The Accumulated Works of A Bored Genius

The following piece was written before Jan 8, 2014. Hence, this article is a little outdated but I'm still chronicling it here. This was my first political piece for Imprint (which was eventually put down by the censor board). The article never saw the light of the day under the banner or my university but that doesn't stop me from publishing it myself! :P :) Every democracy is built upon the fundamental commandments of equality and freedom. These are granted to all residents and citizens of that democratic nation so long as it does not infringe upon the fundamental rights of fellow citizens. The constitution of India is crafted with such a noble intent, however, as we all know, the human mind can work in devious ways. Give such a crafty mind the power of office that a democracy grants to elected representatives of the electorate, you have corruption. Now extrapolate this to the populace of India. You have 543 potentially corrupt politicians in the Lok Sabha alone. This is...

The following piece might, at times, get a little morbid. I'm writing this within minutes of hearing news that my grandfather has passed away. May his soul rest in peace. I've always wondered, sometimes aloud, what I would do if someone close to me died. I don't know if I would cry or if I would remain stone-faced. Will the people around me, by virtue of their collective sorrow, make me cry? Will I be a consoler or will I need consoling? I've also always wondered if someone came and cried to me, what should I say? What can I say? My parents have always protected me from these scenarios. I've only been to one funeral and I was at the place for only about 30 minutes. There are rules even there! Don't say, "Hi!", don't say, "Bye!" and so on. So I think I would just keep to myself. I just got off the phone with my mom. She was, obviously, quite shocked and was sobbing I believe. But I didn't know what to say to her! All I could muste...

This is an account of my first experience of Pongal celebrations in a typical South Indian village! :) This isn't the pongal pot... :P The week before we were to leave for Pazhur village for celebrating Pongal village-style, I remember wondering to myself whether or not I should be looking forward to it. In hindsight of course I can say, without a doubt, that I should've looked forward to it a lot more than I did back then! I was at my friend Maari's place the previous night for a party, so I came back home just as everyone was preparing for the day and a half expedition. Tired from the "party" at his place, I showered and crashed in bed almost as soon as I had changed. By the time I had awakened from my deep slumber, it was 1.30pm and everyone in the house was already filing out. I only had time to grab my phone and my iPod before I had to get to the van. We picked my uncle, +Bhoo Thirumalai  and my dad's colleague (at who's place we were goi...

Seems like AGES since I last posted on my blog. Frankly, I'm a little ashamed of myself. A lot has been going on in life, but then, who doesn't have something or the other in their lives to keep them busy right? Anyway, this is an experience I had recently when we were celebrating my friend's birthday. Birthdays are days when you want to be happy and want everyone around you to be happy, make you happy, etc. I know some people who will say, "Please surprise me! I like surprises on my birthday!" And on the other end of the spectrum there are people who will say, "Birthdays are just another day for God's sake! Can you please not make such a huge fuss about it?" Of course there are also people like me who organize birthdays for their friends almost every single year. I'm sort of used to it so much so that I find it irritating when I don't do something for someone. It sort of affects me emotionally. Don't know if I need a psychiatrist...

I presented this speech for the first round in the competition 'Talk Your Way to Japan'. Good morning/afternoon. I am Vishvak Kannan here to present the topic, “What answer does mankind have for plants starving without water?”I would like to start by quoting Mahatma Gandhi, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not for every man’s greed". All of us know how important water is. But do we ever stop and think about how we get the water in our homes? Do we wonder if our water consumption practices are hampering the growth and sustenance of plants? For a very long time, man has been at the pinnacle of many technological innovations and advancements. But in his hurry, he seems to have forgotten the other pristine forms of life that share the earth with mankind. We forget that we, being a part of nature ourselves, must work towards a mutually beneficial arrangement between nature and mankind. It is therefore imperative for us, as responsible citizens of...

Imprint article #2 - Letter to the freshman I guess this is redundant after my post " My First Year at SASTRA ". Nevertheless, I'm publishing it here! :) Dear faccha, Welcome to SASTRA University, one of the most student-friendly campuses around. Rest assured, it is one of the few places away from home that will actually make you feel at home. I remember my first day at SASTRA, or rather my first night, away from my parents. They had dropped me off at the hostel and I had 2 bags and a mattress to show that I wasn’t from somewhere close by. I tossed and turned and could hardly find sleep. I ended up dozing off during my first day at college, for the first time, though not for the last. Getting to know the layout of the campus might turn out to be a task to some of the freshers but I can assure you that it will take only a few walks around the campus and getting lost a few times to map it out. Personally, I think I will be able to connect to more hostel residents ...

I've always had this fascination for parlours, I mean hair spas not anything else. It stems solely from the fact that I had never (note usage of tense! :P) been to one, till today. I went to Naturals at Cantonement in Trichy this afternoon to get a "makeover". My cousin's marriage falls on the following Sunday, so I wanted to look my best! *toothy grin* So I woke up at around 9 a.m. and left my college by, around 10 a.m. after enquiring with my day scholar friend, +Veena Swaminathan  as to the whereabouts of Naturals in Trichy. I knew that there was one at this place called "Cantonement" but I didn't know how to get there and I wasn't very sure about the name of the place either. So I asked her where there are Naturals salons in Trichy and I found out that there were two more in Trichy - one in this place called "Kattur" and another in "LIC Colony". The latter was much easier to pronounce but she said it was better if I went to K...