Indian Institute of Students

"I must publicly laud the flair some people have got to create issues out of nothing. If evaluated analytically, PK preaches us to bust the business of those who exploit the afraid. The previous line is self-explanatory." I have a habit of browsing news channels whenever I get time. Some call it good; others tag me a "nerd". Yesterday, while browsing through the channels, I switched on to Times Now at prime time noon and rather found a shocking display: Right-wing activists vandalising multiplexes that screened 'PK' , a recent Aamir-starrer film. While this unfortunate incident occurred a few cities (Bhopal, Agra, etc.), it is common sense that such acts spread like wildfire. I am not paid by the ' PK' team, nor am I a hardcore purist. Therefore, I have scripted, what I feel is from a neutral perspective. In recent times, the RSS has stepped up re-conversion or ' Ghar Wapsi' programmes. These acts are not only uncalled for, but are also de...

L ittle do we recognize the value of our subconscious mind. This mind of ours has great potential, and almost everything that we do or react to eventually arises from our subconscious mind. Just that, it has to be played a trifle with. I will be sharing a hint from our daily lives, a fresh incident that is bound to amaze you. Read on, and you'll understand what I am really trying to say.     Representational photo.  Ramesh Ramaiah /Wikimedia Organisation It was three days back when I travelled to the town of Bandel to meet my grandparents who reside there. All well and good. Yesterday was the date to return. I boarded the Bardhaman-Howrah down train, and was surprised to find that most of the seats were empty. Quickly, I grabbed hold of a seat and in a moment was seated. Stations came, and they passed by. It was after the train passed Chandannagore station that a blind young man, probably in his twenties, boarded the same compartment and started playing a banjo-lik...

We all have a tendency to believe in "Murphy's Law": that everything we do will turn out wrong. Jean Claude has an interesting story about precisely that feeling.  A man was quietly eating his breakfast. Suddenly, the piece of bread that he had just spread with butter fell to the ground. Imagine his surprise when he looked down and saw that it had landed buttered side up! The man thought he had witnessed a miracle. Excited, he went to tell his friends what happened, and they were all amazed; because when a piece of bread falls on the floor, it nearly always lands buttered side down, making a mess of everything.  'Perhaps you're a saint', said one friend, 'and this is a sign from God' Soon the whole village knew, and they all started discussing the incident: How was it that, against all expectations, the man's slice of bread had fallen buttered side up? Since no one could come up with a credible answer, they went to see a teacher who...

Well, the title seems a bit odd, doesn't it? I'm definitely not going to write a long and boring article on how to get a kite which is strangled in a faraway tree but rather I'm going to share a short experience from one of the days of my life, and will tell you how to use the concept in your lives. So here it starts: I just had my shower, and combed my hair, when a sudden urge inside me uprooted me from the sofa in my dining room to my terrace. A gust of chilly wind struck down on me. I turned to see another part of the horizon, when I noticed there was a kite hanging on the coconut tree beside our home. Well, I'd be frank, I love "stealing" abandoned kites and kites that got stuck somewhere. And to my surprise, the thread (called "Manja" or "Manjha" in India) passed over our homes (actually, who doesn't like freebies?). That was it. I ran to catch the thread, pulled. Nothing. I tried to pull harder, but my palms got reddish more...

Being an author isn't a quite easy job. There are several barriers that can stop one from being an author. But that doesn't mean one who is capable of being an author cannot be an author. Being an author is not about fame. If someone writes to earn fame, he/she isn't a true writer. Often there are people who write to me asking that how he/she can be a writer. Whenever I get such a mail, I ask them when they wrote the last article, story, or (unpublished) book. Most reply with an attached article they wrote 6 months ago. This is not it. You cannot be a successful writer if you write once in 6 months or once in a year. You must embrace writing and reading habits. An author should write daily, even if his mood doesn't permit. Making writing a hobby is one of the best and easy ways to become a writer. Be open to criticism. Ask people whom you know to review your writing. Don't trust people who always remarks: "Good, well done!" but trust people...