Sharadia Kisholoy 2022

Saradia Kisholoy

A note from the artist of the drawing in the cover page

Oh My Friend Ganesh- I still remember the multiple movies made around Ganesha, the elephant headed god in Hinduism, remover of obstacles. In them, this child like, mischievous entity holds an unknown amount of power and wisdom, protecting kids from bullies, kidnappers, and helping them gain self confidence. I wanted to create a connection with my faith and my art, both of which have shaped a part of my identity. Here, Ganesha is sitting in a forest, contemplating how best to protect Mother Earth from those who wish to destroy her.

Anish Lahiri (age 18)

Introduction of the artist of the drawing in the back page

Collage of Diversity Drawn by Saesha Mitra Purakayastha (age 12). She is a self taught cartoonist and created this beautiful collage of diversity.

Acknowledgements

Sponsors: Anjan Lahiri, Anup Rakhit, Arun Bhowmik, Ashok Rakhit, Biswajyoti Nayak, Biswajit Sarkar, Debajyoti and Sikha Chatterji, Dipak K. Sarkar and Shirley Sanderson, Indrani and Subrata Dhar, Jai Prakash Biswas, Mita Sinha, Mitra Purkayastha, Nilotpal Paul, Prabir Biswas, Rik Sen, Riteka Ghosh, Sajal Mukherjee, Shyamal Sarkar, Surya Dutta, Utpal Sengupta

Contributors:

Drawing: Cover page: Anish Lahiri (age 18); Back page: Aishi Roychoudhury (age 17); Inside: Anahita Mitra (age 4), Aarushi Kuila (age 8), Myeisha Chakravarty (age 6), Anooshka Sen (age 9), Nora Pancoast (age3), Aarisha Purakayastha (age 7), Ashis Kuriyan (age 6), Ritika De (age 13), Roopkatha Bagchi (age 12), Ella Pancoast (age 9), Sharanya Mukherjee (age 12), Rajdeep Banerjee (age 8), Anay Mitra (age 6), Saranya Zaveri (age 8), Jahar Basu (well-wisher)

Article: Ishanaa Banerjee (age 6), Asha Kuriyan (age 7), Ishanaa Banerjee (age 6), Myeisha Chakravarty (age 6), Anooshka Sen (age 9), Sahil Ghosh (age 12), Aniket Roychoudhury (age 13), Sayanshuvra Chakraborty (age 16), Swayamshuvra Chakraborty (age 18), Shama Dinesh (age 22), Auroni Sen (age 13), Aniket Roychoudhury (age 13), Ayushmaan Mukherjee (age 15), Aishik Sen (age 17), Amrita Pal (age 19), Soumi Jana (well wisher), Biswajyoti Nayak (Priest), Sudipta Chattopadhyay (well-wisher)

Editors: Utpal Sengupta, Dipak K. Sarkar, Sudipta Choudhury.

Magazine Composer: Dipak K. Sarkar

Kisholoy is produced by members of Ananda Mandir. The articles or photographs of this magazine are copyrighted and should not be reproduced in any other forms without the consents of the owners. For information contact Dipakksarkar@hotmail.com.

Durga's Order

by- Ishanaa Banerjee (age 6)

Karthik said let’s go to the Land, I want to meet a band!

Ganesha said Come on, go eat the food, I am in an eating mood! Lakshmi said I want to join a fashion show, If I go, won’t I just glow! Saraswati said People who are a fool, Will come to my school! Durga finally said Think about what is essential, We are going to a festival!!!

The end

Ma Durga

By- Aarushi Kuila (age 8)

A Short Poem on Durga Puja

By - Sahil Ghosh (age 12)

October 1st, Durga Puja begins,

It’s time to enjoy the sweets of fun Lights erupt, the festive season within, While all evil is set to run,

It all starts with a handful of clay, Sculptors and Amidst all the joy and happiness, painters, all work in array, Soon enough, the Remember why we are celebrating the goddess goddess takes form, In a battle of good and evil, light and dark, With weapons and a lion to conform, Staying positive will always makes its mark,

Streets are arranged with decors and lights, Although we may be in a time of dark, We can Of course, Durga Puja is celebrated at always hope for a spark worldly heights! We can right the wrongs we have already done, The clay figures make their entrance in, Staying virtuous will always bring out the sun! Let the festival begin!

The end

People all over, gather around, To let go of the sorrows abound,

Drawing by Anahita Mitra (age

Silly but Good

By- Ishanaa Banerjee (age - 6)

The cat in the hat likes the mat. He does not let anyone touch that. Oh. How the children shout, The cat in the hat made a rule about, ‘’no noisy children allowed! Soon the cat understood, The way the kids still stood. They were looking at his nose, Which was connected to a hose!

Ough is tough, Just look and you will see. It is very tough for me. The word dough has ough. I do not hear the ough! The word cough has ough. I DO hear the ough!

Turns out it is not bad, I am NOT sad!

-- The end

A Conversation With A Butterfly

By - Asha Kuriyan (age 7)

I like to fly

Watch as I soar

My wings are pretty

You may have fake eyes

Stretch them out back

Now you can fly

You were an egg, larva, caterpillar, Next a chrysalis

Now you are a butterfly

My favorite insect

You can fly with your wings!

The end

A Spring Poem Spring Flower

By-Myeisha Chakravarty (age 6) By-Myeisha Chakravarty (age 6)

The long winter nights are going away

The beautiful spring is making its way

Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping The sun is shining and snow is melting

Bears and squirrels are slowly coming out Rivers are full with colorful Trouts

Kids play in the grassy fields

The sun shines and the winter yield

The end Summer Tulips Anooshka Sen (age 9) by - Anooshka Sen (age 9)

Summer, sweet Summer

I am so glad you are here!

At last our wait is over And we are out of the cold Winter!

Lets give a good cheer With tons of colorful flowers

Flowers here flowers there Flowers everywhere The weather is now warmer With the breeze blowing by Days are now longer We get lot of time to ride our bikes

Lets go to the beach

Where the fun is always there See the Sun go down In the western sky Summer sweet Summer

I am so glad you are here! The end

The Earth

By - Sahil Ghosh (age 12)

The greens and blues made the hues

Gave birth to life, the working crews

Nature was bright, from starry nights

The air was fresh, and there were less fights

But then came a change in this balance

An end to this peace and worldy silence Mankind rose and reached some lows

The cars and trucks made some rows

The greens and blues became greyish black

All of mankind had to take a step back would they be able to change their faults?

They thought and thought, and stopped to a halt

They needed a change, a new big goal

For the animals, ducks, birds, and foals

It was enough, the Earth agreed And now we are, thinking of our deed

Some people rise and the quite wise

Is this when, we say good-byes?

We have so much yet we can't save. The world that brought us so many brave?

The wind wants to blow, the rivers want to flow

The birds want to fly, none want to die

We have done a lot, but can't save the earth, The planet that brought life and birth

The earth is old and has some mold

We need to help it get a hold The Earth says yes and cries some more

Why can't we help it in a roll?

When the sad truth is - We can... The end

Under the Moon

By: Aniket Roychoudhury (age 13)

The moon

A beautiful sight

A source of light in the night sky

A celestial body

Light and dark

Two sides

Wherever there is light

A shadow is sure to follow

The moon is split into two One of light and one of darkness

It is simply a balance

Halves

Two parts of a whole

The moon

A side basking the darkness

And one alight in the blaze

Both sides are at a standstill Balance

Although each are opposite

Although each are contrary

They are complementary

And give rise to each other

As they interrelate with one another

Sides

Opposite sides of the moon

One is alight while the other is in darkness

They are conflicting forces

Yet they are interdependent

Halves

A mother and a son

Split between different worlds

Yet they are still interconnected

By bonds which go beyond that of this world

And although they are separated

They are still connected as they fall asleep

Under the same moon

*This was inspired by the idea of Yin Yang, an ancient Chinese philosophy, and by Taoism, a religion and a philosophy from ancient China. Yin Yang is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

The end

Grow Drawing

By - Sayanshuvra Chakraborty By - Nora Pancoast (age 3) (age 16)

I don’t want to be grown

Do I?

It seems scary

Things I don’t know how to do yet

Things I don’t want to do yet

I don’t want to leave Figure my life out on my own

I don’t want to be grown

Do I?

People have done it for centuries

Grown

Understood their place in society

I don’t know mine yet

So what do I do?

I don’t want to be grown

But I will be soon

And even if it’s scary

Even if I don’t know what to do I will be grown And I can figure it out

The end

Bloom

By-Swayamshuvra Chakraborty (age 18)

A plant goes through a multitude of phases

Before it can mature

Before it can be called a flower

Before it is accepted into its place

Humans go through a multitude of phases

Before they can bloom

Before they can be called adults

Before they’re accepted into their places

It starts from its seed

In a place of darkness

Colorless

Nothing more than a rock with the potential of life

A piece of nothingness

Tinder without its spark

We start from a place of darkness too Colorless

Nothing more than potential Growing and waiting

For sentience, consciousness, the awareness that humans have For without it

We are also a piece of nothingness Tinder that had never even heard of the concept of a spark

Before you know it, though The sparkless tinder

The piece of nothingness

The rock with only a potential Cracks

It lets loose a tendril

A piece of something from nothing It feeds and consumes Outside of our realm of vision

It grows and the tendril

The something within nothing Cracks

The tendril that broke out of the life filled rock

Now breaks through another roof

The tinder finds its spark

A piece of something

The tendril looks for its stimulation

Its light

We break free Sentient Conscious And we grow

Letting loose our inhibitions and waiting for our passions to flower Until we meet one of the greatest foes known to humanity Puberty

We inch and scratch our way through it Breaking through the crust of the earth Growing through the roof that once housed us

We mature fast

Floating away on our seed pods Looking for a new home One we can make our own

We search for our own stimulation

Our light is what we make of it Once broken through the crust

It only knows competition For a glimmer of the sun

For a piece of the simple carb That allows it to become itself

Competition?

We know competition too We fight for our path Against everyone Nobody is special We’re all something Out of nothing

And looking for the thing that makes us Slowly

It grows

Fighting all odds

Looking for the thing that makes us Slowly

Once colorless Once sparkless Once nothingness

And now, once it’s fought its way through It can finally

Bloom

The end

Searching for our light

Searching for our passions and futures

Looking for the thing that makes us

The thing that makes us

A Butterfly in Summer Garden

The Tales They Said

By - Shama Dinesh (age 22)

They say tales to make you laugh

The tales that make you cry

The tales of princes and princesses who had it tough

The tales that leave you wondering, “Why”?

The tales where the dragon met the princess

The tales where they fell in love

The tales where the monsters had a past mess

The tales that do never say how

The tales where the dark past haunts him

The tales where he saves her The tales of love with their soul dim The tales that make your eyes blur

The fairy tales of forever and more The tales that never speak of the heart that tore

The tales that hush up a crying maiden The tales that locked up a warrior in a dungeon

The tales that never say the harsh truth

The tales that blind the views of youth The tales that never speak of the unsung legend The tales that never drew to an end

The tales of the abandoned, lonely and scared The tales of the survivors through war who fared The tales of the hardships that we face The tales that treat commoners a disgrace

The tales that has the brave prince charming The tales that never say the cause of people self harming

The tales of always happily-ever-after The tales of your mind and its master -- The end

Our Garden

By-Anooshka Sen (age 9)

Roses, Zinnias, Tulips and Daisies around the green lawns are a few of the most beautiful and colorful flowers in my garden without which our home would look incomplete.

To start a garden, you have to plan its layout first. At the entrance of the house there is a round flower bed beside the driveway with snapdragons and marigolds around two bushes and in between them stands two rose plants and gladiolus. There is a long flower bed all along the front wall of the house. It has three hedges : a rose plant, a row of pink, red, white, and yellow gladiolus and a rhododendron plant with several bushes of chrysanthemums in front of the hedges. On the far left beside the lush green lawn there is a long rectangular flower bed with lots of zinnias, dahlias, asters, sunflowers and black eye susans. Then there is a way to get to the backyard. There is a sidewalk with hedges on one side and on the other side there is a long strip of pebbles. Half way through the sidewalk, the hedges end and a row of zinnia, hollyhocks and aster's start. A few feet after, the flower bed becomes wider to accommodate a row of marigolds, zinnia, asters, dahlias, zebra plants, cone flowers, blanket flowers, back eye susan, lilac, rose plant, hibiscus, salvia, different varieties of lilies, azalea, snapdragons and butterfly plants. This long and large flower bed extends up to the backyard fence. There are two more oval shaped flower beds at the end of the backyard. In these two flower beds there is hibiscus in the middle surrounded by rows of lilies, marigolds, asters, bleeding hearts, zebra and rose plants.

The backyard consists of several flower beds, patio and a lawn. A long vegetable garden is sandwiched between the patio and a paved walkway which runs alongside the lawn. The lawn is on the left side of the backyard. There is a series of colorful shaped hedges bordering the left side of the lawn. Besides the above there are a few rose plants, hydrangea, asters, zebra plant, lavenders, lilies and sunflowers, which decorate and complete the backyard garden.

The plants and flowers start growing and blossoming at the advent of spring and summer after a long and harsh winter when the plants go dormant under a thick cover of mulch. The plants are mostly planted in the spring when all the members of my family participate in developing and maintaining the garden. My mother does the planning, planting and manuring. My father does the

heavy work like mowing the lawns, digging big holes in the ground for setting plants and removing weed. I help my parents in the garden by raking the leaves into piles and de rooting small weeds from the flower beds. All of us water the plants as needed. It makes us very happy when our neighbors and visiting family and friends praise and appreciate the beauty of the garden. It is not only us the human beings, but also the insects and animals who do visit our garden regularly and appreciate and treat our garden in their own ways. The squirrels dig out the bulbs and roots, pick and hide acorns. The deer come in groups in the late hours of night to eat the leaves of plants of their choice, sometimes damaging the plants, of course accidentally. The squirrels and the deer are such beautiful creatures of nature that we never mind any such damage done by them to the garden. We rather enjoy their visits and presence in our garden.

A Variety of birds come and sit in the two trees that stand in the backyard and in the lawns to sing sweet songs while eating seeds. The birds fly down immediately after the lawn is watered to quench their thirst. I find it most interesting to observe silently the tiny humming birds sucking nectar from the flowers. Lots of butterflies of different colors, sizes and shapes visit our garden every day. You can spend a whole day watching them flying from flower to flower tirelessly. We consider the animals , the birds and the insects who dwell and visit the garden as part of our family as they enjoy and appreciate the garden as much as we do.

My garden is my most favorite place at home

I love every minute that I spend in it.

Are Parents Really Unreasonable?

By - Auroni Sen (age 13)

I think that while growing up, everyone has had at least one experience with their parents where they thought that they were being unfair or unreasonable. Probably because their parents were making them do something that they didn’t want to do, or because they wanted to do something that their parents wouldn't let them do. Either way, when they got a little older, chances are they realized that their parents did everything for their benefit, and to help them learn.

For example, my parents used to sign me up for things I didn’t want to do.

I’ve been taking piano classes since I was in 3rd grade. I don’t remember who brought up the idea of learning how to play the piano, but I remember that I hated it. Every week, before my usual Wednesday class I would do anything to try to get out of it and convince my parents not to take me. But my parents were very committed to making sure I knew how to play an instrument. So, I went to the classes. But when I got home, I never practiced. I never got better because I didn’t care about it. Eventually, I realized that I needed to practice because my parents really wanted me to learn. Now, I’m really glad that my parents made me go to classes. I really like playing the piano because it’s fun.

When I was younger, I always thought that my parents were unfair because they made me do things that I didn’t want to do, like playing the piano. Another thing I didn’t want to do was to learn dancing. My mother really wanted me to learn dancing. I didn’t want to learn dancing because I didn't think I would like it. My mom put me in classes anyway, and I would always try to get out of going to practice. But after the first year, I started to actually like it. I danced at a studio for 5 years and I still do dance outside of the studio. I really enjoy doing it now.

Another thing I had no interest in doing was running. My parents thought it would be a good idea to sign me up for a running club. I really disliked it because I wasn’t used to running and I thought it was really difficult and not enjoyable. But after the first year I realized that I actually had a lot of fun practicing with my friends and going to races and different running events. Practicing running and running competitively also helped with increasing my stamina for other sports that involve running.

All of these activities are things that I had no interest in and didn’t want to do, until I actually tried them. Then I realized that they were all learning experiences and things that would help me later on. At the time, I didn’t see how any of these activities would be helpful to me. I saw them as an inconvenience instead of something to enjoy. I thought my parents were being unreasonable for making me do things that I disliked or didn’t want to do. But looking back at it, I think I was the one who was being unreasonable for refusing to do something because I didn’t like it, before even trying it out and seeing if I actually liked it or not. From my parents perspective, I can see why they made me do different activities despite my protests. I can now say that I am thankful for the things I learned and experienced because of my parents.

The

My presentation on my sister’s graduation

By Aniket Roychoudhury (age 13)

Hey everyone, it’s me, Aniket Roychoudhury. I really don’t want to take up your time nor do I want to spend more time up here than I need to. I’ll make it short and sweet.

See, when I first googled “Graduation speeches” on Wednesday, I was hit with a ton of information. 30 minute speeches, ideas, kindness, famous quotes, and whatnot. I mean seriously, I’m not going to be gushing out my love for my sister. Yeah, I love her, but that would be the boring most speech ever and it’s just not my style. So instead, I’d like to even the score. Hey Aishi didi, do you remember that time when I had to buy a card for my friend’s birthday? Do you have a recollection of what happened? I remember. I’m not going to go into detail to save you from some embarrassment, but you kicked me out of the car, and you drove and didn't come back until an hour later. Remember our fights? Every single time you’d lash out and slap me? I know I have a temper, but if you ask me, it’s always you who first started it. You keep going on and on about how much you love me, but you have a very odd way of showing it. By the way, just yesterday when Nick Dada came to our house with Simba, (Simba is an extremely cute golden Retriever), I was holding onto his leash and you insisted on holding along too, because you were just trying to “help” me. You do this all the time. I don’t need another mom, Aishi. I already have Ma; I do NOT want a second Ma. One is already too much.

However, despite all the annoying and irritating things she’s done, I’ve got to say I’m going to miss you. Obviously, I won’t miss you straight off the bat, but I’ll be missing you after may be 7 months or so. Of course, I won’t be missing you because I love you or anything. Rather, because without you, Ma’s undivided attention will be directed onto me, and I’ll be crushed under the weight. Nonetheless, I might miss your mom like ness. I don’t think anyone can replace you. Not Kuhu didi. Not even a dog. Although, I’m going to get one. But don’t worry you’ll always be Didi#1.

So, while I still have you here for the next month or so, I’ll enjoy every moment I have. After all, like one of the greatest characters in Kung Fu Panda once said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” Of course, the quote came from Master Oogway. For those of you who don’t know, he’s an old turtle who is funny and has a cane.

One last thing the reason why I’m not saying good luck to you in college is because frankly, I don’t think you need it. Luck or not, you’re going to ace it. Alright I’ve said everything I wanted to say. Thank you and may you all have a wonderful day.

-- The end

Ashish Kuriyan (age 6)

cares deeply for animals and preserving the environment and much of his artwork depicts these themes. This piece took several days to create (robin eggs not pictured), was hand formed using clay, baked in a kiln, glazed, and lovingly repaired when the beak fell off.

One Day in India

By- Ritika De (age 13)

It’s been 5 years since my family and I went to India. That’s a really long time compared to how we used to go every year. We usually stay at my dad’s side of the family, and it tends to be a lot of chaos. My cousin, who is the same age as me, Adrisha De, is basically my best friend. We’ve had a rocky relationship since we were little, but now we are much older and don’t fight over Barbie dolls. She wanted to welcome us the minute we arrived, though it was the middle of the night and she ended up falling asleep. Her older brother, Argha De, is 4 years older than me. The age difference didn’t really matter between the 4 of us, including my 20 years old sister! The four of us hung out so much that it pretty much made up for all the lost time. We stayed at my Grandparents’ house for a month, with my aunt and uncle, grandparents, and my two cousins. There were two separate rooms/houses that were split by a small hallway and doors. My family stayed in one room for the most part, and my grandparents and cousins stayed in the other room. I got sick the first week we stayed and had an awful stomach bug and a fever. To make matters worse, I wasn’t used to the heat and food yet, so I kept throwing up and getting sick. It was horrible for my family, but we got through it and I am so grateful for all of them since they stayed with me till I was feeling better. Especially my sister, who slept and stayed by my side for the entirety of the week. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her, since she also calmed me down every time I cried because of the pain or stress. My sister and I watched anime and movies during the time we weren't sleeping. The shows helped a lot. By the second week, I was doing much better, and we were out for most of it.

Since I was feeling a little bit better, we went to South City Mall and Quest Mall with Adrisha. We also went with my aunt and her to Rajarhat, a street with a bunch of smaller stalls to go to Pantaloons and a sari shop. Adrisha and I both bought a cute purple Snoopy t shirt to match and she also bought a pair of jeans. We spent a lot of our time at Pantaloons, especially since we bought ice cream and panipuri from the stalls in front. After we bought our things, our moms took us to the more crowded area to find a specific sari store. It was a beautiful, refreshing place, and my cousin and I both rested there. While our parents figured out what to buy, we were catching up on school and social life. We had a lot of fun catching up and complaining that we lost track of time. Our moms were done shortly, and we headed back home… after a quick ice cream break. This time it was just my family, and we went on a trip to visit an apartment complex to check out a place to stay. We visited multiple flats in one complex, and it was amazing. Although I was not feeling my best, the fresh air and beautiful landscape made up for it. We visited many apartments within the same complex, and I will be the first to say, it was like a week’s worth of workouts in one day. The complex is humongous, and we did go a few times around the community area to get a feel of the place. I can’t complain that much since we did see a lot of great views and a lot of great apartments.

Although I was very upset because I wasn’t feeling well and I was dragged around everywhere for most of the day, my parents had another plan. We went to City Center 1, which is basically a mall. We roamed around the place and found a henna area. My sister and I both did our henna for 15 minutes or even less. They came out gorgeous, but once we were done, I had already smudged them on my dad. Thankfully, it wasn't too noticeable. Since we finished our henna and were sweating a lot, we decided to go into the mall and feel the ac. Shoppers Stop greeted us the minute we entered, so naturally we went inside and looked around. We bought a big suitcase and a few pillowcases on our way out. And when I mean few, I mean 5 or 6 (my dad spent like an hour in the shop). I was so very relieved when we were finally back in the car, but little did I know that it wasn’t the end of our trip.

Photograph of South city mall at nighttime taken by Ritika De.

After a few minutes, I realized we weren’t driving home, instead we came to a halt at Mishti Hub. I was enraged that they would take me to such a nice place while I was sick, just so I could watch them eat. Although they did tell me to eat, I knew I was going to feel horrible if I did. After we (they) ate mishti, we headed over to Eco Park, which was right next door. We walked around looking at the many decorations, and we stumbled upon a place called the “7 Wonders Exhibit”. It was a mini version of all the 7 wonders and the history behind them. I was so excited to see them, as they weren’t as miniature as you might think. They were the size of a one story house, although some of them were a bit tinier. My sister and I walked around enjoying the view and talking about them. My dad took 10 minutes at each place, spamming pictures of each monument. My favorite of the wonders was the Colosseum. I had learned much about the Colosseum in my history class, so I was excited to look around the much talked about building. Once we left, it felt as if most of my worries were gone except... my stomach growled like anything and I knew I wasn’t going to feel well. My sister and parents bought me a lassi as we were leaving and we immediately headed into the car. As soon as we reached home, I found my younger cousin waiting for me. I knew she wanted to hang out, but I was feeling much too unwell to go. The following week, though, my sister and I stayed at home and hung out with our cousins. I spent most of my time with Adrisha, since every time she came back from school and her tutors, she would come to our room. My older cousin, Argha, did join us whenever he could, but since he is a high school student soon to graduate, he had to focus all on studying. Although I only talked about one day in India, it was packed with many emotions and events that were honestly overwhelming. I would love to talk more about my time in India, but I do not want to bore my readers with the movies we watched, the food we made, the games we played, and the places we visited, but maybe I’ll be able to write again. I will talk more about my family and the places we went, though for now that one day is enough.

The end

NFTs Explained

By: Ayushmaan Mukherjee (age 15)

We humans are naturally attracted to rare things. And when we run out of rare items to collect, we produce our own scarcity. Nothing demonstrates this better than NFTs. A social and even cultural phenomenon, NFTs are seemingly mentioned everywhere - from the morning news to social media. With people spending hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on something as simple as a picture of a cartoon monkey, how could they not? But does anyone truly understand what they are?

NFT stands for non fungible token, which isn’t very helpful. For starters, non fungible essentially means unique. A copy of an NFT is treated as different from the original, in the same way copies of a famous painting aren’t the same as the original one. This is in contrast to fungible assets, such as a pair of jeans, where the particular pair doesn’t matter as long as it’s the same as all the other ones being sold. Knowing this, an NFT is any unique virtual file (or asset.) However, there’s another crucial part. The ownership of NFTs must be verified and recorded, or else people wouldn’t be throwing away millions of dollars on them. This is where the blockchain, another term that no one sems to know the meaning of, comes in.

Historically, financial transactions have been recorded by a third party, namely banks. On the other hand, the blockchain eliminates the need for a third party by making the records of all transactions (the ledger) publicly available. All computers around the world, and the people using them, have access to the blockchain. What this means is that they are able to collectively validate transactions and cement them into the public ledger. Additionally, the blockchain is immutable, meaning it cannot be changed once data is recorded and confirmed. This is how NFTs work. But it doesn’t explain why people spend money on something that has no inherent value and can be copied infinitely. To understand that, it’s important to note that NFTs share some similarities with art collecting. Copies can be made of a masterpiece like the Mona Lisa, but there can only be one original painting. As mentioned, humans naturally tend to ascribe value to rare and exclusive things. Rare objects are obviously harder to come by, and buyers are willing to pay a premium for something like an original Vermeer or a limited-production trading card. And nothing is rarer than an NFT, as there can only be one true version.

NFTs are regularly bought and sold on platforms such as Opensea, Crypto.com, and Nifty Gateway by users with crypto wallets. Since they can be any virtual asset, a wide variety of things are being sold as NFTs. For example, NBA Top Shots are short clips of famous moments in American basketball history. One of LeBron James’ dunks sold for an exorbitant 208,000 dollars in 2021, and is the most expensive Top Shot to date. Meanwhile, musicians are selling recordings of their music on the blockchain, and certain video games have made in game assets into NFTs for users to buy, use, and sell.

The most famous NFTs are, however, images. Ever since NFTs rose to popularity, artists have been using the platform as a way to sell their artwork, with buyers spending millions. But in the wake of NFTs has risen a completely new kind of art that requires less human input. To make this kind of NFT, computer algorithms randomize premade features such as facial expressions and clothing to create collections of thousands of images. Famous examples of these include Bored Apes and Crypto Punks, which both have around ten thousand items in their collections. Simply going on Opensea and viewing a random item in these collections will yield prices well over a hundred thousand dollars. But even this pales in comparison to the most expensive Crypto Punk, which sold for over 7.5 million dollars.

These kinds of NFTs require little effort to create individually, and blur the line between art and mass-produced commodity. Can something even be considered art if it’s not being created by a person? Seeing this ease of creation for thousands of NFTs, many have tried to emulate the

success of the famous collections, with some clearly having better quality than others. Though there are some great collections, most of them are simple cash grabs by people who do not care about quality and are only worried about the amount of crypto coins flowing into their wallets. Even in larger collections, the appeal of certain items can be dubious at best. After all, Bored Apes are cartoon pictures of monkeys, and Crypto Punks are simple pixelized images of faces. Some criticisms include that the subjects of an NFT are lifeless and the artistic elements incongruous, as they are randomly selected and applied. After seeing all of this, as well as the price tags, it can make you wonder why people buy this kind of NFT at all. Bored Apes in particular have triggered a cult following that involves a lifestyle, in addition to the images being sold. In these groups (the Bored Ape Yacht Club for owners of Bored Apes) owning them is seen as a status symbol, like owning a pair of expensive sneakers, or a supercar. For some people, NFTs have become a part of or rather, become a substitute for their personality. These people have NFT profile pictures, usernames, and NFT-centered discussions on social media platforms. Though most of the internet does not view the hype surrounding NFTs in a positive light, there are pockets that do, and even the casual buyer can get swept up into them.

Debates rage online about the benefits and risks of NFTs. When they first began to gain widespread popularity, they promised to give artists a way to easily monetize their creations, and this hasn’t been forgotten. NFTs now provide a way for artists to connect directly with their buyers, instead of relying on a middleman, and be paid a fair share for their art. However, art stealing is a common phenomenon, and there is nothing to prevent it from occurring. The rise of mass produced art has also taken over the space, leaving less room for traditional digital artists to grow.

The decentralized nature of NFTs is advertised as a benefit. Without a meddling third party, creators and buyers are freer, and the platform can be connected to cryptocurrencies and the blockchain. While these are true, scams are quite common, and the prevention of scams, as well as the punishment of scammers, is difficult to do without a central authority. Decentralization can also backfire in other ways. For example, one man sold his Bored Ape for 3,000 dollars instead of the intended 300,000, due to a typo. It was bought before he could do anything, and the transaction couldn’t be reversed.

All this said, the biggest negative impact of NFTs is undoubtedly on the environment. The validation of transactions and the mining of cryptocurrencies both require very powerful computers doing very complicated computations. Massive warehouses are filled with nothing but computers to crunch numbers in order to gain a few crypto coins. All blockchain related activities are consuming as much energy as a small country. According to an article from the Harvard Business Review, the energy consumption of Bitcoin alone is “equivalent to the annual energy draw of small countries like Malaysia or Sweden.” All of this for something that purely exists virtually, that isn’t physical. With global warming only getting worse by the year, this poses a massive problem for the growing platform. Some proposed solutions include companies offsetting emissions, among other things. Yet they seem unlikely to become a reality, at least in the near future.

NFTs are a possibly revolutionary phenomenon, that could change art, assets, and even the world. They use a public ledger known as the blockchain to verify the transactions and ownership of virtual files. They allow artists to monetize their art. They’ve sparked a completely new kind of computer generated art, and hordes of dedicated followers. And yet, they face many problems, the most significant of which is a massive environmental impact. It’s hard to tell if NFTs are a fad that will eventually die out, or something more. Regardless, we will see how they change in the coming years, and how the problems they face are dealt with.

Sources: Articles: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/nft non fungible token/ https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what are nfts and how do they work/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp https://www.ibm.com/topics/what is blockchain

https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft explainer what is blockchain crypto art faq https://hoopshype.com/lists/most expensive nba top shot moments/ https://tradingplatforms.com/nft/ https://hbr.org/2021/05/how much energy does bitcoin actually consume Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9zw7 _vhM

Citations:

“Blockchain Facts: What Is It, How It Works, and How It Can Be Used.” Investopedia, 2022, www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp.

Clark, Mitchell. “NFTs, Explained: What They Are and Why They’re Suddenly Worth Millions.” The Verge, The Verge, 3 Mar. 2021, www.theverge.com/22310188/nft explainer what is blockchain crypto art faq.

Conti, Robyn. “What Is an NFT? Non Fungible Tokens Explained.” Forbes, 16 Aug. 2022, www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/nft non fungible token/.

Harris, Johnny. “NFTs, Explained.” YouTube, 27 Apr. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9zw7 _vhM.

“How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Actually Consume?” Harvard Business Review, 5 May 2021, hbr.org/2Dra021/05/how much energy does bitcoin actually consume.

Staff, HoopsHype. “The Most Expensive NBA Top Shot Moments so Far.” HoopsHype, HoopsHype, 18 Mar. 2021, hoopshype.com/lists/most expensive nba top shot moments/. Leech, Ollie. “What Are NFTs and How Do They Work?” @Coindesk, CoinDesk, Feb. 2021, www.coindesk.com/learn/what are nfts and how do they work/. View. “Best NFT Platform Top NFT Marketplace for Trading 2022 2022.” Tradingplatforms.com, 4 May 2022, tradingplatforms.com/nft/.

“What Is Blockchain Technology? IBM Blockchain | IBM.” Ibm.com, 2022, www.ibm.com/topics/what is blockchain.

Drawing Drawing

By - Ella Pancoast (age 9) By- Roopkatha Bagchi

James Webb - Taking Pictures of the Past

By- Aishik Sen (age 17)

Since the days of the earliest humans tens of thousands of years ago, we have been consistently asking ourselves the same question. Where do we come from? Where does anything come from? We looked to the ground, the oceans, the sky, the gods, our inner selves, just to try and find some hint of our origin. As technology improved further, we were able to look farther than the sky. Babylonians looked to the stars to answer their questions. While they did succeed in answering many, they also asked many more questions. Fast forward to the 1990s, and the Hubble Space Telescope is giving us more insight into the cosmos than ever before. Around 30 years later, on December 25th, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched. While on the surface, this just seems like a better camera being launched into space, the JWST has the potential to help us look further into the past than ever imaginable.

What’s so special about this $10 billion space camera? It doesn’t work in the same way that your phone camera does. The camera on your phone will capture all the light rays bouncing into it using its lens and direct them toward light sensors which will give you a sharp image. But whatever you’re taking a picture of is most likely a few meters away, if not less. The JWST has to capture images where the subjects are countless light years away. It’s difficult to capture pictures of these for the same reason we can’t see them with our naked eyes: the light weakens over time. As light photons travel through space for billions of years and finally reach us, their wavelengths are about 20 times the length from when they were visible. At this point it's infrared radiation, otherwise known as heat. To capture this heat, the telescope needs a huge, perfectly smooth mirror surface. It also needs to be able to tell apart this infrared light from the heat it’s receiving from the sun and other objects, which is why it needs to be in a specific location called Lagrange point 2. It’s about 4 times farther from Earth than the moon and orbits the sun at the same rate the Earth does, which

means the Earth blocks most of the sunlight that would otherwise directly hit the telescope. Once the telescope is properly aligned in the cold of space, it can pick up infrared radiation from galaxies unimaginably far away. The key takeaway from this is that the JWST is able to look considerably farther into space than any other space telescope previously made.

Why is the increased distance so important? In space, the farther you look, the further back in time you see. For example, light from the moon takes a bit more than a second to reach us. Not a huge time difference. But light from the Sun, which is considerably farther, takes over 8 minutes to reach us. What this means is that if you look at the sun, you are seeing how the sun looked 8 minutes ago. Go even farther to Alpha Centauri, the star nearest to the Earth aside from the Sun, and light takes an entire 4.3 years to reach us. If we observe Alpha Centauri from Earth today, we’ll be looking at Alpha Centauri from 4.3 years ago. If we look again in 4.3 years, we’ll see how it looked today. This is the key difference between the JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope. While the Hubble Space Telescope is capable of looking into the past around 500 million years after the Big Bang (the start of our Universe), the JWST is able to look only 50 million years after the Big Bang. For reference, the universe has been around for 13.8 billion years now. Looking 50 million years after the Big Bang would show us the formations of some of the first proto galaxies and stars. These galaxies would look small and dense, unlike the beautiful and intricate spiral and elliptical galaxies we have today.

Recently, there have been false claims on the internet that the JWST pictures disprove the Big Bang theory. The pseudoscientific articles that claim this cherry-pick facts and quotes from scientists, and make it sound like the JWST pictures were completely different from what we expected. On the contrary, the pictures show what we predicted happened over time in the universe. While some things may have been off, hence the apparent “unexpected findings,” the findings from the JWST show that galaxies became more complex and spread out over the course of time, which supports the Big Bang Theory. It’s one more solid, definitive step toward confirming the origin of the universe. What’s even better is that instead of a bunch of data, the evidence comes in photos that everyone can see and understand.

Innovations like the JWST push us forward by leaps and bounds in our quest to determine our origin, as well as our universe’s origin. In the 21st century, we are advancing at a rate almost too fast to comprehend. We obtained a picture of a black hole: a visible photo of an invisible object countless light-years away. We proved scientific theories decades and centuries old. We made cures to a global pandemic faster than imaginable. On top of that, we are stepping into a new age of space exploration. When stepping so far into the future, what better place to look than into the past?

Citations: Cooper, Keith. “The James Webb Space Telescope Never Disproved the Big Bang. Here's How That Falsehood Spread.” Space.com, Space, 7 Sept. 2022, https://www.space.com/james webb space telescope science denial

Wolchover, Natalie, and substantive Quanta Magazine moderates comments to facilitate an informed. “The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works.” Quanta Magazine, 3 June 2022, https://www.quantamagazine.org/why nasas james webb space telescope matters so much 20211203/.

The end

A Fresh Start

By: Amrita Pal (age19)

After my parents dropped me off at Stony Brook University, I took a second to take everything in. My journey towards self-discovery was about to begin. I began to think about the people I would meet. I was amazed by the diversity amongst students once I explored the campus. It was overwhelming at first, so I felt like an outsider.

Students seemed to have already created friend groups. Most people knew one another from high school. Being an out of state student, I thought it would separate me from others. Over the summer, I joined group chats and started talking to people that turned into being my close friends. Working on assignments with others in class and out of class, also helped me make friends. Stepping out of my comfort zone to introduce myself to others was something that I was not willing to do at first.

My perception of college changed as the months flew by. Compared to high school, the course load increased significantly. My science courses were challenging, but with a good support system, going to the office hours and talking to my peers, I was able to get through it. At times, it was frustrating because even after spending hours studying, I was not able to do well on my science exams. After the first few exams, my grades started to improve as I realized that I needed to change the way I was studying.

During the Campus Involvement Fair I discovered a dance team called “SBU Taandava”. It was an Indian classical team. At first, I thought it would only consist of Indian classical dance, but soon I learned that fusion dance would be involved too. I joined the club and got to perform at various events. Being a part of a team felt amazing and we made wonderful memories with one another. Although I was the only Kathak dancer, I still felt included in the group. Spending hours practicing the same dance multiple times was worth it and greatly improved our final performance. Dance has helped me maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Going into my sophomore year, I felt much more confident than I was before. I hoped I was able to make more friends this year. I planned on joining clubs related to my major and personal interests. I planned on going at the office hours so that I could receive guidance from my professors. I was also interested in interacting with students having Health Science majors like me . Lastly, I wanted to make sure that I was maintaining a specific schedule and that I got everything done on time.

The college experience is one that is unique in many ways and it will provide me with different opportunities.

Drawing by Asha Kuriyan (age 7) Drawing By- Sophie Pancoast (age 6)

A Scrutiny of portrayal of Religion in Media

Shama Dinesh (age 22)

Religious beliefs and spirituality have remained the unending foundations of any civilization for centuries and have constantly evolved to insurmountable heights, strengthening their roots globally. With religious intent majorly being ingrained since childhood in most familial institutions, it is only natural that these strong notions shall gradually give rise to conflicts and controversy as the horizon widens.

Freedom of speech and expression has been an integral part of most democracies. They are legally identified, protected and enforced, and thus have been declared as a part of essential human rights. This freedom also entails the freedom to practice any religion and hold on to any religious beliefs and thus the same rights have led to an ambiguity as to the extent to which it can be truly protected. The concept of liberty for creative interpretation of religious and historical events and figures, gives rise to conflicting interests- whether the liberty of opinion, thought or expression should prevail or, whether the religious sentiments of individuals be protected?

There have been numerous incidents where the alleged incorrect portrayal of religious figures or historical events have led to mass disruption of public order, riots, threats, and other violent actions, with the instigations of the same defending these actions as the consequence of their religious sentiments being violated. The question here is whether this extent of public outrage is justified enough to inflict harm and loss upon others, and is also the best method to balance the validity of religious sentiments in general, when weighed against creative interpretations.

I would like to highlight certain examples in this article that will outline the interpretation of religious figures in various forms of media, and the social and cultural impact they bear.

The first example is the classic TV Series, ‘Supernatural’. This show largely depicts Christianity and elements from the Bible, including angels, demons, God, Lucifer etc., and is frequently dabbled with fables and mythologies of numerous other cultures as well. Most of these supernatural/mythical figures were the ‘villains’ that the main characters have to defeat, including Indian mythical beings. It is quite obvious that the writers of the show lack research, especially with the way these elements are presented. However, I would personally opine that this is not made with an offensive intent, but rather as a creative inspiration. The show tends to change the mythology to fit the narrative of the story itself, and all cultures and religions as a whole are used as tools of plot progression. There is no malicious intent to push a false narrative onto impressionable audience, or to humiliate other cultures, and any accidental negative impressions is just that. Accidental. The cultures represented in the show drive the plot further, while also instilling an urge to learn about different cultures, thereby encouraging diversity and representation amongst its audience.

Another well known example of representation of religion in media is the Percy Jackson and Olympians series. This series and all affiliated works by Rick Riordan opened a door to millions of readers of all ages into many beautiful mythologies and cultures, and has remained an inspiration to authors worldwide.

Religion has also been incorporated into comics, with WEBTOONs like Lore Olympus, Adventures of God, Covenant, etc., which all provide a modern retelling of known mythologies. There has also been a massive impact on the socio-cultural climate with use of religion as tools of storytelling in media. The best known examples are viewing the notions of heaven and hell in a more objective manner, encouraging virtue and free will instead of blind faith, portrayal of God as a flawed being rather than the one we are more familiar with who is free of imperfections, a highly sympathetic take on the Devil/Lucifer etc. These changing ideals lets the audience understand and experience spirituality in a new way, eliminating the blind and strict sense of black and white, replacing it with

the unrelenting shades of grey. Angels being flawed and demons being humane, encourage the consumers of such media to question what has been taught and understood, and frame well informed opinions, instead of being trapped in previously established ideologies. It promotes diversity and representation, and supports people in general.

There is however, a need to combat misinformation. Creative liberty cannot be used as a license to push false narratives, discredit other cultures, or cause any inherent prejudice against people belonging to diverse backgrounds. Proper research and due credits go a long way. Media should retell history to promote curiosity and healthy conversations, and not create rifts in society to further any political interests.

The end

Drawing

By- Sharanya Mukherjee (age 12)

Drawing

Drawing By- Anay Mitra (age

Drawing

By- Ashish Kuriyan (age 6).

By- Rajdeep Banerjee (age 8)

The Glass Shoe

By- Saranya Zaveri (age 8)

This painting represents the house of the Once ler, a character in The Lorax, a book by Dr. Seuss.

একিদন সবিকছ হািরেয় 2রিফউOজ হেয় 2গেলও আবার িকভােব মেনর 2জার আর ক+ঠন nেমর িবিনমেয় নত*ন কের জীবন গেড়িছেলন। আর একথাও বলেলন জীবেন ভােলা বd পাওয়া খুব জNির। Eকৃত বdরাই িবপেদ আপেদ এেক অনBেক

2পল

2জাহান। িমlার ও

When your Mom was a little kid, sometimes her classmates called her some horrible names! What names? And why?

“Chasmis” because your Mom had thick glasses and braces. Why did they do that?

Some children can be very mean,especially when they don’t feel good about themselves. It’s a sign of Weakness!

They were obviously immature and didn't know any better or how to react other than joking around.Tini is that your problem in your new school

They call me “Tiny Tini”

because I am a bit smaller than them and skinny! It’s really hurts Mana.

It’s not your fault Tini. Why don’t you tell your teacher about that?

I thought It will make things worse!

you know it’s called Bullying and it is so wrong!

থেক ঝিলেয় দাও

know it’s really hard, and you might feel like giving

yourself and stay confident. Don’t let them get to you .We

Jahar Basu's Drawings

Ananda Mandir Youth Group Magazine Saradia Kisholoy