Month: September 2020

Rising Cases of Mob Lynching in India : Threat to the nation and Humanity

Article by – Shishir Tripathi
Intern at Hariyali Foundation
In collaboration with
Educational News

During the last two years, there has been a hike in the cases of mob lynching in India. Mob Lynching is an act of killing a person or a group by an angry mob without any proof only upon the basis of some misdoubt or any other false rumor.


On 16th of April 2020, a vigilante group lynched two Hindu Sadhus and their driver in Gadchinchale Village in Palghar district, in the state of Maharshtra. This inhuman incident happened into the days of Nationwide Lockdown due to the attack of Corona Virus. So, these Sadhus were travelling to attend the funeral of their guru in Surat. As they were crossing a local checkpoint near the village, the mob attacked them and killed them to death. The incident was fuelled after the spread of rumors of thieves operating in the area and the mob attacked the three passengers assuming them as child thieves and organ harvesters.


A video went viral on Social Media in which it is clearly visible that the local police handed over one of the elderly Sadhus to the angry Mob and the insane crowd started beating him with stones, sticks and axes and killed him. Similarly the other Sadhu and the driver too were killed brutally. 115 villagers and 9 juveniles were the accused and the 115 villagers were later arrested too.


Now, the question arises that is it safe to travel in India through places with people having such mentality. Was it really justified to kill the 3 passengers who were on their way to attend a funeral? Absolutely not, if there is a mob doing justice then there’s no point of having some legal body like Police. No inquiries, no legal process is carried out and a mob with brainless, ridiculous fellows with ill mentality comes and straight away kills the person just in the name of some fake news.


Many a times it is seen that transporters of cattle are also killed by the mob itself without any proof in the name of Gau Raksha too. Whereas some incidents of mob lynching happen in the suspicion of rape, ill behavior, thefts and many more such rumors. Many a times, various police officials too get killed by such violent mobs.


There is a general increase in the hate feeling among the population within certain religious groups. People have assumed that people of certain groups in some specific regions of the country would surely be harming them just because they belong to a certain religion. People fear to pass through such areas with similar incidents happened previously. Nobody knows that when a mob will come out of a sudden will kill them to death without any reason. There’s an atmosphere of fear and panic everywhere in people across the country.


Some people associate incidents of Mob Lynching with religion. But cases like this must be looked upon with the perspective of ill mentality of such groups involved in those heinous acts and a failure of the govt. authorities against regulating such incidents. Also, the absence of strict laws being formulated against such acts is also a reason behind people getting motivation to commit such acts in groups.


Hence, proper steps are needed to be taken by the government and the concerned authorities to give a strict message to the ill minded people who commit such atrocious acts to the innocent people.

The haunted fort : Shaniwar wada.

Shaniwar wada is one of the most haunted place in Pune located in the Maharashtra State of India.

The Shaniwar Wada Fort is a historic place of politics, rulers and death that embellishes the city center of Pune, India.. The imposing fort continues to stand strong after being constructed in 1732, even after a destructive fire stripped the fort of its interior palace and many other structures in 1828.

The foundation of Shaniwar Wada was laid by Peshwa Baji Rao 1 who was succeeded by his son Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, fondly known as Nanasaheb Peshwa. Nanasaheb Peshwa had three sons: Vishwasrao, Madhavrao and Narayanrao.
His eldest son Vishwasrao perished during the third battle of Panipat against Afghan armies and hence, Nanasaheb Madhavrao succeeded as the 4th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire which he remained until his death in 1772.

After death of Madhavrao, Narayanrao, the youngest of Nanasaheb’s son, took over as the 5th Peshwa. He was only 17 years old at the time of his brother Madhavrao’s death and became the youngest Peshwa ruler ever. As he wasn’t an adult yet, his uncle Raghunathrao was incharge of the state on behalf of his nephew.

However, Anandibai ; wife of Raghunathrao was jealous as she wanted the throne to be her husband’s. So she seeked help of the Gardis, highly trained assassins for hire. Gardis were originally the Bheels of central India, a hunting tribe.
On the last day of Ganesh Festival on 30th August 1773, several Gardi guards, led by their captain, Sumer Singh Gardi, entered the palace and started creating a commotion.

They then charged towards the sleeping Peshwa’s chambers, killing a clerk on the way. Narayanrao, seeing the Gardis and sensing trouble, ran out of his chambers towards his uncle’s quarters, screaming “Kaka! Mala Vachva!!” or “Uncle! Save me!”.

The Gardis followed Narayanrao to his uncle’s chamber and a menial pulled him while Sumer Singh Gardi cut him down. Narayanrao’s corpse was cremated secretly by the river at midnight.

To this day, many claim to capture the sight of Narayanrao’s apparition throughout the fort, or sometimes walking the banks of the river his body was dumped in.
More commonly reported paranormal activity is reported from people passing by the fort who can still hear Narayanrao’s pleads for help to his uncle echoing off the tall, stone walls.

It is believed that Raghunathrao never wanted to kill his nephew and only asked Gardis for help in order to get out of captivity. According to popular legend, Raghunathrao had sent a message to Sumer Singh Gardi to capture Narayanrao.
His message read “Narayanrao la dhara” where dhara means to capture. This message was intercepted by his wife Anandibai who changed the letter dhara to make it read as maaraa or ‘kill’ .
The miscommunication led the Gardis to chase Narayanrao and finally kill him. Rumor has it that Narayanrao’s body was hacked into so many pieces that they had to carry the pieces in a pot.

The Shaniwar Wada Fort is a fascinating place to visit in Pune and is of immense historical significance to the area.
The fort is open daily to visitors for a small fee and can be explored with or without a guide.
The fort also opens nightly for a light and sound show. This consists of fountains, lasers and sounds all telling the fort’s history and paying particular detail to the story of Narayanrao.

Hunger Games of the government…

The government holds too much power. This is very well portrayed in the Hunger Games a book trilogy written by American author Suzanne Collins later made into a science fiction dystopian film series. The story is basically how the government has too much power over the lives of common man, how and why it is so wrong. The story is takes place in the fictional country that goes by the name of Panem. It consists of 12 districts that have been assigned various disciplines under which the people of the district work. Naming a few, district 3 specializes in technology, district 11 in agriculture, district 12 in coal mining. District 12 being the smallest and the poorest. All these districts are forced to produce the assigned goods and no have no freedom. The Capitol is the government who enjoy all the riches and luxury while the other districts starve to death. The Capitol, for the sole purpose of entertainment, organises this game annually where two teenagers- a male and a female are forced to participate, locked in an area and have to fight each other to death. The one who survives is declared the winner.

On the big screen we may find it interesting but more interestingly the series is the best depiction of communism. We know that our government always wants to suppress us and gain full control over our lives. Hence this book or the movie series is a good way to give us some lesson in an entertaining manner.

The government’s control over the goods production in a district and no freedom of their own reminds us of the real world example of North and South Korea. Everyone is aware of the situation here. People in North Korea have no freedom it is only the governmental control over their lives and henceforth people are starving. On the contrary, South Korea is thriving. Former Soviet Union couldn’t find a permanent position due to the same reasons. It had too much control over the people and the people suffered. A government cannot work without the cooperation of its people. History holds records of how such controlling government led to their own decline. Panem government violates its people’s basic rights resulting in poverty and starvation and later a rebellion.

The Hunger Games also shows how the upper class lives in luxury in contrast to the middle class lives. It shows how the people of district 1 enjoy all the facilities and live a posh life. They do not have to wait in lines for hours to manage some food for the family. This demonstrates real life situation where the rich are getting richer and the poor even poorer. The government might show us false hope but it is the lower class people who are the fools. The horrors of communism in this book/movie is a good way to let the younger generation realise the truth about the world. Also teach us lessons to be smarter.

Thank you for reading. Have a nice day!

Book Review-‘Bananas, Beaches and Bases’

Cynthia Enloe’s Book ‘Bananas, Beaches and Bases’ has been, and continues to be widely read by scholars and students of International Relations. What makes her work stand out from other works in the discipline, is her usage of a gendered lens to analyse the world of International Politics. Where are the women in International Politics? Who put them there? and who benefits from them being there? These, Enloe believes, are crucial to a thorough analysis of International Politics but have hitherto been ignored and overlooked. Another crucial question that Enloe wants us to ask is that what does the woman who is put in a particular position think about being there? How would she interpret her position? These questions would hint at what Enloe attempts to do and that is, to view International Politics from the vantage point of women.

An essential point that Enloe makes is that what’s more important is to ask questions of the existing system rather than having ready-made answers. The reason behind this is the very fact that the existing system does not put forth a wholesome picture as it doesn’t include the experiences of women.  Enloe believed that the absence of women in IR was far from natural, in fact, it is constructed. This is because the existing structure is marked by manipulation by and domination of masculine culture and politics. The position of women is constructed by men and thus, for women to feature in such a system, they have to become like men. This implies that in doing so, they devalue femininity and acknowledge that the masculine traits are superior.

Typically, when people wrote in IR their focus was on making links between political and international without accounting for gender. Enloe is assertive when she points out such an understanding is far from complete. The reason behind this, she highlights in the key phrase of ‘The personal is international, the international is personal’.

 For Enloe, feminist informed investigation of international politics yields valuable insights into the complex politics of masculinity. The international is much broader than mainstream experts assume and the political is well beyond the public square. In this book she focused on aspects that are not thought of as ‘consumer goods’ i.e. tropical beaches, women’s sexuality, the service of flight attendants to name a few. Enloe views women in third world countries as global political actors.

Enloe takes the case of The League of Nations to cite as an example. At the face of it, in conventional works of IR, one would think of it as a site for preventing war post the wreckage caused by the First World War. But thinking of it from the premise of women brings in a hitherto overlooked aspect of The League of Nations i.e. as a site for promoting social justice as some women emerged as international civil servants because of the same. It is important to applaud Enloe’s work for its positive impact. It has enabled an area for dialogue where many more women have now joined the conversation. These women add their experiences and findings to the conversation. The coming together of women enables a genuine exchange of ideas. Therefore, the doors to reinterpret international politics using a gendered prism has been thrown wide open to us.

LGBTQ belong to the human race!…

Ronnie and Maria got married. Few days passed, but they were not happy together. So the thing was there was no physical intimacy between them. Maria tried for it at times but Ronnie refused without a reason. One day she found him making love to a guy on the terrace. She was terribly surprised thinking about her married life. She felt so devasted. She was now stuck in a midway where she neither could’ve baby nor a divorce. What will society say now? What will be the future? Thousands of thoughts struck in her mind but she kept calm.
In the night, she confronted Ronnie asking about the guy. Ronnie began to cry in front of her stating his story. He told her how he felt attraction towards the same gender since childhood, how everyone made him suppress his emotions and sexuality. He even told her that he wasn’t ready to marry the girl but they made him do that just for the sake of society. After listening to his story, now Maria was also in tears. But she was a strong woman. She decided to stand by him. She called her parents, made her and Ronnie’s parents sit together. She told them the whole story. None of them was ready to accept it. It took much time but somehow she convinced them. Then she got herself divorced, called the guy her husband was in love with and made them marry. Now both of them were very happy. Later she found a guy perfect for her and got married.
So? Everybody must have loved the story as it was the ideal version of the situation. But is it possible even in real life as well? We’ve been taught since childhood that a girl and a boy together form a couple. We just can’t digest when a girl loves a girl or a boy loves a boy. We even laugh at them saying they have some mental problem. We all have the fear that what people will say, how society will react? If something goes wrong we’ll lose our honour. This sick fear makes us weak. Even if a guy or a girl dares to speak up about their sexuality, they are made to suppress their emotions. They’ve been brainwashed at times that attraction towards opposite gender is only the normal thing, anything else is not allowed. With the revoke of section 377, even the judiciary system agreed that LGBTQ is totally normal. But still, we didn’t accept them as one of us, a human. The basic issue of people’s such reaction is the ignorance I feel. People don’t even what is it all about. They simply take it as someone is going against nature and rules and we must stop them. There are so many types of sexualities that we don’t even know and never ever heard of it either. So basically the LGBTQ community includes lesbian, gay, Bi, Trans and Queer. Sexuality is a very personal thing and nobody can question someone about it. There are many types of sexualities such as asexual where a human is not sexually attracted towards any gender, bisexual where human is attracted towards both the genders, demisexual where sexual attraction develops only after an emotional attachment. Actually, there are many. We just need to understand them clearly. We must get to know that it’s totally normal to have different but unique sexuality. Even they belong to the human race and they deserve to live, happily. It’s not a one day task to bring the change. Revolution always comes with opposition. We need to give a fight until we succeed.

UEFA Nations League

The UEFA Nations League was founded in 2018. It was formed with the aim to rejuvenate national team football. The UEFA and its 55 member associations wished to have more competition in national-team matches, as most associations, a lot of coaches, players and fans increasingly were of the opinion that friendly matches do not provide for adequate competition. Thus, the basic desire of forming the league was to provide value addition to national team football.

The Format of the League- The format of the League features promotion and relegation. The 55 European national teams were divided into four leagues in accordance with UEFA’s national association coefficient rankings at the end of the first edition of UEFA Nations League which was held in 2018/19. League A includes the top ranked teams while League D has the lowest.

As per the latest rules, as of 24 September 2019, Leagues A, B and C will now feature 16 teams each while there are seven teams in League D, for the current 2020/21 edition. As per this new feature, 2 League C teams will be relegated to League D for the third edition of the competition in 2022/23. Those two teams will be determined by play-offs to be played between the four fourth-ranked teams from each League C group. This was done with the desire to minimize the number of ‘friendly’ matches. It would also add to the commercial value of the League as the total number of matches played would increase from 138 to 162. As for the Finals, the four group winners of League A would play each other to determine the UEFA Nations League winner. The defending champions are Portugal.

For the ongoing 2020/21 edition, the group stage matches will be played on 3,4,5 September and 6,7,8 September then on 10,11 and 13,14 October, followed by 14,15 and 17,18 November 2020. Given below is a list of the results of the matches held so far on 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th September.

Thursday 3 September

A4 Ukraine 2-1 Switzerland

A4 Germany 1-1 Spain

B3 Turkey 0-1 Hungary

B3 Russia 3-1 Serbia

B4 Bulgaria 1-1 Republic of Ireland

B4 Finland 0-1 Wales

C3 Moldova 1-1 Kosovo

C3 Slovenia 0-0 Greece

D1 Faroe Islands 3-2 Malta

D1 Latvia 0-0 Andorra

Friday 4 September

A1 Italy 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina

A1 Netherlands 1-0 Poland

B1 Norway 1-2 Austria

B1 Romania 1-1 Northern Ireland

B2 Scotland 1-1 Israel

B2 Slovakia 1-3 Czech Republic

C4 Belarus 0-2 Albania

C4 Lithuania 0-2 Kazakhstan

Saturday 5 September

A2 Iceland 0-1 England

A2 Denmark 0-2 Belgium

A3 Sweden 0-1 France

A3 Portugal 4-1 Croatia

C1 Cyprus 0-2 Montenegro

C1 Azerbaijan 1-2 Luxembourg

C2 North Macedonia 2-1 Armenia

C2 Estonia 0-1 Georgia

D2 Gibraltar 1-0 San Marino

Sunday 6 September

A4 Spain 4-0 Ukraine

A4 Switzerland 1-1 Germany

B3 Hungary 2-3 Russia

B3 Serbia 0-0 Turkey

B4 Republic of Ireland 0-1 Finland

B4 Wales 1-0 Bulgaria

C3 Kosovo 1-2 Greece

C3 Slovenia 1-0 Moldova

D1 Andorra 0-1 Faroe Islands

D1 Malta 1-1 Latvia

Matchday 2 will continue on September 7 and 8.

Online classes

Online lessons have emerged as the go-to solution for schools looking to resume classes despite lockdown.Online lessons are helping educational institutions around India beat the Covid-19 lockdown to push ahead with the academic calendar.

Tens of thousands of students are glued to computers and smartphone screens as teachers and students enter a new world of virtual lectures, tutorials, and assessments. Though e-learning poses a challenge to both students and teachers over technology and access, it is keeping everyone busy with lectures, worksheets and assignments.  

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, e-learning was growing at an unprecedented pace. According to the 2019 Global Learning Technology Investment Patterns report, EdTech companies around the world pulled an investment of $18.66 billion in 2019. It will be interesting to see if the changes coronavirus has caused in the education system stay forever. Let us explore other benefits of online classes-
Since the virus outbreak forced the educational institutes to adopt online classes, there is a considerable improvement in the attendance of students. While there is no need to travel long distances for classes, today’s tech-savvy and pro-digital generation are loving the concept of online classes. There is a significant improvement in participation and interaction. Naturally, the biggest advantage to studying online is the increase in flexibility. You can study when you want to, how you want to, where you want to.

e-learning is going to majorly impact education and herald the arrival of a new normal.  

10 things I hate about you (who hasn’t seen this movie) and 10 reasons I’ll give to convince you to watch it.

Directed by: Gil Junger
Production company: Touchstone pictures
Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes worth your time.
Based on: Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the shrew’.


A newcomer at Padua high school ( filmed at Stadium High School, Washington), Cameron falls in love (at first sight) with Bianca the beautiful. Rich and handsome but dumb Joey has his eyes on Bianca as well. Kat is the older sister of Bianca who doesn’t care about social life. Their strict father won’t let Bianca date unless her sister does. In order to take Bianca out Cameron along with his geek friend Michael makes Joey to pay bad boy Patrick to take Kat out. Things don’t go as smoothly as planned but that’s the fun part. Patrick’s ways to impress Kat is reason 1. Reason 2 is that fight that happens. Reason 3 love can make bad boys turn soft. Check out the movie for details.


Reason 4, the cast: Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona10/10 actor, Julia Stiles as the savage Kat Stratford damn I worship her, Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford perfect for the role, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James again perfect for the role. Rest of the cast is irreplaceable as well.


I am seriously obsessed with this movie. I have literally watched this one multiple times and have the whole script learnt by heart. I suggest anyone whom I cross paths with to watch this. Reason 5, it is definitely hands down one of the best rom com out there.

Reason 6,


Reason 7, “Patrick Verona: See, first of all, Joey is not half the man you are. Secondly, don’t let anyone, ever, make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want. Go for it!”

Reason 8, (lesson learnt)

Reason 9, (lesson learnt)

This can totally be a movie for your family night. Who doesn’t love a rom com plus it has Heath Ledger. Though the movie does contain a few slang words but that’s mild. Trust me it will leave you smiling at the end all satisfied.

Reason 10, 7.3/10 IMDb rating and 11/10 from me.

Thank you for reading. Have a nice day!

Shrestha Dutta is a high school pass out (batch 2019-2020) from DeNobili school Dhanbad, Jharkhand. She is a design aspirant and currently preparing for NIFT entrance exam.
Shrestha is passionate about art, books, movies, fashion. Team Marvel (cinematic universe). She is a normal teenager who has a lot of questions about life. She is an optimistic and happy person in general.

Filling Spaces

‘Empty spaces in life are luxuries which you can fill with wisdom- the unending tunnel.’

Everyone in this world is gifted with exuberance to generate its own universe. Just like the space between stars, there are empty spaces in your life as well. Just like they shine, you are also made to sparkle. It’s upon you, how you fill those spaces. Everything has two aspects- the positive aspect and a negative one. Who created these aspects? Who told you that one thing is positive and the other one is negative? Take it just the way it is. Change your thoughts and change your thinking. Now the point comes, how will you fill these vacant parts of your life? Let me take you through it.

LOVE the secret to everything. The greatest contribution you can make in anybody’s life is love. Remove hatred from your heart and add love. The essence of love has so much potency that it will soak away every pain, every tear from your life. It has the highest frequency to fill gaps just as the gaps between your hands are filled by your spouse. Just as you are made for someone and someone is made for you, you are made human and humanity is made for you. Fill your gaps in humanity with love. Maybe you’re broken, maybe the world has given to you so much, maybe now you’re smiling but under that, you hide the pain, but there is always a place for love that will take away all your griefs. Now, this place is your empty space which you have filled with immense love.

Fortune favours the BRAVE. Remove the fear from your heart and add bravery. Learn to fight with your own struggles. You have to fight for yourself, nobody is going to fight for you. Take the first step of courage and the rest will be made for you. Many of us are afraid to take the first initial step. Remember you are the light and spread that glow for the path on which you have to go. Don’t be afraid, never doubt your capabilities. What if Mahatma Gandhi doesn’t take his first step for freedom? If Kalam didn’t make his first missile? If Graham Bell doesn’t make phones? Today, without their guts can India be able to achieve success? So go ahead, be brave enough to fight your battles, for your dreams. After all, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Congratulations! you’re on a way to achieve success, to fill those gaps. 

Spread KINDNESS. You know you’re here in this world for a purpose. We are born in this world to spread smiles, to be kind. Every hand that offers love has a spirit to spread goodness. Ask yourself, are we kind enough to help? Do we have enough to give something to that poor child asking for food? Yes, of course! Live your life in abundance, after all, life is meant to be abundant. Until and unless you do not learn to help others you cannot go ahead in your life. Help others to get help. Understand the pain in others eyes, give a hand for help, you’ll feel heaven. Be generous to donate for those who are born in this world for this purpose. Have a noble attitude of giving. 

A GRATEFUL heart is a magnet for miracles. Have you ever wondered why 96% of all the wealth is only in the lives of 1% people? It’s because they have an attitude of gratitude. They run business, not for the sake of money, but to create opportunities for others. This is the most powerful way to fill those empty spaces of your life with goodness. Have an attitude of developing gratitude. Take a piece of paper and write all the things you’re grateful for. The pen, laptop, your eyes, your beautiful face, your house and all those things which you see around you. Unless and until you are not grateful for the things you already have, how will you be grateful for the things you’ll get in future? The whole struggle of your life will end if you begin to be grateful for the things you have now. The greatest battles of your life are fought in these secrets above you. The empty spaces of your life can be filled with the peace of mind having open and clear space. As a wise human make your empty space your most beautiful opulence.

Plastic – The slow poison.

Lately plastic has taken over the world. People often believe that all of this has happened in the recent few years, but the truth is everything takes time to happen and gradually makes its impact, and the same is with plastic.

Commercial (fully synthetic) plastic was first introduced in the year 1907 when Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the first real synthetic, mass-produced plastic. This breakthrough made people think, that it was going to be a great positive change for the industrial years ahead. The creation which was believed to be a boon for the world now appears to be a curse. A curse that is not only harming human life but every other life form on the planet.

Though there are many movements and initiatives taken by several organizations and governments of various countries going on, the effect of plastic is now on the verge where, either in some years it’ll be irreversible or we would have completely eradicated it.

From Mount Everest to the bottom of the sea, plastics are found to be persistent polluters of many environmental niches. Whether being mistaken for food by animals, flooding low-lying areas by clogging drainage systems, or simply causing significant aesthetic blight, plastics have attracted increasing attention as a large-scale pollutant.

The latest reports from the UN show how the consumption and demand for plastic have increased over the years. From the 1950s to the 70s, only a small amount of plastic was produced, so plastic waste was relatively manageable. By the 1990s, the plastic waste generation had more than tripled in two decades, following a similar rise in plastic production. In the early 2000s, the output of plastic waste rose more in a single decade than it had in the previous 40 years. Today, about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.

Around the world, one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. In total, half of all plastic produced is designed to be used only once and then thrown away.

Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced since the early 1950s. About 60% of that plastic has ended up in either a landfill or the natural environment.

Since the 1950s, the rate of plastic production has grown faster than that of any other material. A shift away from the production of durable plastic, and towards plastics that are meant to be thrown away after a single use has also been seen. More than 99% of plastics are produced from chemicals derived from oil, natural gas, and coal, all of which are dirty, non-renewable resources. If current trends continue, by 2050 the plastic industry could account for 20% of the world’s total oil consumption. Scientists have also claimed that if the use of plastic is not reduced, then by the year 2050 oceans would contain more plastic than fish.

Single-use plastic products are everywhere For many of us, they’ve become integral to our daily lives.

The use of plastic needs to be reduced, and the improvement of plastic waste management is now a necessity. Only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. About 12% has been incinerated, while the rest 79% has accumulated in landfills, dumps, or the natural environment.

The government and various organizations are doing their work by introducing various rules to regulate the use of plastic and organizing events to make people aware of the impacts plastic is making on this planet. But this is not enough, we need more to prevent our environment from going into a state, from where it’s revival won’t be possible. Each and every individual needs to take charge. It is often asked that “How can an individual make an impact globally by just reducing their consumption of plastic”, the answer is if each and every individual decides to take up their responsibility then we won’t need a bigger change, these small changes would eventually make a bigger impact than any other move can.

But the questions are, are we willing to make a change? are we ready to start working instead of just speaking? are we ready to pledge that we are going to make this world a better place to live in for our future generations, or are going to make it worse enough for them to struggle to survive? The answers to all these questions lie inside us, we just need to bring them out.

” It is us who has to decide, whether we protect what we have, or we and every other thing we cherish is going to be history”

See yaa..

Problems of Rape

Priya Yadav,
In the year 1989-90, a film was being shown in a township in North India. As the villainous character of Shakti Kapoor started raping the character Anita Raj on the screen, the people in the haul started shouting and enjoying the screen. Then suddenly the power went out, by the time the generator was run and the screen lighted again, the audience started creating an uproar. And when electricity came, it was said that the scene should be played again.

A large number of male viewers of that era loved the rape scenes. Such scenes were deliberately planted in the corners of the posters installed here and there in the market so that people can know that this film also has a rape scene. “Paan” shops just outside the theater used to complain that the rape scene was shown, but the clothes did not tear properly, something did not show properly, it was not so much fun. However, there were also some such audience present in the cinema, whose sympathy was with the character of the victim. It is difficult to say that the filmmakers of that era started to capitalize on this trend by understanding the mindset of the people, or that the interest and mentality of the people were created due to the scenes served by the filmmakers.

Read the news every day, and be ashamed, because now we have no choice but to be embarrassed. Every half an hour a ‘baby girl’ is being raped and every hour humanity is shaming. So we need permanent solutions. Counselor Anuja Gupta says that ‘sexual harassment of children is a forced act. If a criminal sexually abuses a child, then it increases the chances that he should do all this with other children as well. So if we want to stop sexual abuse, then we really have to stop it. Instead of being jailed, we should treat them.

“Bulbul” movie review

I saw this Hindi movie recently and I would like to give my opinion on it. “Bulbbul” was recently released on Netflix on 24 June, 2020 by the production company ‘Clean Slate Films’. A supernatural horror produced by Anushka Sharma and directed by Anvita Dutt Guptan. It is roughly based on Rabindranath Tagore’s “The Broken Nest” which is based on his own life incidents.


The movie is set in 18th or 19th century Bengal. It doesn’t have many characters. Our main characters are Bulbbul, a child who is barely five years old when she gets married to Indranil, also known as ‘Bado thakur’. Indranil has two brothers namely Mahendra, his mentally challenged identical twin and Satya, the youngest close to Bulbbul’s age which is the reason why they become close friends which becomes a matter of concern for her husband. Bulbbul grows up to be an enigmatic woman. We see how men in her village are brutally being killed by some witch or chudail.


Basically the film takes us on a journey of Bulbbul’s growth from an innocent child bride to a strong woman who runs her own household.
The character of Bulbbul is played by Tripti Dimri. In my opinion, I don’t think anyone could have done a better job playing the role. Though not from a Bengali background she does a pretty great job in giving us those typical Bengali vibes. Rahul Bose as Indranil (as well as Mahendra) does a pretty great job too. Handling two very different roles at the same time is not easy but he did it. Avinash Tiwary acts as Satya; another great work. Paoli Dam as Mahendra’s wife, Binodini. Parambrata Chatterjee as Sudip, the village doctor. I feel the cast was great. Each one of them did a wonderful work and I cannot imagine anyone else replacing them.
The music is exceptionally good, gives you goose bumps every time you listen to it not because it scares you but it feels like there’s a story behind everything screaming to be heard. Hats off to Amit Trivedi. It gives a special essence to the movie. Another thing I loved was the cinematography. Scenes where the witch or the chudail was to be, the screen would turn red telling us to hold on to our seats for something is about to happen. It has a feminist theme. It shows how women change themselves due to past abuse. Paoli Dam’s character had this dialogue “Badi havelion me bade raaz hote hai” translates to “big havelis have big secrets”. This explains a lot about the chudail. One would understand when they see the movie.
Lesson I learnt was innocence is a pure thing taking that away from someone is sinful.
The movie is family friendly except a couple of scenes but I think it’s high time little girls need to be made aware what the real world holds.
It has a 4.3/5 audience rating. I would totally give it a 4.5/5 just because there is this one thing that it becomes predictable midway. Apart from that it is a masterpiece and a change from regular Indian thriller.

Thank you for reading. Have a nice day!

MOVIE REVIEWS- HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992) AND, POINT BLANK (1967)

  1. HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992)

Husbands and Wives (1992) is about a New York based couple, Gabe (Woody Allen) and Judy (Mia Farrow) who are shocked to discover that their best friends, Sally (Judy Davis) and Jack (Sydney Pollack) are splitting up. The news of their divorce makes them question their own relationship.

This film is so close to reality. The characters are very human, this film captures the complicated nature of people like no other. Like us the characters make stupid decisions and fuck up a lot. One of the examples of this is Woody’s character falling in love with a certain type of women. Even though he knows that they’ll bring him down, he cannot resist them.

It also shows how our mind functions in weird ways, how we would feel that we are capable of doing a certain thing or we imagine a specific type of future to be better than the present but actually things do not always pan out that well. It portrays the struggles of being human in a very authentic way. “Nobody’s got it perfect” is a line that the characters repeat several times, a lot of it sounds like the self talk that I give to myself when I’m facing going through shit.

This film is chatty, full of free flowing conversations like all of his films. And there are a lot of references to pop culture and literature. Woody Allen is more of a philosopher here. He deals with heavy subjects with a lot of humour. The writing is one of his finest, his eccentric and genuine style of showing middle aged people facing adversity in life makes him stand out from other filmmakers. His characters are full of charm, and of course he himself brings a lot of charisma on screen. Special props to Carlo Di Palma, his handheld cinematography is mesmerising.

Overall Husbands and Wives is amongst Allen’s best works. It’s edgy, deep, realistic and a lot of fun.

  1. POINT BLANK (1967)

Point Blank (1967) is about a mysterious crook named Walker who is double crossed and left for dead. He Survives and now he goes after the money that was stolen from him.

 

One of the most influential films of the 60s this film splendidly mixes the styles of noir and the European New Wave. While the film has most elements of a noir – an intricate plot, an existential hero, a femme fatale, witty dialogue, use of flashbacks, high contrast lighting and claustrophobic settings, the excellent composition will remind you of European cinema. Every frame is brimming with visual metaphors.

 

Lee Marvin steals the show as Walker, his presence is frightening. He’s given a subdued performance. Walker is a very interesting character, he’s calm and silent but he knows his shit. I loved how John Boorman has created this dreamy atmosphere. The way he’s used colours, lighting and music to elevate that dreamy feeling is truly masterful. One example would be this night club brawl, the way Boorman has utilised these technical aspects makes it look really trippy. Boorman has gone with an unconventional narrative style for that time, alot of plot details are kept ambiguous and I really appreciated how Boorman has made a ballsy film for intelligent viewers.

 

Overall Point Blank is an extremely stylish noir about revenge, betrayal and passion that has stunning visuals and a trippy style along with a terrific performance by Lee Marvin.

MOVIE REVIEWS- THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973), AND PEPPERMINT CANDY (1999)

  1. THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973)

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) is about a small time Boston gangster who’s about to serve a few years in jail. In order avoid jail time he becomes an informant for the authorities and snitches on his friends.

This underrated gangster flick takes it’s time to tell the story, the slow pacing helps in creating this sense of reality. This is one of the most REAL gangster films I’ve ever seen. The way it portrays the working class of the Boston area is truly astonishing. It also makes commentary on an important subject – the gun laws of the United States. A huge portion of the film is about the illegal buying and selling of guns.

This film is about this washed up lonely middle aged guy who has a lot of friends but they are not actually his friends. We are shown that there is no loyalty even amongst thieves. They would betray each other for selfish reasons without the blink of an eye. While watching the film I could see how it has influenced quite a few recent movies/ shows of this genre. Mostly it reminded me of The Sopranos and a little bit of The Departed.

Robert Mitchum has given an excellent performance as Eddie Coyle, he’s this existential and courageous low life. He underplays the character, and I think that’s what makes Eddie Coyle believable. Every word he utters has this cold weight. Peter Yates has done a phenomenal job with the direction, there are these two sequences, one involving a heist and the other involving the authorities tailing a guy that almost made me applaud.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a meditative gangster film with a great script, edgy dialogues and a killer performance by Robert Mitchum.

  1. PEPPERMINT CANDY (1999(

Peppermint Candy (1999) is about a guy named Yong Ho who commits suicide. The film shows 20 years of his life leading to his death in reverse order.

 

This is such an original concept, showing five phases in a guy’s life, that too in reverse. While showing the different timelines the director also shows the political environment of that specific period. We see the state of Korea and how it changed. It captures how tragic political events can affect a person. It tells us how corruption in the system can have a massive impact on the everyday life of a common man.

 

At the beginning of the film, we see that Yong Ho is a disturbed man. He’s depressed and cynical, the film very astutely shows us the events in his life that made him this way. It shows how even the most mundane things can cause a big change in our personality. In every phase of his life, we see that he’s slightly different from the previous phase. We see how all the different experiences add up and define why he is a particular way. The writing does a very fine job at tying all the timelines together.

 

Lee Chang-Dong is one of the finest Korean directors and he knows how to capture human emotions. He knows how to flesh out complex characters that you empathise with. It looks effortless the way he does it. Even though the lead character comes off as unlikeable, you feel for him because of how the excellent storytelling portrays his unhappy life.

 

Peppermint Candy is an extremely poignant and moving film about an innocent soul who loses himself because he’s corrupted by society. I could not find a single flaw in it, it’s hands down one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

IS OUR NEXT GENERATION IN DANGER?

Students and children are basically considered as the next generation of a country. The major motto of any country should focus about the students their needs and problems. The problem faced by the students are quintessential to be listened about as they are the problems which if not solved can lead to disastrous issues.And the major issues faced by the students nowadays is demotivation,lack of importance given to them , the stress which is caused due to many unambiguous reasons and there are really many more unknown issues which a student face in their day to day life. But they really don’t know whom to consult,from where they will get the solution of their problems,why they are facing these kinds of problems,how can they come out of the problems? Sometimes it happens that they face lots of problem and those problems leads to a major demotivation which ultimately results into their lose of interest in studies.

If given a thought we can actually figure out some basics points which actually leads to all these problems. One major point that is to be noted is that nowadays parents are busy with their lives,their career or other problems which indirectly or directly hampers their kids. The child does not feel connected to them which resist him to share his piece of problem with them. On the other hand there are parents who are overprotective about their child which makes him feel that if he shares his problem then his parents ,ay feel that they have not taught him how to deal with a small problem. Parents actually play a major role in a child’s life because what a kid sees in his home is what he learns and that’s where his critical thinking starts . The way a problem is faced in home is the way a child accepts and tries to solve a problem. That’s the reason why different children address same problem in different ways. The way parents address failure is the same way a child alos faces a failure. It’s somewhat the duty of the parents to teach their kids how to deal with the problems. But majorly parents only teach the kids how to celebrate success but underneth this they just ignores the fact that their child could also fail and its their duty only to tech them how to deal with that.

Secondly , there are not appropriate knowledge or help from where help could be seeked. If there’s any kind of help it come on the basis of money. Being a student its difficult to arrange money and if asked from parents they would definitely ask why we need money. The unknown kind of pressure of achieving something big, be successful in life,the fear of failure, the fear of losing the near and dear ones and many other fears and ambitions in the mind of a student is creating unnecessary pressure. Nothing just a hope a little motivation and