necessary when it comes to our biological survival but it is important for humans so as to reach completeness in their personality as it is the bridge between conscious mind and the unconscious mind. Many researchers agree on the fact that our dreams have meaning though dreams are not significant physically. Dreams are the ‘royal road’ to our personalities and our unconscious we may be able to find answers for which we haven’t found any answers, it can be very helpful when it comes to psychological evaluation of a person. Our dreams can be our wish fulfillment where we see something that we always want to experience or it can be a way of letting out of repressed emotions be it fear or sadness or can simply show our capability of imagination and fantasy. There are four elements of understanding the dreams according to Freud.
Condensation: many different ideas is stuffed into a single span of dream.
Displacement: here emotional meaning can be disguised and confused by insignificant parts of the dreams.
Symbolization: here the repressed ideas are disguised as some kinds of symbols.
Secondary revision: we see the dreams in bizarre ways and order and in this method those are reorganized to make out the meaning from them.
According to other researchers the dreams can be interpreted through various archetypes of the universe. While others said that symbols in the dreams are all based on the individuals, so we cannot give all symbols the same meaning, making the interpretation hard. Though the dream interpretation is not something that solid, people are becoming more interested in it and there are a lot ways through which people are guided to an*lyze their dreams like dream guides. In spite of all the attempts of interpretation it is clear fact that no one has ever been able to grasp the real intensity of dreams.

We being Indians know the beliefs about afterlife as our Hindu myths talks about incarnations and other religions like Ch*is*ianity, Buddhism, Islam all says about after life and living after being dead this concept has lived as long as men have lived because it is evident from scriptures and Egyptian mummies and pyr*mids. Some believe in it as part of their religion and some others don’t believe in it as part of their scientific loyalty but what we rarely hear is the scientific proof for afterlife and it is prevalent and many scientists believe in it with scientific proof. There are many theories that explain this afterlife belief which cannot be proved practically but that non practicality cannot be a reason to not believe it as many scientific discoveries have a part in them that cannot be proved practically so if we believe in science there are possibilities for us to believe in after life, some of such theories are:
Cosmic inflation and afterlife.
Eternal inflation says that the process that caused our big bang theory has never stopped and will continue creating new one for all time that explains that this will create not just one but an infinite number of universes. Then our universe is just one of an infinite succession of big bangs so this life that we live will occur in another place and time and possibly very far in future but it is believed to happen. So in this theory we have lived this life before we are living it and will live it again.
Mechanism and afterlife
This believes that our body is a machine and so our brain’s working can also be explained as a mechanism. If this theory is right then rebuilding a part of brain is possible. So as long as the pattern of a mind is restored then the person survives. This theory almost believes in reincarnation in a scientific way.

Quantum mechanics and the afterlife.
Quantum mechanics is very approved and practically used in daily lives and there is a theoretical part to quantum mechanics that suggest that particles can have multiple locations at once. This was developed by Schrödinger and his theory that was later developed implies the existence of unlimited universes and histories which suggests closely as in we have immortal life. So whenever our life end in a particular history, there is always some other history where our life continues. Maybe even in younger forms. This infinite realities and universes have its suggestions in some religious scriptures too as in Bhagavata Purana.
These are only few of such theories that imply life after death so maybe our religions do say something about afterlives which are actually possible scientifically. That makes religious scriptures even more mysterious.

Do you know that there are people who do not believe that dinosaurs ever existed? Well this number Is not a small one, there are large group of people who think that dinosaurs are mere myth like creatures like the dragons. It was after 1800s that scientists started their discoveries and the dinosaurs came into our education system. But many people say that all these dinosaur theories are mere hoaxes and even say that the fossils that stand as evidences were put under earth by scientists themselves. The main reason for this disbelief is the bible where it is said that there is no citing about existence of dinosaurs in the bible. There are even parents who don’t want their children to believe in these findings. The problem with these facts is that since the evidence can be known as authentic by only professional paleontologist the common people can assume whatever they want this is the reason that such facts have many interpretations.

We have all heard about the book the alchemist and atleast one person might have recommended it to us in our life if not more. I have read Alchemist and there are a number of reasons for why we should actually read it but what we should keep in mind is that you should not read it with all the expectations piled up by others you should read it only when you feel like it and should see it as simple book that has reached many hearts because even though it might seem as a simple book it will prove to give more meaning as time goes by.
• It will prove to be a power pill that will help us to face the uncertain future.
• It will show how we everyone in this world deserve love.
• It shows how the journey is more important than the destiny itself even if the destiny is very valuable.
• It teaches us how our individual stories are also a legend.
• It shows what true education is, how it is the gaining of wisdom and not mere learning.
• It shows how true love is power that guides even in the absence, how it is more than just being together.
• It states how our individual purposes are contributors to the wh*le world itself in its own way.
• Draws the beautiful picture where our struggles are shown as the greatest positives in our lives.
This list might seem as a motivational speech but what makes the book different is that all these are said not as in a speech but in a beautiful story narration where everything is said and shown as a proof and how beautiful all these could be, it is one thing to say but it is more than just motivation when it becomes an experience and clearly this is book is one such experience.

It is an age where women have realized her courage and strength to do whatever she wants and go wherever she loves to go, and she should be able to do it no matter what. But the situation around world is a little concerning and disappointing that women have to look for the ‘suitable’ places to do a solo travel. Though women are bold enough to face any trouble, when making a travel plan for going to international places, it is better to look out for comparatively safe countries. This is a time where anyone can go for a travel without a travel guide because there are app for travelling that can substitute the work of travel guides . So we just have to select the best place to travel and everything else will be taken care by these free travel apps.
Iceland: This is a place where anyone can travel blindly because Iceland ranks 1st in global peace index, it is the land of ice and fire where we can witness the magnificent interlinking of stunning glaciers and active volcanoes. Here solo female travelers can enjoy the utmost beauty along with safety.
Finland: the land where there is greatest number of lakes and where northern lights spread its beauty, with islands, wooded reserves, heritage places, splendor of wild life and people known for their chitty chatty friendly nature can be the best for solo travelers as it also ranks first in safety by the World economic forum.
Switzerland: anyone who is Looking for a place that has all the package of natural beauty then Switzerland is the place for travelers, it has snow clad mountains, villages and numerous lakes, grassy valleys and everything that anyone would have ever dreamed of. This can be the best place for having some alone time with nature.
Japan: the land of cherry blossoms also has the blossoms of safety which welcomes anyone with warm hands to their cultural hub with traditional exquisite cuisines and shrines along with magnificent nature giving us both the benefits of a progressive city as well as the Zen of nature. With help of social travel along with other well experienced travelers anyone can enjoy their trip in Japan.

We all know what Alzheimer is, there was a time when this term was unfamiliar to us, well that time is long past and now this has become a term known to even small children because this is a disease that majority of people become subject to, especially in old age. Though the real cause of the disease is unknown the number of patients of this disease is increasing each year, the present statics shows that about 10 million people worldwide is being diagnosed with Alzheimer. So it is clear that like cancer Alzheimer also have something to do with our lifestyle. It might sound impossible but a healthy life style can reduce the chances for this disease. We might think that since this disease is related to our brain and neurons our physical well being has nothing to do with it but the case is the opposite. Since it is increasing each year doctors say that Alzheimer has connection with our life style, so though it may sound improbable exercising can decrease Alzheimer. Regular exercise and keeping the pressure sugar and ch*lesterol levels and eating healthy can all keep us away from this pitiable disease. To lead a life that won’t put others in difficult spot is everyone’s wish so for achieving that we must look after our physique very early on.

Time travel may sound as a fiction or movie based story but many scientists are still in search of the answer for time travel. There are certain physicists too that say time travel can be logically possible. Since the time when this topic has been discussed there are many topics that have confused scientists that Is the ‘grandfather paradox’ of time travel, this explains the paradox of a person going back in time to kill his grandfather before he procreates, if this happens then the grandson won’t be born which is a paradox because the grandson has to be born in order to kill his grand-father and the question goes on. So David Lewis says that if time travel happens especially to the past then the time traveler won’t be able to change the history even if he want to. So basically this logical explanation says that a time traveler won’t be able to effect changes in history. Another paradox is of the causal loop where you give the budding Shakespeare a copy of hamlet and he writes and it becomes a celebrated work of Shakespeare in future so if searched through origins this loop will not have a point where hamlet was actually written, this paradox is explained saying that such loops are possible, because the place from where the beginning of information is still not known even in this time where time travel is not possible so it can happen in the past too. Another explanation is that we can travel to the future but cannot travel to the past where time machine was not created for example if time machine was created in 2000 then we can go back as long as 2000 but not anymore than that. If it should be possible to make change in the past then yet another science fiction must come into reality that is the parallel universe, so if a change is made in the past then the new made future will become a new branch in time. All these are only few explanations for time travel being logically possible though any findings that prove a time travel is not done.

Justice in India has become a fiction that only resides in books and papers and on mouths of some people. People in India has now learned their lessons to not keep any hope on the judiciary on giving justice to cases that go against the ruling government. Since an opinionated government has taken over India almost all cases against the government has given out favoring verdicts. It’s been days that democratic Indians have been in their lamenting days, mourning for an India that once was a democracy. first happened the Harthas case in Uttarpradesh where a dalit girl was gang raped who died soon after giving her complaint with an almost cut off tongue where the atrocities done to her and her family just disgusts anyone because this is happening in an India where B.R Ambedkar wrote the constitution, the cruelties done to dalits have to get more media attention and more protests have to be done which is not happening, Indians are mere puppets now in governments hands. The police, the ruling government are all teaming against the innocent girl who is not even alive, Uttarpradesh government is even restricting activists and politicians to visit the place which all shows that they are completely guilty of the happened crime. Another minority that has lost hope is the Muslims whose identity and existence is all a big question mark in a country where the judiciary acquitted the conspiracy leaders of the Babri Masjid demolition case after 82 years of hearing. the hate speeches, the photos everything is available to even the common people that proves that these leaders have instigated the crime but for judiciary these are not evidences, they are something that cannot prove what it clearly stands for. Now such news that prove the death of judiciary is almost become usual for the so called democratic India

In this corona age what I have noticed so far in India is that many entrepreneurs have emerged in various areas. Cakes now are a matter of only houses away because I think 1 in every 5 houses have a person selling cakes, the times of cakes being sold in small bakeries are over since people prefer homely cakes than manufactured ones. On the road sides and other places people are establishing small shops, either textiles or shoes or at-least bulk eggs. People, since many of them have lost their jobs or does not have a steady job, is moving into simple new businesses. It feels like people are learning their surviving skills in these pandemic times. Whether such people get high profits or not is still a question mark because the number of customers are only few since it is lock down and people prefer to stay indoors. But still it is hopeful to see that people are striving to overcome these times in the best ways possible.

There are many thing around the world which has no explanations, like the huge sculptures on rocks which is hard to believe that humans have created and many other things, Nazca lines is one such phenomenon discovered on earth for which there are no solid explanation. These are a series of geoglyphes carved into roughly 200 square mile stretch of dessert, these images can be identified only from above and are very huge to recognize form the grounds, it is believed that the prehistoric Inca people created this, this include the drawings of birds, animals, human like creatures, insects and even a killer whale. These are quite similar to crop circles in size. another amazing thing is that this has been created about a 1000 years ago and yet it still remains for which it is thought that in these desserts only rarely does it rain. The human like creatures that is drawn is very similar to our imagination of aliens so there is also a belief that aliens drew it because during those prehistoric time who else would have a space view of earth other than aliens or humans created it for attracting the creatures for space. Other hypotheses says that even in those ancient times there were equipment that could fly and these lines might be a signal for them. There were even news about some alien like mummies being found in places close to these lines. Though there are mysterious stories surrounding these amazing creation due the lack of clear evidence it is also said that the Inca civilization saw animals and birds as their gods and drew these in order pray to them. These people also had long skulls which they themselves did by tying cloth on their head which might have been done to imitate a god. Even if the lines were drawn by humans and the mummies were of humans then don’t you think there might be a possibility that the god with long head might have been an alien?well there are still no clear evidence of any beliefs and there are people who belief in different stories about these lines, ultimately it ends up in the theory that these Nazca lines do have something unclear things about them.

The recent incident in Kerala where a youtuber verbally abused a woman and due to the inaction of the legal system the woman herself went to his home and attacked him for doing these insolent things has sparked many debates all over. In my opinion what the women did was the right thing, trespassing a person’s home and attacking him is wrong but when someone was continuously abusing us and shaming us in front of lakhs of people and there have been no action from the police then the only way is that we ourselves will have to act against it, the women who did this have openly addressed what they did wrong and is proudly ready to accept the punishment for what they did but I can feel the satisfaction they are feeling because what they did was to give a slap on the face of patriarchy and the cyber bullying animals who think that they are safe behind their computers. It is a fact that more people are supporting the bully than the bullied just because she reacted in an out of the box way, but that only shows that how stinking the society really is. No matter what women do she will always be the one to be blamed in this society so looking for the approval of others is not in the question of a woman. this incident gives me the courage to stand in what I believe even if that brings disapproval of some insignificant ridiculous people, because what matters is my satisfaction and peace of mind above any patriarchal norms that suffocate me.

The people who view news debates or are well informed about controversial issues like feminism should know the term ‘whataboutery’ because it is a technique we always hear especially in political issues. This the technique where a group is blamed of doing some injustice starts their defense by saying ‘what about…’ and lists the things that the opposite party has done wrong which can be false or even if it is true it is very evident those things are irrelevant in the actual question asked. It is a way of hiding our own mistakes and diverting the talk to other issues where the opposite party has done wrong. This occurs whenever the individuals and groups are confronted with a difficult or uncomfortable question. this will be more evident In issues like feminism because whenever a famous person react to the discrimination they have faced or their friends face they are attacked with the question that ‘where were you when such things happened’ anyone with common sense would know that this question have no relevance in that particular situation because no one can react to everything and make a change, we sound our opinions in the right place where we are sure that our voice make a change because a change in our situation will of course lead to a change in some other people’s situation too. This is something which even we have done since childhood when parents scold us for doing something wrong we would always make excuses complaining about what our parents did, when children do that it is sweet to hear but when people continue this behavior even in their adulthood and further it is just so silly and shameless.

We might be people who have been living in the same conditions going to same places, going for trips in family parks and similar family places but we will have to face certain situations In life because we never know how our lives might change, for instance just look at the present condition of the world who would have thought that things would turn upside down like this. Travelling is not something that helps to see just places, it helps a person in ways more deeper than just the sights, especially if its solo travels. Travelling helps to clear our minds and widen our perspective, just a bus trip is enough to see how different each person’s world is. when we are facing difficulties in a relationship or are suffering from work overload the best way to survive and have a fresh view of everything because many of the problems a person faces might not be the issue of the problem alone but how we are unable to confront such issues, going for a travel getting pleasure from the beautiful sights gives us a brightness that was darkened by piled up stress. For People who have not been ever out of their comfort zones travelling becomes an experience that shows them how different lives are led by people which might have been unimaginable to us, gives us a broader mind to accept cultures, see new people with different characters which leads us to accept every diverse thing that comes our way. Apart from the friends that share similar experiences as us, by travelling we can meet people completely different from us who are living completely different lives and yet might capture our hearts which proves that nothing matters but only the heart. Finally travelling is a great meditation on life that can brighten up our days so going for travels once in awhile is very necessary for giving our mind and body the care it deserves.

Mental illness is considered as something shameful by most societies and even by people who suffer from such illnesses. In ancient times mental illness was not recognized an illness but was considered to be something supernatural or as a demon possession which led the people to even kill the patients with such illnesses, we are long past this times and now we recognize such illnesses as a medical condition and there are treatments done in psychiatric hospital. But the patients who end up in medical institutions are the ones who have reached their limit in their illness because when these people start to notice that they have the symptoms of such illnesses what they do first is to conceal the fact and try to suppress their illness which only increases the risks of the illness. The main reason for such concealment of mental illness is the way society sees such illnesses, once a person is known to have illnesses like schizophrenia people start to fear them and have the prejudice that they are dangerous. The stigma with depression was almost the same until people started to talk about it publicly and since more people are prone to it, society has started to treat it with sympathy, though what really needed is empathy. But other mental illnesses like schizophrenia or ocd’s are lesser known or is attached with a lot of stigma. Because of this the patients start to fear the outside world and confine to themselves which makes their life lonely and isolated. They have no equal opportunities for job, it is hard for them to get partners who will stay with them, friends and family start to see them as a new creature and they lose normal relations with the people they already know. The stigma goes to the extent that even psychiatric doctors and workers view them with prejudices. In some countries they have acts that ensure that mental patients are not discriminated even in work place, but many other countries have yet to recognize it. What we should realize is that these mental illnesses are only a long term medical condition which can be cured if taken the effort, like how biological illnesses are cured; we just need to take care of the patients as needed. We should never stamp a person schizophrenic because it is not their identity they just suffer from it. There are people with mental illnesses that have achieved a lot in their lives so it is high time we erase the image of a mental patient as someone behind medical bars but just as a normal person, see them with empathy and not sympathy.

We all have might have had this experience where at a certain moment we feel as if we have already been in that moment, the phenomenon called Déjà vu. Sometimes it is fascinating and sometimes it is scary. It is something that has been researched for a long time and have not found answers still. Yet there are certain theories that is speculated by researches some of it are
• Attentional explanation of déjà vu says that when we do something our attention gets distracted from it for some reason and later when we return to that unfinished task we might feel really familiar with that same position and action
• Memory related hypotheses is that since we have short term and long term memory, it is possible during certain experiences there might happen a glitch between these two memories where a certain thing that we do is not registered by us but when we repeat the same thing the experience goes straight to the long term memory giving the sensation of Déjà vu.
• In dual processing simultaneous experience is processed at different times, this can be memories that are out of sync or our brain is simply processing events at a different time of their occurrences.
• The neurological explanation is completely medical where some seizures in temporal lobe or other glitches in the brains processing centers leads to weird experiences like Déjà vu.
All these are some assumed causes of déjà vu which is science related, but paranormal believers also connect the déjà vu events with parallel universe or past lives, sometimes it is also assumed that our subconscious mind is trying to show us something through this method of déjà vu. Whatever the cause might be the eeriness of that experience and the undiscovered mystery behind its origin make it all the more intriguing.

Ihan Omar has become a ray of hope and light to many who were suffering different kinds of discrimination in America. From schoolgirls to adults Ihan now is a sigh of relief and yet another proof that they can reach great heights fighting the atrocities they face. Ihan Omar was a Somali refugee who migrated to America because of the Somali civil war when she was 12 and settled in Minnesota the place is known as a small part of Africa itself considering the African population residing there. She and her family came to America with great hopes of a secure life but the reality shocked Ilhan and she desperately wanted people to recognize her for everything else but not for her colour, her headscarf or her accent. From a refugee camp Ihan grew up to love politics and managed to reach reputable positions through her hard-work and bold stands and leadership skills which finally reached the stage where she became a counter narrative for America that elected a racist, misogynist and bigoted president and became the first Somali-American, first naturalized citizen from Africa and the first non white woman from Minnesota and finally one of the two first Muslim women to serve congress. The mileage of her successes is an inspiration to many marginalized communities- the black community, the women, the Muslim, the refugee - to find a leader that stands as an inspiration for these many communities will be very rare to find. Since her success in politics she has passed various bills and amendments and is a constant name heard in the politics for her outspoken character that has led to have bitter feelings among her own party itself. As a representative from all the oppressed communities it is only natural that she will have haters. Despite the continuous poking of controversy from others she has become the name that mothers teach their children to aspire to break all adversities and to change misfortunes into the beautiful flowers of opportunity, she has made women, refugees, blacks and Muslims to hold their identities in dignity in-spite of all the discriminations.

Sometime after studying for exams I feel as if my memory capacity is full and I can no longer study anything else but I came to know that our memories can never be full because our brain capacity is assumed to be around 2.5 petabytes that is a million gigabytes, for us who are so knowledgeable on these capacity calculation due to our intense use of electronics can understand the weight of that amount because it is more than the capacity of a high functioning computer itself. For more comprehensible example- to fill our brain we will need to record 3 million hrs of tv shows for which we have to leave the tv running continuously for more than 300 years. It is difficult to measure our memory capacity because the amount of each memory will be different which will lead to variation in the space taken up and many memories are forgotten because it is insignificant which lead to freeing up of space. With this capacity we can store 4.7 billion books but the problem is that our memories are very disorganized just like a messy room so it is hard for us to find memories from our messy minds. People who have great memories sometime have it naturally or they have trained their brains to be organized which will make it easier for them to find a piece of information from that brain. So just wonder how much more space is there in our brains which we have left unused, we should also know that this discovery was recent, in previous findings brain was found to have lesser capacity so maybe even this finding can also be smaller than our actual brain capacity, who knows!

But for the convenience of studying a person the personalities are divided in several terms for different purposes, one of such classification is personality A, B, C and D. They are the director, the socializer, the thinker and the supporter. Here type A are people who like to be in charge of the things around them, they have leadership qualities, who are goal oriented and thinks practically. They do not like anything interfering in their process to achieve their goals be it emotions or relationships, they love changes and risk taking, they are independent people with multitasking skills and competitive mind set. They can be workaholic and be stubborn in order to achieve their plan and for the same reason they are insensitive, intolerant and ill tempered. They love freedom, opportunities and success. Type B personality are people who love attention, is outgoing and want everyone to like them and compliment them. They are fun loving, friendly, likable, lighthearted people who value relationships. They can be too self involved, hate being alone, have only short attention span, can be arrogant and a procrastinator. They love limelight and admiration more than anything else. When it come to type C personality, it will be a person who like well oriented, accurate, detail obsessed and stable circ*mstances. They are logical people who consider emotion as illogical, they focus only on facts. These people are dependable, creative, an*lytical, quality loving person who can be unsocial, detached skeptical and do things their own way. They have high problem solving capabilities. Type D personality people are security and longevity loving people who doesn’t like change and can do things repetitively, and are skilled in whatever they do. They are sincere caring, calm, unimposing, reliable beings who does not want leadership or attention. Because of these low-key behaviors they can be easily violated and used for benefits, does not speak up, is shy and fear changes. They like helping others and is logical and rational. There are personalities that have mixture of two or more personalities or can be personalities who does not come under any of these categories, they are known as personality X. These are only categories that people have created for their short term conveniences this is never standard and there are people who act like one personality and be another inside or other variations. But humans have always tried to understand their own behaviors and have not reached any final standard classification.

Slavery always gives a picture in our mind as a historical event where people were shipped from Africa to western countries, the stories of people who suffered in plantations and other sectors all around the world and we assume that the age of slavery is over. But in reality in this age too slavery exists not as a small rare number but widely as 47 million all over the world, these are people that have come under the eyes of the census, it will be obviously more than this number. The country which has the largest number of slaves is India. In old times people sold and bought humans publicly but now everything happens masked, this is the only difference then and now. The ways in which people are subjected to forced labors are different from before, either they make false promises or bind the people to their employer as a debtor, most of these people have to work their wh*le lives under a person because of this high interest, life-long debts. KGF was a movie that showed such slavery where poor people were made to work in a mine and is guarded by armed people to avoid their escape, it is no fiction, there are such places in the world which is exactly as we see in this movie. The main reason that people are tricked to such slaveries is poverty, people are given false hopes and is taken to other countries where their passport and identities are kept with employers and their return to homelands is impossible, such works can be intense labor, sex trafficking and domestic works. People of certain caste are still considered as slaves by the upper castes and are made to work for them with little wages. Children are also trafficked for various purposes from poor households and are used as workers in mines and industries; they are also used for armed conflicts like war in certain countries too. Other form slavery is done very strategically where a girl is married to men who might be agents for human trafficking and is sold off, since the families are poor and thinks that their child is with her husband, they no longer searches for her contacts. In such ways slavery is happening all over the world very widely even in this 21st century after all the protests for abolition of slavery, it is sad that abolition of slavery remains only on papers.

We have all had that moment when we had this gut feeling that something is wrong in a situation, then we forget about it, but later on that feeling just hits the mark and prove to be true, and we get surprised by the accuracy of our first feeling. this is what we call intuition, the great gift of humanity, it is the ability to understand or decide something without the need for conscious reasoning, it just pops in our mind. I have had such few experiences where my first gut feeling was proved to be true, for me it is very rare. but our mothers and grandmothers have this intuition which almost seems as prediction power with them, it is our mother who will predict take something with us when we go out which we might question but finally would come in handy, they know when something is in a position about to fall, they say that don’t go to that place today, it might seem as an ability acquired from practice or experience, that is exactly what intuition is. Our brain feeds the patterns of various things so it has the ability to foresee what might happen in a certain situation. Humans have reached this stage of evolution through intuition because as primitive beings, it might be these gifts which is unique to humans that might have helped to survive great disasters. We happen to have this only rarely but it is said that it happens all the time, we just don’t pay attention to it, or reject it by considering our inner sound as something bizarre. It is said that we must give our brains its space and time without rushing anything, only then will it reveal its miracle like intuition. Though intuition can be right, it is not wise to only depend on it, sometimes we should also consider data. Sometimes after considering data we must give our minds to make the decision. Mindfulness and meditation is said to project these abilities which according to many famous people is very important that we develop to have a stress-free life. Give value to our inner feelings sometimes.

There is tug of war going on in the world statistics of non believers and believers. Atheism is on the rise on most of the western countries while India is seeing over obsession on religions and indulgence in rituals and practices while on the other hand violence based on religions is seen. In African countries too, religions are seen to have been increasing while in the west youth who answer to religion as no is like a tsunami wave. The reasons that are an*lyzed are many, for some it is science, for other it is humanism, while some are into secularism. All these youth have seen in their life hatred based on religions that they find staying away as a better plan. while other set of youth are more obsessed with materialistic life that they are no longer interested in deeper meanings that religion profess, they are more into worldly enjoyment and doesn’t care about something that they have no proof of, the after-life. We have reached an age where youngsters find being religious to be something to be ashamed of, they don’t want to tell their friends that they are religious. Belief in science and the habit of searching for proofs and questioning everything is also on the rise among youngsters that it is tough to silent them with some meta-narratives. Either they believe strongly in science, scientific proofs or they are suspicious of everything including scientific believes. It is said that world might reach an atheism age a lot earlier than what was predicted before because that large is the increase in this new Atheism religion.

Once when me and my mom was crossing the grounds of a temple to the opposite road one man who was passing by us said to us ‘you shouldn’t walk on these grounds, this is our place’, I was shocked to hear that because I have grown up here, I have walked there millions of times, I have attended the festivals there with my friends, so why should this man talk like this to us. This was the first time I was encountering an islamophobic experience that too in south India which I think is comparatively the secular place than north India. Around the world millions of people are facing such atrocities just because they are Muslims, Haven’t we seen killing and mob lynching against Muslims for reasons that were not even proved, so why is that people are changed into islamophobic criminals to the extent that they commit murders, many of these murderers were just common people whose transformation into criminals were a surprise to their neighbors who had known them for so long. Similar change in the mindset of people was seen in history when Hitler ruled Germany, and there are real life accounts of former Nazis who after many years realized the cruelty they were committing. To metamorphose people to hate spitting beings the main strategy that the rulers take is the circulation of lies or distorting truth to the extent that even Muslims believe those, the things that we always hear about Muslims are that they are polygamous, their main aim is to increase their population and fill the country with Muslims and the myth called ‘love-jihad. When we search for truths we can know that only 0.66% of our population is polygamous and in it 0.45% are Hindus, it is Hindu families that have 4 children or more than Muslim families. If Love jihad as some people argue has converted women into Muslims then census must show an increase in Muslim women but it is a fact that more than Hindu women Muslim have been seen as deteriorating and the reasons are completely different than what is circulated. Today the islamophobia are surging in from social medias and many other sites that even common people are injected with violent mentalities, the power of such lies are seen all around us in different forms of violence. What is sad is that,The people who are the real culprits behind these lies sit safe from all risks while simple common people are urged to commit crimes and suffer the punishments.

I have two grannies in my home and these thoughts crossed my mind. This covid has been proven a hell to aged people and the grandparents in our homes. Our grannies and grandpas are people who have reached a time of their age where they crave for attention just like small children and their relief was the people visiting them and talking to them about their illnesses and asking others of their well being. Grandparents can become more prying in their age because they don’t have anything else to do other than hearing stories of others or telling their own stories. If in a rural area they can even go out to meet people and spend some time but if they are living in urban areas the possibility for having friend groups are difficult, if they have reached a stage of not being able to walk and move around then they are in even more pathetic situation. Their children and grand children will be busy with their lives and these people’s only comfort become the visitors who come to see them. In this covid times even visitors won’t come as aged people are instructed to remain indoors and most of the aged people wouldn’t have mobile phones to play with like the younger generation and watching television also has a limit. Since socializing is not happening they can’t even know stories of others. These grandparents might be going through very tough situation of dealing already confined lives which have become confined again by covid. Let’s give them more attention and fill their boredom even if it bores us because their smiles have the same innocence of children, which will be very pleasant to watch.

We as Indians have this un-resistible love for rice products, south Indians are in love with rice, idli, dosa and appams , the kids cannot live without their cakes, cookies, pizzas, pastas and bread. The common elements in all of these are carbohydrates, sugar contained carbohydrates. Whenever someone gets on to dieting, they know that they should cut out on crabs but it proves to be a difficult task than the HIT exercises. Some studies prove that this craving for carbs that we call as love for carbs is actually an addiction because carbs seems to affect the areas of the brain related to pleasure and reward. So we can’t blame willpower alone for our craving for carbs because it also has an addictive aspect to it from which it will be hard to get away from just like any other addiction. Some studies even show that carbs have the same effect on body like the alcohol and dependency on carbs is found to be similar to that of drug abuse. We know that these can lead to epidemic rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression, yet we can’t stay away from our favorite pastries, it is this craving that is agreed by some medics as addiction. Fortunately there are nutritional diagnosis and treatment for this and it is highly suggested to people with this addiction. We might love tasty carbs but let’s try and reduce the use of it because only we can look after our health and our body deserves better than some unhealthy carbs

Media and reporting areas are still a less explored area for women especially Muslim women as she has to face double discrimination as a woman as well as for wearing a hijab. In media and other aspects of the social life hijab was always mocked at and It was difficult for muslim women to prove her talents remaining in hijab. But even in such dire situations there is name that all women look upto that is khadeeja Bin Ganna the journalist selected as one of the most influential journalist in 2014 times review. She is an Algerian journalist who has over 9 million followers in facebook and instagr*m who became her fans for her courage and bravery, graduated in 1988 in media studies she stepped into the journalist realm in a young age where obviously it was hard for a woman to prove her intelligence considering the patriarchal situations, but she soon earned name for her brave on-site reporting from war sites like Algerian civil war, the Gulf war, the Afghan, Iraq, Lebanon wars. Her bravery was such that she had the will to get into the challenging waters of journalism when even now girls think twice about. She has taken ground marking interviews with various world leaders. To her credit lies her participation in the establishment of the Arab channel Al-Jazeera known for it outspoken views which has not feared to always report the truth and which now has international viewership. She stands as an ideal for the youth to whom she passes her passion of speaking truth without fear which is what today’s youth must study uncompromisingly.

We are gifted with the sense of eyesight and the ability to see different colours unlike many animals, this is not just a sensory effect, vision of lights have more effect on us than just what meets our eyes. In the ancient Indian medicine of the Chakra system it was believed that each chakra had a colour to it and have energies concentrated in it which gives us physical, mental and spiritual balance. In such ancient medicines chromotherapy or the colour therapy was widely used, and now people are more interested in it. Each colour has its own vibration and and frequency to it which the body recognizes and responds to. Each colour charges our cells in different ways and gives us certain amount of energy in mind, body and emotions in the form of happiness, motivation and creativity. Colours can affect our hypothalamus, pituitary and the pineal glands and so choromotherapy can treat illnesses and disorders by alleviating pain, supporting emotional and mental conditions and providing balance that can lead to healthy life. Since people are now looking for alternative medicines that is close to nature, to bring back natural healing processes chromotherapy is in high demand. Isn’t it so calming to know that the colours can heal us, we as Indians must be more interested in our own traditional treatments.

Just like the flat earth theory there is a theory that questions all our beliefs, that is the hollow earth theory or the existence of an unknown land called Agartha which is very relatable to our imagination of aliens- a land with peace and technological progressions unknown to man. There have been scientists who believed that earth was hollow which had layers beneath it that could have the atmosphere to garner living conditions. It was the diary of admiral Richard Byrd that gave this theory the popularity, he was a military officer who had to go to south and north poles for various missions of America and in one of his expeditions he says he came in contact with the people of Agartha who had flying saucers, they requested admiral Byrd to instruct mankind of the destruction it was causing as they had heard the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and came to earth to find out what happened and was shocked to know mankind is building weapons that could perish the mankind themselves. Richard Byrd does not give any proofs for this confession of his but says that he was sworn to be silent by his authorities about his experiences and it is a fact that since then various massive projects were introduced by America in north and south pole making it a highly confidential land. We have studied that earth has crust, mantle and core and we have also studied the layers of it. But all that are the discoveries based on speculation and volcano based. It was also found in one of the drilling of Russians that the undergrounds were not as we thought it would be, though the drilling went only 7 miles. There is also the belief that the Nazis were always in search of Agartha and their bases in the poles are facts, the mystery behind Adolf Hitler’s death is also connected with this conspiracy theory where some believe that Hitler escaped to Agartha because his death is something still debated. Maybe this is yet another imagination or the fantasy of some minds but what we should learn from all these is that earth is something which still has many mysteries yet to be discovered so the possibility of our beliefs being shattered is still high.

During this corona crisis the expatriates have suffered a lot just like the native or more, because the natives are still with their families while the expatriates have to deal all alone or are suffering to lead a family life in expensive cities like abroad. India has a lot of expatriates working east and west and mostly in Arab nations from where now almost half or more expatriates are returning. the amount of job losses are indefinable and all these people are coming to an even more unemployed country, that is India. We must realize that India has a major share of its income coming from these Expatriates, the only profitable area for India might be the same. But as they are returning the challenges are many, the income is going to dwindle a large sum and Government have to get ready to face the intensifying unemployment rates which is already in a pathetic condition. The expatriates who lost their jobs are facing the most uncertain and struggling times as there are no alternative livelihood for them here. The treatment of government towards expatriates have also been not in good terms which effect the future investments of theses people into India. The expatriates’ role in growing India economically is something undeniable and very great, seeing the present situation of wh*le structure of expatriates and joblessness seems to be in a challenging edge.

I guess people who don’t love animals will be very rare to find because human-animal bond is something that everyone cherish, I have a cat and the love I have for it is the proof I myself have seen. It is said that having pets can brighten your mental health so it is not just fascination that we get from a wagging tail, a purring cat, or even a mooing cow, its more that just that. the happiness I feel while seeing my cat is indescribable and the concern I have for it when it gets sick shows how deep can these relationships get. Having pets can help people who are living alone or for people who have lost any of the loved ones not because pets can replace them but we have someone to share our love with and that is an important thing to have. Especially during this lock-down for people who are trapped alone suffers most but if they have a pet with them during that time it is gonna make a lot of change, of course pets cannot solve all mental problems but it can help to an extent. For elderly and children having pets with them can prove beneficial in very many ways. Playing with them, talking to them, caring for them is not mere entertainment, it is a therapy in itself.

Covid-19 times have seen loss of lives not due to the virus only but have also seen suicides on an increasing level, though there are suicides happening in all age groups what is more concerning is that the student suicides have also rose uncontrollably, this brings us to the state where we understand the importance of schools and friends. The impact of covid on youth is alarming especially here in Kerala. Children between the 12-18 is seen as prone to suicides for which there are various reasons as in during lock-down which is surprising too because the children are constantly with their family and even then the rates are only increasing. The poor children face even more problems as they face economic struggles along with lack of availability of technical facilities which is needed for studying during this pandemic. There are also families where the parents are subjects to substance abuses and families with relationships problems among themselves, children from these families have nowhere else to go during this lock-down and is trapped in a toxic environment which makes the children even more prone to suicides. Children dedicated to studies and who feel pressurized with studies find the online classes and alternatives insufficient which also give them anxiety. Kids now have all the reasons to be with their mobiles and laptops all the time in the name of studies which leads to them misusing it and parents fail to notice these things, constant witnessing of inappropriate videos and games also affects the children in unpredictable ways as this sudden change in lifestyle has made them vulnerable to mental frailness. The recent celebrity suicides and constant discussions on it lead to copycat suicides too where children tend to loose hope and imitate their role models. The only thing that can be done is either opening of schools which will take more time or keeping constant eye on them, having discussions with them, ensuring healthy usage of mobiles and similar items, giving them some outdoor activities if possible and giving alternative entertainment for them. lets be aware and save our children from this hard times.

I am a college student and as all of you I am also struggling in this lock-down period, I have this urge to study but I am not able to bring myself to do it, I am lazy even to do my assignments I know that I’ll have to write exams and I really do want to focus more on studies but I don’t know, maybe I am just lazy or I may not have enough passion to concentrate completely on academics. My friends are studying for various higher level exams seriously, I have also applied for it, but I am not doing any work for it. These really depresses me that I am such lazy potato. Because in this competitive world without giving my all I won't be able to achieve anything. I know those things but I am only a thinker and not a doer. I really hate myself for being like this. In this lock-down not being able to go to college has only increased this laziness of mine, I am really clueless on why am I only worrying and not working for it. I know that only I can change this mentality but something invisible is preventing me from dedicating myself to academics. I don't know what it is. I even think that I should get some counselling to get rid of this nasty habit of mine. I guess everyone is doing their best in these time and I am sure that I am not one of them and it really depresses me.

There was a time when in our home towns or villages there were a lot of social platforms, like some carrom clubs or cricket teams, a residence association, even a tea shop groups that had same age people in them. This was our Indian Culture which have been a part of our roots, our identity as Indians because we are not like Americans or other west countries, we have this bond that is unique to each locality, we have this connection with people of same place. These connections are sometimes a little problematic too but f maintained in a limit this is a beautiful social surrounding. By having such social platforms of the same age groups it is easy for us to share our problems because the people who understand maybe not everyone but by knowing everyone we can meet with the person who will understand us and can create friendship which is close to our homes, we will have people who we trust, whom we can call for any emergency. It is beneficial for children too because they can realize that there are different lives, how different each home is, how some children's life is difficult so that our children will value what they have, today children have only this virtual place where being rich is a trend , they have virtual friends who have similar lives because all children has the privilege of having a virtual life in their world but in reality there are children who cannot afford this virtual life, knowing such lives gives an education no school can give. Same goes for women too, sharing problems, sharing food, with the friend whom they can trust to care their children when they are away. These groups will also give celebrations a big family mood when everyone in that place come together for each celebration. But today such social platforms are hard to find, old people do not have their age friends whom they can spend time with when their children are busy, parents are always concerned of their children because they don’t know anyone and can’t trust them, there is no physically proximate friends who we can turn to whenever we want. Though sometimes it seems good that we don’t know anyone, it is actually really pathetic that we lack these bonding, it is this lack of connections that lead people to loneliness and depression to some extent too.

Justice Ruth Badger Ginsbu*g stands as the proof for the excuses women line up for not following her dreams because Ms.Ginsberg have faced all adversities and still remained strong and standing in her purpose and achieved it in an age when women Hardly went to colleges. 87 years and she has the most forward opinions than even the youth living in this age have, that is how forward she was. She was not only strong in her ideas but was also the role model for the idea of women having physical strength too as she did weightlifting even in her eighties. Completing her law studies at a time when there were only 9 women in a 500 people class, she served as a professor in Colombia and later selected to supreme court being the second ever female justice. More feminist than any feminist of this time and age she has achieved the 14th amendment act for the equal pay for equal work for women, to bring a change in a country's law ofcourse need the power of lioness considering the discrimination she faced during her life in education and in her career. She has expanded not only women rights but also civil rights law, codified sex discrimination and same sex marriage, she moved against all backward ideologies with her strong will even when she faced great dissents. She was always to be counted wherever injustice takes place and she feared none, she even once called President Trump 'a Faker'. Her intellect and will won various cases bringing change nation wide and being a power for every human. With her outspoken dissents she has own a place in every american giving hope and changing lives of innumerable people. She died achieving what she dreamed of, to bring a change at-least in one life. And achieved it by bringing changes to wh*le nation.

I have studied in my textbooks that ancient Greek philosophers and common people thought that the earth was flat and even feared going great distances in case they might fall off from the earth. But it was fascinating to me knowing that there are a set of people who believes that earth is flat even in this day. Yes, there really are such people who genuinely believe that the earth is flat and they even have an international organization in their name too. Their debates with NASA are very popular. The first basic reason for them to believe the earth as flat is that we see earth as flat. Well there they are right we never see earth as round do we?, even when we are in a flight, the earth below is flat. They say that earth is a disc with Arctic circle in the center and Antarctica surround the rim of the disc and have a 150 feet tall ice mountains which is guarded by NASA in order to avoid people crossing over or falling off. They accuse NASA of having fabricated satellite images of the earth. They also argue the existence of an invisible anti-moon that hides moon during eclipses and also that earth doesn’t have gravity but is pulled up instead by some mysterious dark force. Well it really might seem absurd to us but what evidence do we have other that what the organizations say to us? so if flat earthers are accusing NASA of conspiracy then we don’t have anything else to prove that earth is round, well other scientists might but for common people there are none. The fact that we are believing in NASA and other scientific organizations and the textbooks blindly is also a fact, so some other people believing in this flat earth theory are also like one of us. So though it first seemed absurd to me, I now kind of have no reason to say the flat earthers are saying nonsense. It is also very fascinating how convincing these people sound. Sometimes, I think, that it is nice to have our belief systems questioned because it helps us realize how blindly we believe many things.

Marriages are highly valued in this society and it is as if all are working towards marrying someone especially girls in general. the society is like a bollywood movie that teaches the children only the romances and not the reality of facing the real situations,because marriage is not the pomp weddings and beautiful photographs, marriage is living with a person for the rest of your life,in Indian context it is taking another family into our lives girls have to leave everything that once was her sky and earth, boys have to learn to bring another individual into his life and make her feel comfortable and all these are not as easy as society teaches, it is high labor jobs and once a problem arises it will remain a problem or can also bl*w up into greater problems. We don’t teach the youth how to face a situation when they are not able to conform to the new life or how to face the difficulties or when to have a divorce because divorce is considered like an influenza that should be kept away. This stigma that society creates around divorce is something that have lead to many tragedies in many lives. We must know that when impossible to solve some problem we have to take up divorce as a solution, yes it is a solution! not a huge monster that should be kept away. Divorces are serious matters that should be considered in dire situations only, but it SHOULD be taken up or else the loss will be of the family who might have to face other situations which will be more dreadful than a simple divorce. People might say things or make up stories about our life, but is OUR life, if getting a divorce is the only solution in having a happy life you should take it. Having kids might keep you away from getting a divorce, but think about your kids growing up in a space where you are always fighting with your husband or with your in-laws, or your kids is always seeing you depressed and defeated, these things will affect your kid even psychologically when they grow up. So it is better to live apart and give happiness to yourself and your kids than living together and making your life and their life a hell. We should work towards taking off the stigma surrounding the Divorces because it will help a lot of families.

Rumors are things that we come in contact with regularly, in our schools, colleges, workplace or in any place in general. Rumors are unverified news that circulates in a place, it can be a misinformation or true. Rumor is different from gossip when gossip is personal kind of information spread about someone, rumor is more formal , it is related to a government, a happening or have a wider sense. It is the way of humans perspective of viewing a crisis and managing it and looking out for adverse situations, like ‘did you hear our department is closing down?’, here a thing that everyone dread is said, they might loose jobs and thus are concerned about it and they add to it or a reduction is made as it passes on. During the beginning of the pandemic haven't we heard rumors of virus being purposefully spread by Chinese government? or the rumor where we were instructed to drink hot water occasionally to avoid the virus?, these are kind of rumors that come during a crisis and we don’t have enough information about it. Some virus is killing people and we don’t know from where it came, how it came, when will it affect us, when will the restrictions and lock-down be taken down, will a vaccine be developed- these kind of lack of information is filled by rumors, some times making our own remedies or worsening the situation like purposeful spreading. People tend to spread rumors when they are anxious, afraid, uncertain and feels like a situation is out of their hand. sometimes rumors are spread if that rumor satisfy our attitudes. Since in this social networking era it is very hard to track down a rumor, we should look out to its authenticity and spread it only after verification because sometime rumors become highly harmful when the situation is more dreadful like our present situation.

Witchcraft is something that always grabs our attention in stories,books and movies. We always have this green faced or black faced woman who is into magic image whenever we think of witches and obviously we are afraid of them too because we know what happened to Hansel and Gretel!. Our history has a time in it when people hunted witches and persecuted women and children in this name and we think that all these witch related things are on an end now. But if we really look into the present trends we can know that witchcraft is on the rise now, relying on psychic reading, tarot cards and astrology are things done by a large population now. For some it might be just fascination of a new way of creating energy in their lives but for some it is their strong belief. n this world where children are bought up in a loose structure of absence of religion and rules they have more freedom of going to any new religion and witch is something like that. Because it has this great importance and projection of spiritualism in it and also the perfect mixture of materialism in the form of crystals, tarot cards,t-shirts and tote bags, it is a kind of tangible spirituality that people get from this acts. During the times of political turmoil people turn to these occult sometimes to make happen their wishes or to have peace of mind. In the west It has now become and established business just like any other religion. When before people did these things anonymously now people are more open about embracing witching or wiccan occult. There are witch groups that have business even from politicians. I find this really fascinating from killing of witches the progressed society is going back to this pagan cultures.

I am as any human an ardent lover of songs. Songs are refreshing, livens us, can be companions in our solitude, the colours of our travels, can be nostalgias, the music for our parties. Songs have many roles when considered in these senses.But for me a song is a poem that everyone can understand, Which can be more close to our hearts because it has this element of music in it that is a primitive rhythm in a human. According to some people poem was poetry only in the old days, that is so not true, it’s just that in old days the lyrics were written in a different manner including tough poetic words but today’s writers just use common words and using common words is not a reason for a writing to lack poetic essence because what the writer says in the songs through these common words will be deep things. Yes there are meaningless hollow songs that come out today, like the age old love songs that come from bollywood or the party songs but the existence of those should not be used as a general way of saying that all new songs are meaningless. BTS the world famous Korean boy band might be seen as something silly for certain people but their songs are known for the intellects they use like the history of a place, fighting adversities, the psychology of a human. It is undeniable that they have taught a lot of youngsters the famous psychology of Carl Jung’s Map of the soul. So songs can also be educational. Sometimes these new generation songs attain heights that the earlier musicians haven’t even thought of. Old music are also legendary so is new songs, the period of songs doesn’t matter the songs does.

We have all have been through our stages of rebellious teenage which is considered as a greater task for our parents than even the labor pain. It is a time when we reject or hate all kinds of advices and directions given from our parents and teachers, these people also increase their advices to boys and girls during their teenage too. Even me, after going through teenage thought that it might be just hormones or the teenager’s failure to manage their anger because it was how it was viewed generally. But I came to know that not only teenagers but adults too hate unsolicited advice from whoever it is, be it a loved one or a colleague, because adults are already a complete person with their own views and decision that they wouldn’t take others suggestions easily for many reasons. One of the reasons is the human’s need for freedom and avoiding other’s control over us. We don’t notice this in adults or we think that it is justifiable to adults to act that way, but when teenagers do it we feel like they have not grown enough to avoid advice, there lies the main problem. People view teenagers as children, though they look like it, be it that they actually are they are still in the process of being an adult. They have both this adult and a child in them. We need to know that they themselves are in trouble with their own development and growth and making of decisions that the advices given to them will only infuriate them because the adult in them doesn’t want another person’s control over them. They are also developing their full fledged ego during this time and even if the advice is good their identity as an individual capable of making a decision is challenged thus they stick with their solutions rather than good advices. So what we should engrave in our minds is that teenagers are small adults and we should talk to them with respect and value rather than concern and directing.

Lock-down that was put on wh*le of India saw poor migrant workers stranded in big cities without jobs and nowhere to turn to in order to return to their homelands. When the govt didn't take any actions to bring these workers back home they started walking miles to their homes on foot, shoe-less poor feet were bruised and torn due to the ignorance of the government. There was heart wrenching photos of people sanitized like cattle and people dying on the railway platforms, babies orphaned, all of which will always be a nightmare for India. Just because these people don’t hold any powerful positions and is poor does that make them less humans? I guess it does for our government. Besides ignoring them the government even doesn’t have any data on how many died in this tragedies which is just utter irresponsible approach from a country's government, how can they avoid it completely. The truth was published from the railways authority that about 80 people had lost their lives during this expedition. though from sharp criticism the government employed trains to bring back these workers it was still non organized as there was a time limit and these people rushed to get on board which was against all the protocols that had to be ensured. Those people cannot be blamed for the act, our governments should have given them time and means to follow all the protocols. this marginalization of poor and poverty at large is so depressing when we see that there is no one to protect them.

This is times which has affected everyone equally, people are loosing jobs, shop owners can't open their shops, buyers have dwindled as they are keeping away from public places, from small sellers to multi national billionaires this Covid has affected adversely, I have not seen nothing so democratic as covid because it has affected rich and poor, powerful and powerless, young and old all alike. and there are only a few things that has not been affected and even benefited from it, one of it is the e-commerce, since everyone is avoiding going out , they prefer things to be bought to them and this is made possible by the online sellers like Amazon, flipkart and similar online platforms. The people who once didn’t support these kinds of purchases are also turning to these methods, since I am not living in a city but an urban area and people here are slow in adapting new technological changes and online shopping is something that my people started due to covid. These online platforms is gaining greater profits during the lockdown season. This has even bought the small sellers too to take up online alternatives to hike their sale. though it is tough times let this be a trigger for bringing changes and inventions that benefits humans as a wh*le.

Don’t we all have that friend-brothers that talk all mighty about protecting his sister, who doesn’t let us go alone anywhere, who might suggest coming up to our office to question the attitude of our bosses, well of course you might have or you might have encountered such charming men concerned about us more than us itself which is labeled as 'courteous attention to women'. We wont notice this until we study such behaviors or are always updated on the sexist attitudes. For a common girl who is not much into feminism this might be very hard to grasp too. Haven't we heard the praises given to mothers who has sacrificed many things for the family, it is said that only woman can do it so she should be praised, the problem doesn’t end with praising and still continuing the caging of the woman, yes it was praise worthy that doesn’t mean one should still be forced to do it. By praising what is taught to us is that sacrifices is better than dreams so continue the old tradition. Similarly the friend-brothers mentioned above see us as little rats who isn’t capable of voicing our problems, who can't do responsible jobs, who cant talk to people at higher positions properly so they intervene as someone with this useless chivalry, it is really difficult to understand this sexism because it is coated in sugar. It is this benevolent sexists who circulate the posts that say to the girls to protect her chastity because she is ‘goddess’ but in short they are just saying that a girl who lost her chastity is not a goddess and she lost it because she herself was the reason for it. When rape crimes or assault crimes happen these kinds of ‘kind’ posts come heaping up, recently when such incident happened a post was viral which instead teaching men how to respect a woman, it was addressed to girls who should find the right guy who would love their souls and not give into the man’s desires. it’s
as if proclaiming that men by default are like that so it is the woman’s responsibility to protect herself. No one of such courteous people will write posts addressed to boys to behave. Similar things can be heard in our day to day life where a woman is said to be infinitely forgiving and thereby says that she should forgive her husband’s illicit relations but men won’t forgive because they are not as forgiving as woman, A woman has the power to face all adversities so she should remain in an abusive relationship without having a divorce, A woman’s body is so pristine so she should not expose it. And the love of these benevolent sexists is unending, it is these benevolent sexist who will say that a girl was raped because she went out at night, because men are like that and she should have sat at home during that time, it indirectly gives men all the freedom to do all crimes. So girls beware of these benevolent sexists.

We all are television consumers and we watch television on a daily basis even if we don’t watch any specific progr*m regularly. Comedy and creation of comedy and how certain elements are used for comedy talks a lot about our own mentality on things. When such comedies become harmful to someone then that will loose its funny aspect and gets a political view. There are people that do not like criticism of funny shows because it is 'just' mere funny and politicizing it will destroy the enjoyment, a person who reacts like this is either a privileged person or a person with no in depth knowledge on harmful comedy. Using sexism, racism, body shaming, LGBTQ related comedies should be known as not comedies but insults, violation and as disrespecting. Showing a black person and his acts as something lowly, showing him as uneducated and a person who doesn’t know the modern things are a usual comedy seen in shows. Similarly we may see fat ladies used as funny objects and passing comments on them, making fun of an unsuccessful poor set of society or marginalized society,there are even humor which promote the rape culture that is going on in India. When confronted with these criticisms the artists who does this excuses himself by saying that his friend who was insulted on stage doesn’t have any problem, then why should others care about it. Such replies only project the lack of insight of these people who is not aware of the social damage that these vituperation can cause. These humors are made to feed the hunger of the elite class of the society who has the privilege of owning a t.v. Since the criticized people also don’t realize that these abusive humors are told about them and as they do not have problem with it itself shows how they have internalized the concept that they themselves are deserving of such abuses. These people that you mock be it a woman, a fat person, a short one, a black person, people facing poverty, people belonging to simple jobs, people from other states who work harder than us, they don’t deserve these insults, they have no reason to bear the weight of abuse thrown at them under label of humor. Because they too have dignity. We being viewers who enjoy these comedies we are no different from racists, sexists and violators. We should unlearn many things that was fed to us since our childhood, because not all popular cultures are neat and harmless.

As a girl born into this digital world it is unimaginable for me to live without internet, social media and mobile phones, I think most of us are like that. When I can’t find my phone I almost have this panic attack happening until I find it, I still remember that feeling because I was that stressed. It is so exciting to have billions of connections in this rectangle screen and whenever I feel bored I take this and just swipe and how satisfying it is!. This situation is known to be an addiction which almost every youngster will be having. That vibration we get if a 'like' is given to our post and excitement we feel is the result of release of dopamine.It is a chemical produced whenever we are motivated like when we take bite of a delicious food, after we exercise and after sex and also when we have successful social interaction. This social interaction is exactly what is happening while we are engaging in a social media. It is this release of dopamine that creates in us this urge to experience this excitement again and again. This dopamine centered working is not accidental, our social media creators are well aware of it and models the apps according to it. To say one example our Instagr*m app sometimes withhold the number of likes for our posts so when we are disappointed in the few likes it rewards us with a bu*sts of likes which obviously will release dopamine amount that will be a wh*le lot more. So in short our brains are just used by these corporate for their benefits. They will only work for their benefit so it is up to us to work for OUR benefit and control these usages so that this addiction is under control because our mental health is so fragile that we wouldn’t know when it is crumbling. I have decided to control my social media usage for good, I hope everyone understand the seriousness.

Former JNU student Umar Khalid have been arrested relating o the Delhi riots which took place in February 2020 which was a nightmare for me thinking of the situation our country has reached, that too based on religions whose core is love, it is just so ironic. There was protest against the CAA and NRC citizenship law which is evident as discriminatory against Indian Muslims. Even I have seen the clippings of Kapil Mishra, a BJP politician who did an explicit hate speech to the protesters who were mostly women, asking the police to disband the protest and take away the blocks or else HE would and that started the wh*le disaster that took the life of 25 people and destroyed the livelihood of many others. Even the bystanders and people in their homes were attacked along with destroying it. Though both Hindus and Muslims were affected the statistics show that it was the Muslim side that had to suffer more. Many Muslims have also fled their homeland and homes fearing their safety. What I find appalling is the corrupted investigation that is going on. It is not even clear that why Umar Khalid is arrested, he was always a target for the police because he was outspoken of the reality that is going on. His advocate says that he wasn’t even in the place during the protest, even if he was a protester that doesn’t justify the arrest what they should have is the evidence that he triggered the violence but it is clear to Indian population that it was Mishra who triggered it and he is safe from all the investigation while innocents are continually being arrested in this name. I am so disheartened in the current situation and now that I see the route of investigation I don’t even have the hope that justice will be restored in this country.

Indian film industry is known for its use of songs in its movies which is very unique aspect exclusive to Indian cinema and songs are used for many ways of narration in the movie, sometimes it is used to show a budding love or growth of a character but there is popular kind of songs that we see in Indian cinema that is the ‘item song’ which is commodification right from it’s title itself because these songs show women in exposing dresses dancing as an ‘item’ for the desires of man. Women is seen as an item and it is surprising that even successful actresses take part in it. Yes what they want to do is their choice and the director's choice but showing an item dance in worlds most dangerous place for women these people have more than just their choices to look for when they do these item songs. Women in exposing clothes standing willfully to the whistles and stares of men who is ravishing in her presence because she is satisfying their sexual desire, is so not okay. These film-makers have this excuse of economic gain to use these item songs where again women is used, her beauty is used, her choice is used to make money, money is made from satisfying a group’s sexual libido. And I also don’t think that these item songs help in making a movie successful because if the movie is deserving of success it gets the applause even if it doesn’t use these item songs. No, a person wouldn’t go out to rape because they saw an item song but yes what these people internalize from these scenes and lyrics do feed the misogynistic mentality of the wh*le India and we cannot say that this does not contribute to India’s current situation. When it does not give commercial success then why is our industry obsessed with this completely useless out-of-place sexual depiction?

Love relationships is something that we see in our day to day lives between our parents, friends and ourselves too. We also sometimes see relationships that are so admirable and feel like having a similar deep relation, I have very many such relations which I thought would last for ever but to everyone’s surprise that might fail. Failing relations are so usual in early adulthood but there some relations that have survived long times and struggles and finally reached this blooming stage of marriage and everything is so happy and calm but suddenly we hear that they are getting a divorce which shocks you because you have known both of them personally and together they always seemed like they were meant to be but it just didn’t. This put me in a stage where I started thinking why people fall out of love after marriage and the reasons are many. When in a love relationship even though we may have fights if we love each other we have this fear of loosing the partner because we haven't tied any knot and the other person can walk away any time but after marriage this invisible knot ties the relation up giving the couple a sense of relief that now they can take each other for granted because the other person can’t easily walk away. Similarly after marriage your love is always with you and we kind of stop noticing them and give no importance for they always are with us. Before marriage our partner is away from us and love is always tested and we know the value of they being with us and beauty of the times when we are together. The things like jealousy and possessiveness which was cut when we were in a relationship becomes a serious issue when it is present in our daily life, each one of the couple have their own career and have to mingle with many people that the other person doesn’t know but when our partner starts pestering us with their jealousy it almost becomes hateful to us even to share things that bother us from the work place. If before marriage our main aim was to get together with our partner, after marriage our aims change and we focus on other things like work, kids and finance so that we forget to make time for our love. We have many expectations and dreams when it come to our partner and the life we want with them and expect them to act according to what we want but we should also realize that they also have their own expectations from you too, and when it comes to life it is never dreamy and fantasy like no one can meet other persons expectations so this also becomes a problem after marriage. As time go by both husband and wife forgets to be kind to each other and show their love because we think that they already know that but what we should realize is that we should always be kind and express our love because our partners need reassurance that we love them. Yes life can be hard, but we can make it dreamy through acceptance and understanding and perseverance. It requires our efforts for relationship to live on, so never take it for granted.

When we hear about crimes done to women and see the news that 1 out of 5 women has had experiences of sexual assault we think about our girl children who has to face the world but there is another aspect to it, the men that are doing these crimes and that amount is also very big, so we should also be aware of the fact that from where does our sons learn these cruelty if not from their surroundings. We think that our sons won’t do such things but looking at the statistics even the men from our own homes might also be included in it. Here we should start thinking about the toxic masculinity taught to boys. We have films where men go out to fight the villain ALONE and achieve the ‘trophy’ that is women. We have films where men have serious conversations and are always thinking about great things while women only talk about their love interests. This heroism is taught to our sons right from their infancy when they fall down and elders say to him not cry as he is a boy and not to be a sissy. They are not supposed to complain to others they are supposed to face all problems alone. And these children also think that abuses and assaults are done only to girls and when they face it they are dumbfounded whether to complain about it, even if they complain they are only mocked because they are supposed to face it alone. They are forced to prove their masculinity using their manhood, so they are in stress if they fail in a relationship because wooing a girls is man’s trait and if failed in it his ego hurts and might want to hurt the girl instead(we know acid attacks). He is insulted mocked and bullied for not meeting the masculine traits. A boy is called names if he has friends who are girls, if he likes cooking or is into fashion, if he wears pink, if he supports a feminist view, if he considers his wife’s opinions because he should have his own views and is expected not to agree with others. He should be unemotional even if his loved ones dies, having compassion is also not allowed, he must take good decisions and is always pressured to stand alone in decision making even if it is a grave situation and the list goes on and on. The men who are bullied try to prove their masculinity by showing power over women and subjugating them. When we teach our girls to be strong we should not forget that our sons also need classes in not internalizing this toxicity by showing them even men can cry, sometimes it is women who leads, it is okay to fight by standing together and not facing it alone, to speak about his problems, only then will our education will be balanced.

Recently I came across an article that dealt with the fantasy like depiction of college and school life in bollywood. I have also grown up watching bollywood movies, even though I am a keralite and has seen many movies that depict real school life being a small girl I was always mesmerized by glossy, glamour school seen in bollywood and thought how nice would it be. I don’t know whether schools shown in films like student of the year really exists but for me it never had. Bollywood always seems to depict rich life as something very beautiful and good that it almost seemed to me that I was living a garbage kind of life worthy of no representation. My school days were not of parties and proms, it was group studies and stage plays, it was not of bikes and cars but of school buses and cycles. And there was never six pack guys but some skinny stupid boys and cat fighting girls. But still it was my heaven, I have never seen a serious love triangles like in student of the year but petty dr*mas of boys and some short lived romances, but I have seen huge circles of friendship and some annoying but influential teachers and many more golden memories. It was never glossy but it was real classy than the bollywood ones.

Tiktok has been banned in India now, we all know that, because it was something that we saw on a daily basis even if didn’t have the app. In televisions and other social media these tiktok videos was a trend wave. And there were people who criticized it seeing unusual cultures in it. Sometime it did have this weird videos that just disgusting to watch and our elders were always complaining about this app and the new trends of people acting and dancing(especially girls) because our society is like that. But what is notices is that, keeping the irritating videos apart, this app was a great equalizer in terms of publicity. There were actors and famous people doing videos and also poor and common people also doing videos in it. The videos which are good in-spite of who did it attained publicity. When the glam acting world was something achievable by people with filmy backgrounds and money this platform became a place for all the actors who had the talent but no ways to express them. I have seen great talents n tiktok maybe they might never get to act in a movie but they could still become popular through this app. When we criticize something we must also know that there are many reasons why people use these apps, for some it was their dream fulfillment of showcasing their talent who was not blessed with opportunities. There are many tiktok actors who have found their way into films and short-films and modeling. So before we say that something is disgusting we must know the good sides of t too.

We are living in a chaotic world where hatred thrives and kills. The religions that profess love is twisted by humans to create separation and hate. Humans are separated on caste, creed, colour, language and faith. This age of humans is known for its meaninglessness and hopelessness. When we see the violence around us it almost feels like we are living in a land a of demons rather than human. It is during this disheartening atmosphere that I came across Sufism, the mystic group of people that was known to me only through the writings of Rumi and their songs. I never took efforts to know about the soul of this movement. But when I knew, it captured my heart because of the beauty of peace that they spread through love. Unlike other religious people who wanted to protect their religion and for that become cruel to others, Sufism saw every beliefs as equal, it had this wide perspective of humans and their choices. They accept that whether in different religions there might be people more close to God than them. They saw the brightness of souls just like how J*s*s saw in Mary Magdalene. The Sufism I know wouldn’t judge other person on their behavior or talk behind their back, they might advice others but never hate them for the choices they make. They see even enemies as friends because they fear only the decrease in love for god and nothing else. After knowing these things about Sufism even I started following their certain principles. I don’t judge someone or some situations because there might be greater truths behind it. I don’t hate people just because they say something we don’t like, that’s just their opinion, we shouldn’t bother with it. Sufism in its wake embraced all the drunkards, the prostitute, the poor and needy, the outcastes were in love with the sufis. Sufis didn’t go with the popular notions of society, they stand strong in their love for peace. I saw some things on the internet which said Sufism is not as peace loving as it seems because their gatherings and actions seems weird. We should know that our temple going and poojas and mosque also will be seen as ridiculous to some others but for us it gives inner peace. And we should also know that there will always be good and bad in all humans be it sufis or others. If we are interested in something study it for ourselves and find the truth. For me , though I don’t follow Sufism in body and soul, I have adopted some of their ideologies which has given me peace since. Always take the good in everything. After knowing Sufism many of my unwanted stress was relieved. But all this is based on the love for a power beyond, sometimes called as God, if you are an atheist conceive the concept of god as the unknown universal energy on which this world revolves. I believe Sufism like any other religion spreads the faith in love. What makes it different is its non judgmental faith; it is for this that I love Sufism.

We always hear about the lack of waste disposal infrastructure in and and around the world and that is a common news but what we usually not hear is the amount of textile waste that is created all around the world after a consumer use and more than that before even it is sold. Living in a country where there are people with not even one proper dress to wear it is saddening to hear that yearly tons of waste are created from fashion industry, many of which is things that are not sold and another set which has become ‘out of fashion’. We are also people who throw out dress if it has gone out of fashion. The people of this era are more interested in buying clothes and are more fashion conscious, it is found that people buy more clothes today than 20 years before and they throw out more clothes than 20 years before too. When we talk about pollution we must also know how these textile waste also play great part in it. Everyday we wash our clothes, it releases tiny fiber wastes which pollutes either the earth or sometimes the ocean becoming harmful to the ocean beings. If done more technically it is proved that the fashion industry can save up to 4 billion per year, which is enough to curb the poverty of a country. When rich people spent billions on clothes and wastes it, there are a group of beings dying of starvation each day.

This time of pandemic is something very depressing but every cloud has a silver lining and this disaster also has some. One of the benefits is realizing the values of going out, making memories and sometimes is the realization of the warmth of a family, but a benefit that has attracted my attention is that people are realizing their talents and is turning to it. We humans were very busy with god knows several things like money, job, building a house, earning a living but the blessed section of society that is the people with money and place to leave are dusting off the talents they once had and have forgotten in the race of life. Now many people are 'pandemic' artists, singers, instrument readers, chefs and players. In my house itself my brother is into art, a talent which even I didn’t know he ever had and my sister is now a professional crochet artist and mother is becoming a student once more, waking up the dead curiosity in them. People preoccupied with various kinds of stress are learning to face their stress by rediscovering themselves. People have learned to not waste their time and become productive which is a great thing considering the future benefits it will bring out. This has also become a time of YouTubers explosion where everyone is creating youtube channels and is exhibiting their talents. Lazy ones are fed up being lazy and has started to utilize their time. Yes this is a dark period of human history but I wish this might be a beginning of a new world.

The youth in India are food lovers and the food cultures have been drastically changing from traditional Indian food to many others. The youth today are interested in food and health more than anything, this can be seen in the social media statuses of youth where it will be either a photo of a cuisine or something new they are cooking. Youth even travels to places for having unique cuisines that is famous or to try new food. This will include both their crazes, that is, travel and food. School children would love schools that are situated near cities that will give them chances to go out and eat with friends. Me and my friends go out whenever we get a chance or even get together just to go to a restaurant. These changes are also the impact of globalization and technological invasions where the youth knows more about another country more than their own. The frequency of families going out to eat has also increased. Before when we go to a restaurant there might be a fixed list from which we always choose but today we are more of experiment eaters than that. Because we have seen pictures of food that is exotic or we might be watching a movie of another country and we are curious to know their taste preferences. More than Indian restaurants we have more Arabian, Chinese, fast food Italian restaurants on our go to list. If we don’t go out we are always in a mood to try out new tastes. During this pandemic time many people are missing their restaurant outing s and so they are more into cooking everything that they once bought. Now our daily lives have become bread toasts and coffees rather than dosas and chai. Our grandparents would be sad about this but this shows that we are ready to welcome changes and new tastes rather than sticking onto old traditions but we should always value our cultural food because it is only us who can preserve it and not the Italians.

Whenever we hear an assault case news there comes many responses but the responses will be more if the assaulted was in a relationship with assaulter especially as a lover. In this society where the virginity matters more than life itself the people will blame only the victim for having a relationship with a criminal, but what we have to know is that most of the assaults are done by someone the victim already knows, what does t suggest, are all women in bad relationships or are the assaulters guilty of having a criminal mind? Before we judge a victim what we must know is that there many kinds of people in this world and even this critics can become victims to such criminals, the victim might have been in a toxic relationship a topic the society never teaches its children because they are so preoccupied with teaching the children about the myth of virginity and teaching the boys to be misogynistic. Toxic relationships can lead to blind following or threatening by the criminal to achieve whatever he wants and emotionally putting the victim under his spells because she is an innocent being unaware of the toxicity she is in. in such bad relationships the consent for sex might not be something that girl would have given voluntarily but such criminals can manufacture theses consents from the victim, sometimes using coercion where the victim is constantly pressured to have sex or sometimes her denials are not given attention by the assaulter and is taken as a form of shyness that is just a decoration. And other times these victims are charmed and forced before assaulting. Like these the violations are many. And like these people say it is not easy to leave from this toxicity because that is how a human is made and whether be it manufactured consent the assaults are still crimes and the criminals are the only ones who is guilty. So before teaching children how to walk, talk, behave and be ‘chaste’, teach them what toxic relationship is, assure them they are not alone, be their support, so that when they go through these violation they will come to you. Acting all high and mighty and judging is easy until you face it one day yourself.