Aftaab Zaar
An Editorial Board Initiative
Patron: Ms. Shafaq Afshan
Delhi Public School Srinagar
Springtime,
-
by ClaudeMonet(1872)
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Table of Contents
Lu Virci The Clocks Life
11 14 16 17 19 20
Echo Chambers
Senior Book Recommendations
Junior Book Recommendations
ART
Movie Reccomendations
PHILOSOPHY
Are These Thoughts Even Mine? Yaqeen'sAbbyss
Shattering the Echo Chamber - My Journey from Tiny Tots to Middle Wing
TECHNOLOGY
OpenAI Sora Shuts Down:ACrack in the Bubble
OP-ED
GET HELP!
Studies show that the human mind comprehends the passage of time according to the number of new experiences committed to memory. Studies, ephemerally, show that everything in history happens at least twice. Casual conversation reveals that time doesn't feel real anymore. Common sense allows for the three facts to be connected.
These days everyone tells everyone to get help, go to therapy, and find a diagnosis that fits them. A divergency from the whole is no longer a diagnosis when the whole diagnoses itself. If three in five people tell me they have ADHD, then likely the system makes them feel that way. You might not be broken, the system just might be unfair.
It's hard to pass up the facts, so it's generally easier to avoid learning them in the first place. A few months ago, I set a target to make the newspaper headlines hurt less. Here's my encouragement for you to try the same. A stubborn objective, do one thing entirely different each day. A box of variety tea was a simple start. A walk every two days, tracking the progress of a certain bluebell, then orchid, then tulip, then cherry tree. So forth.
Get help, or maybe get a coping mechanism. Pad the echo chamber with cork, change your wallpaper. Selfish, sure, I'm not sure it's selfish to call for help when you're drowning.
-ByZainabIqbal
HERITAGE AND FOLKLORE
A Cultural Bond Through Time
Amidst a lively gathering, as if blessed by spring's rejuvenation and strengthened by summer's warmth, an almost serene play of the centuries of tradition plays out. Hot kehwa being poured from the intricately crafted samovars, the songs of old and new alike being sung by the womenfolk whilst the men are engaged in providing a beautiful melody to the singers.An occasion in which all that is old and perhaps would be forgotten anywhere else, breathes life into the atmosphere, a celebration like no one, a ceremony which holds a unique place, in both the lives of men, and the society of this valley.
Over the years, this dynamic valley of ours which is engaged in a constant change, has managed to retain the traditions which have become most cherished to its people. These traditions are perhaps amongst the few that even after being wrapped with entropy, have managed to survive and will continue to do so for millennia, whether those be the simple acts of day to day life, or the once in a lifetime moments for some.
The valley of Kashmir, predominantly populated by Muslims, through the course of its history has been a unique point of convergence wherein people from different backgrounds, cultures, and religions have arrived and imparted into this valley that which has now become a staple part of its cultural identity.
From the sufis that came into this mystical valley, Kashmir received the gift of sufiana kalam which upon being paired with an intricate traditional Kashmiri dance that has existed since the era of the Mughals performed by the women, created a newly enriched performance, called Hafiz Nagma, whose influence, despite being outlawed at one point in history, has continued to shape contemporary art forms in Kashmir. Many of these art forms were supported by patrons and have
continued to receive support in the now.
The famously extravagant weddings of Kashmir too, were quite simple in the beginning. Consisting of a simple gathering of friends and family, with a feast which pales in comparison to the ones observed today. Some of the modern day practices did take root in the times of simple weddings, however it wasn't till much later, when Kashmir became economically prosperous and a wider sense of culture and collectiveness began to develop amongst the people that Kashmiri weddings took the form for which they are known for today.
The valley of Kashmir can be described as an echo chamber. All that is practiced in this mystical valley, seemingly keeps on being repeated in one form or another. Whether it be the arts of the Sufis which had such a profound effect on the valley, that they are now found scattered across different art forms, or channeled occasionally such as the whirling dance or the bacha nagma. Whether it be the simple weddings of ours that evolved with each new addition to our valley and have now reached a form which draws a sharp contrast with the peaceful, almost simple, image of this valley of ours. The traditions of a past long gone influence the rise of new cultural phenomenon which through their historical beauty will forever shine bright as a testament to the unique bonds Kashmir creates with it's culture. Just like how two people joined in holy matrimony are said to be together forever, the bond between Kashmir and it's cherished traditions, is perhaps joined in holy matrimony till the end of time.
- Mir Sawood, XII
April12, 1961
Yuri Gagarin, Russian cosmonaut, traveled aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok I to become the first human in space
May4, 1494
Discovery of Jamaica by Christopher Columbus, during his second journey of exploration in the New World
May14, 1948
The state of Israel comes into existence, after Palestinian Jews declared their independence from British rule.
May
May29, 1453
Turk armies capture Constantinople and rename it Istanbul, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire
May18, 1804
Napoleon Bonaparte coronates himself Emperor of France, after taking the crown from Pope Pius VII during the coronation ceremony.
Ahmed Abrar Giri - Class XII
Nur e Jahangiri
Agirl in the year of around 1577 was born in the city of Kandahar (present day inAfghanistan), father a Persian aristocrat Mirza Ghiyas Beg and motherAsmat Begum. The condition of the family was terrible, when she was brought to this world.
The family was migrating to India, but in the way they had been robbed by bandits. When the girl was born, the family feared that they could not raise another child, but believing that she was a sign from God, and an omen of good luck, they named her Mehr-un-Nissa meaning “sun among women”.
The family travelled toAgra, the Mughal capital, and petitioned for employment in EmperorAkbar’s court. Mirza Ghiyas was given a low-ranking post in the court, but due to his intelligence, diligence and financial expertise, he quickly rose to become a high treasurer (Diwan) for EmperorAkbar.
As her father’s wealth and authority grew, Mehr-un-Nissa was raised in a privileged and educated household, learning Persian art, literature and etiquette.
Around 1594, she was married around the age of 17, to Ali Quli Beg (SherAfghan), a Persian soldier serving in Bengal. This was strategic, respectable match for a noble’s daughter. She lived in Bengal with her husband, far from imperial center, unaware that something far greater was written in her destiny.
In the year 1607, her husband SherAfghan was killed during a conflict with Mughal governor of Bengal.After her husband’s death, Mehr was sent toAgra as a court attendant to one of Emperor Jahangir’s stepmothers, Ruqayya Sultan Begum. She served her for almost four years as a lady-in-waiting.
In 1611, during the festival of Norouz (Persian new year), Mehr-un-Nissa was seen by Emperor Jahangir in the Meena Bazaar.As mentioned by him, he was captivated not only by her beauty, but also her witty, intelligent and poised nature, which he described as very different from others at the court.
Jahangir fell in love with Mehr, and just a few months later, in May 1611, when Mehr was around 34 years old, she married Shehnshah e Hind, Emperor Jahangir. It was the second marriage for Mehr, and twentieth for Jahangir. But no matter what, it was indeed a love marriage, and Jahangir was such in love with her that he gave her the title of “Nur Jahan” literally meaning “Light of the world”.
After 1611, Nur Jahan brought her family members to the high office. She made her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg, the Wazir (prime minister), and her brotherAsaf Khan rose to a senior military rank. Jahangir’s growing addiction to wine and opium made him increasingly detached from the imperial matters. This gave chance to Nur Jahan who took over day-to-day governance, holding courts, giving Farmans (Imperial orders) and even appearing on the royal balcony called jharokha.
Her influence became even more stronger when from 1616 onwards, coins were struck in her name alongside with Jahangir’s, which was the greatest honor for Mughal Empresses, achieved by none in the Mughal history except her. Even Imperial seals then on required signatures of not only Jahangir but Nur Jahan too.
At this point, when Nur Jahan had gained such a power in the Empire, the political landscape started to shift. In the year 1621, Nur Jahan betrothed her daughter Ladli Begum to Shahryar, indicating that she wanted her sonin-law to become the next holder of Mughal Takht.
This made Prince Khurram, the son of Shenshah Jahangir and Jagat Gosain, feel that a throne promised to him by birth was being taken away. So, in 1622, when Nur Jahan ordered Khurram to lead a campaign to recover Kandahar from the Persians, fearing that leaving the capital would allow her to ruin his standing with Jahangir, Prince Khurram refused, leading to his rebellion in 1622.
-By: Shah Mohammad Hayaan, Class XI
LA VURCIFICTION
Lu Vurci†
10th March, 1959
Heavy rainfall had taken over the Italian city of Vespersci. Inspector Salvatore lit a cigarette in the living room of the Hermanos. After what had been going on in town, he needed it desperately. Ever since the rainfall had taken over the town, children were disappearing from the town, taken by a creature the locals called “Lu Vurci”, meaning “The Vulture”.
Legend said that this creature came to feast every fifty years. Salvatore didn’t believe in any of these tales. For him, they were all just tales of hocus-pocus.
But right now, he was sitting in a rocking chair, in the bungalow of one of the most influential men in town.
Ms. Hermanos burst into the room, weeping so loudly you would think an elephant was crying in pain. She suddenly stopped when she noticed Salvatore. “Carlo, where have you gone!”, “Mio Dio!, she cried. “Where have you gone!”
“Calm down, Ms. Hermanos. I assure you that your son will be found.” Salvatore said calmingly.
Ms. Hermanos was a fat lady, of about thirty-nine, wearing a shiny scarlet dress. “Pretty odd dress to wear when your son is nowhere to be found” Salvatore thought. He couldn’t comment more about Ms. Hermanos’ physique, as he wasn’t slim either.
“Oh! Please Inspector! Please find my son! I love him,” “Dio Mio!! what will I do without him??,”
“Here she goes again,” Salvatore chuckled to himself.
The door opened again. This time, very elegantly. It was Fabrizio Giuliano de Hermanos, the big man himself. He scolded his wife, and told her to leave the room. Fabrizio was a handsome man of about forty, perfectly tall. His light-brown French moustache glowed under the light of the chandelier. The Hermanos were of Spanish origin, but were living in Italy for quite some time now.
Fabrizio spoke to Salvatore calmly, like you would expect from a well-educated person. Fabrizio informed Salvatore, that the commissioner had assured him about Salvatore’s expertise.
The children who disappeared before Carlo were of lower-class families, and their cases were dismissed after only a few days, sometimes hours, of investigation. “But this time, Mr. Vurci here has taken the grand feast.” Salvatore told his men. And this time, the investigation too, would be El Grande.
Even after listening to the Hermanos’ tales, Salvatore still denied the existence of any supernatural entity.
“Where was Signore Carlo last seen?” was perhaps the only useful question Salvatore had asked.
“Falcone Park. He had gone to play football with the other bambini” Fabrizio answered.
“Well, do you have any idea where the kids live?”
“They’re all dead.”
The following day, Falcone Park was closed off and declared an investigation site. But even after weeks of searching, Salvatore and his men had no luck.
But on a rainy Friday, a local shepherd, Benito, reported some movement in Rucci forest, near the park. Salvatore, along with his men, reached the forest entrance. Heavy rainfall started again. Salvatore turned to his men, and spoke;
“This forest is too vast. It will take us ages to reach the centre if we investigate together. Paolo and Miguel, you go form the west entrance. Francisco and Fede, you enter from the west gate. Vito, come with me.”
As the clouds cried, Salvatore and his men entered the forest, along with their revolvers and lamps in each hand.
After half-an-hour of exploring and no luck, Salvatore decided to send Vito to walk through a diverted path.
The more Salvatore walked towards the heart of the forest, the more and more melancholic the weather became.
All of a sudden, he heard a twig snap. He turned around, and what he saw left him petrified.
A seven-foot-tall creature, with the torso of a man, but with talons and wings, and a head of a vulture. The creature was fully dark. The only parts of it clearly visible were its blood red, glowing eyes. These eyes hypnotized Salvatore. He dropped his revolver. He had seen IT. He had seen the legend. He had seen LU VURCI.
EPILOGUE
The next morning, the sun shone brighter than ever, and the addictive smell of post-rain soil took over the town. The parents of the ‘lost kids’ had forgotten about their misfortunes, and everyone had a smile on their faces.
But in the Vespersci police station, a new poster was hung.
MISSING: SALVATORE ARIZZI (Inspector)
LAST SEEN: Rucci Forest, 11/4/1959……..
-Tarub Imran Bandh
A Clock's Life
This story is about a clock’s life which suffers from many problems and then gets discouraged and loses all hope until a boy helps it…
2
The Beginning
Along time ago in October, 2011 I was brought into this house. I was quite expensive and modern back in the day. I had an L.C.D display and three shiny silver hands. I was pinned to the walls in one of the rooms of the house.
People were really fascinated with me as I could even display the temperature.After a decade the house got repainted and I was taken down and replaced. I felt very bad and thought that I’m outdated and of no use anymore, but they pinned me on another wall which was much colder and darker…
A Great Adventure
One winter day, suddenly, my hands froze. I thought my batteries ran out of charge.After an hour, someone came in and put in new batteries, inspite of that my hands didn’t budge. I tried quite hard, but one of my gears had broken apart. I was left unnoticed for a long time. I had lost all hope until a little boy noticed me while watching T.V…
A Great Surprise
He came up next to me, and took me off the wall. I thought he was going to discard me forever, but he started operating on me. I was like “Hey! What are doing to me?”. He then, removed my clockwork box. It felt like he was removing my heart and I had lost all hope now. Next, he damaged all my precious silver hands. To my surprise, he fitted in a new clockwork box. He also fitted in new golden hands and I was brought back to life! This was the best day of my life.
“THE END”
-by Mohammad Zayyan Andrabi
LITERATURE
Senior BookRecommendations
“Until a man is dead, he is not yet done being created.”
At Night All Blood is Black, by David
Diop
At Night All Blood Is Black is a 2018 novel by French author David Diop, which won the 2021 International Booker Prize, about a Senegalese soldier fighting for France in World War I. The story follows Alfa Ndiaye as he descends into madness and a violent quest for vengeance after his friend Mademba is killed in battle, blurring the lines between heroism, savagery, and black magic as he takes trophies from fallen German soldiers.
“Listen, if there is a hell, we're in it. And if there's a heaven, we're already there. This is it.”
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
This Japanese novel is about two bullied 14-year-olds, a boy with a lazy eye and a girl nicknamed "Hazmat," who find solace in their friendship while enduring relentless torment at school. The story, set in 1991, explores themes of bullying, suffering, and the nature of strength through their philosophical discussions and shared experiences, contrasting brutal violence with tender intimacy and questioning the meaning of their pain.
BookRecommendations Junior
“I wish we could go there.”
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
Magic Tree House is a beloved children's book series by Mary Pope Osborne following Jack and Annie, siblings from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, who discover a magical treehouse filled with books. By pointing to a picture and saying, "I wish we could go there," they travel through time and space to historical events, cultures, and fantasy worlds.
“Here I was, locked inside this creepy old library with a monster, and I was worried about getting scolded for being late for dinner!”
The Girl Who Cried Monster
In R.L. Stine's The Girl Who Cried Monster(Goosebumps #8), Lucy Dark, a girl who loves playing pranks by inventing monster stories, discovers that her librarian, Mr. Mortman, is a real monster who eats bugs and creatures. When she tries to tell her family, they don't believe her due to her history of lying.
Echo Chambers
Our perception of reality is shaped by the platforms of communication; thus, its regulators hold immense power in controlling society and culture. Countless forms of media have converged onto central control; the modern internet stands no exception. However, the early internet remained largely independent from any central control or regulation due to decentralization and anonymity. The stock market crash of overvalued internet stocks in 2000 has led to a bottleneck effect wherein a few corporations emerged as the regulators of the internet. These corporations hold a fundamental grip on our reality. They utilize predatory feedback loops made up of consumer data along with probabilistic devices such as algorithms and neural nets in order to decisively group consumers and push specific behavior. Another tool used in order to control the populace and shape society is filter bubbles, which leverage feedback loops, personalization and psychological manipulation. Eli Parsier, who coined the term ‘filter bubble’ states they are a phenomenon of three steps: collection of data & identity, aggregation of content and fine-tuning using feedback loops. In his book titled “Filter Bubble”, he warns of the breakdown of society into polarized groups i.e social fragmentation and an end to free & unrestricted discussion on issues of public importance.
Filter bubbles further serve as an incredibly effective tool for extremism and polarization through propaganda, hate speech and misinformation. The increased polarization has divided society on arbitrary political lines, leading to increased politically motivated violence and instability. Echo chambers are a comparable phenomenon to filter bubbles; however, instead of utilizing algorithmic personalization, they are enacted through unconscious confirmation bias, which is the tendency to seek out, reinterpret and remember events in support of one’s beliefs. They serve to further reinforce one’s beliefs in order to reside in an imaginary bubble wherein all sources that are contradictory to beliefs are dismissed. Filter bubbles and echo chambers serve to remove discourse and present a black-and-white view of the world. The increasing influence of artificial intelligence and bots has further diluted discourse and creative media. Artificial intelligence specifically has caused irreparable harm to the internet with violations of copyright and intellectual property along with systemic unreliability. These factors not only threaten the internet and its overall neutrality but also, as the primary source of communication, threaten the integrity of democracy. In order to prevent the destruction of the internet along with democracy, many groups seek to revitalize the internet in order to preserve its authenticity and discourse through decentralization. This idea is being developed using websites that utilize volunteer devices in order to host privacy-focused alternatives to big tech and social media. For instance, Bluesky and Matrix serve as decentralized alternatives to Twitter and real-time messengers, respectively. However, decentralization isn’t all joy and sunshine; cryptocurrencies, which served as a novel way of decentralized currency, have been reduced to internet fads, scamming devices and criminal fronts. This is due to their convenient anonymity and untraceable nature. The current state of the internet, however we may decide to twist it, serves as a cautionary tale on the inevitable convergence of media and its consequences–and wherever it goes in the future will inevitably influence the future of mankind.
By: Saad Aamir Purra
ART PHOTOSTORY
By Manaal Hussain - XII
Movie Recomendations
Survival is the central theme in this gripping adventure drama. The film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, tells the story of Hugh Glass, a man who was abandoned after being attacked by a bear while on a hunting expedition. This movie is noted for its use of natural light and extended scenes that capture the natural environment. With outstanding performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, it offers a thrilling and believable experience.
A thrilling action-packed film, bullet train revolves around a doomed assassin who finds himself abroad a train filled with criminals on various assignments. Shot by David Leitch, Bullet Train has a unique style, with great visual effects, excellent editing. The action is intense and humorous at the same time. Personally, it was an absolute blast to watch.
Ahmed Aalam - Class XII
Are these thoughts even mine? PHILOSOPHY
Atsomepoint,theworldstopssoundinglikeaconversationandstartedsoundinglikean echo.Thesameopinionsarerepeatedendlessly—onourscreens,inourclassrooms,inour homes,andinourworkplacesuntiltheynolongerfeellikeopinionsatall,butfacts.
However,theloudestvoicesarenotalwaysthetruestones.SoIaskasimplequestion:Dowe reallyhearreality,oronlyanalteredversionofwhathasalreadybeensaidbefore?Welivein atimewhereinformationsurroundsusconstantly,almosteveryhouroftheday.Yet,despite beingexposedtosomuch,weoftenfailtorecognisewhatistrulynewandwhatismerely repeated.Somewherebetweenthepastandthepresent,betweenwhatwearetoldandwhat wechoosetobelieve,ourunderstandingbeginstoblur.
Ironically,inanageoverflowingwithinformation,ourthinkingoftenbecomesnarrower insteadofbroader.Ideasreturntousinfamiliarformsuntiltheyquietlysettleintoourminds asourown.Wescroll,welisten,weabsorbbutwerarelypause.Themoreoftenwehear something,themorenaturalitbeginstofeel.Andslowly,almostwithoutnoticing,repetition startstoreplacereflection,whileoriginalityquietlyfadesintothebackground.
WriterslikeArundhatiRoyhaveoftenreflectedonthepowerofvoice—onhowwhatis spoken,andwhatremainsunspoken,shapesthewayweunderstandtheworld.Language carriesinfluence.Itcarriesweightaswellbutwhencertainideasareheardtoooften,they begintofeelunquestionable,eveniftheywereexaminedinthefirstplace.
Perhaps,thatiswhatmakestheechochambersodangerous,itdoesnotonlyexistaroundus, butwithinus.Itlivesinthewaywehesitatetodisagree.Inthewaywerepeatwhatwehave heardbecauseitfeelseasierthanthinkingforourselves.Inthewaysilenceismistakenfor agreement,andrepetitionforunderstanding.Ashumanbeings,wefindcomfortinstrange things—oneofthembeingfamiliarity.Familiarideasoftenfeelright,notbecausetheyare alwaystrue,butbecausetheyareknownandtheymakeusfeelincluded,accepted,and heard.Buttherealquestionisnotjustwhatwearehearing,itishowwearehearingit.Are welisteningactively,orsimplyabsorbingwhateverreachesusfirst?Sometimes,Iwonder, “Arethesethoughtstrulyours,oraretheyechoesshapedbyeverythingaroundus?”
Tostepoutsidetheechochamberdoesnotrequirerebellion.Itbeginsquietly.Itbeginswhen doubtarises,whencuriositykeepsusawakeatnight,andwhenwefindthecouragetosit
Yaqeen's Abyss
In the echo chamber, we do not believe what is true we believe what is repeated. The self, feeling sovereign, dissolves into borrowed voices. Beliefs are not discovered; they are inherited, absorbed, reinforced. What is yields to what is merely said to be. There’s a razor-thin line between owned conviction and implanted echo between thought born of the self and one stealthily placed within.
In our zeal to align, to be right amid the chorus, we lose grip on authentic thinking. Beliefs blur into others’, indistinguishable in their fusion.
We fancy our thoughts as chosen, examined, understood. Yet they are echoes drawn from conversations, classrooms, timelines, traditions. Repeated until they masquerade as certainty.
The more we hear, the truer it seems. This trap Imam Al-Ghazali pierced centuries ago with his scalpel of taqlid (blind imitation).
In the chamber’s grip, being collapses into appearance. The seemingly sovereign self melts into copied resonance: beliefs reverberated, not encountered; truths borrowed, not realized.
For Al-Ghazali, this was no mere flaw but crisis incarnate. Amid kalam (theological dialectics), falsafa (philosophy), and tasawwuf (Sufism), he discerned inherited authority masquerading as knowledge each tradition an echo chamber unto itself. Growing up in Tus, surrounded by
scholars, he saw students parroting teachers without understanding, their faith built on sand.
Echoes thrive on taqlid: unthinking mimicry of voices, ideologies, systems. We hold to them, repeating without questioning. Such “certainty” feels secure, a wall of consensus. Yet it shatters at contradiction’s breath.
Doubt-not foe, but rupture.
Doubt cracks the chamber’s wall, unsettling the lived illusion, turning the gaze inward. Al-Ghazali lived this abyss in Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal. At the height of his career as Baghdad’s greatest scholar, examining all traditions, he found philosophers’ logic circling empty promises, theologians’ proofs leaning on untested authority. “I despaired of reaching truth,” he confessesnot just intellectually, but existentially, his wujud (existence) unmoored. For nearly two years, he spoke little, ate scarcely, consumed by this inner storm.
If knowledge escapes the soul’s dhawq (tasting), can it be knowledge? What passes for certainty is dhann (guess) dressed as yaqeen (certain knowledge).
Yet doubt shapes yaqeen: not inherited, but realized-like savoring treasure in one’s own house, undeniable in its realness. From six months’ retreat in silence, Al-Ghazali tasted the Necessary Existent directly, beyond all echoes.
His rupture resonates in our algorithm-forged world, where echo chambers do not merely surround but reshape us,feeds curating agreement, trapping us in separate bubbles. Algorithms learn our biases, serving more of the same until division feels like destiny. But they fracture and we emerge.Al-Ghazali proves it possible. Doubt is not destruction, but the door. Through its darkness, we taste dhawq. Through its silence, we find yaqeen.
Echo chambers promise comfort. Truth demands courage.
So ask. Doubt. Taste.
When echoes fade, a single question awakens everything: What if what I know… isn’t true?
-Syed Aleena, 12H1
Shattering the Echo Chamber -
My Journey from Tiny Tots to Middle Wing
What if the world being seen is not the world in totality. But just an echo of what has always been perceived?
For years, life existed inside a small, gentle echo chamber, where chuckles and giggles sounded the same every day, fears were tiny, and dreams were quite simple. Everything felt safe, guarded and familiar, as if the walls quietly repeated the same consoling story.
My first day of school still lingers like a vivid recollection. Anxious, clinging to my parents, carrying a Spiderman backpack bigger than myself and a sipper water bottle that tilted me like a tea pot. I sat on a tiny red chair, surrounded by strangers.
They were all like me, unified by a mix of fear and excitement. In that small world, life was simple. We learned alphabets, counted beads, and made friends unhesitatingly. Our concerns were small like finding a crayon or having a go on the swing. There was innocence, and nothing challenged our understanding of the world. Everything made sense and added up because everything was alike.
It was an echo chamber, a warm, comforting, and beautifully small niche.
Time, however, has a quiet way of changing everything, almost unnoticed. It turned alphabets into stories, numbers into problems, and hesitation into credence. Slowly, the echo chamber began to stretch, but its walls were still there, protecting, guiding, and stilly limiting.Then came the Middle Wing. The walls did not just expand—they FRACTURED !
Suddenly, the world grew louder, wider, and more taxing. Subjects multiplied, questions
deepened, and answers were no longer found in simple repetitions.
“What” was replaced by “why,” and “how” became just as essential as knowing. Mathematics transformed into a puzzle of precision and accuracy, science demanded rationale behind every phenomenon, and geography stretched the mind across unseen, imaginary lines of the Earth.
Here, thoughts are no longer meant to echo, they are meant to be provocative, to question, disentangle. Stepping into this new phase felt like stepping into open air after being contained in a quiet room.
There is uncertainty, but also an eager excitement. There are expectations, but also hopeful prospects. The comfort of “knowing” has been replaced by the buzz and kick of “discovering.” Even friendships no longer resonate the simplicity of the past. They now carry profoundity, understanding, and loyalty. Disagreements last longer, but so do ties and relationships.
A friend is no longer just someone to sit beside, but someone who stands beside. The journey from Tiny Tots to Middle Wing is not just about growing up.
It is a journey about growing out.
Out of comfort.
Out of repetition.
Out of the echo chamber that once felt larger than life.
Because staying in an echo chamber is easy. But walking out of it— questioning, thinking, discovering, breaking out— that’s where courage lies.
Because new paths unfold the moment the echo fall silent…… As I continue this journey, I know there are many more chambers to break, uncharted territories to conquer and new frontiers to discover.
After all, every farewell is just the beginning of a fresh start.
Here’s to growing, learning, and stepping beyond every echo that tries to hold us back!
Adam Gull Baba - Class VI
The DPS
VOLUME...?
THE MAGAZINE OF DOOM AND DESPAIR: RETURNS!
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Teachers BOLDLY assume conciousness during 0 period.
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HIRING: LABOURERS DESIGNERS! FOR AFTAAB ZAAR
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Times
SPRING EDITION UNBAISED UNPHASED UNPAID
STUDENTS DISPLAY PRIMAL INSTINCTS DURING FRESHERS TREASURE HUNT?
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12THstudenttstestedon accountancybook2aheadof itsexistence
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UNDERGROUND TEACHER MAFIA SUSPECTED TO CONTROL DUSTER SUPPLY; STAFF IN DENIAL.
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A inCrack the Bubble
TECHNOLOGY
On 24 March 2026, OpenAI abruptly announced that they’ll be shutting down theirAI video generator, Sora, and the accompanying Sora app, a “social media” app that featured exclusivelyAI-generated content. The app, released in September 2025, seemed destined for great success, securing the #1 spot on theApp Store within 24 hours of launch, and pulling 3.3 million downloads a month by November. However, that figure had reduced by two-third by February – one of the many problems plaguing Sora. The public problem: deepfakes. “Deepfakes” are videos that useAI to replace one person’s appearance with another’s – they’re so convincing that there is no 100% sure method to detect whether a video is a deepfake. Notably, these existed before OpenAI’s heyday - but they were near-mythical, requiring insane amounts of skill and effort just to generate a short video. Sora, however, put a convincing, sophisticated deepfake generator on theApp Store, available to all. This was a nightmare, in both the legal and social senses.Anybody could make a video of anyone, doing anything. Celebrities were the first, easiest targets, whether living or dead, but the idea soon spread further, and the world was hit with a tide of misinformation like no other. You could puppet the face of any expert in any field to back any claim, no matter how ridiculous.Anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers, to name the most prominent, were two of the groups exploiting this, to give an idea. OpenAI got in serious legal trouble due to this.
Avariation of this problem was deepfakes of copyrighted characters – people were using characters like Batman, Darth Vader, and more in their videos without permission. OpenAI seemingly secured a win on this front – Disney announced in December that they had signed a deal with OpenAI that basically removed copyright protections from their characters for Sora usage – but since the shutdown occurred before the deal went into effect, it clearly didn’t matter much.
The real problem: Sora was an enormous loss machine for OpenAI. During it’s 6-month lifetime, Sora has produced $2.1 million. Now, most would think that that’s not a bad figure by any means, but that’s revenue. Sora’s running costs were approximately $15 million a day – nearly 8 times its total generated revenue. Not profit. Revenue.
The news comes a breath of fresh air for most – it stands as a clear, public example of how theAI bubble is, in fact a bubble, and that GenerativeAI is, as experts have been saying, not the miracle technology that people and investors alike think it is. It will act as a reminder to all that hey, maybe we shouldn’t go around shoving AI in every little thing. With the recent RAM crisis (which is still ongoing) caused entirely by the exorbitant demand fromAI data centres, and how, slowly but surely,AI has been shoved into every corner of the tech space, despite it being patently, objectively worse than the older systems –this comes as a relief. It brings hope.
- Mohsin Nasir,
XII
Pneuma -TOOL
Aitebar - Vital signs
Sajni - Strings
Roi - Videoclub
Legendary Lovers - TV girl roshe. - Vasu Raina
Witches - Alice Phoebe Lou
Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
The patient - TOOL
Heaven's Gate - Amelie Farren
Dilshad - Yawar Abdal
JJaveda Zindagi - Kshitij Tarey golden hour - JVKE
Wierd fishes / Arpeggi - Radiohead forwards becokon rebound - Adrianne Lenker
Everything Blue - Tv Girl
Big Black Void - Tv Girl
Jal pari - atif aslam, Rohail hyatt
Paharon ki Qasam -Ali Zafar
Shazia Fida
Jammi Ul Khair
Abdullah Bin Zubair
Abdul Muqtadir Wani
Ahmed Abrar Giri
Bazilah Kirmani
Hadi Imtiyaz
Manahel Khan
Mariya Parvez Wani
Mohammad Saad
Mohammad Sawood Mir
Zaara Farooq
Zainab Iqbal
Content
Manahel Khan
Mariya Wani
Iqram Yeswi
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