Epicmakers' First Epic - Aditya Rao's story

Purple’s story :

"Give me your metro card" he said.

"What?"I replied. " Why should I? "

 " Ok..now you pissed me off, show me your wallet now...or else... " 

 Or else What??!! i said in a  very menacing voice.

  " Don’t you know who i am....if I call my gang you would probably be meat in two minutes."

"You really don't know who I am do you " I said and started laughing. " Wait till you meet my   'friends ' ."  And suddenly my two personal buffed up 7 foot Somali bodyguards appeared beside me. The so called gangster took one look at my friends and ran away . I bet he had already crapped his pants by then.

YEA  !..And this really happened in a screwed up imagination of mine where I'm a real stud.

This is what really happened. :

I was hanging out at the mall waiting for my best friend Red to join me when the girl of my dreams walked in with her group of friends . Violet was the most stunning girl I had ever seen . I had never really spoken to her , maybe i should go and say Hi. but ..does she know me??..we might be in the same school..but. Anyway, I decided to be a man and go say Hi when suddenly Brown the biggest douchebag ever and his friends appeared out of nowhere and this was how our conversation actually happened:

Brown : Give me your metro card.

Me : Uhh ? I..don't have it .

Brown : Stop lying...show me your wallet .

me : Why should I? ...oops..big mistake!

Brown ( now sounding very pissed ) : Dont you know who I am ??I can get you beaten up right now if I want to .

me : uhh .. umm..here..take it.

Brown ( takes all my cash out ) : haha...see you later loser!

You see, thing is I'm not very strong and am absolutely terrified of fighting , neither can I talk my way out of any situation. I'm approaching the land of geekism or nerdism...or whatever you want to call it.

 Where was my best friend Red when I needed him ?? ..He would have probably talked my way out of this shit. Ahh! finally...here he is.

( Red is what one would normally call cool. He is one of the most popular guys in school and still doesn't act like a total jerk..and that really speaks volumes ..trust me. And plus he’s a smooth talker ..he can talk his way in and out of any situation. How we both became best friends is still a mystery to me )

Red : Heyy..I just saw Brown and his group of douchebags walk past.Did they give you any trouble?

Me : Yeah..they took all my cash. Do you think Violet saw any of this?? Where is she anyway?

Red : Yeah..sure she didn't see you. She was only standing 10 metres away from you.

( ughh! Red and his stupid sarcasm )

Red : Oh..and I saw Brown walking away with Violet... I think he bought her an ice cream ..with your cash I guess....sad. ! And for the hundredth time...stop thinking about her..The chances of a Twilight movie being good are greater than you becoming her boyfirend.

Me : I know...but we are in the same school...and ..she might just know me.

Red : Dude!..I don't even know half the guys in my class...do you really think someone like Violet would even know that you exist?

Me : But......

Red : Sigh!..okay..if you want..I can introduce you to her ..

Me : YOU would .....that would be awesome!

Red : Oh look !..there she is...and she’s alone ...quick let’s go talk to her!...and remember ..act cool...and DON'T be your normal self !

We both walk towards Violet and thankfully Brown is not with her .

Red : Heyy Violet !

Violet : Heyy Red !..Whats up?

Red : Nothing much ..just hanging aorund ..Oh btw..meet my friend Purple

Violet ( looking at me ) : Hi!

Oh wow !.I've never seen her eyes up close before..She looks so beautiful .Okay now im taking way too much time to answer ..think of something .quickly...oh wait..she’s still eating her ice cream ..

Me : Heyy ..nice cone you’ve got there .

Violet ..uhhuhh..yea....thanks....I guess.

Oh cmon !..seriously..nice cone ?? ..im not that much of a loser am I? ..and meanwhile Red makes this weird noise...something between  a  groan and a laugh I think . Anyway ..my phone starts to ring...I walk away from Red and Violet to get it. Just my Mom on the line...wondering where I was. Anyway ...I see those two chatting for about a minute more and Violet walks away.Red comes smiling towards me.

Red : nice cones ..you swept her off her feet with that line .

Me : ughh!...

Red : anyway ..guess what ..I asked her if she wanted to see a movie with us next week ..and she said yes , and she would also bring a friend along.

Me : Huh ..she said yes..just like that ?

Red : yea. I know..weird.

Or maybe Red just let his talking do all the work!

Me : what was she doing with Brown anyway ?

Red : Don't know..forgot to ask her .

Me : you think I made a lasting impression on her ?

Red : Yeah..you DEFINATELY made an impression on her with your 'nice cones'. But look at the bright side..I have a whole week to prepare you for the movie night!

Anyway it was getting late and we both had to leave. That night in bed ..all I could think about was how beautiful Violet was ..and what an ass I made of myself. But there still was a slight chance that she might be thinking about me.

Vilolet’s story :

Wow ..today I met the two most diverse guys ever. Red and Brown. Oh and there was another guy with Red ..forgot his name already!

Aditya Rao

The True Picture

This is in reference to the KHDA inspection that has been going on in many schools.
I was very disturbed and troubled by the fake show put up by most of the schools to get a good report.
I would like to bring to the notice of the parents of this nation who get deceived by this report of the KHDA inspection which is not even a part of the reality.
We as students have seen transformation of our school to enormous HEIGHTS. Teachers have become more polite in front of the inspectors. The school canteen menu has changed drastically to organic food only for the week the inspectors are here.
Schools have been renting LCD screens/ top brand computers just to impress the KHDA. Students are suddenly taught everything in a more practical method which has NEVER been adapted before. Subject teachers have planned out the whole week as to which particular chapter to do, when to do,who to ask questions to, seating arrangements etc.
There have been orderly and disciplined dispersals/assemblies which have never been there before. Teachers have made us learn particular questions which they would ask if they inspectors show up in a particular class.
We would love for our schools to be rated as 'excellent' or 'outstanding', but NOT by this fake act put by the school. Because it is on the basis of this result that the parents send their wards to schools.
As a distressed student, I would like to request the team of KHDA to host surprise checks in schools to obtain the real picture of it.
Thank you.

- a concerned student

Iliad and Ramayana

Iliad is the epic story of the Trojan War. Ramayana is the epic story of the plight of King Rama. So you may ask me what connection does the two have? Lets look at the similarities:-

1. Root Cause - Women

One of the main themes discussed in the Ramayana is the abduction of Seetha, the wife of Rama by the king of Lanka, Ravana. Its a very popular thought that Ravana was a villain but truth is that he was just acting as a dutiful brother - his sister Surpanaka was humiliated by Rama and she wanted revenge. If Ravana was a true villain he would have done something worse to Seetha than just lock her up in a garden. A women was the root cause of the war in Ramayana, the women being Surpanaka, not Seetha. And if we look further back what caused Rama to leave home but the fatal advice given by the humpback Mantara to Kaikeyi, Rama's step-mother.

In the Iliad, Helen the beautiful newly wed queen of Sparta falls in love with Paris, the prince of Troy. A story behind this is that he actually made Aphrodite, the goddess of love, put a spell on her in return for helping her(Aphrodite) win a bet against Hera and Athena. Helen 'runs away' with Paris to Troy. And what does Helen's husband, Menelaus do? He gathers the forces of Greece and attacks Troy, causing the Trojan War. Here too a women, rather a goddess is responsible for outbreak of war - not Helen, but Aphrodite.

In both cases, women are the root cause of the war.

2. Specialty of cities

This is a very interesting look at the two epics. The common point between Lanka and and Troy is that both were unreachable. The city of Lanka was and still is an island, miles away from any other piece of land. The sea between Lanka and Rameswaram(in India) was then infested with dangerous creatures and crossing that by boat would have been no picnic and not many boats could have taken a whole army across in such a short time. For this specific reason, a bridge that could enable a whole army to march on it was built with rocks.

Troy on the other hand had unbreakable walls. These walls were made by Gods - the wall was by legend built by immortals Poseidon and Apollo. Legend had it that you could only get in to Troy through invitation, which is what the Greeks so cunningly obtained through the Trojan Horse.

In both cases the cities were unreachable and it can also be noted that the bridge and the Trojan horse served the same purpose - breaching the unbreachable.

3. Wandering

Ever read the Odyssey? The wanderings of Odysseus, the legendary king of Ithaca and mastermind behind the plan of the Horse, is very similar to the wanderings of Rama in his early years of exile.

These are just a few points, reading the Ramayana and the Iliad, we can find even more.

Now I am no conspiracy theorist and I'm just telling you the few similarities I noticed, thats all. Many conclusions can be drawn from the above - Homer copied Valmiki or the other way around, both were the same story but told in different versions, etc. I'll leave it to you to decide


Shreerag Plakazhi

Online Identities

In today’s world, the Internet holds vital importance and one of the many facilities provided by it would be social networking. This is rapidly gaining popularity in our era due to the fact that it is an inexpensive and fast mode of staying in touch with family and friends despite the distance. Individuals who have an account in major social networking sites such as Orkut, Twitter or Facebook are now using more of their time to socialize with other people amidst the distance and lack of time. Networking sites serve several advantages as well as disadvantages.

Users of networking websites may interact in several ways and can share their thoughts, views, opinions and expressions online. This has hence brought the world closer and did not require any large expenses. Social networking websites enables users to socially interact with one another. Additionally, people  who share similar interests, beliefs or other common concerns may befriend each other. Some companies are known to even browse through their employee’s online profiles to learn more about them and their personality traits. 

However, every coin has two sides and there are disadvantages to these sites as well. In spite of age limits and barriers set on many sites, people still take advantage by entering an incorrect age or age group and creating accounts on these websites. Many people are addicted to these websites and spend valuable time updating their social network. Cyber bullying and stalking of profiles are rising issues that affect many users and threaten their privacy and security. Very often we hear of reported cases of hacked accounts and disapproving changes made to profiles. The consequence of these actions are severe and may damage one's social reputation among their peers. It also causes a great amount of grief and humiliation to the victims of this form of bullying.

Social networking websites therefore play a very important role in enhancing one’s social identity or image and may influence, to an extent, their reputation socially. Hence it is important for one to create an account in a social networking site keeping in mind the cause, use and effects of creating an online identity. Kindly publish articles raising awareness of the uses of social networking sites and the possible effects of doing so as those readers who are active online may gain benefit from them.
 

Piracy

Note: This is my second post for the blog. For the last two weeks I had lost my internet connection and as such could not post anything. But those two weeks made me think whether I was misusing the internet. That is how I came up with idea for this article. Thanks for reading!

Piracy is a worldwide phenomenon. Thousands of megabytes of data are being uploaded by the hour. And double of that amount is being downloaded. It is an undeniable fact that we ourselves have been encouraging such activities. But have we ever felt guilty? Chances are very low because we ourselves know how serious this is but we still continue this practice. But have considered the amount of money that the original creators of such content incur. By money I mean not just a few dollars, but millions!

Let us consider the case study of the movie industry. Every year around 250 movies are released by the Hollywood industry. Being a studio based industry; the major players are Warner Bros., Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Universal and Disney. As of recent, these studios have been releasing their movies on home video format after a short stint at the theatres. Now why would studios do that when they cold make more profits through a wide theatrical release? The answer lies in the fact that piracy has grown into such a major force that they are forced to resort such vain attempts. By doing so they plan to bring movies directly to the audiences and discourage piracy. But this would have multitude of effects:

·         Theatre owners would restrict such a motion because it would reduce the income that they would earn

·         But this would not necessarily mean any decrease in piracy, considering the high price of such format. People would still continue to download movies from torrent sites.

 In the latest of such series of such motions, the latest one involves Columbia Pictures ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’. The studio green lit the idea of releasing the movie on DVD and Blu Ray just 3 months prior to its release. But theatre owners disagreed with this and many of them protested against this by removing the movie from its show slots.

Secondly, only ardent moviegoers would take the effort to go and watch movies at theatres.  They’d rather sit back at home and enjoy in their own privacy at the cost of millions for the studios.  So such early releasing of movies on home video would also not be a suitable step. After all when you get it for free, who’d pay for it!!

But as of recent there has been an increased interest for movies being released in 3D format. Last year, around 12 movies were released on 3D format. This has re-ignited an interest among the audience to ‘experience’ a movie than plainly watching it. With James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ raking in big bucks at the box office and speculations that it might be one of the biggest movie of all time, audiences are returning back to theatres. Hopefully, with an increasing number of movies being lined up for a 3D release, thid trend would continue and as such piracy would be curbed.

Arun Pramajan Achu

E-Books Can Never Replace the Printed Word

To quote Daniel J. Boorstin, famous American historian and Librarian of the Congress, “A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.”

From the dawn of time, man has felt the need to pen down his thoughts onto whatever material was available to him. From etchings on clay tablets to hieroglyphs on papyrus, to writings on ancient scrolls of vellum, the written word has always been a medium of expression of free thought and has been used to facilitate the spread of ideas all over the world.

Books of the early ages were used to spread the word, quite literally, about political and religious points of view to the people and later, used to publicize scientific breakthroughs.

Circa 1445, Johannes Gutenberg perfected the movable type and thus, the first printing press came into being with the publishing of the Gutenberg Bible. Since then, there has been no looking back. The printed book became, from an individual entity to an enterprise, involving capital, manpower and market for distribution.

Firstly, the printed word becomes a part and parcel of our lives right from the time we are born. Nothing gives us more joy or pleasure than to own our very first book. What can substitute the ecstasy or the curious tingling one feels when opening a book for the first time? The smell of the new pages, the crackling of a book being turned for the first time all add to the personality and the character of a printed book. The turning over of a book, the folding of page corners, and the beauty of the book covers all add up to give a book a human touch, one that compares to nothing else. After all, what can be more informative and enjoyable as turning the pages of the day’s newspapers accompanied by a steaming cup of tea early in the morning?

Secondly, with the coming of the internet age, however, several new technologies have come to light, some of which have been audacious enough to be titled as the next substitute to the printed word. However, as with every new technology threatening to overshadow its predecessors, so is the case with the advent of ebooks. In today’s technologically advanced world, where the Internet is the new information portal, it is feared that the information available online can ring the death knell for printed books. But what we fail to notice is that when we read online we sacrifice concentration for convenience, information for substance. A study by Burst Research found that 20 percent of students between the ages of 18 and 24 spend at least 20 hours a week on the internet, where as only 8 percent of students spent the same amount of time in front of a television or a book. This phenomenal chunk of the week spent in front of screens and keyboards is wiping away our ability to appreciate what is absorbed. The printed word gives us a chance to relax and actually concentrate on what we are reading. People find it much easier to sit down and absorb what he is reading when it is physically in their hands and not in an alternate medium.

Also, looking at things from an economic point of view, availability of e books requires the availability of a computer and an internet access, which, in today’s recession hit world, has become a near impossibility for a vast majority of the people. Even today, most people in poverty stricken countries fight for the bare necessities such as food, water and clothing. How can they be even expected to know about ebooks? And in today’s unethically rampant cyberspace, the chances of thefts of copyrighted books and free, illegal access to original e-books means that most authors and publishers are unable to get due credit for their work.

To reinstate my argument, I would like to quote Amy Lowell: “Books are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men lived and worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives.” Thus, it is absurd to even think that new technology like the internet and ebooks can even compare to the age-old charm of a printed book, let alone replace them.


Neil21

Parallel Worlds

Have you ever heard of the concept of parallel dimensions? Its an interesting theory saying that there exists dimensions other than our own. These dimensions are are different from ours because in them we made different decisions. Imagine a tree with branches - branches that split from the trunk and split again to make smaller branches. Our life is also a tree, each decision we make is like a branch. Each of those decisions makes a parallel dimension. It is our choice which dimension to travel on.


Think of it right now you are reading this cause you made a decision. If you hadn't made that decision you would be someplace else doing something else. This theory states that there exists a you who didn't make that decision to sit and read this. We make thousands of decisions everyday and in the process make thousands of worlds. 


This theory is very closely related to the butterfly effect or in scientific terms 'chaos theory'. Chaos theory in its non-scientific sense, states that every decision you take influences your life, however minute the decision. Sometimes its the smallest decision that ends up making the largest difference. For example say you are driving a car and suddenly a  call comes on your mobile and you pull over answer the call and say that you are driving and will call back. Now it was a very minute decision to STOP and answer that call. What if  in that second a truck speeds by and you missed it just cause you took that call. You must have cursed that person for calling while you were driving.....but that call just saved your life. If you had not answered that call you would have been dead by now.


We can derive two messages from the above example - one that not every negative thing happens for a negative reason, it could happen for a greater reason. And the second message being that the most minute of your actions can influence your life in ways that beyond our imagination. There exists a parallel dimension where you didn't take that call and well.... My point is you shouldn't be scared of every bad decision you make or have made or are going to make. Everything happens for a reason.


My favorite question has always been "what if...?" What if there existed a world where instead of doing your daily job you decided to be a rockstar? What if you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth? What if there existed a world without war? What if....? In imagining what the world could be we make it a mental picture, a goal. So imagine what you want your life to be like using the words 'what if' and who knows you could go on to achieve them.