It is no secret that light skin is favoured more than dark skin throughout India. We’re so bound by these insatiable constraints of beauty standards that it has blinded us. Mere skin tones have become the basis of beauty. TV adverts further perpetuate this notion. There are numerous fairness creams and the way they are marketed gets more and more disturbing each day. Parents often worry over their children getting tanned from playing outside in the sun; this has ingrained the idea that dark skin is unsuitable.Mainstream media has also contributed in setting unreachable beauty standards. It gives more consideration to models and actors with fairer skin and the ones with darker skins are photo shopped . In our generation media influences a very large audience comprising of all age groups and mainly teenagers who are already bundled with insecurities .When these teenagers are exposed to such mainstream ideals of beauty which centre around lightskin, they begin to question their origin. Who sets these standards? Is it the ads? Or the society?

In a country like India which consists of more dark skinned than light it is irrational to promulgate such unattainable models of “so called ” beauty .To sum up the colour that we are born with should be worn as a badge of honour rather than a tag of shame. Let us be proud of what we are born and naturally gifted with, and shed all futile notions about outer beauty.

***

B e a uty has to do with confidence and an abundance of self love. “
- T h e L i t e r a t u r e C l u b

Mirandola, a European philosopher of 15th century quoted the following in his writings:
”Just as bodily energy is strengthened by gymnastic exercise, energy of mind becomes far stronger and more vigorous by attending the exercise of debate”.

Speaking, maybe in any form, interpersonal, small group, public speaking, has been of paramount importance in the past and the same notion is very popular in the present too. Because as we speak we not only enlighten others around us but we also develop our own mind.

Every now and then you would hear anecdotes of your kin facing an important job interview or appointment and likewise remarks on the bold confident way or nervous manner with which he/she handled it. When I heard these I understood one thing crystal clear, for a sound and successful life one must patiently learn the art of confident and powerful public speaking. So how to learn this secret that will lead you to wonders? That will enhance you as a person? Parents and young readers take note that the process of speaking up must begin from early age. One must be active in questioning and answering and healthy, friendly conversations with classmates. Above all consistent reading, step by step can be inculcated, so you are knowledgeable enough to be capable of intellectual speaking. It is better late than never.

You must always take part in class discussions, debate competitions, extempore, individual speeches etc. so you can absolutely hone your speaking skills. The key is to never hesitate and overcome stage fright .Some of you might raise the point of inadequate opportunities in class. I would say you yourself must initiate and work harder for the change you want to see in yourself. Haruki Murakami has quoted “Communication is civilization. What is not said or expressed is lost and it’s true that you are only known for what you communicate”.

- Prajwal Sharma(XII-D)

Why it’s time for the saga of friend-requests and likes to be over...

It should come as no surprise really. We’ve all known for a long time that whatever we put on social media is being used for targeted advertising. And yet, when the news broke that the data of 50 million Facebook users was taken without their knowledge, and used for psychological manipulation, we were horrified. How did it happen? Why did Facebook not protect us?

People are blaming that Facebook ‘sold’ data of these users out of which 5.6 lakh were Indians- to a statistical firm Cambridge Analytica; which is not the truth. Rather, this firm purchased the data from another company who had built a Quiz app that went viral. Now this Quiz app had the data of users (and some of their friends’) because users agreed to give it. (remember the friendly button of ‘Log-in with facebook’ ? yes, that one).

But the CATCH is first, users were not exactly aware what they were consenting to, which is fair. And second, privacy details ,that we, users agreed to share are protected by Facebook terms- which dictate the Quiz app wasn’t allowed to store the data for a long term and not at all SELL it to a 3rd party(C.A), which by the way is exactly what happened!

Social Media websites have so much data about you: your private conversations ,location , preferences ,family details...the list is endless..imagine, for a moment, that you had a friend who knows this much about you. Someone who knows everywhere you go, what you fear, what you want, who you hang out with, how happy you are at any given moment.

They could be an amazing boon to your life. Or they could be a nightmare. It all depends on what they do with the information, and how well you can trust them with it. And now that this scandal has unfolded, it definitely seems to be the latter one.

Now since we’ve been sipping the “Facebook-friend” juice for so long, it’s legitimately scary to quit. How will you know what events are going on? How will you know if something big happens in your friend’s life? How will you stay in touch with people?

The simple answer is... all the ways we did for the last 100,000 years. Talking to people. Being an active consumer of information and knowledge about your friends’ lives. But it would still be fair to ask: why bother? If we keep aside the personal benefit, what’s the harm ? Well, it’s all about the the worth of your data and its privacy,and as pointed out earlier, in wrong hands it could a bring a drastic and wrongful change in national and international issues in future .That’s why quitting Facebook matters: it sends the message that companies can’t, and shouldn’t, try to have that much power over our lives. That if other companies try this in the future, they’ll get punished for it.

Thus , the ironic tag #deletefacebook on Facebook itself should be realized, for once and forever.

- Raksheta Raman (XII-D)

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines gender roles as "socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women".

People suffer from many kinds of diseases but the disease of over-thinking is the one which ruins everything-from contentment to peace of mind. Overthinking is generally assumed as the phenomena of fabricating and conjuring problems that do not happen to exist normally. There is no harm in admitting it,most of us overthink,and till a certain point it is alright but when you overthink, your judgments get cloudy and your stress gets elevated. You spend too much time in the negative. It can become difficult to act. There is a fine line between a considerate amount of thinking and over-complicated thought processes. Throughout history , it has been established that excessive worrying can affect the human body and even lead to anxiety and depression. Some suffer this ‘disease’ because they aren’t ready for welcoming the positive thoughts in their minds.Lack of awareness ,lack of confidence, inability to accept reaity and being a constant worrier play a major role in making us over think.

Solutions? Many.The best way to alienate this disease is to train yourself to believe to let go what we can’t change and accepting overthinking is certainly not the solution. Distraction towards happiness by taking time off racing thoughts; Abandoning being a perfectionist and sticking to giving your best and facing failures are some of the best way to counter the problem.

“ Don't think of what can go wrong, but what can go right.”

Mirandola, a European philosopher of 15th century quoted the following in his writings:
”Just as bodily energy is strengthened by gymnastic exercise, energy of mind becomes far stronger and more vigorous by attending the exercise of debate”.

Speaking, maybe in any form, interpersonal, small group, public speaking, has been of paramount importance in the past and the same notion is very popular in the present too. Because as we speak we not only enlighten others around us but we also develop our own mind.

Every now and then you would hear anecdotes of your kin facing an important job interview or appointment and likewise remarks on the bold confident way or nervous manner with which he/she handled it. When I heard these I understood one thing crystal clear, for a sound and successful life one must patiently learn the art of confident and powerful public speaking. So how to learn this secret that will lead you to wonders? That will enhance you as a person? Parents and young readers take note that the process of speaking up must begin from early age. One must be active in questioning and answering and healthy, friendly conversations with classmates. Above all consistent reading, step by step can be inculcated, so you are knowledgeable enough to be capable of intellectual speaking. It is better late than never.

You must always take part in class discussions, debate competitions, extempore, individual speeches etc. so you can absolutely hone your speaking skills. The key is to never hesitate and overcome stage fright .Some of you might raise the point of inadequate opportunities in class. I would say you yourself must initiate and work harder for the change you want to see in yourself. Haruki Murakami has quoted “Communication is civilization. What is not said or expressed is lost and it’s true that you are only known for what you communicate”.

- Prajwal Sharma(XII-D)

Why it’s time for the saga of friend-requests and likes to be over...

It should come as no surprise really. We’ve all known for a long time that whatever we put on social media is being used for targeted advertising. And yet, when the news broke that the data of 50 million Facebook users was taken without their knowledge, and used for psychological manipulation, we were horrified. How did it happen? Why did Facebook not protect us?

People are blaming that Facebook ‘sold’ data of these users out of which 5.6 lakh were Indians- to a statistical firm Cambridge Analytica; which is not the truth. Rather, this firm purchased the data from another company who had built a Quiz app that went viral. Now this Quiz app had the data of users (and some of their friends’) because users agreed to give it. (remember the friendly button of ‘Log-in with facebook’ ? yes, that one).

But the CATCH is first, users were not exactly aware what they were consenting to, which is fair. And second, privacy details ,that we, users agreed to share are protected by Facebook terms- which dictate the Quiz app wasn’t allowed to store the data for a long term and not at all SELL it to a 3rd party(C.A), which by the way is exactly what happened!

Social Media websites have so much data about you: your private conversations ,location , preferences ,family details...the list is endless..imagine, for a moment, that you had a friend who knows this much about you. Someone who knows everywhere you go, what you fear, what you want, who you hang out with, how happy you are at any given moment.

They could be an amazing boon to your life. Or they could be a nightmare. It all depends on what they do with the information, and how well you can trust them with it. And now that this scandal has unfolded, it definitely seems to be the latter one.

Now since we’ve been sipping the “Facebook-friend” juice for so long, it’s legitimately scary to quit. How will you know what events are going on? How will you know if something big happens in your friend’s life? How will you stay in touch with people?

The simple answer is... all the ways we did for the last 100,000 years. Talking to people. Being an active consumer of information and knowledge about your friends’ lives. But it would still be fair to ask: why bother? If we keep aside the personal benefit, what’s the harm ? Well, it’s all about the the worth of your data and its privacy,and as pointed out earlier, in wrong hands it could a bring a drastic and wrongful change in national and international issues in future .That’s why quitting Facebook matters: it sends the message that companies can’t, and shouldn’t, try to have that much power over our lives. That if other companies try this in the future, they’ll get punished for it.

Thus , the ironic tag #deletefacebook on Facebook itself should be realized, for once and forever

- Raksheta Raman (XII-D)