Outfocus February 2015 by the Feathers

QUANTUM 8 | FEBRUARY 2015 WWW.ISSUU.COM/THEFEATHERS

HAPPY

VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYBODY PHOTO: NEENA SABARI MENON

ARIANA GRANDE

TREATISE ON MEDIA

CRIME OF PASSION SERIES

SHANMU UNCLE -

VALENTINE’S?

CONTE CONTENTS

06 12 18 20 24 26

COVER STORY crime of passion. EP 1 SHANMU UNCLE TV SUPERHEROES GRAPHIC TALK RESEARCH

movies now

I don’t feel like watching movies these days. My favourite reason for that is that I don’t have the time. But in truth, the movies these days aren’t worth anything - well at least in here. Out of India, there’s always a lot of places to look for good cinema. In any case, I found a new passtime. TV series. Not the Indian variety involving multiple cases of tissue, but the hollywood variety - say White Collar, or Suits. They know what they do. Love ‘em. One of these is probably gonna be my valentine this year.

ENTS

EDITOR IN CHIEF ASSOCIATE EDITOR

AR MUTHU KUMAR SGA THOMAS

COVER PHOTO

NEENA SABARI MENON

WRITER

SHRIKANTH VEERAVALLI

EDITORIAL 03

Welcome to OutFocus. This is the eighth time we invite you to an issue of OutFocus, like an octave in music. We wish to keep welcoming you to OutFocus in many more issues. #TenthEveryMonth

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT might be autistic?

COVER STORY | SGA THOMAS

For some this might be hilarious. But here is the news that was trending on Feb 6 on all social sites. And the big news is “The Russian President – Vladimir Putin might have Asperger’s Syndrome – 2008 Pentagon Study”. While Russian President’s Spokesperson has denied the claim saying “That is stupidity not worthy of comment”, many had started questioning “What is the big deal about it ?”.

a secretive, internal Pentagon think tank that help devise long term military strategy. The 2008 study was led by Brenda Connors, an expert in movement pattern analysis at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport. This study theorizes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has Asperger’s syndrome, “an autistic disorder which affects all of his decisions”.

The analysis is solely based on videos of Putin’s public actions, dating back to the year 2000. Putin is not the only public figure associated with autism. Some What happened ? have speculated that Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Lewis USA TODAY, using the Freedom Carroll, Andy Warhol, and of Information Act, obtained Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart the copy of 2008 report and showed signs of the condition. a 2011 study paper conducted by the Office of Net Assessment, But wait what is this Autism ? Is

Asperger’s Syndrome same as Autism? Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior. Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger’s syndrome, Asperger disorder (AD) or simply Asperger’s, is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development.

One of the main differences between Asperger’s and autism is there is no speech delay in Asperger’s, and the autistic symptoms are much less severe. Often times, individuals with Apserger’s have good language skills, but their speech patterns may be unusual, and they may not pick up subtleties such as humor or sarcasm. According to the Autism Society, while children with autism may seem uninterested in social interaction, those with Asperger’s typically want to fit in and interact with others— but are incapable of knowing how to do so. Another distinction between autism and Asperger’s lies in cognitive ability. Autistic children may often possess intellectual disabilities, but individuals with Asperger’s by definition cannot have an intellectual delay and often have above-average intelligence.

Movement Pattern Analysis (MPA) is a comprehensive system for assessing an individual’s core motivations in decisionmaking processes, based on the disciplined analysis of nonverbal behavior. “Decisionmaking process” is used here to refer to the whole chain of actions involved in thinking through, making choices and implementing decisions. Experts believe each individual has a unique “body signature” that tracks how one body movement links to the next. These “posture/gesture mergers” can lead investigators to learn more about a person’s thinking processes and relative truthfulness when combined with the person’s speaking.

Experts studying his movements and facial expressions in video footage theorized that Putin’s neurological development was disrupted in infancy, giving him a sense of physical imbalance and a discomfort with social interaction. The study also hypothesizes that Putin suffered an “insult” to his brain while he was still in his mother’s womb and that she may have suffered a stroke while pregnant with him. Researchers theorized that may have affected the way Putin thinks and moves the right side of his body. It concludes that Putin’s hard-wired personal style is likely to change very little. 2011 Study:

What do both studies say? 2008 Study:

In 2011, Connors finished a study for Net Assessment on the interactions between Putin and Medvedev, who succeeded Putin as president between 2008 and 2012 and who is now Russia’s prime minister.

“His primary form of compensation for his disorder What is Movement Pattern is extreme control and this is Analysis? How do they analyze reflected in his decision style based on a video? and how he governs,” the report says. Medvedev, she wrote, is an

COVERSTORY 07

“Action Man,” who “is inclined to size up situations quickly and to do so in black and white terms, shunning subtler shades of gray.” Putin, on the other hand, “has very different predilections,” and “methodically cycles back to aspects of the problem facing him, continuing revising data to verify his research and confirm his priorities,” the report said. Researchers are unable to prove their theory, however, because they did not perform a brain scan on Putin, but instead the paper cites work by autism specialists to back

their findings. Many people comment that This study might be just to satisfy and intensify the West perception of Russia. Their arguement is Russia’s economic Improvement. Under Putin’s eight-year reign the Russian economy grew every single year, with an overall GDP increase of more than 70%. During the same period, investments rose 125%, industry grew by 76%, and poverty decreased 50%. The average monthly salaries in Russia increased from $80

to $640, and the middle class grew from 8 million people to 55 million. As a result, Putin has maintained extraordinarily high approval ratings from the Russian people, winning his second Presidency with 71% of the vote. And, yes! The Pentagon played down the study, saying it apparently never made its way to the desk of the defense secretary or other top decision makers. - Sga Thomas, Associate editor, OutFocus

COVERSTORY 09

RAYS FROM HEAVEN INNOCENCE

NEENA SABARI MENON

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McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

FOTOGRAPH 11

When Siva brought his head up from the writing table, Sheela was standing next to him smiling with a cup of coffee. Sheela asked ‘So my dear writer, how is the story coming up?’ Siva: Coming up? Where does it happen? I write 3 pages and destroy 4 pages. After all this effort I managed to complete the prologue today at least. Do you know it takes hours to come up with names for the characters? They should not be someone who is in the circle and at the same time they can’t be too alien either. Sheela: Too bad that you are not letting me read the draft or help you. Siva: Darling I want you to read the story in full. You are my best critic, but I don’t want the critic breathing down my neck all the time though. Sheela: So mean you are. When I have ever said

something bad about Siva: That’s a deal. Come whatever you wrote? let’s freak out. I am so thirsty for a beer already. Siva: OK, those were just musings. Not serious writing Sheela: How come you are in a creative manner. This never thirsty for water? would be different. I want to put my best foot forward Siva: You always thirst for and create a masterpiece in something that you don’t the very first story I write have. Water is plenty. Two thirds of the planet is water. Sheela: Yeah I know, Why thirst for that? anything you do you would want it to be the best, else Siva: Hey, now that we you will never attempt the are going out for dinner, same. Some philosophy shouldn’t we buzz Ram? He you have. So tell me the would love to join us. plot of your story atleast. Siva: If only I knew the plot I Sheela: Siva, do you even would have completed the know the idea of romance? story by now. The prologue I don’t know how you seems to have come off claim to be writing stories well and if I keep up the when your idea of a pace it should be a week to romantic dinner includes finish. Then I will treat you just your friend and beer. with the story. And I should be looking at your faces when you Sheela: Leave the treat both become boys all over with the story. Why don’t again and like a matron, I you treat me really today should chastise you and for some dinner? You had bring you both safe back. been buried in your writing And sometimes I even feel table for the whole day. that Ram gets flirty with Maybe some fresh air will me when he downs a few give you some respite and bottles. I am not for it. who knows you may even find a plot. Siva: Sheela, the last part is

A NEW GRIPPING SERIES FROM THE PRO -CHAPTER 2

CRIME OF PASSION

-SHRIKANTH VEERAVALLI

STORYSERIES 13

CRIME 2 OF PASSION

blasphemous. I agree to all the other statements, but not that one. Ram is a gem of a guy. And I don’t know how you women easily forget the entire help one did in the past. Sheela: Where did ‘women’ come in here? And what is this generalization? OK now that you brought in ‘women’, yes, it is only the instinct of a woman that says that. I know that he flirts and I also know that you will never accept it. Or maybe you don’t mind even if he flirts with me. Some strange sense of camaraderie you ‘men’ have! Siva: Sheela, now this is too much. You should stop. Whatever it may be, let’s not call him today. Is this rule only for the day or would you extend it further? Is the next one about him coming home? Sheela: Now that you have brought it up, I would rather have him away from everywhere. It won’t harm

us by the least chance. Siva was very upset with this but he didn’t want to extend the argument further. Maybe Sheela would come around some time later and as of now he should not push his argument any further. But Siva could not dismiss this as an end. He needs to resolve this. Ram was the one reason for what they are today. Sheela being a Christian, no amount of convincing would make her parents accept him as a son-inlaw. He even offered to get converted, but they were adamant. His parents were living in another planet. They were of the type who would think twice before letting in his friends who were of a different caste. He was sure that they will never agree to Sheela and he had made up his mind to forget them because he loved Sheela so very madly. His whole composure was out for a toss and he could not concentrate on his work, lost his job and he

could not meet Sheela too. It was then Ram stepped in. He suggested that they get married in a registrar’s office and start a life on their own. Neither Sheela nor he had the courage and they had the problem of communicating to Sheela through one of her friends and finally when they got to meet her, they made her understand. They needed to fight. Life without each other was worthless and they needed to take a call. But he had no money, no place, no job and no courage. All this was provided by Ram. He gave money, moved out of his home into a mansion initially and also managed to rope him as his colleague in his own company. They were already so close but this made them even closer. He cannot allow this to drift off because Sheela was shifty. And if only Ram knew what transpired he will disappear on his own volition which will bring Siva tremendous shame. Siva resolved to put an end to this soon.

“They were of the type who would think

twice before letting in his friends who were of a different caste

...”

STORYSERIES 15

OH DEW! <3

NEENA SABARI MENON

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FOTOGRAPH 17

SHANMU UNCLE

NEW INFORMATIVE SERIES BY SGA THOMAS AND AR MUTHU KUMAR

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY? I pulled over as I reached Shanmugam uncle’s house in Anna Nagar. I’ve been here several times and each time I feel like I’m in a sanctuary. I passed the gate into the walkway which lead through a garden to his house. We used to call Shanmugam uncle “the encyclopaedia”. You’ll know why when you meet him. I’ve never tried using the calling bell on his door – or had no idea if it even worked. He’s always outside, tending to his garden, or feeding his dogs… Regardless of age, he never rested. I found him softly whistling to himself as he noticed me and said, “ah… Rahul, how are you? I hardly hear from you nowadays. Too busy to meet uncle, eh?” I say, “Just got busy with my job uncle… I came to invite you to my wedding, it’s on 14th

this month!”

another fit of laughter.

“Oh Valentine’s? That’s nice! He continued, “The Touché!” Catholic Church recognizes at least three different “It was her wish uncle. I had saints named Valentine or no part in decision making!” Valentinus, all of whom He laughed pulling his were martyred. One legend entire weight. Then he goes like this, during the said, “Do you know why times of a cruel dictator of Rome Emperor Claudius II, Valentine’s is celebrated?” the King declared that no “Why it’s lovers’ day of soldier shall get married. He course” did this to ensure the loyalty “Is it? Then it should be of the army and hence to keep up the morale. But called Lover’s day right?” of course it did not work. “Now you’re confusing me Valentine, realizing the big time. Is it lovers’ day or injustice, defied Claudius not?” and continued to perform for young “I’ll tell you why. It’s one of marriages my favourite stories and soldiers in secret. Upon Valentine’s oft told ones. I’m surprised discovering you haven’t heard of St. actions, Claudius ordered him to be put to death.” Valentine!” “Ummm... Is he like one “Hmm. Brutal, isn’t? What of the disciples of Jesus about the other one?” Christ?” “Well, this wouldn’t be as “No!” he said and fell into brutal as the previous one,

but a bit emotional. This Valentine was imprisoned for not accepting the Roman Gods. He gave his testimony in prison and through his prayers allegedly healed the jailer’s daughter who was suffering from blindness. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Other stories simply says that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. Whatever the case may be, we still lack evidence.” “So Why Feb 14? Did He die on Feb 14?” “That’s another interesting part of the story. Because of the abundance of St. Valentines on the Roman Catholic roster, do you know that you can choose to celebrate the saint multiple times each year? Besides February 14, you might decide to celebrate St. Valentine of Viterbo on November 3. Or maybe you want to get a jump on the traditional Valentine celebration by feting St. Valentine of Raetia on January 7. Another interesting thing is this. Women might choose to honor the only female

St. Valentine (also known as Valentina), a virgin martyred in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308. And the best part, the finale, The Eastern Orthodox Church officially celebrates St. Valentine twice, once as an elder of the church on July 6 and once as a martyr on July 30.” “What ?”. Seriously I was totally shocked. “But wait? Why Feb 14, the day of love?” “There are, as far as I know two theories. One theory states that English poet Geoffrey Chaucer who often took liberties with history might have created Valentine’s Day as “Day of Love”. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” he links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day–an association that didn’t exist until after his poem received widespread attention. The poem refers to February 14 as the day birds (and humans) come together to find a mate.” “Another theory is that this Day of Love might have it’s root in a Roman Festival Lupercalia, a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order

of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. They sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The goat’s hide is stripped down and is dipped into the sacrificial blood and taken to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. And as a matter of fact, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. This festival was considered “un-Christian”, after the rise of Christianity but some believe that it might have Christianized as St. Valentine’s Day” Suddenly I felt a vibration. It was my phone. A missed call. “From your ‘Would be’ ?” He asked. “It should be” We smiled.

[More to come...

SHANMU UNCLE 19

ARIANA GRANDE

PRETTY, HOT AND VIBRANT - THE NEW VIBE IN HOLLYWOOD MUSIC

Here is a Hint: This music sensation is of Italian descent “half Sicilian and half Abruzzese” and has a half brother the actor and producer Frankie Grande.

her hair red every other week as executive producer felt that it would suit the personality of Cat. This role acted as a catalyst in her career and gave her a teen idol status. This also reprised her the role of Cat Tough? Ok. An easy one – Cat Valentine in crossover sitcom Valentine? “Sam and Cat” along with Jennette McCurdy reprising Yes. Adriana Grande-Butera! the role of Sam Puckett from iCarly. This American music artist was born to Joan Grande and Musical Career: Edward Butera in Florida. She also focused on her musical After her role as Annie and career, right from the season performing in the musicals “The 1 of ‘Victorious’ strengthening Wizard of Oz” and “Beauty her vocal range. She had done and Beast”, she wished to covers of Adele, Whitney perform a R&B album which was Houston and Marish Carey. demotivated by her managers. Her first musical appearance She later went on to act in was the “Give It Up” from the musical ‘13’ on Broadway, the Soundtrack of Victorious. which gave her a National She did her first single “Put Youth Theatre Association Your Hearts Up”. Yet she Award for her supporting role disowned the track owning to as Charlotte. This also paved its bubblegum pop. The music way for her role in musical video for “L.A. Boyz” features “Victorious” which turned out to Grande with her close friend be her breakthrough. Victoria Justice. Later she collaborated with Mika for a ‘Victorious’ Performance: duet “Popular Song”. After auditioning for Nickelodeon TV show She finally released her first ‘Victorious’ along with co-star album “Yours Truly” which went Elizabeth “Liz” Gillies, she was on to debut No.1 on the US offered to play the role of Cat Billboard 200 albums making Valentine. For this role, she dyed Grande after Kesha to top on

Charts. With Millions of Copies sold, it became her Golden Debut. She was ranked No. 4 in the Billboard list of “Music’s Hottest Minors 2013”. She also joined Justin Bieber on his Believe Tour thereby starting off her own “The Listening Sessions”. She also recorded a Christmas EP “Christmas Kisses” which received Critical Praise. She was invited by the POTUS and First Lady to perform at the White House “Easter Egg Roll” event and “Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House”. Her Second Album “My Everything” went to become second Consecutive No.1 album in the U.S. Generally of pop and R&B, Grande adds essence of funk, hiphop and dance. Her influences include Madonna, Destiny’s Child, Fergie, Christina Aguilera, India.Arie, Imogen Heap and Amy Winehouse and inspiration to purse a music career was Gloria Estefan. Possessing a four octave light lyric soprano Vocal range, she was often called as “New Mariah Carey” by critics due to her wide vocal range.

- Sga Thomas

SPOTLIGHT:TV SUPERHEROES 21

“SKY SCRAPERS”

NEENA SABARI MENON

+91 9488859390

McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

FOTOGRAPH 23

PRODUCT DESIGN BY UKESH AND FRIENDS (McGAN’S OOTY SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE)

GRAPHICTALK 25

RESEARCH:

media

A TREATISE ON MEDIA MUTHU KUMAR

A treatise on media, its first ever paper that development and its man made. Almost impact all of these teachings are lost because of a Ar Muthu Kumar later dictator king who brought about a great The word media is a revolution which unified word common for all the country under his forms of communication, iron rule. Unfortunately, be it television, radio, for all the good that he newspaper, cinema, did, he also believed post or even literature. that there must be only The first form of media one authority and no we know is through oral other dispute. He burned language. Travelling down all the text books bards and storytellers and burned those who told legends of great resisted it. Later he also kings and of Gods gave his name to the who were watching us, country â&#x20AC;&#x201C; China. and entertained and educated the people. Meanwhile in Egypt, They brought news of India and Mesopotamia, war, tidings of festivals they developed their and stories of lands own forms of written beyond the seas. They media. The Egyptians were responsible for the invented papyrus sustenance of knowledge paper, Indians wrote on through a great amount pine and other leaves of the human era. and the Mesopotamians left their marks on But the first evidence of stone. This culture of physical media begins writing developed into at Ancient China. Great literature and great scholars and masters of poets and authors martial arts recorded began immortalizing their teachings on the the age they lived in.

The first true media in the modern sense was developed. In the early period, books like the Bible were painstakingly copied by hand over weeks or months. A book was worth equal to a piece of land. Then the Chinese developed the next greatest thing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; print media. They devised the first form of print using pre-fabricated stamps. Once a page is designed on a stamp, it could be inked and printed almost indefinitely until the stamp wears off. This gave a great advantage over manually copying. Books were mass printed and published throughout the world. The early 1900s gave rise to the technology boom. Everything was developed a hundred times faster after the industrial revolution. Electricity and radio waves were discovered, and gave rise to radio,

RESEARCH 27

television and most importantly, cinema. Transistors became smaller and smaller in size and thousands of transistors were able to be programmed into a single processor. Computers were born. Furthermore, hundreds of these processors were able to be programmed into a single chip. The ICs (Integrated Chips) became popular and processors became microprocessors. One chip could do the work of a million transistors. When data was digitalized it generated the need for transfer of data. Local Area Network was quickly overtaken by the Internet. The internet was a powerful tool that could send data around the globe at the speed of light. Electronic media reached its peak when social networking sites popped up throughout the world. The usage of the internet exploded to several times and

a major part of the population has internet. The UNESCO has listed internet as a basic necessity. Today there are two types of media â&#x20AC;&#x201C; print and electronic. Print media comprises of newspapers, magazines, journals, travelogues, books and even pamphlets. Electronic media on the other hand includes television, radio, electronic sign boards and the internet (online media). Online media can again be classified into â&#x20AC;&#x201C; social networking, news sites, educational/ informatory videos and documentaries, online libraries, universities and the like providing online education etc. The internet has no limits. But is it all powerful? Print media is the less affordable sibling. But as it is found, people find it more comfortable reading off a physical print than an online one. But since print media is expensive, it also tends

to be more trustworthy. Publication industries pump millions every year into printing newspapers and magazines and after all that, they want the people to believe what they write and so continue to support printing. This creates a cycle where the publisher publishes authentic content and the user continues to support it. If the authenticity is lost the support is lost and publication suffers. NoW (News of the World) has suffered a similar fate after their authenticity was questioned. Television and radio has always been a favorite ever since they were started because the audience finds it easier to communicate in their natural way â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by seeing and hearing, rather than a man-made way called print. Writing and printing was not nature found. Watching an event happen in front of you is easier to grasp than reading it off print

But unlike print media, television and radio have to invest once, and it can be broadcast all over. When it comes to print, every additional copy counts; every print costs you money. But authenticity of television and radio are quite similar to print. Since it costs, they have to make it authentic, or as close to believable as possible. Advertising has taken advantage of this media and makes as much falsified adverts as they can make. Advertising does not affect the authenticity of the channel they are broadcast unless the channel endorses the product. This is a unique edge that was widely advantageous to the advertising industry. Movies are a type of indirect media. They don’t always claim to be authentic, but nevertheless have a

wide impact on their audience. There are funny stories about people jumping off roofs thinking superman or spiderman would come to the rescue. This kind of thing almost never happens from children reading comics or other print information. When something is shown with video and audio like in real life, it’s impact on the human (or any animal) brain is realistic. The mindset of the creators has turned to “we’ll show whatever we want, you’re gonna watch it anyway”. The internet, the last in the race, and undoubtedly the most affordable and easily available type of media, is also the least authentic. Anybody can own a website or a profile on a social network and post whatever they want. The internet has a huge impact on the

modern youth, and the influence creeps into children as well. Since the internet is also cheap and offers a variety of free content which can be updated at 3 x 108 m/s, who can afford to say no? The internet offers a large range of services and literally all other media become part of the internet. One can read books if he wants, or listen to radio, watch television (even download shows and watch later) watch movies or read other people’s status updates. The internet is both a powerful boon and a vile curse. It can work for you, or you can work for it. This may sound clichéd, but it’s the truth of the millennium. The most cautious may navigate this rough terrain and emerge successful. Ar Muthu Kumar contactfeathers@yahoo.com

RESEARCH 29

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