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Showing posts from May, 2020

5 Psychology Tricks to boost creativity and to get Smarter!

Well, what we all thrive for is the better versions of ourselves, smarter and wiser. Historically, the greatest of minds followed a bunch of habits that made the difference. They inculcated in their environments some of the eccentric behaviors that helped them remain above the edge. While we all are capable to do the same, we are actually tied back by impulsive urges and instinctive yearnings to which we aren’t able to say NO. Even though we know that we need to put in more time for activities like working on studies and assignments or some office work or even exercise, we find them not so appealing and instead end up on social platforms or content media or video streaming. That isn’t difficult for us. Enter, Dopamine. This neurotransmitter in our brain is responsible for how we feel. It makes us feel happy and motivated to do stuff. It drives us to repeat pleasurable activities. Activities that release a lot of dopamine makes you motivated to do it again and again. By contrast, when...

What's your favorite story?

  I am fascinated by short stories. O. Henry, Saki, Katherine Mansfield are some of my favorite short story writers.   Why you should start reading short stories? It gives a flavour of the genre and the writing style of the author. Because it is short, you can easily gather up the determination to complete the read. And it being short also helps to not invest much time on one author and can move seamlessly from one read to another.   Short stories also help to get back the habit of reading. If you’re someone who have lost the daily reading habit, such small bites of stories are enough to catch your attention and aid you to get back on track.   I have listed down 5 short stories that are great reads and will certainly add a rainbow to your day: The Open Window by Saki The Romance Of a Busy Broker by O. Henry The Daughters of the Late Colonel by Katherine Mansfield Crossing into Poland by Issac Babel The Monkey’s Paw by W W Jacob   Here I...

My Open Letter to O Captain, My Captain

First things first, please tell me that you’ve seen the movie `Dead Poet’s Society'. In case you haven’t then let me tell you, you’re missing a classic and you should watch it stat and if you’ve already seen the movie, then I hope you relate to the following open letter addressed to the main character of this movie, Professor John Keating.     Dear O Captain, My Captain; Well yes, I’m a slightly more daring. Where do I even start? You were a professor but you never gave in to conventional schooling and teaching which mostly teaches to rot learn but rather you had your own specific approach to teaching, which let’s be honest was amazingly refreshing, highly necessary and a definite eye-opener. The best high school teacher I’ve ever come across, one who equips you with a new perspective. You did the same by injecting the strict all-boys school with poetry, spirit and a dash of rebellion You taught those lads something which we can’t quantify because it’s priceless....

Love for Words! Love for Feelings!!

This time indulge yourself in all those feelings that you failed to express just because you couldn’t find a suitable word that could describe the feeling wholly. Let’s indulge! Have you ever felt a fervent desire for your homeland? Or an ardent longing for a home you can’t return to or one that was never yours but you still feel that longing for it? Well that’s best expressed by a Welsh word ‘ Hiraeth ’ (pronounced [hiraɪ̯θ] ). It’s not just the feeling that we explain through the word nostalgia, but much more intense than that. Up next is one of my favorite word and that’s ‘ Gezellig ’. It’s a Danish word pronounced as heh-SELL-ick. This word encompasses the heart of the Dutch culture as Dutch tend to love all things gezellig. Its meaning include everything from cozy to companionable, welcoming to comfortable, amicable to gregarious and cheerful to satisfying. It denotes the meaningful and delightful time spend with ones loved ones and family members or friends. So let me pai...

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LIBERAL IN INDIA?

Liberalism is built around the centrality of human beings: what is good for him or her is acceptable, what is not is not. In a liberal state the individual is the supreme and the state must work to enhance his or her potential. Therefore, the state will focus its activities on maintaining law and order, defence, physical and social infrastructure, health, education and a social safety net. In the words of Gopal Krishna Gokhle to be liberal in India is - “I want our people to be in our country what other people are in theirs. I want our men and women to be without distinction of caste and creed, to have opportunity to grow to the full height of their stature, unhampered by cramping and unnatural restrictions.” In my belief, we Indians are a little too rigid when it comes to moving ahead with the times. In an age when there are bigger problems like pollution, population, inflation, etc. to deal with, we are still stuck on issues that prevent us from being a truly free society. On...

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM: A WAY FORWARD

The sensational world of media and journalism has witnessed many tragedies over the time. The freedom of thought and speech displayed by some courageous journalists, have ended in grim fatalities. Here I present to you what investigative journalism is, and nature of steps we need to take to promote and strengthen it. Well, we all know about how news, telecasts are contrived to serve the whims of those who are powerful and thus depriving the common masses of the correct information. Freedom of press and journalistic ethics has been treated as a part of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution. Still, time and again, these rules have been breached. For instance, some of you might remember the sting operation by CobraPost (an acclaimed Indian non-profit news website and television production house), called Operation 136. The series of investigations under this operation exposed many Indian media houses willing to peddle Hindutva, which c...

SEVEN, NOT SO KNOWN SONGS THAT YOU WOULD LOVE INSTANTLY!

So it’s clearly an era of remixing songs, mostly those songs which were originally good and really fun to listen to on their own. But some folks like to remix and remake them and in the process the songs lose their original lustre but in some cases songs even become more entertaining. But the former happens quite more often than the latter, in my opinion. If you aren’t a musician, don’t even play any instruments or aren’t a singer either, even then music would be an integral part of your day-to-day life. And even as I’m editing this article, I’m listening to music. Music helps when you want to celebrate, when you want to dance like no one’s watching or even when you just want to unwind and relax after a hectic day. And as the saying goes, “Without music, life would be a mistake” So let me share some of my not-so-known music gems and guys don’t make a mistake by not listening to all of these. • CityLife – By Raghav Meattle Raghav Meattle is an Indian Singer-Songwriter who i...