John Green’s the Fault in Our Stars was what won me over. He was different, fresh and knew how to put a new spin on books based on teenage life without landing them straight in the cliché category. His debut novel, looking for Alaska, is a showcase to the raw talent John Green has, the kind of talent that can make you close the crisp last page of a novel and come out as a different person. Looking for Alaska cannot be merely written off as a typical boy-meets-girl love story, because it isn’t. It’s more of a tale of how love isn’t as translucent as it seems.
The beauty of the book is that it doesn’t hide anything. It showcases what young love and growing up really are in a brutal and honest light. How the characters communicate, their relationships with each other, their pasts and the pleasure that comes with being a bad kid shine through the pages. Why I prefer John Green’s debut novel to his other ones is because he’s made no effort to make it an appropriate and proper book. You might not weep buckets like most people did at the end of The Fault in Our Stars, but you’ll get attached to Miles and Alaska, just as they do to each other.
Miles Halter or “Pudge” as he is referred to throughout the book, is the protagonist, and the book starts with Miles leaving Florida to attend a school in Alabama. He’s introduced by his roommates to beautiful, mysterious and emotionally confused Alaska Young, and the story progresses, mostly centred around Miles’ life at Culver Creek and his growing attachment to Alaska. There are also essential parts of teenage life thrown in casually and skilfully to the story, such as pranks, bets and disastrous parties.
When adults say, “Teenagers think they are invincible” with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don’t know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.

Happy reading 🤗

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity. “Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I recently read “The Alchemist” again after procrastinating for a long time. I read it at a perfect time. The book is lovely and an inspirational masterpiece. Written by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho in 1988. It was initially written and published in Portuguese. It is an international bestseller and has been translated to more than 70 languages. The book is relatively short having around 167 pages only. The theme is about finding one’s destiny or purpose in life.
The story is about a Shepherd boy from Spain whose name is Santiago. He keeps getting the same dream about treasures that are lying in the Pyramids of Egypt. He embarks on a journey to follow his dream after meeting an old king who offers him magic stones and advice. Santiago crosses the Mediterranean and Sahara to find his treasures in Egypt and also accomplish his personal legend which is his purpose in life. The book details his journey and the various encounters that he experiences when following his dream. Throughout the journey, Santiago meets many new people and a lot of difficulty which ultimately helps him to learn and grow the entire way. Does he find the treasures in the Pyramids of Egypt?
The story is very enchanting and bursts with optimism which I think is very important in our lives. The book shows that the journey to your destiny is as important as the destiny itself. I love how the book emphasizes on the importance of faith, hope and spirituality through the story of an ordinary boy. I think this book appeals to everyone because we all have dreams and sometimes, we just want someone to tell us that they may come true.
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
Highly recommended 🙌
Happy reading!

Indian culture is the world’s oldest civilization in India began about several years ago say 4500 years. Societies outside of Europe or North America were considered primitive and culturally inferior. But Indian’s made it significant advances in architecture mainly (TajMahal). Different regions have their own distinct cultures. Languages, religion, food and the arts are just some of the various aspects of Indian culture.

As mentioned before the Indian culture has several diversities and one such is Temple culture. As shown above, the temples of India differs from each other in their designs of construction. Indian states are filled with several temples which indicates a unique story in it. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other religions.

For generations. India has a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It is when extended members of family- parents, children, etc. -live together. Usually, the oldest member is the head of the family. When considered about marriages, there are 2 types. one is love marriage and other is arranged marriage. Arranged marriage have long been the norm in Indian society. Even today, the marriages have been planned by their parents and other respected family-members. In most marriages, the bride’s family provides a dowry to the bridegroom. Traditionally, the dowry is considered to be the wealth of the bride’s family. There are several rituals followed by several religions.

Though the Indians have several changes in their rituals, all of them are always united by the pride called “THE INDIANS”. when considered with marriages in north India, it may takes place from 3-7 days along with haldi , mehendi, sangeeth functions. Similarly when considered in south Indian marriages, it may takes place from 2-4 days.

The above given is just a description about the Indian culture in temples and marriages. There are several in depth description for each and every culture in India for both the temples and marriages. The reason behind each and every ceremony in Indian marriages are always described with a story which also suits in the case of temples culture. As mentioned before, though there are several differences in every rituals, all the Indians are always united by their nation.

Private weather agency Skymet said on Monday that the rains will be triggered by the northward shifting of the trough line — on which monsoon rainfall largely hinges — towards the Himalayan foothills around July 13-14. The trough line is a low-pressure that stretches from west to east and takes along the heavy rain belt with it when it shifts.

In Bihar, heavy rains and floods have claimed 29 lives, according to Bihar State Disaster Management Authority. NERC reported that recent flooding had affected 1.554 million people in the state.

The rivers Burhi Gandak, Bagmati, Ganga, Kosi and Sone are all above danger levels according to NERC, with further heavy rain expected. In 24 hours to 29 September 2019, Rosera recorded 290mm of rain and Bihpur and Koilwar both 270mm.

According to a CWC report of 29 September, the Kosi at Baltara, Khangaria stood at 34.9m (danger is 33.85m). The level of the Ganga at Bhagalpur was 34.24m (danger is 33.68m) and the Ganga at Patna Gandhighat was at 49.42m (danger 48.6m). The Sone river at Maner, Patna district, stood at 52.34m (danger 52m)

Nineteen teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to affected areas. Teams from the Indian Air Force have also been deployed.

The city of Patna and the surrounding district has been particularly badly affected. According to NERC, flooding has also affected areas of Buxar, Bhojpur, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Munger, Katihar and Saran districts

Bihar is surrounded by Nepal in the north, West Bengal in the east, Uttar Pradesh in the west and  Jharkhand towards the south. There are several rivers that run through the state: Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Falgu, Karmanasa, Durgavati, Kosi, Gandak and the Ghaghara, to name a few. Nearly 85% of the state’s land is under cultivation. Bihar also receives heavy rainfall all through June to October.

The state of Bihar has been facing floods since for a long time. It accounts for almost half of India’s average annual flood losses. In the year 1914, Bengal and Bihar faced floods. In the year 1934, Bihar was shaken by an earthquake which was again followed by floods.

The state has been facing floods ever since, but the frequency of floods has become high in recent years. There have been floods almost every year from 1979 which have caused extensive damage. Lakhs of people have lost their lives and their homes. The state has faced infrastructural losses worth crores of rupees.

In 2008, more than half of Bihar was submerged under water. The state witnessed its worst floods ever with more than 30 lakh people in more than 1500 villages spread across 16 out of 37 districts being affected. The worst affected districts were Araria, Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura.

After the floods in 2008, Bihar faced a drought for two years and again in 2011, nearly 100 villages were flooded by the Bagmati river. Much of Bihar’s misery has been caused by the Kosi river, which is a major tributary of Ganges.

The Kosi river system drains about 60,000 km2 of eastern Nepal and southern Tibet before it enters Bihar. The basin includes almost half of the world’s 8,000 m plus peaks. North of the India-Nepal border, it is known as the Sapt Kosi or “Seven Rivers” in reference to its seven tributaries: Indrawati, Sunkosi, Tambakosi, Lihku Khola, Dudhkosi, Arun and Tamur. Its three main tributaries i.e. Sunkosi, Arun and Tamur join the river at Tribeni. Downstream of the Tibreni, the Sapt Kosi flows through a narrow gauge of 11km, before spreading over the Gangetic plains. As a result of the sudden decrease in slope below the mouth of the gorge, an inland delta is formed. It is interesting to note that the river has shifted more than 100 km westward in the past 200 years.

Figure: Sapt Kosi is formed by seven rivers in south-east Nepal. Image Courtesy: Hydrologic regime of the Sapt Kosi Basin, Nepal – Richard Kattelmann, University of California

What causes floods?

There has been increased conversion of forests to agricultural and continuous deforestation  which significantly contributes to the flood damage in India. There was an increase in the annual run off in the Sapt Kosi from the 1950s until the 1980s, but the rainfall also increased correspondingly at several stations in the basin.

Another reason for the flood damage is that Bihar lies in foot of Himalayas and have very low plain. 

The state government has built about 3000 kms of dam, but the flow of the river has grown 2.5 times resulting in the failure of dam in every flood.

So the big question is the state of Bihar prepared? The Disaster Management Department, Government of Bihar has come out with a number of schemes.

• Procurement of motor boats and other necessary accessories like life jackets, mahajals, tents, etc. for 28 flood-prone districts.
• To improve the response mechanism and tackle the impact of natural disasters effectively, a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is to be established on the similar pattern of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
• A number of warehouses will be constructed to store the relief and rescue materials and to keep them safe and secure.
• Establishment of Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) in all the districts to carry out rescue and relief work effectively.
• Since the communication system often becomes dysfunctional, procurement and proper maintenance of communication systems has been taken into account. Satellite phones, GPS instruments, hand packs, walkie – talkies will be procured.
• An Early Disaster Warning System is to be established.
• A plan has been prepared to generate awareness among the masses about the ways and means of mitigating the risk of disaster.

The budget for the above scheme crosses 5000 crores.

What more can be done?

A number of structural measures can be taken up in the state:

• Detention Basins: The state area has a number of depressions locally called chaurs which act as detention basins. These chaurs absorb a considerable amount of water of the first flood of the season. No man made detention basins or improvements in natural chaurs has been done.
• Dam: All the rivers have been embankment in the state. River Kosi is embankment on both the sides. But there are few gaps in these embankments which reduce its effectiveness. The maintenance and repair of these embankments must be taken into account.
• Channel Improvement: is not a usual practice.

Eyes are considered as the windows to the world, so any content when looked upon appeals to the eye only when it is interesting and attractive. This is where graphic designing comes into place, it is not only a marketing tac-tic but a tool that raises awareness amongst the public in different forms. Graphic designing is not only limited to the print industry graphic designing websites and other digital graphic development is also coming up.

Here’s some different type of graphic designing;

Visual Identity Graphic Design – This type of designing is the generating of different graphics revolving around a brand and promoting brand identity of an entity. The images, colours, shapes and fonts here, act as the fact of the business, which is an intangible entity.

Marketing and Advertising Graphic Design – This kind of designing is a hybridization of marketing and designing, wherein creatives propagate an entire idea of the business focusing greatly on the logos, typography and the different elements to appeal to the public.

Motion Graphic Design – This is more of a subset of graphic design that harnesses different film-making and video making techniques to make the creative more interactive, as moving visuals with audio and attractive animation stimulate senses faster than just simple images.

User-Interface Graphic Design – It is the process of creating different creative interfaces on software and computers. Here, appeal isn’t the only thing that the creator focuses on, but the design he/she creates should be highly user-friendly and understandable. Art and Illustration.

Graphic Design – This type of designing follows an intent of communication and problem solving, creating original artwork based on the decorative guidelines of storytelling. It is used in gaming, comics, info-graphics, t-shirt designing and more.

Happy designing!🤗

There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried……

Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so …..

My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady . . . . Few and mean as my gifts may be, I actually am, and do not need for my own assurance or the assurance of my fellows any secondary testimony.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy to live in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.