CAMPUSDIARIES
UNMAGAZINE
JAN2014
BEST OF CAMPUSDIARIES.COM
BE WHAT YOU want TO BE
INSIDE: #scrap377 42 buying my first bra 34 Internships of the month 64
caution! free will ahead.
it’s a bird! it’s a bird! Campus Diaries is India’s biggest content and expression platform for the youth. UnMagazine, the first ever pan-India crowdsourced magazine, is the most read youth magazine in the country. If you want to be a nationally published author in the magazine, all you need to do is create on campusdiaries.com. The best make it to UnMagazine, every month!
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JAN
CURATOR’S NOTE
2014
the team Whether you intend to or not, a list always pops up in your head—a list of lasts and firsts—just a little over the third week of December, just around New Years. Our list is slightly leaning toward an intermix of firsts and lasts, the beginnings of many new things and a tata bye bye to all the convention followed by everyone around us. Campus Diaries is known to have done things differently, always. Breaking away from the norm, disrupting it at every milestone achieved. This magazine is one such milestone. Nine issues in print, we changed the way magazines were perceived in the industry by introducing India’s first ever crowdsourced magazine to the youth. Setting aside the typical editorial process, the best of campusdiaries.com makes it to the magazine. And since we’re in the business of being unconventional, we decided to rename the magazine to Campus Diaries’ UnMagazine. Because it’s everything you want it to be—a platform where art meets stories, design meets perfection and engages in a conversation everyone wants to be a part of. The UnMagazine filters your needs and wants—from a platform for design students to get their work featured monthly (see Pg 36), a space for teachers to express freely with their students (see Pg 16) to a dedicated section for the hippest Internships of the Month (see Pg 64). Really, is there a better New Year gift?
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UNMAGAZINE
CONTENTS COLLEGE
11 8 (Relatively) Easy Steps to
Making Friends (Relatively) Quickly
EDUCATION/CAREER
14 Has the MBA brand Lost its Allure? 18 Applying to Study Abroad? Maybe I Can Help.
TEACHER, TEACHER!
16 Media Learning and Unlearning IT HAPPENED TO ME
42 Criminal Times HUMOUR
46 Celebrating Against FormerClub Now to be Deemed a Punishable Offense
TRAVEL
22 On being an Auslander IN FOCUS
26 RideSmartBLR 34 Braject 29 Roobaroo-Beyond Borders SOCIETY
40 You turned out to be a Rable-Rouser
CARTOON
66 Aam Aadmi Party & FB
PorTfolio OF THE MONTH PROJECT
54 Kavya’s Kitchen Cheat Sheets
MUSIC, ART & THEATRE
48 Half Way Back
36
ININTHIS ISSUE THIS ISSUE Batul Kapasi KC College, Mumbai
Enterprising, bold, loving, practical, adventurous, and jolly. Batul aptly means a chatting budding journalist, someone who knows what is to be done and when!
Tanya Kotnala NIFT, Shillong
Although a fashion design student, her happiness sets out afar garments. Her foremost devotion is for illustrations and the arts. She finds it amazing when the usual combines to become something unusual.
Harsh Singrodia XLRI, Jamshedpur
An XLRI, Jamshedpur student, Harsh loves to write on thought provoking topics, especially if it is on education. As he earnestly believes “Padhega India tabhi toh badhega India�
Kavya Singh Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore
Kavya is a recent Visual Communication graduate from Srishti. Her main interests lie in illustration and typography. She is an obsessive organiser and a geometry lover. She also takes a deep interest in the galaxies, planets and moons and believes they are the most spectacular of creations.
Shantanu Anand ILS Law College, Pune
Shantanu has recently become something of a slam poet, but identifies himself primarily as being a writer. He is drawn to anything that brings about real change.
Manjula Srinivas KC College, Mumbai
The Department Head of Mass Media at K C College, Churchgate, Mumbai, Mrs. Srinivas teaches at one of the top ten colleges for media learning in India. The college also offers a PG course in media.
Keziah Malcolm MSRIT, Bangalore
Keziah, all of five feet, believes that big things come in small packages. She currently studies architecture, but her favourite subjects will always be English and lunch. Her favourite things in the universe include her Harry Potter glasses and racing strangers on a Scooty Pep.
Deepa Ranganathan TISS, Mumbai
An enthusiastic bathroom singer, Deepa soon realised she can’t really make a career out of it. She graduated in literature instead and also holds a fancy diploma in journalism. She likes coffee, dark chocolate and books, but not necessarily in that order. On a more random note, she is a rumoured activist and an alleged feminist.
Ria Andrews Jyoti Nivas, Bangalore
Ria likes black and white movies, thinks charcoal sketches are better than pencil sketches and cannot solve the Rubik’s cube.
Aakansha Kukreja Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore A tiny undergraduate visual communicator from Srishti School of Art, Design and technology. Her passion primarily lies in typography, graphic design and illustration. Has a weakness for lamps, coffee and stationery. Has a cat named Bacon.
Shravanthi Venkatesan Christ University, Bangalore
She’s a Bangalorean to the core, but is fascinated by different places, people and cultures. Her field of study involves the ways of the mind. She aspires to master telepathy and move on to telekinesis.
Deepti Sundar MIT, Manipal Deepti is an illustrator based in Mumbai. She believes in daydreaming, music, ginger tea, books, happy colours, travel and yummy food. She studied Architecture at Manipal University and graduated in 2011.
Nandini Varma ILS Law College, Pune
Nandini dreams of opening a Spoken Word Poetry School one day and has been writing, performing and working toward writing and performing poems. She draws inspiration from works that defy conventions.
Shaunak Samvatsar SID, Pune
A cartoonist, writer and filmmaker, Shaunak’s credits include the preproduction of 2 animated TV features and TV series Pakdam Pakdai.
Priyam Gupta Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Mumbai
A writer, a poet and a certified joker, especially, in her signature patterned pants. A quintessential optimist, she spends her free time observing Life, The Universe and all the amusing things her brother does.
Thoughts, ideas and experiences
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With your friends and communities
The best stories and storytellers
Your Stories campusdiaries.com
COLLEGE
8 (RELATIVELY) EASY STEPS TO MAKING FRIENDS (RELATIVELY) QUICKLY
KEZIAH MALCOLM MSRIT, Bangalore #engineering
Two years ago, I had to put up with a few unforeseen circumstances at college. But out of those relatively painful experiences was crafted this ladder that is sure to assist you in your climb to the top of the social scene!
Engineering college. In my head, these two words spawned a mental image of this never ending black hole of people. Several were even standing at corners, playing guitars and fighting off the crowd. Somehow managing to suppress this altogether frightening image, I joined one of these institutions. As it turns out, my mental imaging capacity is excellent because the image fit the college almost perfectly. Unfortunately, I found that this mental imaging capacity is not something that will make you friends. And friends are relatively important here. So immediately after I joined, I embarked on a long and difficult expedition to make friends and along the way I learned a few things. I put these down, because they could help anyone who, like me, might want to survive one of our institutions.
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
IPS CH
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At the beginning of this journey, many strangers will offer you various packets of chips in flavours you detest. Engineers think ‘you very rude, if you refuse’. Do the proper thing and accept a large handful, even if it’s just to be polite.
Campus gets a little crowded when all the new kids arrive. This automatically means that many different groups will establish themselves. That’s okay. You find a group that doesn’t act out Russell Peters in Hindi and you stick with them. You might have to awkwardly stand near people or walk in and out of strange conversations eight times a day. But that’s okay, too.
MUHAHAHAHA...HA?
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Jokes. Jokes are good, right? Jokes are very good. Even funny, sometimes. Which is why you should always laugh at a stranger’s jokes even if the punch line is in a language you don’t understand. Practice, if you must.
There will be people who will pronounce your name five different ways in a single day, unless your name is Rahul or Priya or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan or something simple like that. Get used to it. Eventually, you might like one of those ridiculous pronunciations. You can still try and correct them in two years’ time.
COLLEGE
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mom
calling
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This entire process is a journey. Like all journeys, this one will allow you to discover yourself and maybe talents you never knew you had. My journey helped me discover a breathtaking talent I had for talking to myself in public. I practiced every day and at the end of four months, I found I could have very interesting conversations with myself. Don’t be afraid to dig deep and search for your inner fire-eater! (But, maybe, you shouldn’t practice that within campus grounds.)
A few days will pass and you might find yourself enraged at the quality of education you are receiving. Your lectures will be shortened in half for group assignments and your lecturer might forget to take attendance. Yes, you will actually worry about how much you are learning because let’s face it, right now, that’s all you’re coming to college for. Do not panic. This period will only last a few weeks. Less, if your sandwiches are really good.
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The smart phone, albeit too smart for you at first, is your ally. Embrace it! The smart phone will help you talk to actual people in the outside world during boring lectures, send them pictures of your classroom’s curtains and even talk to your Mom during those lonely lunch breaks. (No, you are not above talking to your Mom at lunch time. You can use this time to thank her for the sandwiches you just passed around in an effort to be popular!)
Equip yourself with your music of choice. This is very essential in those long walks to the college canteen and the short walks to the many stationery stores, because believe it or not, HB pencils sell faster than greasy food. An additional advantage to always having your earphones plugged in, is that no one will bother you with annoying questions like, ‘So, how is your name really pronounced?’
At the end of this disturbing but vaguely fulfilling journey, I learned one more thing: I actually liked these people. Magic Masala Layseating, sandwich grabbing, Kannada joke-cracking people who pronounced my name really oddly sometimes. So much so, that a few of these very people did become my best friends here. They’ve even accepted the fact that I talk to myself. Which brings me to the most important learning of all-you win some, you lose some. Perhaps, the ones you lose also like Kurkure Chilli Chatka. In which case, you definitely didn’t lose at all.
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ILLUSTRATION BY Aaniya Asrani
UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
Has the
MBA brand lost its allure? #management Harsh Singrodia XLRI, Jamshedpur
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In
the hunt to mint money I think we have communised the word MBA. The education sector, advocating the most secured way of earning money, has lost its objectivity when it comes to MBA. The two years of hard work goes in vain because students are not being built as good managers or entrepreneurs. And one can easily see a change in the scenario with colleges granting assured placement from guaranteed placement. As rightly said by Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots, “Kabil hone ke liye padho, kamyab hone ke liye nai”, but ‘kabil’ and ‘kamyab’ are losing their identity when it comes to studying in such colleges. According to me, the prime reasons as to why the
EDUCATION / CAREER
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ILLUSTRATION BY Juhi Agarwal
MBA degree has taken a backseat are: • •
• •
Mass customisation of MBA degrees, where even universities have started providing the degree. Banks have started hiring probationary officers and clerks through a common exam, thus creating a lacuna in placements in Tier-II, III and IV city colleges. Big private banks have started hiring people through courses designed by them in collaboration with various institutions. Substitute courses such as CA, CS pay greater dividend at a lower course price.
With the increase in number of colleges, students as well as the colleges have been affected where even bogus (read: unregistered) colleges are running into losses. There was a time when these colleges would charge up to Rs. 7 lakh for an MBA course, but presently they are not able to fetch even a mere 2 lakh. If you exclude the top 100 MBA colleges in India, the rest of the colleges which offer an MBA, aren’t even able to provide the basic essential education and job. One of the reasons for this is also because they’re suffering from severe malnutrition of knowledge. And if proper legislation isn’t initiated, that day won’t be far when Aamir Khan will be seen doing advertisements for Kuposhan bhagao for education. Honestly, the situation is so bad that students don’t even know the basic concepts of finance and accounting, let alone manage business. A report from Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry says that only 10% of the MBAs are placed immediately after their graduation, which is lower than the 54% reported in 2008. Although, the current economic crisis can be
The oversubscribed words - MBA Degree - don’t really ensure a placement or quality education
said as one of the reasons for the slowdown in campus requirement, the major reason is the gap between the top MBA colleges in the country and the ones in tier-II, III and IV cities, in terms of access to research, the teaching quality of faculty and their linkages with business and the industry. Initially, students preferred these colleges because of their low fees structure compared to the top B-schools. This gave rise to the number of management colleges every year. However, now due to lack of quality in education, MNCs do not prefer campus placements from these colleges. Though AICTE, which governs the technical and management education in India, mandates a PhD degree for teaching but these second and third level colleges which cannot afford to pay high salaries don’t hire qualified professors. AICTE estimated that there were around 2,385 management schools in India, in which the available seats would be around 400,000. The sad part is each year one out of every eight seats is left empty. Also, in entire central Asia although India has its top B-schools IIM-B, IIM-A and IIM-K positioned in the first three slots, no other B-school was able to get into the top B-school list of Asia. In fact, barring a handful of top B-school MBAs, 2 out of 3 MBAs campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
remain unemployed or under-employed; says an article in the Economic Times. This clearly shows that the quality of MBA education provided by the major percentage of B-schools is not up to the mark. Another report from Meritrac says that only 21% of management graduates are employable. Because of the reduced demand of the graduate schools, around 400 startup management schools got shut last year. However, on the other side applications to get affiliation from AICTE keeps increasing every year. Strange, right? The opportunities of getting a job with an MBA is increasing day by day as foreign companies are investing in India. But, the need to produce good quality students is losing day by day too. The only solution which deems fit in the current scenario is that the AICTE becomes stringent and ensures that all colleges strictly follow its norms, before taking the affiliation. Although I feel proud that students from Top B-Schools in India perform very well in global platform exams such as the GMAT from the rest of the world, my advise is that students should analyse all aspects of the educational institute before securing their admission abroad. They should not limit themselves to campus placements but look at the other factors as well.
UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
Media Learning and Unlearning And why is it different from other streams
Manjula Srinivas HOD, Mass Media KC College Mumbai #opportunities
V
ery few media schools in India have been recognised as the best in their stream. Courses in India run mainly on one promise to the aspirant—good placements. Ratings of the institutions by leading magazines also influence an applicant’s choice. In addition, counselors play a very important role in influencing the decision. And I think that my experience of working for 14 years as the Head of the Department of Mass Media at a leading college in Mumbai is worth sharing. We find students applying for our courses from all over the country. There is also interest from chunk of NRI students from US, UK, Australia and the Middle East. At the entry level for UG and PG courses the group is homogenous. Response for the program is overwhelming. Don’t ask the reason though. No one really knows. Why do some students register for the course? Studying for a media course is about knowing and learning about every stream of media. For a media student, pursuing knowledge of one discipline is never enough. One has to be a student of psychology, history, political science, management, marketing and films as much as of let’s say, photography. Opportunities are ample but one needs to be equipped to face the real world. The aspirants have several misconceptions about the courses when they start. They have no clue of the options when they enroll. Some of the answers one hears repeatedly from aspirants when asked about why they want to do this course is:
1. I am creative. 2. I want to be like Barkha Dutt. 3. I want to act in films. 4. I want to be a model. No harm in being ambitious of course, but students need to realise that there is a stark difference between acting schools and media schools. What they don’t understand is that these programs are intense and are integrated. They expose students to the production of media in its several forms like,
TEACHER, TEACHER!
ILLUSTRATION BY Arushi Sethi
• Journalism • Advertising • Public relations • Photography • Video editing • New Media • Film appreciation
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I find the student group under mass media usually to be a combination of students who are good at writing, designing and speaking. As professors, we identify their skills and encourage them to choose a profession for which they have the right aptitude. A fourweek compulsory internship in media houses after the completion of two semesters is a turning point in their lives. They work for a newspaper, ad agency, PR firm, production house and nowadays even for social media for four to six weeks either to like or dislike the nature of work involved. There are, hence, no illusions. Completion of the internship usually clears the cobwebs and acquaints them with the real world of media. They know what they will be getting into. Or we certainly hope that they do. Assignments and projects have to be challenging and innovative for them to get the real world experience whether of making ads, portfolios, films, magazines or newspapers. In addition one needs to hone their presentation skills and be confident when they have to pitch to real clients. Instilling confidence and values is an essential ingredient of any learning process. As faculty we take pride in their achievements as we see them develop into fullblown professionals. But media schools also require updating their curriculum from time to time. Teaching and learning methods have to be constantly upgraded and have to evolve. Faculty requires rigorous training and need to keep themselves abreast with the latest happenings in the world of media. Today’s generation is far more exposed to technology and hence keeping them interested in class can be a very challenging thing. We do accept that. Every media should be a part of this rinse, repeat process. Like how students learn and unlearn, even teachers need to do the same. And as a media teacher, that is my advice to all the others out there. Keep up.
... the list goes on. Then there are niche areas like media planning and buying and media research that the course acquaints the students with. We all have something special about us and each one of us needs to identify their passion within. One can’t be deluding oneself by believing that a degree from a mass media course makes them equipped to face the camera. The possibility of a media graduate becoming a newsreader is higher, but not everyone is cut out for that. And it’s time students realise this and choose their profession wisely, because otherwise they’ll only lag behind in the curriculum. campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014 #advice
APPLYING TO STUDY ABROAD? Maybe I can help! DEEPTI SUNDER
If
you are going through or have already gone through the process of applying abroad to study, you know that it is frustrating, wearisome and rather long drawn, to say the least. While the idea of venturing forth into a largely unknown place, meeting and befriending new people from different parts of the world, delving further into a field of study that interests you and opening yourself to new experiences is exciting and feels fairly adventurous, be warned that the road to getting there is not half as fun. I don’t mean to be a prophet of doom or to dissuade you in any manner. I myself am in the process of applying to study abroad. All I am saying is that the road to getting there can be rather painful and exhausting. Just think of it as a necessary evil that must be borne, and keep your eyes firmly on the prize throughout! Through this article, I’m hoping to maybe help other people who are planning to apply abroad, and make the process a little clearer as well. So, let’s get some important stuff out of the way before we start, hmm?
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CLASS OF ‘11, B. ARCH MIT, MANIPAL
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Firstly, whatever I will state in this article is solely based upon only my experience with the application process thus far, so there is a possibility that you will encounter some different things based on which course you apply to. Secondly, these are just my opinions based on my experiences, so don’t take everything I say to be faultlessly true. Do check everything out for yourself as well! Thirdly, I’m applying to study for a Master’s course, so my advice is in regards to graduate study application. Also, I’ve only focused on processes before application and actually sending in applications. I haven’t reached the point in the application process where I have dealt with applying for the loan, or applying for scholarships, or the visa process, so I’d rather not comment on those as of now. But, nevertheless, check these points out—I’ve pointed the key points in italics.
ILLUSTRATION BY Aakansha Kukreja
EDUCATION / CAREER
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1.
Before going about applying, practically analyse if the program is going to benefit you. If you feel that you can get the same results by studying in India, it might be a good idea to stay here, because your cost of study will be significantly lesser. Studying abroad is quite expensive, and you’re going to have a sizeable loan to pay off at the end of it. Think long and hard about this and whether you are going to be able to deal with it. It really helps to have parental support for this aspect and to discuss financial matters openly with your parents, because there is a great possibility that at least initially, you may need a bit of support paying the monthly E.M.I. If you don’t have worries on the financial front though, you are a lucky, lucky individual, and you should definitely consider going if that’s what you really want to do. For e.g. In my case, I’m applying to study a Master’s in Illustration. One of my reasons for applying abroad is that I have close to no options to study illustration in India at a Master’s level. Also, the illustration field is more diverse and much more developed abroad. I will benefit greatly from being exposed to this. I know that by the time I’m done with my course, I’m going to be a much more seasoned, intelligent and skilled illustrator. Another thing I had to consider is that in my field of work, money is not necessarily always consistently coming in, so there’s a huge possibility I will have to rely on my parents at times. Thankfully, I have hugely supportive parents, without whom none of this would even be possible.
2.
It’s really, really important to know for sure that you want to study abroad. For one, the application process is long and has a lot of requirements, so unless you’re really sure, you will find yourself losing drive during the process. Also, keep in mind that you will be going to a new place where you will possibly be unfamiliar with how things work, so talk to people who have attended the same colleges you will be applying to and have lived in the same places, so that you know what to expect before you go. I have heard stories of students who go to study with very expectations of a very rosy life, and then leave within three months of starting their course, after shelling out all that money and going to all that trouble! Don’t you want to avoid that happening to you? So do all the research you can.
3.
It’s also equally important to know what is the course you want to study and what you’re looking for in the course, or what you want to gain from studying that course. So, even after finding a course that seems to fit what you’re looking for, read the course description and curriculum carefully to see if the course really does interest you. This helps you during the time of selecting colleges to apply to, and will also definitely help you write your statement of purpose. For e.g. I’m applying to study a Master’s course in Illustration, and my main focus is to build on my illustration skills and improve upon them. Therefore, I may find a course that has the title M.F.A. in Illustration, but if it’s a course that is more research oriented, I might consider not applying if it doesn’t focus enough on skill building.
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
4.
Do you need a consultant or not? This really depends upon what kind of person you are, and whether you have the time to focus significantly on your application process. If you think you are the kind of person who tends to procrastinate and needs a bit of pushing to get things moving or someone who gets overwhelmed by having too many things to do, it might be advisable to get a consultant to help you. Also, you need to have enough time to spend on your applications, because there is quite a bit to get done. However, it is not impossible to manage the process on your own. You just need to make sure to have enough time to manage everything at a pace you’re comfortable with. It also helps if you have friends applying at the same time, because then you can help each other out. It does help to have a consultant helping you though. It may mean spending a bit more money, but it may very well be worth it. The amount of energy and time you will spend on finding colleges and figuring out the application process will be significantly less, and you can focus on the actual application instead of trying to understand what has to be done. Also, a consultant will help you keep track of deadlines and make sure you apply on time. However, do keep in mind that a consultant cannot help you if you do not help yourself. The consultant is there to help guide you, not to keep you motivated to apply and to do the work for you. You must take responsibility and make sure you carry out your applications as well as possible, but make sure to use your consultant’s knowledge on the process to your advantage while doing this.
5.
If you do choose to go to a consultant, do your research and ask around to find out if the consultant is good. Also, make sure the consultant agency knows enough to advise you on the course you are looking to apply to. I went to a couple of trial sessions with different consultants before finally deciding on one because I felt they were competent and would actually be able to help me to my benefit.
6.
The application process is quite tiring, and there’s a lot to get done. This involves giving exams that are required for application (GMAT, GRE etc.), getting documents ready, acquiring recommendation letters from professors and employers, and lots more. The best thing to do is to go step by step and just keep completing each thing so you slowly cover your list of requirements. Make sure to give yourself enough time to complete everything properly though.
7.
Keep in mind that each university has its own individual requirements and deadlines. Read through guidelines for application very carefully, since some universities will have their requirements over and above the common requirements.
8.
There is no added benefit to having your application reach way before the deadline, because colleges specifically say that the applications will not be checked until the deadline. However, it’s important to apply within the deadline because then you are applying when there are seats free, and thus this means more chance of getting an admit. Also, you will have more chances of getting a scholarship. Some colleges do not accept applications after the deadline, and those that have rolling admissions can only consider you if they have seats left.
9.
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Just because it’s an online application, it doesn’t mean it’s not going to take you time to fill it out. It takes quite a while to fill out an application since you do need to make sure you’re filling in information properly. Also, you need to upload document scans and make the application payment. All of that takes time! Start filling in application forms way before deadlines, otherwise you’re going to go crazy filling them last minute.
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10.
Everything that you need someone else to do for you (for e.g. recommender forms, attestation) should be gotten out of the way first. These things normally involve a certain amount of tension, since they require you to rely on someone else to do work for you, and it’s not something you can have control over. Thusly, get these things done initially so there’s less stress on you. Also, your recommenders will need enough time to write letters for you. It’s not very nice to tell them last minute, plus you might just piss them off if you do, which is really the last thing you need.
11.
Make sure your statement of purpose is impressive and not just a run of the mill statement. It is your one chance of expressing what you are about to the college, since they’re not actually meeting you face to face. You must make it as striking as possible. Get people you trust to read the statement and give you comments on it, and keep improving upon it. Also, do not copy lines or statements from anywhere; colleges have software to make sure your essays are your own original work. The SOP is rather challenging to write, so make sure to give yourself enough time to do this. I struggled with my SOP for quite a while before I was satisfied with it. My first draft was pathetically uninspired and rather boring, and did not seem to shed a good light on me at all. Somehow, it’s really difficult to write about yourself. Also, as Indians, we’re not exactly very good at promoting and speaking about ourselves, and that is exactly what you need to do in the SOP—highlight what you are good at.
12.
If you’re applying to a creative course, your portfolio of work is probably going to matter much more than the statement of purpose (however, this does not mean the SOP is not important). Make sure to read all the portfolio requirements for each college. You may have to make one portfolio initially, and then modify it accordingly to suit each college’s needs. Also, make sure to have your work up on an online portal, and if you have a blog, make sure you update it regularly. This helps to show that you are motivated and driven in regards to your chosen field of study.
13.
About giving the GRE - getting good scores on the GRE mainly depends on learning how to give the test in the best and smartest way possible. It’s really important to study techniques and ways of dealing with the pattern of the test. Also, it’s VERY important to practice the computer test, because time will just run away from you while giving the test, and you need to get used to answering questions as quickly as possible. This is one thing I really regretted not doing enough during my preparation for the test, and I would have probably done much better if I had just practised with the practice software a bit more. The GRE is thankfully not very important to my applications though, since mine is a creative course, but it might just be more important to your applications, so practice as much as you can.
14.
Some useful links to study for the GRE—Check out www.magoosh.com. They have a lot of very helpful stuff to study for the exam. You’ll have to pay if you want their lessons, but there’s a lot of other value to the website too. Check out their blog posts—they have a lot of helpful pointers. The Magoosh instructors are extremely helpful and are very active in answering doubts on the site, even for people not subscribed to their lessons. Also, check out their reviews on the books that you can use to study for the GRE. The reviews are great to help you decide what material to use to prepare for the test. Also, Magoosh has an amazing app for iPhone or Android for vocabulary called GRE Flashcards, which is fun and easy to use. This is largely what I used to do my vocabulary study. (By the way, I’m not being paid by Magoosh to write any of this. I genuinely found them really helpful, and I think it’s a resource that needs to be passed on #JustSaying). Also, another great resource for learning vocabulary is www.vocabulary.com. It has funny and interesting definitions of words that stick in your head easily, and the site has a vocabulary quiz that makes learning words fun. After 14 brilliant points that these are, I sincerely wish you all the very best in this endeavour. Sincerely. campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
ON BEING an Auslander
Deepa Ranganathan Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai #exchange
Bus 15 TO STUDSTRABE? ILLUSTRATION BY Aakansha Kukreja Rama Ramani
TRAVEL
I
wake up to the noise of the alarm clock. It’s seven in the morning and the clock is screaming mercilessly. I toss and turn soaking in just a bit of extra warmth from my cozy bed. I turn it off and reluctantly and look outside the window. It’s still pitch dark and the moon seems to be smirking at me. Like it’s deriving a sadistic pleasure of the fact that its duty is done and mine has just begun. I make a face and venture into the kitchen to make my morning cup of coffee. Nothing makes sense without it. Caffeine in my blood, I begin the day. I toast some German bread chewing it for approximately seventeen minutes thereby consuming my breakfast. A little whoosh of wind from outside sends a chill down my spine. It takes about nine minutes to dress up to face the wind outside (I calculated yesterday). You begin with the thermals. Then the full-sleeved shirt, trousers, jacket, muffler/ scarf, socks and finally the shoes. It’s six degrees outside and we have been instructed to interpret that as “pleasant weather.” Walking to the bus station, I read signs in Deutsch language everywhere. I can read everything, but I can’t make sense of any
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I hear the language being thrown at me from all directions. I try catching a few. Maybe sneaking some into my pocket. But I fail. They are too fast. Or maybe too big to fit into my tiny pocket of it. I’m not even sure if I’m pronouncing it correct. I hear the language being thrown at me from all directions. I try catching a few. Maybe sneaking some into my pocket. But I fail. They are too fast. Or maybe too big to fit into my tiny pocket. I rummage into them and spot my euro bills. They look neat, yet used. I stare and calculate in my head its monetary value back home. The math takes longer than I expect. And the bus arrives. I buy a ticket to the main station requesting the driver to issue me one. The driver throws a few more Deutsch words at me. This time I don’t catch any of them. I know it’s futile. I smile and nod and clutch onto the ticket for which I just paid two hundred and twenty rupees. Distracting thoughts, I scold myself. I read Mr. Fitzgerald for some fake consoling. It works briefly until my stop arrives.
I get down confidently. I know I have reached a place where there are lots of people. Probably, not as lost as me but who cares? Numbers comfort me. A woman is taking puffs off her cigarette so fast, she’s probably afraid someone’s going steal a drag from her. I’m mesmerised by the smell. I don’t notice I’m standing on the bicycle lane until I hear a loud ‘trrring’. I lift my gaze from the nicotine sucker to the elderly couple riding the bicycle. They call it a bike here in the bicycle capital of Deutschland. I smile at the two wrinkly faces who smile right back at me, while they peddle their way to their destination. A couple is kissing on my left while another is dog-walking a creature that can best be described as a pig shrunk into the size of a baby skunk. I’m supposed to take the next bus to my Institut and get down at Studstraße (the ‘ß’ is pro-
UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
-nounced as ‘ss’, by the way) but I’m not sure if Bus 15 or 16 will go. I disturb a young woman who wears the University bag (thereby giving me the silent hope that, as a student, she will be friendly and open to a stranger’s help) and ask if Bus 15 would go to Studstraße in English. She responds: “Yes. It would.” I do a silent jig inside celebrating the fact that I just caught the words that were thrown at me, this time in a language that I understand. I cling onto her and follow her into the bus silently making a note of never letting her go. A young
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German woman who is speaking in fluent English in Deutschland? That’s an endangered species. You ought to preserve it with lots of love, care, affection and genuine respect. Incidentally (or probably because the Almighty has scripted my life in such a fascinating way), she also has to get down at Studstraße. I follow her and her bike (another classic Münster person: human almost inseparable from his/her bike) to the stop. We exchange greetings in perfect English (my heart is still doing the jig), learn about each other’s
backgrounds and walk for about fifteen minutes until I reach my destination. Endangered species is not only endangered in terms of her knowledge of English and German, she is also endangered in her display of extreme vigilance and stubbornness of ensuring that I, the Ausländer, reach safely before she moves on. I hug her tight before I greet Guten Tag! I’m amused as I realise that neither of us asked each others’ names. I’m ten minutes late for my class on Social Anthropology of South East Asia. The only homework I have done for this seminar is to Google the exact definition of anthropology and learn what countries come under the South East Asia. I sheepishly make my way into a small classroom filled with people of at least twelve countries sitting together under the same roof. The professor isn’t here yet, so I have been saved from the embarrassment of arriving late for my very first class. The lecture begins and I learn so many new things I’m confused between feeling enlightened at the flood of knowledge and feeling foolish at my ignorance. Everyone introduces themselves during the class and I realise that I just heard the Nigerian, Spanish, Brazilian, Mexican, Slovenian and Dutch accents at the same time. My turn comes. I introduce myself. My name isn’t too difficult for my classmates and my professors as it has just two syllables (thank you, dearest parents). Everyone smiles at me. I reciprocate humbly and adjust my bindi. The class begins.
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ININFOCUS FOCUS Projects being curated at Campus Diaries
Ride Smart BANGALORE #RIDESMARTBLR In association with Uber Bangalore and Zoom Cars, #RideSmartBLR, is a project designed to create awareness and empower Bangaloreans to choose smart riding options available in the city and to encourage safe driving while at it. The objective is to make driving and travel in Bangalore safer, smarter and more responsible. This story, ‘Road Trip Your Way Into Someone’s Heart’ published under the project, gives Bangaloreans info about the many road trip options they can choose from, to make that date perfect!
BRAJECT Braject is a project introduced with an objective of creating meaningful conversation around bras and informing the youth and sensitizing them toward the advantages of wearing the right bra and the disadvantages of wearing the wrong one. The project will be driven through interactive content like stories, infographics, pictures and informative videos to engage especially young girls in paying attention to the simplest of things we experience. The project, being curated by Campus Diaries is led by Tanya Kotnala, 3rd year student at NIFT Shillong.
ROOBAROO BEYOND BORDERS Co-created by a founding team of students from Fergusson College, ILS Law College (Pune) and St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai), Roobaroo is being curated at Campus Diaries. It aims to establish a human, ground level socio-cultural exchange between youth communities in India and her neighboring countries. The first season of Roobaroo, titled #Pune2Peshawar, aims to foster this dialogue between communities in India and Pakistan. The objective is getting to know each other better by indulging in real conversations.
You can contribute to the projects here: campusdiaries.com/projects/ ride-smart-blr
campusdiaries.com/projects/braject
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campusdiaries.com/projects/ roobaroo-beyond-borders
Ride Smart BANGALORE
Roadtrip
heart YOUR WAY INTO SOMEONE’S
SHRAVANTHI VENKATESH Christ University, Bangalore #travel
H
ey you!
Yeah, I’m talking to you! Do you think there’s a lot of tension involved planning out a date? Do you get jitters when you’ve asked someone on a date and have no idea what to do and you live in Bangalore? Or more importantly, have you asked that special someone out and have bat-sized moths flying out of your wallet and live in Bangalore? Or most importantly, do you have the attractions for the beauties and are just plain kanjoos and live in Bangalore? Have no fear, your solution is here!* I’d always think twice before going on a date. I must like the person I’m going out with. He must like cows. But, if I were going on those dates where I don’t know the person too well, I wouldn’t want to spend much on him because he might turn out to be weird. In this case, the criteria I most likely am to fit in would be the one with ‘I like him a lot but have a fat ass moth flying out my wallet’. Most of the college going population will agree with me and may be those working in advertising.
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Anyway, getting to the point—THE SOLUTION!! *ta-daaaaa* Take them out on a drive! A looooong road trip with just the both of you. Y’all can stare into each other’s eyes forever in Bangalore traffic, Coz y’all ain’t going anywhere for a while. How much more *romantic* can it get? A plus point to road trip date scenes is that if it’s not going well you can drop your date back home or in extremely nasty situations, at the closest bus stop. In case you’re a victim to being ditched on a date as a result of any unpleasant scenario and find yourself stranded at a random, unfamiliar place then just use Uber’s app to ping a cab and put your mind at ease, and just focus on cursing your date. But, either way let’s just hope that doesn’t happen. So where are the hot spot destinations to which you two loubirds can escape to?
*Conditions apply (you must have a car/bike/cycle/lorry/auto-rickshaw/tractor/tonga)
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1. Mekhri Circle to Dairy Circle For those who want those really long dates and don’t want to lose much petrol, then the ideal drive for you would be from Mekhri circle to Dairy circle and back. Lot’s of talking time and going and coming back would take you around 3 and a half hours. Be sure to fix the time of your date at 6-ish PM because it would surely last till 9 PM at least.
2. The Airport! If you want to actually take that special someone on a drive, then a drive to the Airport has been a rather hot favorite among many “yeng peoples”. They keep going there and putting ‘aich scenes’. You can even make a date out of dropping your slightly better half at the airport. You’ve got to admit that that’s really romantic. I love that road, so I would also recommend the same. Even if you are the ‘forever alone’ kinds or fall under the ‘just broke-up’ category, the drive to the airport has been found to be rather therapeutic. Plus looking at planes take-off and land is damn trippy, especially, when you’re putting full tight scenes.
3. The Better Half’s Far off Place Another awesome date night destination would be a drive to the better half’s place if it seems like it’s on the other side of the world and if he or she has something special prepared. I think those are the most romantic.
4. Kanakapura Road Then, not to forget, Kanakapura Road. There are some super cool little hillocks apart from awesome roads. It’s Purrrfecto for a littal picnic, staring up at the starry night sky scenes, provided you’re not spotted by random village people and stoned by them. For that, you must be a little discreet and use your brains and not have much loud action scenes in mind, I say.
5. Ramnagaram - The Land of Seven Hills Ramnagaram is also a beautiful place to drive to and have a little trek at one of the easy hillocks planned out for that someone special. It’s sometimes hard to believe that we have something this awesome in Bangalore. A nice half day trek ended by an awesome Masala Dosa and Coffee at the close-by Kamat or Darshinis seems like one of those perfect, ideal dates to me. But, on the other hand, I have strange preferences.
6. NICE Road Another favorite road of mine for a drive would be NICE road! NICE road is truly a very nice road. *sorry, I couldn’t resist. The pun had to be done* If your awesome special person loves long drives on a smooth road, then NICE road is the road for you! You could also use Zoom Cars and drive your date in luxury and style and rip on NICE road and enjoy an exhilarating experience! To my future awesome person, I Love NICE Road drives! I also love the previous two road trips routes mentioned above. Keep that in mind, ok? Ok.
The drive to PESIT or Christ College in Kengeri is long, distant and nice too. But then the destination just puts a pail of water on your fun. So make sure you go a little ahead or change your route completely or even possibly, try and get lost somewhere on the way and land up in front of a cheap road-side biryani place, preferably Ambur biryani. Drives are super awesome economy date devices that ensure an awesome time and not-a-peak-in-the-wallet kind of dates, provided the parents are paying for petrol or you’ve gone on grand-auto theft mode of your chaddi-buddi’s petrol filled gaadi. These are just a few drive’n’date spots, there are many more. So ensure your date luuurves spending time with you while using this method of date planning otherwise it might become one of those awkward, uncomfortable and unforgettable fail scenes, so make sure you have the contingency plan in place. If these small things are looked in to then it’s a sure fire cha-ching in your pocket, and brownie points if your loverrr likes drives and hopefully likes you as well. So make them date(s) whacko, memorable ones that will be etched in your hippocampus even in the days of your acute dementia. Toodles!
ILLUSTRATION BY Shruti Kabo Vivan Kamath
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PRIYAM GUPTA Thakur College of Science and Commerce Mumbai #letters
Dear Friend, I don’t know if I can call you that, yet. But, I am just going to go with it. You must be wondering why I, a seventeen-year-old girl living in India, am unexpectedly writing to someone all the way in Pakistan, which is quite understandable. I can be pretty sure that letters such as these don’t frequent your letterbox, or anyone else’s, for that matter. Well, to rid you of your wonderment, I would like to share with you a memory that has been deeply imprinted on my mind. Thinking back to the day when my life in college first began, I still remember even the most infinitesimal details that took place that afternoon within the walls of an air-conditioned classroom that was no bigger than the living room of my apartment. As I walked into the room, with awkwardness defining every movement of the muscles in my body, my eyes were fixated on the toes of my feet, lifting only momentarily to find myself a seat that was not already occupied. I found one in the farthest corner of the room, and I shuffled straight toward it, without once turning my head to either side. The remainder of the day wafted by in a haze of introductions and meaningless orientations. The reason I am sharing this particular memory with you is because what I remember about that day, more vividly than anything else, are the feelings that I experienced. I felt shy, extremely self-conscious and even slightly intimidated by the flood of strangers I was surrounded with; strangers that seemed to know everything about everything. I had never been as unsure of myself as I was that afternoon. And more than anything else, I wished I had a friend with me. This day happened more than two years ago, and these couple of years have been immensely helpful in making me understand that I had no reason to feel unsure of myself. It is only logical that I would never have gained admission into this college if I hadn’t been a smart individual in the first place. This knowledge makes me feel better about myself in so many ways. I did make plenty of friends over time and as time continues to pass, my circle of friends continues to grow. This circle was originated from my college, and gradually extended to different areas of my own city, then state, and now even to other cities. Thus, I have learned and practiced the art of making friends with people all over the country. And I figured that perhaps it was time for me to outspread this connection by reaching out to someone outside of my country. This letter seemed like an appropriate way of accomplishing that. I chose to write to you there in Pakistan because it is an extension of India, and I have always been fascinated with the culture and the functioning of your country. Also, there are times when I feel that Pakistan as a nation is seriously “misunderstood”. I thought it would be more enlightening to make contact with someone who resides there, and is acquainted with the country first-hand. Therefore, taking the first step toward getting to know more about you and your life there, I’d like to ask you to recollect the first day of your life in college. What was it like? Did you experience similar feelings as I did? How was the day
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IN FOCUS
different from mine? Speaking of college, a friend of mine recently dropped out of his second year in Engineering to pursue a course in Mass Media. He had always been attracted to this field of academics, but his parents insisted that he join an Engineering college. This is not an uncommon occurrence in India. And while their minds are slowly beginning to alter, most parents still cling to the temperament that a degree from either an Engineering college or a Medical college is the solitary way of guaranteeing a secure future for their children. This issue has been depicted beautifully in one of Bollywood’s highest-grossing movies and my favourite film of all time, 3 Idiots. However, like I said, this approach is now starting to change, as is evident by the enormous number of applicants each year competing for acceptance in various other courses such as Architecture, Designing, Journalism, et cetera. Therefore, the students now have a plethora of options to choose from. I would like to know if there is a similar selection of professions that dominate the mind-sets of the parents and students alike in your country. Also, are the children provided with supremacy over the academic path that they wish to follow, or do the parents have the ultimate say in this matter? What are the various aspirations and goals that one would hear of when they ask the students? What is your long-term ambition in life? I can think of many that I have, but only one of them truly matters to me: That of being a writer for as long as I can lift a pen. You know, I see Pakistan in the news broadcast more often than not, for one reason or another. If it isn’t because of the controversial statements made by political leaders, it is because of the manner in which most women are constantly objectified by men. It is a well-known fact that polygamy is widely-practiced amongst a large portion of men belonging to the Muslim community. What is your take on that? Do you believe it is okay for a man to have multiple wives? Does it seem fair with respect to the women? As a young woman taking her first steps into adulthood, I often find myself struggling in a country that is subjugated and unequivocally controlled by men. We are surrounded by conflicting definitions of what an ideal woman is, or what she should be like. It is easy to blame the media for this problem, and for every other problem that exists in our society today, but I think it is the minds of the people that give birth to such notions. Being a woman in India is nowhere close to the manner in which women are portrayed in Bollywood movies. It is not all about wearing extensive layers of makeup, adorning sassy outfits and dancing underneath a waterfall. No, the image that would be closer to reality is that of a new case of rape which is reported every twenty-two minutes, or of the three million girls that are “missing” as a result of infanticide. Citing examples from my own life about how it feels to be a woman in India, it is as factual as it is unfortunate that I have to say this: I am afraid to walk a few hundred feet to visit my friend’s house after the clock has struck ten o’clock in the
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night. And when I am traveling by a public transport at any time during the day, invisible antennae rise out of my body almost reflexively, prepared to sense any sign of the slightest unwanted touch or even a gesture. But, what is more frustrating than any of the aforementioned grievances is the suffocating stream of text messages and phone calls that I am subjected to from my parents if I am out of the house for even a minute later than 11 PM. Now, I am aware of the fact that it is their concern for my safety and welfare that drives them to do so, but isn’t that what the argument is? Why should they have to be distressed about me staying out late with my friends whom they are familiar with, when they are not as anxious about my brother? The answer to that lies between the pages of the newspapers we read every day - They don’t trust this city, and its people. And with the recent developments in the deteriorating status of women all over the country, I don’t think I do, either. Despite the hue and cry made in the media over incidents, such as the ghastly gang-rape case that happened in Delhi last December and took the nation by storm, little has changed.
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But, just like everything else, there is a good side to being a woman in India. For instance, there is an entire row of seats reserved only for women in public buses, and this reservation is taken very seriously, even by the men. Furthermore, we get several compartments entirely to ourselves in metros and local trains, at all times of the day. But, these are just small adjustments that many might argue to be still demeaning. I mean, there does lay a long path ahead for any ma jor change to be perceptible, but I believe that there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Well, I think you can discern what my next question to you is going to be. What is it like to be a woman in Pakistan? Do you like it, or do you often have thoughts of fleeing to a different country altogether? What is your family life like? Do you have any siblings? I have an elder brother, and he can be really annoying at times, in ways that you would usually expect a brother to be. But, I do love him. Well, I have to, because he is my brother. And I know he loves me, too, in a way that I don’t comprehend, yet. I realise now that I have been talking about some seriously intense things here. I don’t want this letter to bore you out of your mind and make you yawn, so we should probably talk about more exciting things. Like movies. Movies are exciting, right? I don’t know if you are aware of this, but here in India, we eat, drink and
ILLUSTRATION BY Shruti Kabo Vivan Kamath
IN FOCUS
breathe Bollywood. It is like a religion, because it is followed by a billion people at once. Some people even have idols carved of their most beloved actors and actresses. I swear to the sacred spirits of Dev Anand and Ra jesh Khanna, I am not jesting. The Tinsel Town, as it is often referred to in the magazines, is where our fantasies and secret prayers are directed toward. Dialogues delivered by our favourite stars transcend from reel life to real life. I would be saying a barefaced lie if I said that Bollywood movies don’t influence our lives, because they do. Have you seen many Bollywood movies? Do you bunk college with your friends and sneak into a movie theatre once in a while? Are there any favourite films in particular that your mind immediately conjures? How did these movies influence you? Since nine out of ten Hindi movies end with joyful love marriages and a notion of ‘happily-ever-after’, do they trigger any fantasies in your heart? Fantasies about finding somewhere the “Perfect Man” and running far, far away with him? I won’t lie to you; I do have such fantasies sometimes. Call me a sentimental fool, but I do. Another interesting question just sprung up in my mind: Are you, similar to a large portion of the youth all over the world, active on social media such as Facebook and Twitter? Do you access these networking websites frequently enough? Personally, I am quite an active user of Facebook. I use it mostly to keep a check on what my friends, near and distant, have been up to. I use it because it makes me feel like I belong. It gives me a sense of being a part of something bigger than myself. Before I conclude this seemingly lengthy letter, I would like to leave you with a few more questions. I apologize for being such an interrogative, intrusive, indiscreet pain-inthe-arse, but I truly am intent to know what the partying scenario amid the youth is like in your country. For instance, college-goers in this country are very enthusiastic about visiting nightclubs and partying till wee hours of the morning. This is one of the several sources from which we derive entertainment and pleasure in our time of leisure. Do you have such nightclubs to go to where you live? And if you do, how often are they frequented by you and your friends? Furthermore, on a completely unrelated note to the preceding paragraph, do you have a Role Model? A person that you believe in more than anyone else in the world? A person that you dream to become like when you have reached their age? I have one. He is my father. Well, I guess that is pretty much everything that I have to say about myself and inquire about you. And even though I am not acquainted with you, I can affirm with paramount surety that one day, I would really love to pay a visit to you and learn more intimately about your homeland. And after perusing this letter, I am hopeful that you feel the same way regarding mine. Until next time. Khuda Hafiz. P.S. I am the biggest fan of The Beatles in this universe, and all the parallel ones, too. Which is your favourite band or artiste? Yours Sincerely, A hopeful friend. campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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IN FOCUS
The day I bought my first bra Batul Kapasi KC COLLEGE Mumbai #firsts
A stage of my life that could have been handled well—without any panic or nervousness—only if I knew better.
I
remember very well, it was a rainy day of September, 2008 and I was eating my tiffin in school with perplexity. Though my hands were feeding my mouth, my mind was busy thinking something else, something which I had given some thought before but never paid any attention to. The health inspection in school that same morning by Mrs. Rao, was the reason of my troubles. The inspection was to scrutinise and check whether all the girls were wearing appropriate undergarments, which we were anyway supposed to wear, that would maintain our body shape and be suitable for our bodies. Even today, her words reverberate in my ears remending the time when she told, “Batul, you have matured physically, start wearing a bra now”, and then scared me even more by citing the disadvantages of not wearing one. She was one of the most respected teachers in school and one of those teachers whose big round eyes only made students more anxious. The problem wasn’t wearing a bra - the problem was from where I would buy one and how I would wear it? That small piece of cloth was becoming a gigantic problem of my life. I had to buy and wear one anyhow because the consequences of not wearing a bra haunted me in my dreams. But, how? My mother didn’t live with me and my granny hardly wore a bra in her life. How would I ask my father? I was too embarrassed. The major problem was how I would know the size of my breasts? I thought of calling up my cousin and asking her, but I was too shy. Then, instantly, an idea came to my head, I thought of using world’s most amazing invention, the Internet. Until I finished typing How to calculate... till then Google had already shown me an option, which I was just a second away from clicking, “How to calculate your bra size”. Well, at that time I thought all of my miseries
were gone and I was calmer knowing that the Internet had answers to my questions. But, as I clicked on one of those links that popped up on Google—terms like bust size A,B… F, band size, full cup, half cup appeared on the screen and I was even more confused. For a class eight student, who is already nervous and confused, searching for these terms was out of question. So, I decided to stop baffling my mind, shutting off my PC and call one of my friends and ask her where to go and how to find a good bra. She told me that the shopkeepers come to know by just glancing at your breasts and they give you a bra which is exactly of your size. She accompanied me and with a lot of courage, we went to a nearby lingerie shop, which was neither very posh nor that cheap. Just one of those shops where you see bras and nighties handing from everywhere clearly stating that they sell only innerware. My friend had also been to the lingerie shop only once, that also with her mother, who bargained the purchase. So, for her too, it was a first time experience. We went to the shop and we instantly were very aware of men selling women’s undergarments at the shop. Half puzzled and half conscious, I saw the mannequins carrying the lingerie, so gracefully. We gathered courage and asked the man at the counter asking him, hesitating and fumbling, for a bra which would fit me. He asked if I knew my size and my friend and I gave each other the look. The salesman must have been a face reader, because he immediately looked at my breasts (and trust me, I hated the way he did) and said “30” out loud, picked up a box and told me to choose a colour. I didn’t care about the quality or colour because I wanted to be anywhere else but there. So, I bought it without bargaining for Rs.120. I was happy that my friend was with me who also taught me
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how to wear it. It wasn’t very comfortable but I thought of wearing it only because the next day I had to go to school and face Mrs. Rao. That stage of my life or any other girl, is very significant but most of them miss to and don’t seek proper and appropriate information and remain ignorant. It was extremely embarrassing for us to buy lingerie from a salesman. Was it because we aren’t very open as a society when it comes to intimate talk? Or because it collectively says that “this is not to be discussed” or was it because we fail to realise how important it is to inform ourselves and others about it? I asked my granny later why weren’t we to discuss this and she had no answer to it, the only words she had to say out loud were, “Because it is not supposed to be discussed!”, clearly, not knowing the reason herself. What is it that is attached to this small piece of cloth, the intimacy that stereotypes the society turns such an imporatnt matter to ‘not to be discussed!’. Why are women stared at by other people surrounding them in a lingerie shop purchasing undergarments or at a chemist shop buying a sanitary napkin or a condom or a contraceptive pill? Our society has nothing but annoying silence and quiet answers to such questions. I wish there was a common platform where not only women but also men were educated about these simple things, like buying the right bra, it could be a project, or a column in a newspaper or even a workshop as long as it is effective. I wish.
ILLUSTRATION BY Tanya Kotnala Vivan Kamath
UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
PORTFOLIO PORTFOLIO OF THE OF THE MONTH MONTH AAKANSHA KUKREJA FOCUS Graphic Design Hello! Originally from the city of Mumbai, I am currently an undergraduate student at Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore, India. My passion and interests lie primarily in graphic design, typography and illustration. My professional work is inclusive of branding, print design, web design, UI/UX, packaging design and illustration. I enjoy experimenting with new materials, methods and mediums but haven’t limited myself to a certain kind of style. I like collecting boxes and lamps and also have a weakness for stationery and food.
CONTACT aakansha.kukreja@gmail.com www.behance.net/AakanshaKukreja
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Mumbai, India.
Branding & T-shirts made for Campus Spark
Cover designed for a magazine
Poster designed for a graffiti event
A few quotes, for the love of typography
An infograph designed on the scams in India
WEB/ UI www.maskaraexports.com Website Designed for Maskara Exports Private Limited while working under Design Concentrate
Web Concept & Design for increasing the volunteer base for an NGO called C.R.Y. , India
BRANDING
www.theproteinbakeshop.com For Dubai-based nutritionist—Rashi Chowdhary
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ILLUSTRATION
UPCOMING
An upcoming project with Aakash Doshi and Taarika John The idea is to revamp old indian matchbox art and give the people something worth collecting! Coming soon! :)
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
YOU TURNED OUT TO BE A RABBLE-ROUSER Fear and loathing in the Supreme Court Nandini Varma ILS Law College Pune #Section377
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W
hen Article 21 was broadened to include within its ambit a bunch of other rights like right to live with dignity and right to privacy, and when Article 14 slapped cases which supported any form of arbitrariness, or even better, when Article 15 was marked to make practising principles of avoiding discrimination permanent, who would have thought that they’d be lying to us—ink by ink? This article is not to fling the SC judgment at your face or discuss the criminalisation condemning a sizeable section of society that faces that day when they are 13 and are trying to come to terms with themselves, because the courts always find ways to defend themselves by saying that they are only trying to protect them. This is to roar the fuck out to these courts that they are not. Let’s try and remember the spirit behind which the provisions of the Constitution were inked in permanent letters and of which the drafters spoke so passionately. Articles 14, 15 and 21—cases rolling on arbitrary discrimination were pushed aside. Equality suddenly seemed important. Personal liberty suddenly seemed to throw everyone in a liberal world. Even Human Rights Day started making so much sense. Until one day, when discrimination on sexual orientation was suddenly drilled into a no-more-arbitrary brick. I’ve been thanking jackbooted rabble-rousers everyday for each turn of events as they seem to be slowly taking away our liberty, freedom and equality, and safely preserving them in dug graves only to be peed on at regular intervals. Thank you very much. The 2009 ruling in a beautiful judgment which confirmed, not conferred the fundamental rights upon individuals, discussed freedom when it relied on cases and fragments of them which said, “In light of the
right to privacy, dignity and bodily integrity, there should be no restriction on a person’s decision to participate or not participate in a sexual activity. By making certain sexual relations between consenting adults a crime, Section 377 by its existence demeans and degrades people and imposes an examination on sexual intercourse.” In what seemed like and convincingly was so as well, a stronger reasoning for decriminalising gay sex, the High Court stated that Section 377, therefore, “denies a person his right to dignity and criminalises his or her core identity on account of his or her sexuality and thus violates Article 21 of the Constitution,” placing constitutional morality above any popular public morality and holding the section ultra vires. However, when we started making use of this freedom gifted to us, we were held by our feet, bodies hanging upside down, out the balconies with carelessly constructed floors for a longer while by the black coat-black Court, snatching the rights evidently not very intelligently though. Arguing (barely) and defending itself through reasoning so weak that one may flinch away from finding flaws there, the Supreme Court, with respect to the personal liberty being taken away, replied, “A miniscule fraction of the country’s population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders and in last more than 150 years less than 200 persons have been prosecuted (as per the reported orders) for committing offence under Section 377 of the IPC and this cannot be made sound basis for declaring that section ultra vires the provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.” Let us consider then that if there happens to be one educated woman in a village of forty uneducated people out of the population of forty one who is forced to stay back at home because the others think it a disgrace for her to be shameless enough to work, it’s not violation
SOCIETY
of fundamental rights just because there has been a violation of the same for a person who forms the tiniest section of the society? Surprisingly, this wasn’t even the weakest piece of reasoning. Look back at Section 377, “Unnatural offences: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.” On trying to justify how this section was not arbitrary in criminalising gay sex and that such classification on the basis of sexual orientation did not even form a part of the categories that equality is to be stowed in, Supreme Court had an interesting way of doing so. According to the judges, “Those who indulge in carnal intercourse in the ordinary course and those who indulge in carnal intercourse against the order of nature constitute different classes and the people falling in the latter category cannot claim that Section 377 suffers from the vice of arbitrariness and irrational classification. What Section 377 does is merely to define the particular offence and prescribe punishment for the same. Therefore, the High Court was not right in declaring Section 377 IPC ultra vires Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.” Outstanding. When such statements are made, worsening them would not be the best thing one would like to do. Supreme Court, however, has a fascinating sense of humour. They said, “Section 377 IPC does not criminalise particular people or identity or orientation. It merely identifies certain acts which if committed would constitute an offence. Such a prohibition regulates sexual conduct regardless of gender identity and orientation.” What then was all the “differentiating between
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carnal intercourse in the ordinary course and carnal intercourse against the order of nature” for? Sex between two men can never be penile vaginal and hence virtually all penile penetrative acts between homosexual men become offences, thus creating fear and vulnerability among homosexual men and reinforcing in them the stigma of being a criminal, as the High Court had rightly pointed out just a little before being brushed clean by the Supreme Court. Through this extraordinary explanation supported by better ones, take the claim of the misuse of the section for harassing gay people for example, where Supreme Court announced, “This treatment is neither mandated by the section nor condoned by it and the mere fact that the section is misused by police authorities and others is not a reflection of the vires of the section,” the Supreme Court obviously gave us the best human rights judgment. When such cases dealing with cultural rights of the unimportant sections of society appear frightfully difficult to be hemmed alongside the remarkable stance of the scared society, when selective judicial activism steps in and then, when the cases dealing with rights of smaller rabble-rousers are not shuddered at but everything that questions the courts on how well they can deal with such sensitive sections of society barges in, should I habituate myself to riding bicycles with broken chains, that jerk at intervals and stop me recurrently or should I let the chains bask in the complacency of being able to break down the strong mechanics that uplifted my spirits, even if for a little while.
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ILLUSTRATION BY Arushi Sethi
UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
CRIMINAL TIMES Ria Andrews Kristu Jayanti College Bangalore
It takes no compromise to give people their rights.It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression. –Harvey Milk
P
#Section377
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rogressiveness has just turned the other way. Homosexuality has always been a taboo subject in India.In 2009, we took a massive leap forward by decriminalising consenting gay sex between two adults. And since then, we have been fighting for equality in further matters concerning the minorites (LGBT). And now the Supreme Court is in favor of admonishing gay sex, which is sex nevertheless. Sex has always been sort of a restricted topic around the household, and homosexuality even more. Days after the judgment, loud articles are strewn across newspapers, news programs have taken the verdict into discussions and its been impossible to avoid. My father avoided the usual discussion on current news and made sure I never saw him reading any related article in case it brought up questions. I’m out of the closet at home but have been dismissed about it. The verdict lets homophobes believe they are right, lets them believe that our love is wrong because its alien. I also notice how some friends completely ignore the topic even if it’s unavoidable. I’ve noticed the good many people that I’m close to still afraid to even talk about
it and choose to play it safe by avoiding the topic. Sex is a personal affair between two consenting adults and it shouldn’t be up to the courts to decide its legality. Criminalising homosexuality will only welcome the opportunity to abuse, harass and degrade the LGBT community. Now Section 377 can also be used to deny treatment of STDs to gay or bisexual men. Basic health care is being denied! It reflects a gross degradation of humanity in our country. Another thing that annoys me is how the term gay is automatically a synonym to gay sex. Being gay doesn’t only mean sex. It has every bit of chemistry and butterflies, bad days and good days, heartbreaks and promises as relationships between a male and a female has. Being gay shouldn’t be differentiated from in the first place. Because of its minority, it needs to heard, people need to be educated. The SC verdict does exactly the opposite. It wants us back in the closet, victims of denial, victims of denied human rights. After the HC judgment, the possibility of recanting the decision didn’t occur to me. And even after I heard about the case,
IT HAPPENED TO ME
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I was pretty sure that the verdict would come out in our favor and regression is highly unlikely. And here I am, one among millions of people deemed criminal based on their sexuality fighting for our ceased human rights. Later
The SC verdict wants us back in the closet—victims of denial, victims of denied human rights
the same day protests were held all over the country and also in diffrent parts of the world. I was surprised by the overwhelming reaction from straight allies and saw how the verdict brought out the activist in most of us. Petitions were drawn up to voice the millions of angered citizens and strong discussion panels set up at various places pointing out the obvious absurdity of the verdict. But. Freedom denied. Equality denied. Acceptance denied. Progression denied. Humanity denied. campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
ILLUSTRATION BY Aaniya Asrani
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
CELEBRATING AGAINST FORMER CLUB now to be deemed a bookable offense.
SHANTANU ANAND ILS LAW COLLEGE, PUNE
#SATIRE
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ILLUSTRATION BY Arushi Sethi Vivan Kamath
HUMOUR
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FA all set to introduce rule to prevent players from celebrating against their former clubs; UEFA set to follow
L
ondon: After Robin van Persie’s hideous shenanigans against the former club Arsenal on 10th November, 2013, where he refused to celebrate scoring what eventually proved to be the winner at Old Trafford, the Football Association has decided to implement a rule forbidding the same. It has been decided that the application of this rule will be restricted only to the Premier League, and will not apply to clubs from lower divisions. Thus, in FA Cup and Carling Cup matches, a player will not be allowed to celebrate against his former club, unless such former club belongs to the nPower Championship or any division lower than that. In a Press Conference held on Monday Morning, David Bernstein, Chairman of the FA, has confirmed that this decision is all set to be implemented. “From 1st December onwards, any player who celebrates scoring a goal against his former club will be given a yellow card. Even celebrating along with his teammates when one of them scores against his former club will make him liable to be booked. In fact, we’ve decided that even if he is watching at home and he celebrates a goal scored by another team against his former club, he will be booked. A referee will promptly be dispatched to his house for this purpose. We [the FA] are setting up a Referee Dispatchal Unit [RDU] right now, as we speak.” This new rule raises many moral questions. Fortunately, former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was driving by and rolled down his window to discuss them. “It’s high time the FA did something to make players loyal to their former clubs,” he said, taking a large bite of the burger he was eating before thoughtfully adding, “this will show the players the path to righteousness.” But what about fans’ loyalty to their clubs’ former players, I ask him. If players are not allowed to celebrate, then surely fans should not be allowed to berate their former heroes/ messiahs/gervinhos? “Well,” he says, mouth now full of fries, “it’s well known that player loyalty is a wholly one-way street. Clubs are not expected to be loyal to players who are out of form, and fans are certainly not expected to show gratitude to players who have given them a cause to celebrate over the years. Look at it this way, if we can’t take football players for granted, then who can we take for granted?”
Jonathan Wilson, tactical guru and author of acclaimed novel Inverting the Pyramid, says the rule implies many nuances that may be missed by the common man. “For instance,” he says, “it is not right that a player is punished for celebrating a goal against his former club, but is not rewarded for refraining from doing so. Hence, I think that whenever a player does not celebrate scoring against his former club, he should be empowered to give a yellow card to anyone of his choice from the opposite team. This will give him good incentive to not celebrate, and will protect the fans of the former club from receiving any mental scars or psychological wounds.” “I also believe,” he continued, “that players should not only be asked to refrain from celebrating against their former club, but must also be required to celebrate with their former teammates if their former club scores a goal against their current club.” He waved away questions about whether this would cause heartache among fans of the current club. Footballers, not famed for being the brightest creatures, seem befuddled by this rule, which, it must be mentioned, applies to managers too. There is widespread concern about this among football pundits and analysts, but fans seem to be looking forward to the confusion that it might cause. “It’s always funny when a footballer does not know the rules of the game which he’s being paid so much to play,” one West Ham fan said. “I’ll never forget watching Evra’s overly puzzled expression on being told that he’s not allowed to play with his boots off in that Bilbao match, and of course no one can forget the hilarity that ensued when Suarez found out that feeding on a fellow human being is, in fact, prohibited by footballing law, and indeed, by most sane laws.” The UEFA is soon to implement this rule in the Champions League, and celebrating against a former club is set to be banned in the German, Italian, Spanish and French Leagues too, sources confirm. This news has hit some players very hard, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is still trying to come to grips with the fact that he will never be able to celebrate a goal again, since every club he faces will be a former club, and Stewart Downing, who is wondering whether this rule even applies to him, since he never scores goals anyway.
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
HALF WAY BACK
Sometimes being lost within can be amazing. (My graphic novel attempt “Bhuli” )
TANYA KOTNALA NIFT Shillong
#create
Unfinished creations, still scream in my head. To either complete them or destroy them. Half done is a pain. So, I compile them all. A story about my incomplete stories.
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Explaining them that faces can never be ugly. Only thoughts can be that (ugly).
And the story remains untold. (Illustrations on Crafts of India)
MUSIC, ART, THEATRE
Like a fully grown owl, who can’t hatch out. ”Ullu Ke Bache”
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
Maybe, I am tired of telling people about real beauty. (Story : Grand Mask)
Lost for too long, can be very sad. (Illustration about Artistic Blues)
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UNMAGAZINE | JAN2014
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Kavya’s Kitchen Cheat Sheets
PROJECT
KAVYA SINGH SRISHTI SCHOOL OF ART DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | BANGALORE #INNOVATION
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I wanted to give the reader enough room to improvise and accommodate their own life style into the system. Rather than dictating the do’s and don’ts of the kitchen
K
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itchen survival isn’t likely to be on top of most people’s priority list. But once you get to set up your new house, it may seem quite challenging and intimidating for a beginner. The Kitchen Cheatsheet is a kitchen survival guide for beginners, who are starting out their independent lives in their new homes. It comes a set of three books - Plan, Shop and List. These have been made according to the way one would probably build up their kitchen. From the basic utensils and foods, food storage, kitchen hygiene, S.O.S foods, shopping tips and usable tear out lists—these books try to cover most of the initial doubts and questions. Having lived away from home for the past four years with different people I’ve had many experiences to share and things to learn when it comes to the kitchen. I’ve always found setting up and running a kitchen to be the hardest part of having your own house, but I still believe that it’s no rocket science. Starting out new can be hard, whether you’re living alone or with people. There are so many times when we want to shop for our kitchen and apartment like the world is ending tomorrow. Living on a budget makes it difficult to overspend without surviving on bread and butter for the rest of the month. Being a person who is moderately interested in food, the idea of cooking doesn’t excite me as much. On the other hand I am extremely thrilled about organising and
cleaning and I have always enjoyed setting up houses. So I decided to put my obsession about organising and creating systems to some good use—to make a guide to setting up workable kitchen for the Indian market. When I took up this project, I hadn’t foreseen the amount of research that would go into it. I worked rigorously on my concept, as I believe that it is what forms the core of your work. Even though, a lot of time went into content writing and research, it was all worth it in the end. After my initial research and surveys I realised that creating a system that guides beginners through their first few months can make it an easier and enjoyable process. My aim was not to make an A-Z guide, but to present the experience of setting up and running a kitchen in an informal manner. There is no ultimate guide to setting up the kitchen, and my ideology wouldn’t match every readers. Every body has his or her own insights and shortcuts to this. So, I tried forming an unbiased and not too rigid system, which would probably be easier and more agreeable to follow I had originally started with the intention of designing for the urban young adult (a 20-30-year-old). But, I had to narrow down to a particular section of this audience since it was a very vast category to deal with. In the end, I decided to work with the urban young adult-
PROJECT
students or working, who have just started living on their own. One more thing that I kept in mind was that these are people who are living on a budget or learning how to follow a budget and spend. While being informative on one hand, it also aims at making people look at the kitchen as a space where they can enjoy themselves. One of my biggest concerns was that a lot of work has already been done in this domain in the form of highly detailed guides addressing the issues people face while setting up their first workable kitchen. My challenge was to achieve something completely different and fresh. Another challenge here was to have a good balance between the information and other content, and to create a cohesive visual language for it all. On one hand it had to be systematic and make the tasks of the user easier, and on the other it needed to evoke the sense of enjoyment and anxiousness as well. After going through many guides online as well as in print, I realised one thing that I didn’t want to do was write as a third person or somebody who has too much experience. I wanted to evoke a sense of ‘I have been in your shoes’ in my content. I mostly found that there is too much information given and it makes it difficult for the user to follow it through. I also inquired my target audience about their needs and likes. I asked them what works and what doesn’t work for them in all the guides, websites, apps, etc that already exist out there. And I got the same feedback as my observation. I wanted to give the reader enough room to improvise and accommodate their own life style into the system. Rather than dictating the do’s and don’ts of the kitchen. I realised that when the reader is given something that
they can relate to, it becomes easier for them to follow through. This is why I introduced the excerpts from my own personal experiences or from my talks with my friends and family. Humor and irregularity are the main tools I have used to enhance the experience of preparing to set up a kitchen for the first time. During my research, I noticed that most of the design done for food is either fully illustrative or photographic, accompanied with text. I have always been very excited by the idea of integrating photographs and illustrations. So, I thought of taking this style forward and experiment with it. A lot went
campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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into getting different styles to work together, which was essential to my project. I wanted to create the feeling of unpredictability and randomness in the books, as that is how the experience is. Also, it keeps the reader involved and interested with the content. These books probably wouldn’t answer all your questions about the kitchen. There is a lot more that can be read and learnt about the planning, budgeting and running a kitchen. But it would definitely give a good head start and help you from giving up on your kitchen and resorting to take aways!
PROJECT
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campusdiaries with
This month, Campus Diaries #TheNextLine co-presented with Housing.co.in, to create a 25-tweet story around a young gay couple trying to find a house on rent in the city of #Mumbai. Here’s how the story unfolded: Amit and Rahul were wondering whether to pretend that they were just roommates. Because... @Campus_diaries ... their new landlord was famous for being an ardent #Section377 supporter. @shikha1263 They were bound to get a stink eye from him. @komal1009wp Honesty wouldn’t help anyone and they needed this house bad. They hoped the “childhood friends” story’d work @StraightFaces But they had tried the same with another landlord and it was in vain. @bvajresh Their own families hadn’t supported them when they had come out of the closet. @Shrav92 They had come out of their closet into a world they did not recognise anymore, a world of irrational hatred. @Pradak93 The walls were closing in. They decided to turn to the one person who was always there, Trish. @cherriessosour Trish, the superhero of LGBT group. With his rainbow masquerade, he is every inch the seer in queer world @pratthebrat Trish would save them, if only he would pick his bloody phone up. @snehakmr8 They believed Trish was their Messiah, saviour; but at that moment, he was nursing his handcuffed wrists @NikhilAmarnath
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Without Trish by their side, they felt isolated from humanity. Should they go join him in his campaign? @NehaTetali Amit was slightly hesitant about this. He’s never really been loud about his sexuality. @AndrewsRia But suddenly, he felt like stepping out of that awful closet once and for all. @DaminiKane Rahul assured him all is right if you follow your Heart, the world shall follow sooner or later. @SeedheSadhe Amit was in a dilemma he longed to get over. Like always, his head was over his heart. @Sunrahimain When he got a call from a broker he’d called earlier during the day. He panicked. @AmitPhadke5 Without taking time to think, he got to the point - “But, I’d like you to know that we are a couple.” @200894 *long pause* Amit hung his head, wishing he could take the words back. Little did he know that@ShantanuAnand44 - the broker would not be disgusted at all; being an ardent supporter. In these dark times, he never thought@yashrajas that a 50-year-old bespectacled man who wore a dhoti and had dinner at 7 PM would be so liberal. @SanikaD He was about to enquire more when Trish called on the other line @KhauMein “Guys, guess who I met in jail?? Your landlord!!!” @AshuLouPuppy Amit turned to Rahul, “Well, he got what he deserved. But, what about us?” @dummy_1411 “We’ll get what we deserve, no point in living under a criminal, yeah?” smiles Rahul. @Nandini2892
The #TheNextLine is a monthly collaborative and unique storytelling experience hosted on Twitter by Campus Diaries. To participate and get published here, follow us on @Campus_Diaries. campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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INTERNSHIPS OF THE MONTH COMPANY
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BANGALORE
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PUNE
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PUNE
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40Tables
CHENNAI
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CHENNAI
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AB Mauri India Pvt. Ltd
CHENNAI
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CHENNAI
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Campus Diaries
Full Time
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BANGALORE
JAN
2014
To apply to any of these internships, write to connect@switchidea.com with the subject line as — Campus Diaries Unmagazine Internships
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Typography, good illustrations, understanding of UI/UX Fast learner and team player with a quick turnaround for projects Good communication skills.
Rs. 10000 p. m.
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ASP.NET C# 4.5 , SQL Server 2008 R2, jQuery, AJAX, HTML5
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Digital media intern
Planning & Implementing Social Media Strategies on various social networks [Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ Instagram etc.]
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Understanding of server side coding and want to develop a specialisation in developing a location/route based application specialisation.
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Good at communication and presentation skills.
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CARTOON OF THE MONTH by Shaunak Samvatsar Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune
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COVER ART BY JUHI AGARWAL