Posts

"A Whisper In Your Head"

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  Dear reader, We’ve made it! Thirty days. Whew!              This will be my final entry for the 30 th consecutive day dear reader. Exactly thirty days ago, our professor Dr. S. Samuel Rufus suggested in class that we take up a thirty-day blog writing challenge. The rules are simple. Be consistent and have at least 300 words in each blog. Since we did not have any exams on the horizon, I signed up, along with a couple of guys from our department.       Now starting the blog, I was in high spirits. If you scroll down the blog, you can see my first entry, “The Mean Little Flower”. I had previously asked my professor some writing tips. He suggested that I find something that catches my attention, even if it be a silly thing. So yes, that was my first blog, the mean flower. I am very proud of that!      I have tried to keep my blog as much related to literature as possible. It was inte...

Keytaps And Pencil Strokes

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 Dear reader,         Since this will be the penultimate episode of my blog, I would like to provide my thoughts and suggestions on the art of creative writing. I do consider myself only as an amateur writer however I shall try my best to keep it as informative as possible.        One of the biggest problems that I faced (and still face) while starting a blog is quite the existential one. The question here being, “How do I fulfil my obligation to the reader to provide authentic and honest content? What right do I have to blog?”. To this one thing I would try is to be honest to yourself. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Whatever you are, be a good one”. It is imperative that one has to be honest about their feelings and thoughts, since it is art and you have the freedom to do so. Which neatly brings me along to the next question.       Style. Now this not something you need to necessarily develop ri...

Me At Chetpet Station

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      A peaceful afternoon here at Chetpet station. I'm waiting for a train. I have been to this specific station before and I have to say, it is really an underrated one. Underrated as in how surprisingly quiet and peaceful it is despite literally being in the centre of the city. Even my destination, despite being twenty kilometres away is extremely crowded and loud. But in here it feels like you have stumbled upon a station twenty years into the past. It is to be noted that the station has a beautiful lake on the north while there's a whole suburban neighbourhood to the south.          Silly me decided to go through the suburbs instead of taking the high road. Back home in our town, we have these houses built right next to each other with little to no gap between them, and no front yard. Some houses even share the same wall and would have these small trapdoor kind of windows for communication. Although new modern housing is replacing...

A Tribute To Our Villains

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  Dear reader,     When I say the word villain, who comes to your mind? Brutus? Iago? Moriarty? Queen of Hearts? Voldemort? Blofeld? Thanos? Joker? The list is quite endless. As much as we despise their very existence, there is always a little evil fairy within us that makes us celebrate their will and dedication. In this episode I aim to revere our beloved villains.     Not so recently I watched the Tamil film Jailer , I was not having too much expectations but it was just depressing to get through the whole film. The hero, Rajini, seemed more of a bully who constantly outwits the desperate petulant villain, who had zero control over the plot. This gave me a question; what makes a true villain? With my experiences with literature and films, let’s go through them.     There is a spectrum of villains who play their own roles within the plot. Take for example ‘Severus Snape’ from the Harry Potter series. When we are introduced to him ...

"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!"

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        Ah George Orwell! You just cannot escape the shiver down your spine when you hear the name. He has given us the darkest realities of our worlds, slamming with us the true nature of governments, political propaganda and even the gullible nature of the rest of us while we take up our roles in the system. If you are yet to know him, well congrats, ignorance is bliss dear reader!       After reading his novel  Animal Farm for my undergraduate, I thought it was a one-off experience which I didn’t wish to return, but here I am after getting the next blow from his novel, 1984. Would I recommend the novel? No. Will you read it either way. Yes.       For those confused, Eric Arthur Blair popularly known by his pen name George Orwell is famous for his dystopian novels, Animal Farm and 1984. Although he has several great works, today I would like to write about his pinnacle of work, 1984. The book was publ...

My Beloved Relic: The Fountain Pen

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  Hope you are having a great day dear reader!      What’s your weapon of choice when it comes to writing? It is a ballpoint pen? A gel pen? A pencil? Or like me, a fountain pen? Yes, it may seem old fashioned but for some reason I have this lovely relationship with fountain pens. The other day I spotted a classmate using a Parker fountain pen.   It was a great conversation starter since not many use them, at least not as much as ballpoint pens. STORY TIME!      Now since seventh grade our school made cursive compulsory, along with fountain pens, be it hero pens or the classic fountain pens. My dad gave me my first fountain pen. A bright blue plastic bodied Parker pen. It felt amazing in my hand, although I found it hard in the beginning trying to find the right balance. My clumsiness led to a sad death of my first pen and several others. On the bright side I had developed this unique kind of cursive handwriting that is complim...

A Bird Came Down

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Dear reader,    Yesterday on my "Internet Sobriety" challenge, I spotted a little pigeon who sought refuge at my window. For some reason I felt something magical surrounding this bird, so I kept watching.....         "A pigeon rested upon my window sill. Such a majestic bird! It looked at me with its blood red eyes making sure I do not pose any threat to her majesty. Although it's feathers were of an uninteresting grey, it is its neck that fascinates me. The neck has got a vibrant yet composed stroke of reflective purple and grey feathers which looked like it was stolen from a fish. She fixed her feathers, braiding her coat top to bottom. It seemed as though no feather was free from her extravagant fancy routine.         Oh wait, it looks at me now, I'm not a bad person dear pigeon, I promise. I'm just baffled by your beauty. Everyone thinks you look perfect in white. Well, no, you are complete when you wear black. I wou...