Category: writing

Stress Busters

Our daily routine can have a toll on our mental health. Work pressures, exam related stress, house responsibilities, overtime with no rest can cause serious health problems and therefore needed to be taken care of. Our human bodies need rest to reset for further work, and when that is ignored we end up getting sick or stressed. As sickness could be treated with medications, we need stress bursting activities too. These activities not only reset our brains for a fresh start but also help us develop the capabilities we never actually cared enough about. These activities help us in getting relaxed after a hectic day or two. There are a number of these activities that can and are helpful in relieving stress.

Hobbies

Every person has at least one or two hobbies that can come as a savior while having a stressful day like, painting, writing, reading, cooking, watching movies, art and craft, singing, dancing etc. With heavy work or studies load people end up paying zero percent attention to their hobbies, but these might help in taking the head out of work for some time and just relaxing while exploring their lost hobbies further. Mostly a person’s hobbies relate to its right part of the brain, which is also responsible for creative development of a being, thus these hobbies can prove to be beneficial in many unexpected ways. Any sort of art form can relieve the stress from a heavy work day.

Music

“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.”

― Martin Luther

Music is to have a magic effect on us while trying to survive through a tiring day. The soft and slow music is to act as a meditation, keeping us at peace and relaxing us. The slow paced music helps us clear our mind and ease up while in a stressful situation. The fast paced music is proven to make us happy or excited while in a low mood. Our brain responds to the happy waves generated by music and helps us loosen up better.

Strolls

With most of the work being desk related or requiring hours of sitting in front of the screen, can be hectic and have unhealthy effects on our mental health. Such a situation calls for a stroll or a walk for at least an hour or so to breathe fresh in park and walk to stretch out our muscles. Walking reduces the strain caused by hours of sitting, thus freeing us from part of our undeserved stress.

Conversations

People sometimes forget the power of conversations. Having work related problems? Talk to your work best friend. Having relationship problem? Talk to your best friend. Having life problems? Talk to your mother. The conversations with right person have the healing power to take you away from a rough, awful day. It might seem like a waste of time to a lot of people but in reality, these conversations hold the power cut off the distress and calm us down.

Breaks

Just like we need an interval in between of a movie or a break in the middle of a show, we sometimes need a break from our daily routine. Little tea or coffee breaks while still going strong with work can be a short term solution but breaks such as- visiting parents, going back to hometown, taking on a vacation, meeting friends, celebrating without any particular reason, can all charge us up to the level that of a fighting war and holding up with pressures then a becomes the easiest task in the world.

Father of western philosophy- Socrates

Socrates is one of the most prominent philosophical figures in the history of western philosophy. He laid the bricks for the very same idea on which philosophers like Plato and Aristotle built upon in the coming years.

Firstly let’s dissect the term “philosophy”, it comes from the Greek word philo- meaning love and sophia- meaning wisdom, i.e., the love for wisdom. 

Socrates’s lifestyle

Socrates followed his love for wisdom/knowledge for as long as he lived, he pursued knowledge in it’s absolute true sense, he thought that pursuing knowledge was the ultimate purpose of life and Socrates didn’t just think that he lived by these words, his actions reflected his ideas in the purest form. But he was born in 469 BC in Athens during a time when court trials were on the basis of the intensity of the arguments made and not facts, so no points for guessing that Socrates’s ideas were not received well by the Athenian population. 

And you can’t really blame them, that was a long long time ago, a time when women were thought to be inferior than men, it was a time when slavery was normal. On the other hand socrates did not do a very good job at dealing with people either, he was not the most hygienic person of that time, he did not shower for days and would go around the city asking random people questions and if that wasn’t enough he would tell them they were wrong. This is what Socrates loved to do, question and not because he knew more than an average Athenian citizen or that he wanted to massage his own ego; on the contrary Socrates admitted that he knew nothing. There is a very well known quote by Socrates that goes “One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing”, that is why he went around Athens asking everybody questions hoping to one day find some answers, spoiler alert he didn’t. The Athenian population wasn’t very fond of him, and found him to be annoying.

Socrates- the martyr

And just to make it more clear, he annoyed the people so much that they united together and eventually he was put on trial. At this point you might think that Socrates would have given up on his unapologetic attitude but he didn’t. He stood by his principles even though he knew it would lead to his death. Socrates was a smart person, he could have very easily won that trial by making a strong argument but if he did then all his ideas and all his actions would have been in vain. In that trial, Socrates said that the people of Athens should be thanking him for asking them questions and showering upon them his own wisdom, this did not sit well with the jury and about many more dialogues later the jury declared Socrates guilty and was later sentenced to death by drinking poison.

Socrates died a martyr, a martyr for philosophy, he died defending his ideas. Socrates might have died but he made sure to immortalize his ideas.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – AGATHA CHRISTIE

Known Mysterious Incident About “the queen of crime” except her famous novels.

Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie became, and remains, the best-selling novelist of all time.

She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation.

Agatha Christie is one of the greats of mystery literature. For eleven days, she was at the center of her own mystery, that got international headlines. Unlike the plots in her brilliant books, the motives underpinning this particular storyline are rather vague.

The characters of this real and known incidents were the Two of Britain’s most famous crime writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Wimsey series and herself (Agatha Christie” the queen of crime”).

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S DISAPPEARANCE CASE

WHAT DO WE KNOW-

On the December night of 3rd,1926 she drove away from her home in Berkshire and vanished completely. Her car was found abandoned and a huge manhunt was launched. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories and Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, participated in the search. Their specialist knowledge, it was hoped, would help find the missing writer.

Her disappearance would spark one of the largest manhunts ever mounted. Agatha Christie was already a famous writer and more than one thousand policemen were assigned to the case, along with hundreds of civilians.

Agatha Christie’s disappearance prompted a nationwide search and for the first time in UK history, aeroplanes were employed as part of the search effort.

Newspapers offered rewards for information and her husband Archie was suspected of foul play.

The Home Secretary, William Joynson-Hicks, urged the police to make faster progress in finding her.

It didn’t take long for the police to locate her car. It was found abandoned on a steep slope at Newlands Corner near Guildford. But there was no sign of Agatha Christie herself and nor was there any evidence that she’d been involved in an accident.

Not until 14 December, fully eleven days after she disappeared, was Agatha Christie finally located. Eventually, it was revealed that Christie had absconded to Harrow gate via train, where she spent eleven days hobnobbing with the young social crowd under the name of her husband’s mistress. Christie, upon being discovered, says she had no memory of the events.

The Speculations–

  • Agatha Christie rarely talked about the incident, simply putting it down to about of temporary amnesia caused by a blow to the head.
  • The consensus of opinion at the time was that the whole affair (no pun intended) was an act of revenge aimed at her erring husband.
  •  Recent researches on her medical condition suggest that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. She died of natural causes in early 1976.

About that artist- Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh perhaps, one of the greatest artists to have ever lived, was born in 1853, in the Netherlands. He was the eldest of six children to his parents, and was only in touch with 2 of his siblings later in life. His brother Theo Van Gogh was the closest to him.

 Van Gogh is considered as the greatest post impressionist (post impressionism is a French art movement, mainly characterized by vivid hues and exuberant brush strokes). Unfortunately, His artwork did not receive much success while he was alive

Van Gogh died at an early age of 37 and was not around to witness his work being recognized and appreciated.

Introduction to art

At the age of 16, he apprenticed at the art dealers Goupil and Cie at The Hague branch through his uncle. He worked at the Goupil in London and Paris as well in the following years. The everyday exposure to art seemed to intrigue him. Artists such as Frans Hals, Jean Francois Millet started to grow on him and greatly inspired him throughout his life.

He became extremely successful during his time at the Goupil but art dealing did not satisfy him at all, in fact he despised it and was dropped off from the Goupil during his time in Paris after which he took up a couple of different jobs and had to experience some unfortunate events led him to become devout and extremely pious. During his time back home he used to translate the verses of the bible in English and French.

One of his jobs included working as a missionary among the less privileged section of the society at a coal mining region, where he lived among the poor and gave away his possessions, this did not sit well with the religious authorities, and the church later banished him.

This left him feeling dejected and out of sorts. He felt abandoned by society and isolated himself. It was during this time that he used painting as a form of expression.

He moved to Brussels to learn drawing, and then later he moved to Hague to work under the guidance of Anton Mauve, a Dutch painter.

Van Gogh and Mental Health

Van Gogh went on to produce great paintings in the subsequent years, these years also saw his artwork evolve greatly. He worked with Paul Gaugin for an ephemeral time of about two months.

This was a time of absolute distress for him, he was tortured by his own head and his solitude did not side with him.  In fact he was so troubled that one night he cut off his own year with a blade.

After this event, he was hospitalized where he kept experiencing psychotic episodes and yet was able to give the world some of the best paintings like The Starry Night, Olive Trees, Garden Of The Asylum and many more.

Van Gogh made his best paintings during the last two, extremely disturbing years of his life. Consumed by loneliness and the voices in his head, Van Gogh succumbed to his own mind. At the age of 37, he shot himself.

Vincent Van Gogh was a highly inspirational artist who had the ability to express emotions through a simple stroke of his brush. He expressed his pain through his brush which gave birth to an alluring piece of art that can make you feel emphatic emotions. And keep in mind that he was able to do this despite his ill mental health.

76th Session of UNGA

“Assembly of hope and resolutions”


United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations (UN). Each 193 member state has equal power to vote, providing a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the International issue by comprising all the member states.


Each year in September the Assembly meets for regular sessions; thereafter as required. Through the dedicated agenda items or sub-items discussion of certain issues is done which leads to the adoption of resolutions. Amid covid-19 when all in-person meeting was not possible UNGA included virtual platforms to conduct meetings and other novel means to guarantee business continuity.


Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives opened the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 14 September 2021 as he was sworn in as General Assembly President. Over 100 heads of state and government are expected to attend in person. The size of delegations allowed into the General Assembly Hall has been limited. Due to the global pandemic, UN Member States were encouraged to provide pre-recorded statements instead of travelling to UN Headquarters.

Pandemic is not the only problem the world is facing right now. The world has been facing the challenges such as Racism, intolerance, inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflict, climate change and other ills for decades. General Assembly is an important opportunity for all to come together and work for the future that is different from today.


The theme for the 76th session is “Building Resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations.”


• SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG)

Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries- poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. It is also an outline for fighting poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, confronting the climate crisis and much more, within the next ten years.


In unpredictable times, the SDGs show the way to advance towards a strong recovery from COVID-19 and a better future for all on a safe and healthy planet. Sustainable Development Goals are a global pact to create a future where nobody is left behind. These 17 goals were adopted by all countries at the United Nations in September 2015.


DECADE OF ACTION
In the aspect of human and planetary well being ‘Decade of action’ is a universal call to action to end poverty, to protect Earth and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
In September 2019, the secretary-general called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action on three levels:
Global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals;
local action implanting the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities; and
people action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.



Progress is being made in several places but action to meet the Goals is not yet developing at speed that is required to meet the achievements. The Decade of Action calls for accelerating sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges — ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap.


The pandemic became the unprecedented wake-up call that demanded urgency in actions and ambition. The progress that was planned and had been achieved for the decade of action got shaken in the very first five months of the pandemic, spreading the vary that then SGD moment is going off track.


Covid-19 began as a health crisis and quickly become a human and socio-economic crisis. It also urged everyone to see the importance of the preservation of the achieved progress.

“We need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.”
– UN Secretary-General António Guterres.


Some of the event highlights

• On 20 September the second SDG moment took place with leaders from over 30 countries addressing the theme ‘Plans, pathways and partners for Recovery and beyond.’ In inclusion of four focal topics Gender equality; Connectivity; Youth in Action; and Localising the SDGs.

• On 23 September, the first-ever food summit will take place completely virtually to mobilise the actionable commitments to transform food systems.

• On 24 September, the first global gathering on energy under UNGA auspices since the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy in 1981, ‘High-level Dialogue on Energy’ will be commenced.

• On 28 September, the High-Level Event on Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Elimination event will be conveyed virtually.


2021 remains a crucial year to bring back the balance with nature, take measures about the climate emergency, and get ahead of the pollution crisis while making sure that no one is left behind. The topics that have been discussed and are to be discussed in the 76th United Nations general assembly are a reminder of what must be done for the future so our dreams won’t be lost forever.
Only by being together, we can tackle the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that many of us are currently feeling. As long as we are united we can make a difference for the sake of our planet and each other.



‘One person can hope for change and two can make it come true with the support of each other.’

Continue reading “76th Session of UNGA” →

He said, she said- Psychology of manipulation.

“Fake it until you make it” has been a life mantra for many. It’s a scenario where you create a lie for yourself and keep believing that lie until it becomes your reality. But what if we are not the ones creating the lies? What if someone else lied to us and we made it our reality?

Hello readers, I welcome you to a new age of MANIPULATION. *cue evil laughter*

The lies we believe-

The term for this is Self fulfilling prophecy given by Robert Merton. The name itself is self explanatory but still I want to give some insight on it. This psychological term in short can be named as misconception that later becomes true cause at first we believed it to be true. So essentially a lie we believed in and subconsciously we commenced our work towards that lie and made it our reality.

Now what if somebody lies to us like “I know what you did last summer.”  Pretty vague.  No one’s a psychic here. But subconsciously we already start reminiscing what haphazard thing we did last summer hence giving into the manipulation and believing a lie.

Classic manipulation, isn’t it?

The lies made me do it-

Security dilemma is caused by Self fulfilling prophecies. It can lead to people not being able to distinguish between the actual truth and the prophecy discussed above. In general it is a political term which happens only 40% of times in a case of self fulfilling prophecy.

Take it like this, there’s a person, 2 parties A and B and an old age rivalry. So this person who favors none of these parties and wants to stir up some trouble. He goes to party A and says “Hey there, I found these filled water balloons near B. Weird right?” Now that A has evidence that B might be preparing for a water balloon fight they start packing their own balloons and Nerf guns. B part sees the ammunition. And voila blow the toot for a full fledged WATER FIGHT!!!

Now imagine this scenario going on a bigger level and let the realization dawn upon you that how everything is just psychology.

The lies I am-

Talking about Behavioral confirmation, it is a very special kind of self fulfilling prophecy where we change our personality according to someone’s initial belief about us.

Let’s make it clear with an example. Some random person comes up to you and says “When I first saw you I thought you to be a little aggressive.” Now remember this is a person whom you have met only 2-3 times and you are anything but aggressive. Now whenever this person come around you’ll start acting a little aggressive and sometimes even when the person is removed from the equation.

Leading a belief/expectation to turn into reality just like in the 2 cases mentioned above.

All these scenarios are derived from self fulfilling prophecy. A very basic way of controlling human brain according to our wishes. These psychological ways can be used positively too but if you decide to go for manipulation then I didn’t tell you this. Jokes apart, it’s still quite wondrous how a little he said she said shenanigan can be used in our favor.  

Booktok made me read it. – Review on the book ‘We were liars’

Yes, you read it write. This book has been trending on Booktok (book recommendation tiktoks) under the titles of “books that I would sell my soul to read for the first time again”, “books that will make you sob” or something as simple as “must have books”. But this particular book made many heads turn.

So, what’s all the hassle about? That’s exactly what we are here to find out.

Book history-

This book was written by E. Lockhart in 2014 and did a commendable job. The real hype began when in 2019 this book made an appearance in Booktok and ever since it’s still in the lists of many.

Popular sites like Daily Trojan recently added “We were liars’ on their must read pile. Publishers weekly too has named it as one of the most discussed book on TikTok.

Plot check.-

Nope, sorry can’t say. My lips are sealed.

 But still for the sake of our lovely readers I will give you some insight. The plot is everything. It’s about a family, a rich one, whose story is narrated by a girl who can’t remember the last summer she spent on that island. No literally she can’t remember what happened. And believe me when I say that’s the only the start of the mysteries that revolve around the great Sinclair family.

Next up comes the plot twist. The suspense of this book will make you question reality. It will toy with your brain. But this book make every misery it puts us through worth it.

Theme park.-

The themes portrayed by the author E. Lockhart is quite literal slap on the society. The book challenges social norms head on. Ranging from racism to rich/poor and everything in between this book has it all. It also deals with psychological disorders which I might add is a very sensitive and controversial territory. But E. Lockhart sashayed her way into it quite elegantly.

This book can be added in our school syllabus and no one would question it. Cause that is life. Real one not the Shakespearean where people die unnecessarily or take unfinished revenges.

Why are Tiktokers hyped about it?

The reason behind this is one word “narration”. The lines can be stolen, plot can be copied, hell even if entire idea of this book is plagiarized, still no one can copy the way the author narrates this book. The narration keeps you on edge, makes you restless and leaves a mark right on your soul. The ending will have you wailing in a corner of your room and question life and the entire credit goes to how beautiful the story has been narrated.

And that’s right I would personally sell my soul to read for the first time again.

Not just luck-

‘We were liars’ made I to the popular list mainly due to Booktok but what makes this entire ordeal a little disappointing is that why such a great book written by a very talented author need a social media platform to get popular and sell some copies. It’s been a long time since I have been a reader, whilst social media is a great advertising platform, I still feel books should have a separate platform where we can find genuine books which are of our interest and not just the books which were lucky enough to reach Tiktokers.

‘We were liars’ is like a ride on emotional rollercoaster. It takes you to another level of epiphany. This book has the capability to change one as a person and I am so not exaggerating.

Booktok made me read it but I hope you can say the review made you read it.

MOST APPRECIATED DRAMA OF DIFFERENT LANGUAGES IN INDIA

Being one of the most viewed programmes on Indian channel and getting good TRP with desi viewers many different dubbed shows were appreciated from pakistan, turkey, korean, ukranian etc.

1. ZINDAGI GULZAR HAI(PAKISTANI)

This serial was a phenomenon that made its stars insanely popular in both Pakistan and India, boosting the steady trickle of cultural exchange into a river of cross-border friendship. Powerful performances from Sanam Saeed, Samina Peerzada and Fawad Khan made this serial an international favourite.

ZINDAGI GULZAR HAI (2012)(2014 in India)

This was the show that made Pakistani actor Fawad Khan a popular face in India. The show that premiered in 2012 on Hum TV in Pakistan was based on a novel by Umera Ahmad and was also inspired from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It was a love story of Kashaf played by Sanam Saeed and Zaroon played by Fawad Khan. It was a classic poor girl and a rich boy love story and focussed on women’s struggle in the orthodox Pakistani society. The show instantly became a hit in Pakistan. And when the show travelled to India two years later, it re-created the history. The charms of the male protagonists, played by Fawad Khan floored TV Ji and many Indian female fans.

2. DESENDENT OF THE SUN(KOREAN)

 Korean heartthrob Song Joong Ki plays the role of a Special Force Officer. He is considered to be one of Korea’s hottest actors with a huge fan following across South East Asia. The series will premiere on Indian television on 8 February 2017 and became one of the first K-dramas to be available on a widely known Indian cable network.

DESENDENT OF THE SUN(2016)(2017 in India)

‘Descendants of the Sun’ is the story of Special Force Officer and a surgeon who fall in love at first sight. Their contrasting ideologies and values (as one kills to protect lives while the other one saves lives to protect them) makes them shy away from one another. Destiny plays an interesting role and after almost a year of having parted ways, they meet at a warzone ‘Uruk’, a land far from Seoul. Now, circumstances bring them face to face where they must work closely together driven by their principles.

3. FERIHA(TURKISH)

The first Turkish drama on Indian television was aired on 15th September 2015, Adını Feriha Koydum (Feriha) which had become a huge success. And from that time the Turkish TV Series has been very popular in India.

FERIHA(2011)(2015 in India)

It is a story of a young ambitious girl, who belongs to a poor family. But with the dreams of making it big out in the world. Beautiful, intelligent, and young, and with the thirst to see and travel the world, Feriha works hard to secure a scholarship to a private university.

But the new life at the university, where she goes to study on a scholarship, which awaits Feriha, about which she has no clues, wraps its arms around her and spins her around. Coming from a poor family and intimidated by the riches of the people around her at the university, Feriha soon entangles herself in a whirlwind of lies and made up stories. Emir Sarrafoglu, a rich son of a rich dad soon becomes the center of attraction of Feriha’s world, and telling lies, her new lifestyle.

4. SNOWDROP(UKRAINIAN)

“Snowdrop” was premiere in India on January 16 , 2017. This captivating story of love and revenge from the heart of Ukraine will not only enchant viewers with its superlative content but also give the audience an experience of a global palate.

SNOWDROP(2015)(2017 in India)

The show revolves around Nadya, an innocent, good hearted and hard working girl, who gets wrongly framed for an accident. Irina, her beautiful, spoilt and manipulative step sister and the man that both of them are in love with is Igor. He is the heir to a cosmetics empire. A tragic accident kills Igor’s beloved sister. Igor, who loved Nadya loses all his trust in her after the ill-fated incident. Irina, takes advantage of the situation and convinces Igor to marry her. The drama starts with a very exciting jail break. In first episode, Nadya will be seen escaping prison and rushing to a hotel where she confronts Irina as she is getting engaged to Igor. The confrontation ends with the stepsisters handcuffed to each other, falling off a roof. As they fall, Nadya wonders how they came to this juncture in life and remembers her past. The show depicts Nadya’s fight to prove her innocence and get the real culprit punished.

5. BOYS OVER FLOWER

This is the most popular K-Drama that dubbed in Hindi and become famous in the whole subcontinent. This drama didn’t only get popularity but the whole cast get popularity from this drama. This is another High school story with rich boy and the poor girl but intense triangle love story.

BOYS OVER FLOWER( 2009)(2017 in India)

Geum Jan Di comes from a poor family who owns a dry-cleaning shop. One day, she visits Shinhwa High School, a prestigious school for the wealthy, and saves a student trying to commit suicide because of bullying. For her heroic act, Jan Di receives a swimming scholarship and starts attending the school. In school, she meets the notorious F4, the most popular and powerful group of boys at the school, consisting of Gu Jun Pyo; the leader of F4 and heir to the Shinhwa Group, Yoon Ji Hu; the grandson of a former president of Korea, So Yi Jung; a skilled potter who comes from a family that owns the country’s biggest art museum, and Song Woo Bin; whose family runs the country’s largest construction company. Her life at school starts out miserable, as she doesn’t fit in with other students because of her status, and later becomes worse when she is labeled as the new bullying target of the F4.

these are the some international shows which was well appreciated with the Indian desi viewers and become hit and was trend setter for the other drama of different countries.

About that author- Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka is regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time who gave birth to a new manner of writing all while being tormented by his very existence.

Early life 

Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague, the capital city of what is now known as Czech. He was the eldest son to an acquiescent mother and a strong, assertive and highly dogmatic father.

Kafka’s father had an assertive and sturdy personality, his presence alone was enough to intimidate Franz or his mother.

Neither Kafka nor his mother could ever gather enough courage to contradict his father. For even if Kafka did gather it, it would lead to consequences that Kafka was extremely familiar with. His mother too, was too timid to ever try and protect her son. Much of Kafka’s personality is profoundly shaped by his relationship with his father. Kafka grew up with profuse self hatred,anxiety and despair. He was nothing like his father, in fact he was the exact opposite, and for that he was always a target for criticism.

Even as a young child, he had a particular inclination towards writing and literature, he wanted to write but this dream of his was highly detested by his father and his mother too failed to comprehend the intensity of his dreams or preserve them.

Kafka’s relationship with his father 

Kafka did not have a good relationship with his father and the same is well reflected in his novels. In his novels, Kafka often created an authoritative figure that cannot be vanquished.

In his unfinished work, The Trial,he talks about the bureaucracy, politicians and businessmen that hold the power to oppress and push around an office worker, Josef K., whose personality awfully resembled that of Franz’s. In The Trial Josef .K, one morning was arrested for reasons he was unaware of, and didn’t even attempt to find out because in his view he deserved every tiny bit of it. He doesn’t try to protest or push back and is ultimately pronounced guilty.

Relationship with self

Kafka’s most famous novel, The Metamorphosis, published in 1915 acts as a great mirror to understand his relationship with himself. In The Metamorphosis, a salesman, Gregor Samsa, one morning wakes up only to find out that he has turned into an insect. The novel revolves around Gregor’s struggles after this significant change. 

The metamorphosis represents the hatred and disgust that Kafka held towards himself.

Franz Kafka’s most notable works include The Judgement, A Hunger Artist, and a series of short stories, and much of them were left incomplete. Kafka would burn down more than half of what he wrote because he did not like his work. The trial was written in 1914-15 but wasn’t published until after his death by his friend, Max Brod. Kafka left all of his work to Max Brod, instructing him to destroy all of it, but luckily Brod disregarded his wish and went on to publish his work which attracted attention and was regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

LEGACY 

Franz Kafka’s most notable works include The Judgement, A Hunger Artist, and a series of short stories, and much of them were left incomplete. Kafka would burn down more than half of what he wrote because he did not like his work. The trial was written in 1914-15 but wasn’t published until after his death by his friend, Max Brod. Kafka left all of his work to Max Brod, instructing him to destroy all of it, but luckily Brod disregarded his wish and went on to publish his work which attracted attention and was regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Franz Kafka, in 1924 at the age of 40, succumbed to tuberculosis, leaving behind some of the best novels ever written. Kafka was a great literary figure, who inspired writers such as Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Kafka’s world is often characterized by dark but very real themes. His work has a certain melancholy associated with it. It almost seems like a dread filled dream that sticks with the reader and leaves an everlasting impression on them. His work became so profound that it went on to inspire a style of writing called “kafkaesque”, which is often used to describe something with nightmarish, oppressive and despair-like qualities. His world is a place where most people at some point in their life find themselves, and most of them get out of there too but Kafka stayed there for as long as he lived, giving the world something that transcends their imagination.

Test your ‘MYTHS VS FACTS’ knowledge

Isn’t it amazing when your friends are talking about something that is a myth but you know the real fact about it and you can actually brag about it. Everyone thinks you are a genius but you know that it is something you read somewhere. It’s hard sometimes to think about thousands of myth and facts which we just don’t know and continue to believe what we know about it. When I was small my mother once told me that if you see your face in the mirror at night your face will get wrinkles. Yeah… like that doesn’t even make sense but she told me anyway because she was getting ready and I was In the way. And I know you too have come across some bizarre myths that I believe are made up. But there are myths that people actually believe and are common to everyone like black cats are unlucky. They are not!! I have a black cat and I love her the most.

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It’s modern time and people want facts if you want them to believe something. Science has progressed and has answer to almost everything but there are things which even science is unable to answer for e.g., why are women always right? And how moms are able to find anything when we ask them and we can’t. How?? Okay, I will pull my hair out and still won’t get any answer so let’s move on to our myths vs facts quiz. I will give you some common beliefs and you will have to identify it as a myth or a fact and at the end I will answer them.

READY, SET, GO…

  1. You have to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
  2. Bulls get angry when they see red color
  3. Only animals that blush are humans
  4. Dogs only see black and white. Poor doggos. (Simple huh?? Real questions start now.)
  5. If you swallow gum it will sit for 7 years in your stomach.
  6. Pineapple is a natural meat tenderizer.
  7. To boil water faster add salt to it.

Answers

(Myth) No you don’t have to. There are many factors involved as of how much water you should consume. Drink when you feel like drinking. Not too less not too much. 3 to 4 litres work perfectly fine. According to The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the adequate intake of fluids for men is 3.7 L and for women it is 2.7L. about 50 to 70 % of our body is made up of water and it is important for:

  • Keeping temperature normal.
  • Getting rid of body waste

(Myth) I’ve spent my life getting scared and hiding my red clothes whenever I saw bulls. Whoever made this myth hated red color. Everyone believed this because of that red cloth used by matadors in bull fights but American science guide says that bulls are red green colorblind. The actual reason for bulls’ anger was the movement of the cape. Feeling stupid? Yeah me too. We are in this together.

(Fact) Isn’t it amazing how our cheeks turn red when someone compliments us or when we are embarrassed of saying something stupid. humans are the only animals who are capable of blushing, and as Darwin states “the most peculiar and the most human of all expressions.” It’s still unknown how it happens voluntarily but in terms of science it is caused by the dilation of blood vessels in the facial skin.

(Myth) Here is a good fact dogs don’t see in black and white. Our friend is actually capable of seeing colors not many but can distinguish between them. The can see blue, yellow and some shades of grey. They may not see the true color of an object but they definitely see the color of love. Dogs are pure souls.

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(Myth) “Oh my god! I just swallowed a gum, it will get stuck to my intestines now. (screaming in fear).” You can understand this, right? From fruit seeds to chewing gums we have avoided gulping them. But you will laugh after knowing that neither plants were going to grow from your stomach nor the gum will hijack your guts because your gut can’t digest it. If you anyhow swallow it, it will pass through you in a couple of days. Although a large amount of gum can result in intestinal blockage.

(Fact) Bromelain enzyme in pineapple is digests protein and softens the tissues in meat, hence, goes well with beef, pork and some types of fish. This is the reason why it stings our tongue, it breaks down the surface tissues thankfully our body regenerates cells and repairs the tongue. If you want to soften it you can bake it or soak it in salty water.

(Myth) Adding salt to water will increase the temperature of water fast but it’s boiling point will remain same. Even if you add a spoonful of salt the boiling point will change from 100° to hardly 100.4°.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz, if you know some more myths and facts do tell in the comments below also tell me how much you scored today.

Say ‘YES’ to these habits

Internet has made our lives easy, everything is available there from assignments to math problems but can internet do Everything for us? No, ultimately it’s us, students, who have to study, write for exams and get through this phase of our life. It’s very easy for all of us to get distracted with just one notification on our phone, or thought of our crush😉.
Not everyone can study with all that is going around and concentrate, so many students opt for night time as their study time. But you won’t disagree with fhe fact that it affects our daily routine, makes us feel exhausted for the rest of the day. Night time is for dreaming!! It’s important to rest for our body and our mind. If you are not satisfied with your daily routine, change it. Start with small changes like waking up early, eating healthy and being productive etc,. You don’t have to have a very strict routine, chill you are just a student few ‘habits’ are enough for you.

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START FRESH🐓

You must have heard your parents saying that you never forget whatever you learn in the morning, can’t bet on it’s authenticity but it’s true that mornings are good to start learning. From my experience it is because there is no or very less disturbance with your family sleeping peacefully it’s easy to concentrate. And you know when you start early most of your work is done by the time others wake up. Your reasons for not exercising are eliminated. It also helps in protecting you against:

  • Stress
  • Respiratory issues
  • Obesity
  • Bad mood

DISTRACT THE DISTRACTION 🥷

Do you find it hard to concentrate while studying? Everytime you open your book your phone calls you and asks to scroll for 5 more mintues? Or your mind starts wandering to some wonderland? Well, it’s normal but it makes the study time difficult. Thankfully you can actually eliminate these small distractions. Let’s start with phone. Keep you phone one silent or block the apps for the time being, download website and app blockers from playstore. Keep your away from the place you’re studying so that you don’t pick up your phone everytime you have the urge to check msgs.
Start with the topic that you find most interesting and make a time period for every subject. Don’t include the boring ones together and study when you feel it.

Make good habits and they will make you

Parks Cousins

TAKE A BREAK

It’s so important to just forget about everything and enjoy for a moment. You can plan a family trip to some nearby hill station or a dinner or you can ask your friends for a weekend reunion. It will help you in keeping your study tension side for a day or two. You will stay up to date with your loved ones and you will have people to share your story. You can explore new things like, a dish, a new restro or a new friend you met online. Just get out of the house feel free, dump everything from your head make it ready for the next week. You don’t wanna start your week burdened with stress of the last one.

SLEEP ON TIME😴

As students we often ignore the importance of sleep and how much it affects us. Lack of sleep can cause many serious issues affecting our brain function and body. It will cause you to feel exhausted all day long and lower your productivity. It can lead to stress and a greater risk of heart attack. A good 7 hour sleep is a must as our brain and body rest at that time. In simple words you have all the reasons in the world to get a good sleep. To keep you healthy, working, efficient, happy. What else reason do you need?? It is the ultimate solution to all your problems. Start sleeping on time and you will discover the ultimate change in your lifestyle. You will have all the time to do you daily chores and still have time in your sleeves to relax.

Reference : https://www.helathline.com

LINKAGE

We all have studied in our junior standards about cell. Cell is the the structural and functional unit of life, from them the origin of life takes place. The cell contains a nucleus which contains th genetic material for the survival of the organism DNA. DNA contains the chromosomes. There are .any several genes present on the chromosomes. As the chromosomes are the carriers of heredity they have the tendency to be inherited together, such genes are called linked genes. The tendency of two or more genes present on the same chromosomes that are inherited together is known as linkage. This phenomenon was discovered in plants by Bateson and Punnett and in animals by T.H. Morgan.

MORGAN EXPERIMENT

Morgan used Drosophila melanogaster for his experiments. He carried out many dihybrid cross experiment on drosophila melanogaster to study genes that are sex linked; for example, he and his group crossed yellow-bodied, white eyed female to the wild type with brown-bodied, red eyed males and intercrossed their F1 progeny. He observed that the two genes did not segregate independently of each other and F2 ratio deviated very significantly from 9:3:3:1 ratio. Morgan and his group knew that the genes are located on X chromosome and stated that when when two genes in a dihybrid cross are situated on the same chromosomes then the proportion of the parental combination is much higher than non parental type. This occurs due to physical association or linkage of the two genes, he also found out when genes are grouped on the same chromosomes some genes are strongly linked and some are loosely linked.

COMPLETE LINKAGE

The linked genes which are closely located on the chromosome do not separate and inherited together are called completely linked genes and the inheritance is called complete linkage.

INCOMPLETE LINKAGE

When the linked genes which are loosely located on the same chromosome and have chances of seperation by crossing over are called as incompletely linked and their inheritance is called as incomplete linkage.

MANAGEMENT CHARACTERISTICS

1) IT IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

It is a never ending process. Continuity is an important part of management. It is necessary throughout the life of organization. Management is essential to begin the activity, to run it smoothly and to control the activity.

2) MANAGEMENT IS GOAL ORIENTED

Every business organisation has their own set of goals which is decided prior to the execution of the goal. When the management achieves the goal it is called success. Success depends on proper management skills and a manager takes a lot of efforts to achieve this goals. So management is a goal oriented activity.

3) MANAGEMENT IS DYNAMIC

Management is dynamic and not static in character. It deals with human efforts different situations and activities. It embrace changes in form of technological change, socio-economical change, political changes and many more.

4) MANAGEMENT IS UNIVERSAL

Management is universal in character. The principles and theories of management are equally applicable to everywhere and in every field like defence, business, education, etc. These principles are guidelines which are flexible and capable of adaptation to every type of organization.

CARL ROGERS THEORY OF SELF

CARL ROGERS

He was an American psychologist born in 1902 , who took the humanistic approach to psychotherapy. According to Rogers every individual has tendency to actualize himself. According to him mentally healthy individuals have congruence between self and their experience.

According to him every person has the tendency to actualize themselves and a mentally healthy individual have congruence between their experience and their self concept. Neurotic individual deny their sensory and emotional experience. There are two concepts related to this;

REAL SELF

Real self is what we truly are. It is important for good psychological health. Self image directly affects how a person feels, thinks and acts in this world. Real self is our inner personality who is aware about their strength and weakness. It may not be perfect but it is our real part.

IDEAL SELF

It is what desire to be. It represents our ambitious and goals. By ideal self , Rogers meant some goals which are beyond our capabilities. This causes gap between real and ideal self.

If ideal self and real self are alike our self concept is accurate. High congruence between real self and ideal self leads to greater sense of self worth and a healthy productive life and if there is incongruence between them it leads to maladjustment.

7 spices of India

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India is the biggest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. India exports about 180 different spices to 150 countries of the world. A wide variety of spices are grown in different parts of the country many of which are native to these places. Others are imported and cultivated locally. Spices have been used in Indian kitchens for centuries, they are one of the most important thing in our daily diet. Spices are added to food to give it flavor, aroma, and to preserve it, also spices are said to be really good for health. Several spices are blended together to give food the known Indian taste. Not only in kitchens but spices play a vital role in pharmaceutical products, medicines, cosmetics, etc. Spices are known to help in curing many deseases like arthritis cancer, diabetes.

Spices add a twist to our foods. Without spices food looks, smells and tastes dull and lifeless, a pinch of common spices is what we all need. Be it cardamom in our tea, turmeric in lentils or curry leaves in curry, all the spices offer something different and are an essential part of our lives. They are known to be effective in gastric problems, blood disorders, infectious diseases. There are 7 spices which are a must to have in indian households. These spices are used for their aroma and spices and for their potential health benefits.

TURMERIC

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Turmeric has been used since ancient times as a healer, coloring agent and most importantly to give a yellow shade to our food and all the health benefits it provides us with consuming just a small amount daily. It is like a sack of nutrients. It has many benefits including, it’s antioxidant and antispetic properties. It has been a prominent ingredient in cosmetic industry as well. Face creams, face washes, etc with the goodness of turmeric are found in abudance. It is grown as a rhizom and can be used as fresh or dried. Cucurmin is the main component of turmeric. It is also helpful in stopping blood for minor cuts. Also known as golden spice or indian saffron. It helps relieve pain, aids digestion and supports immune system. A glass of milk with turmeric can be very effective at night for better sleep and digestion. It is known to provide warmth to the body, clean blood and cure skin realted problems.

CUIMIN

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Cumin consists of oil that provide a particular aroma to the seeds. It is the basic and one of the first ingredient used while cooking. Smal boat shaped seeds is an ancient spice used as whole or powder and is infused with the hot oil or lightly roasted to bring out the flavor. It has an earthy aroma, and is beneficial for heart related diseases due to its antioxidant properties and has various vitamins and minerals in it. Cumin seeds improve taste and craving. Cumin oil posesses antifungal and antimicrobial properties. It is helpful in toothache and jaundice as well and is widely used in pharmaceutical industries.

FENUGREEK

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India accounts for the major production of fenugreek and is derived from various states out of which Rajasthan alone gives 80% of the indian output. The majority is cultivated and consumed in India itself. It is used as a herb dried or fresh in cooking, it possesses bitter taste which is reduced by roasting the seeds. Fenugreek plant is about 2-3 feet tall, it’s green leaves and pods that contain small, golden-brown seeds. For many years it has been used in Chinese medicines to treak skin problems many other diseases. And for similar reasons it has long utilized in households and can be found in shampoos and soaps as well. For it’s nutritious value and sweet nutty taste it has been a must to have spice in Indian kitchens. Fenugreek may be helpful in aiding diabetes and is also taken as supplement.

CORIANDER

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Coriander is one of the most used herb to flavor dishes, the seeds known as Coriander and the leaves as cilantro. Commonly known as dhaniya in india, It is also known as chinese parsley. Used in soups, currie masalas in India, middle, eastern and asian meals. While leaves and dried or ground seeds are used, coriander is useful in lowerin blood sugar, boosting immune system, lower heart related deseases. Both seeds and leaves of coriander are very different in taste. Whole seeds are added to vegetables, pickes, lentils and baked goods. Their aroma is released by warming. While leaves are used to garnish dishes. Coriander seeds are toasted and ground before eating as their texture can be hard to chew. A bright shining green plant. Surprisingly it has several skin benefits. It slowly absorbs the sugar in stomach and stimulates insulin and is found effective in lowering blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.

CLOVE

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Clove is grown in Asia and America, its oil, stem, dried flower buds and leaves are used in making medicines. Clove is very effective in dental problems and can cure toothache when applied directly to it. Also used as a flavoring in foods and beverages, toothpaste, perfume, soaps and cigarettes. It resembles a nail in shape. It’s use in culinary is mainly for flavoring as it blends both with sweet and savory dishes. Clove oil has antispetic and antibiotic properties and is used especially in dentistry. Clove is often found in indian cuisine for it aroma and flavor and is a part of garam masala, which is a mixture od different spices.

CINNAMON

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Cinnamon is a spice extracted from bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, and roots of the cinnamon tree and has been a part of traditional medicine for thousands for years. It has many health benefits and is also used for flavoring and fragrance. It is effective in blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, stomach issues and obesity. It has antioxidant, antibiotic and anti inflammatory properties and has traces of nutrients in it. In india it is used in making chutneys, meat or rice dishes. Sometimes while cinnamon sticks are also used.

CARDAMOM

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After Saffron and vanilla, cardamom is the most expensive spice in the world. This versatile pod is used in teas, spices and many sweets are garnished using cardamom. In indian cuisine whole pods of cardamom are used in making curry, milk deserts and many other dishes. It is widely used in making chai as it for its aroma and flavor. It benefits in gastric problems, cardiovascular issues, controlling cancer and cholesterol and is rich in nutrients. It is also included in garam masala as an essential ingredient. These small green and black pods have a wide range of uses added to their list.