The Plan

Saptarishi Pandey | Mechanical | B.Tech 3

Mrityunjay M. Borah | Mechanical | B.Tech 4

Tanisha Tambi | Comps | B.Tech 3

It was Tuesday and Ramesh, in his soiled boxers, headed to the washroom with his toiletries. Unbeknownst to him, 1.609 kilometers away, a drone meticulously kept track of his movements. This particular drone was being closely monitored and its data was being analyzed by the ML experts sitting in the bunker of Kavi Medical Store. The well-established data recognition system could detect the yearold shampoo bottle in Ramesh’s hand, almost empty.

On Friday, Ramesh mindlessly scrolled through his phone, contemplating the pros and cons of taking a second shower in the same week — which, while not unheard of, would certainly have been unusual. Just then, his phone beeped. It was a new message from KMS: “Plz check out new shampoo at KMS. 40% off for students & free delivery.”

To Ramesh, who had spent the better part of the last 2 years doing his level best to be as green as possible, the two incidents might have appeared disconnected.

But they were not.

Over the past 2 years, several small-scale businesses with progressive leaders had seeped gradually, without notice, into the minds of the nation’s finest engineering undergrads. Foremost amongst these businesses was KMS — the one-stop shop for every need. Using state-of-theart technology, free delivery, and their seemingly innocent sales clerks, KMS was now the first choice for students when it comes to general goods. This enabled it to bypass single-use plastic regulations and profit off the high demand of certain single-use plastics near Valentine’s Day.

However, the road to profit had not been a walk in the park. KMS had to resort to what feeble minds might deem as unpalatable. But, in reality, these were completely necessary steps for its golden future and that of its subsidiaries — Bavarchi Xerox and Bunny Dom Stationaries. There were tough decisions to be made, yes, but they were required. KMS, like any other business, needed to ensure the continuity of demand for its cash cows — Ludomos and Dissleri, which is why a special breed of Columbian mosquitoes carrying a nonlethal (well, mostly non-lethal) strain of Dengue just had to be released near the hostels. Granted that the marketing stunt with the fake video (which went viral on WhatsApp group chats) might have been taking it a touch too far, but it had the right intentions. In any case, the person in-charge of that fiasco had already been moved to another department and wouldn’t be involved in any further marketing efforts. Bribing the hostel staff with Manchurian Khakhra was easy; the challenge lay in convincing expert researchers to downgrade their teaching abilities in exchange for 10% of profits off the book sales at Bavarchi. They were also ‘convinced’ to teach the same subject from different books, forcing gullible students to purchase all the available books. The expansion from the small nook to the binary Bavarchi earlier in the academic year was a testament to their booming business.

These were the thoughts that flew through the mind of KMS’ owner as he sat, reading his red hardcover copy of Mein Kough, with a singular earphone in his right ear. He let out a sigh of relief, safe in his knowledge of being the kingpin. As he pondered upon his moves for the next quarter, his playlist of death metal was interrupted by a shrill bang in his ear, followed by a muffled, ominous voice: “23:37, Murtea café. Bring the package.” These few words were enough to cause him to break out in a cold sweat. With shivering hands and jumpy nerves, he set his book down and started going through his monthly sales report, but not before setting an alarm for 23:00.

Rajshekhar Bhai had a seemingly innocuous face. He rode a bicycle to work. No student was ever afraid while casually admitting that they forgot their money back in their rooms, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. After all, who could ever expect someone like that to be the master puppeteer of the college? To be the one silently pulling the strings, hidden in plain sight.

It was 23:35 and Rajshekhar hummed as he walked down the stairs to enter Murtea Café, only to see a few of his henchmen already there. He sat, patiently sipping on his peach iced tea, waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. Tonight, he would reveal his next grand plan — a plan that would make him the most powerful man in not just the college, but the entire city. Finally, the last of his men, the owner of KMS arrived (a minute late). Rajshekhar made a mental note — “Strike two.”

The KMS owner began the meeting by informing Rajshekhar of the discoveries he made on his trip to the Chinese province of Wuhan last month. He then set his suitcase on the table and handed a pair of latex gloves and a safety mask to Rajshekhar, who opened the briefcase with a touch of reverence to reveal his prized possession, a souvenir from China — a dead bat.

“I d-did as you asked, but wh-what do you intend to d-do with this?” the owner of KMS stuttered.

“This, gentlemen, is the harbinger of a widespread disease-causing virus — the Kareena Virus,” Rajshekhar replied, grinning smugly.

“You won’t be affected; in fact, this shall bring in even more money for the likes of you. The only individuals who will be affected by this are the petty students, those stupid little souls who think they can get away by not paying me. The fact that my little virus will also result in the indefinite postponement of their measly excuse for a cultural event, Touch, is just the icing on what I am sure will prove to be a very delectable cake. They will never be able to escape from the Kareena Virus. No one will be Saif.”

Perspective is vital in appreciating any good narrative, and modern storytelling has redefined the art of narration. Breaking free from solely depending on its protagonist’s perspective to form its essence, it now draws our attention to the manner in which the story itself has been told. The movie Arrival is a notable example, where the narration of the storyline itself progresses non-linearly, akin to the nature of the language of the ‘Arrived Aliens.’ But no genre has so ingeniously captured the coherence of both form and function in the art of cinema as animated films have.

The manner and medium in which a story is told often trumps the story itself and Netflix’s Love Death Robots has provided a fitting instance of the same. With episodes ranging from 6 to 17 minutes, this anthology provides not only a roller coaster of storylines but also explores a range of art styles as diverse as their subject matter. It is a love letter to nerds, art enthusiasts, and patrons of all genres. And, in my opinion, it’s one of the few animated series where the story itself was Perceptional Swing Kapil Dedhia | Mechanical | B.Tech 2 Every time I find my judgements contradicting my beliefs, I read David McRaney’s blog turned book ‘You are not so smart’. Not that it aids my decision making; it just makes me feel dumb and human. We all like the idea that our judgements and decisions are rational and logical, but, that is rarely true. We are constantly under the influence of cognitive biases, believing only what ascertains our perspective, despite there being stark evidence to suggest otherwise. One interesting study to explain this is how weather affects the swing of a cricket ball. Anybody who watches test cricket must have surely heard commentators discussing that overcast and humid conditions are likely to aid swing bowling, or observed captains choosing to field first on a cloudy morning expecting to take early wickets. Many explain the rationale behind this to be that humid, heavy air creates turbulence on the rough side of the ball which generates a pressure difference causing the ball to move in the air or, in treated as an afterthought — which is, surprisingly, a good thing. What makes Love Death Robots more than just a binge-able series is not its versatile (and sometimes borderline absurd) storylines; it is how every episode is accompanied by its own unique art style, which closely resembles the story it attempts to narrate. The unexpected yet intuitive coupling of art and storytelling forces us out of the comfortable milieu where cinema (or any form of narration) is wholly judged by its content. It shifts our perspective to notice how the way in which we receive thought-fodder is as important as what it is. Mannerism, in many cases, serves not to replace content but to compliment it.

Take, for instance, the most popular episode deemed by IMDb: The Witness, in which, having witnessed a brutal murder, a woman flees from the killer. The art style is dramatic and electric, winding through the streets of a surreal city, giving us the same whiplash that the storyline gives us. Zima Blue narrates the story of a reclusive artist and his obsession with a cricketing terms, swing. This seems a pretty good explanation but in reality humid air is actually less dense than cold air. It is not a startling revelation, so why is almost the entire cricketing community conformed to this belief? One possible explanation of this is the repeated reinforcement of the belief that weather aids swing, often by the best swing bowlers and legends of the craft. It develops a confirmation bias that eventually leads to people recalling only those instances where the ball swung due to overcast weather and ignoring other instances where the same did not happen. There are studies dating back to the 1950’s showing that there is no real connection between weather and swing bowling. Dr. Rabi Mehta, aerodynamic expert and NASA scientist, has published numerous papers confirming the same, but the cricket community for some reason chooses to believe otherwise. Although Anya Trivedi | Comps | B.Tech 4

particular shade of blue — an obsession which is ultimately shared by the viewer. The story is narrated in a style that is both minimalistic, bold, and thoughtprovoking, much like the works of the protagonist. The unsteady marriage of industrialization and tradition is narrated beautifully in Good Hunting, using delicate Oriental scenic art, as well as with bulkily drawn industrial machines to prove a point.

Love Death Robots is one of the few animations that has successfully tied in unexpectedly detailed and diverse art with just as unexpectedly meaningful stories. Such narratives force us to change our perspective of cinema and to appreciate film beyond what it is attempting to explore. So maybe next time you decide to use binge-watching as a half-hearted distraction, it may be worthwhile to notice how the marriage of impressive ideas and visuals serve as a refreshing reminder of how sometimes

cinema is, quite literally, art. there is no scientific explanation to suggest the aid of weather in ball swing, statistical data does not adhere to the same. The average swing, in fact, is found to be more on overcast days. Why is that so?

This discrepancy can be explained using confirmation bias. On an overcast day, fast bowlers would try to bowl in a manner that aids swing bowling – bowling with an upright seam, or a captain would pick more number of fast bowlers so as to capitalise on the conditions. Although weather does not mechanically affect the swing, it is the decisions that players make due to their bias and their beliefs that has led to an entire community of professional sportsmen ignoring scientific facts.

What do we make of this interesting case study then? Well, as Mark Manson would say, “It doesn’t matter whether a belief is true or not; what matters is whether it’s helpful”. Renesa 15