What it's like to be a Reader

Whenever someone asks me what my hobbies include, I always say I like reading. But the truth is, reading is not just a hobby. Reading and books make up a fundamental part of who I am. To me, being a reader means never being lonely even if I’m alone. It means feeling things I would never feel otherwise. It means being able to understand people better because I’ve been in the minds of so many other characters.

The thing is, unlike a lot of hobbies, reading isn’t always relaxing. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to lose myself in a good book. But a great book takes me through a rollercoaster of emotions. I laugh when my favorite characters laugh. I cry when they cry. It might drain me emotionally, but it still leaves me with a smile on my face. No matter what goes on in my world, I know that if I ever need an escape, a place to just be, I will find that place in a book.

Another aspect of reading that I love is knowing there is a whole community of readers out there who are just like me. Every time I finish a book, I read the reviews written by other readers, and it makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself—that there are thousands of people out there who feel the same things I feel. There have been times when I’ve automatically bonded to people because of our similar reading lists and our love for books.

Right now, I’ve reverted back to my younger self by going on a fantasy/sci-fi novel binge—anything with magic, supernatural creatures or novels set in the future. Honestly, this quarantine is a great time to be a reader. When the days are just dragging, and I feel like I’m suffocating from being cooped up for too long, books help me find a way to breathe again. I can let my mind wander and have adventures. I read from the moment I wake up till I fall asleep. There are days when I forget the outside world, and my roommate has to remind me to eat. So if you feel like you need a break and are craving freedom, pick up a book and let yourself be swept away into a different world.

The Next Step in Life

Hey guys. Teju here. This is my first post after beginning college. This is also the first post from our blog that is quite personal but I'm sure that's a good thing because some situations are best told when related to. Our topic for the week is college decisions.

It's the end of November, syllabus are wrapping up in schools and this is around the time 12th graders apart from their board preps have to think parallelly about the big question -

"what's next".

College.

I'm sure you felt a shiver down your spine if you read that being a senior in school. Yes, it is indeed a very stressful period not only for you but also for your family. The pressure is kicked up a notch if you're a kid with an Indian heritage, thanks to extended family or even the milkman and mailman. Being able to answer the question "what next" becomes a daily routine. Some know exactly what they're going to do, and some (like me) are absolutely lost. Now I'm here to tell you, that's ok! I don't want to stuff you with facts and data but it is true that majority of school graduates are confused about what to do and where to go.

Living in India, I understand that schools might not provide the best support and guidance on college decisions. But it's something you need to do for yourself. 

1.  Ask yourself questions and research 

Start by asking yourself 

                                                   1. what you like,

                                                              2. what you don't like,

                                                           3. what you're good at, and 

                                                           4. what you're not so good at.

 Make a list. Once you're done with that, start researching. Spend sometime everyday looking up at different courses. Do it with a clear mind because you might find something about some courses that you never knew before.

2.  Subjects chosen in school

What you take in school doesn't necessarily have to be the stream you choose to take in college. This was my first mind block. Having chosen bio-math for my 11th and 12th, most people thought that I'd end up doing medicine or engineering. Bottom line, anything with science. I'm now doing my Bachelors of design in interior architecture and it has nothing to do with science. You have the option to choose from so much. 

3.   Does what I choose have good scope?

This is something I looked up for in each and every course I researched about. Yes, scope is an important thing but it isn't something that can be determined a cent percent. I know there is still this stereotypical mindset- especially in India- that engineers and doctors are the most successful professions. They are all wrong. We live in the 21st century and everything has a role to play in today's worlds. All you have to do is make sure you do your best at what you do and make sure you develop skills and knowledge down the road.

4.  Thinking from the perspective of a job

I know this comes under the previous topic but I wanted to stress on this one. What you take up in college might not necessarily be the job you do after college. I personally believe that education doesn't stop after college, you learn everyday. There are people who chose to do medicine and realise later their passion lies in design. Your degree doesn't necessarily speak for you, your knowledge and experience does.

5.  It's OK to ask for help

Sometimes everyone needs help. Only you can make the decision for yourself but you could definitely use some help to gain clarity not only in the decision you're making but also in yourself. Talk to your family and friends. Talk to your school graduates and see how they got help. You could even get some professional help if you need it; I did. There are plenty of career counselors out there and most even do sessions on Skype. 

These are just some things that helped me figure things out. I was reluctant at first to reach out but once I did, it really helped me figure out my passion and I've ended up choosing a path that makes me envious and excited everyday. Hopefully, this helps you guys too.

And if at all you want to discuss further with us, feel free to reach out anytime. 😁

Good luck and best wishes!💕

So Far So Great

Hey guys! This is Sindu. I know it's been a while but we were transitioning from school to college and getting back on track took quite some time.
If you've read my post on The Vampire Diaries, you must have understood the fact that I LOVE watching TV shows. And if you follow your TV lineup pretty closely (like I do), you'd know that the fall season just started and there are a lot of new shows that were introduced this year. I've watched a couple of them and well, So far so great! So for our comeback post, I'm going to be reviewing some of these newer shows. For our first show we haaave:

*drumroll*

You:

A lot of appealing factors with this one. If you're a Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars fan, you probably already know about this one. It stars Penn Badgley (lonely boy himself), Shay Mitchell and Elizabeth Lail. How do you know it's going to be good? Well lets see… Stalking.✔. Mystery.✔. Intrigue. ✔. Cast. ✔. Story. ✔. I could keep going. In a lot of ways it is similar to PLL and GG. If you've watched those shows you'd know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, well long story short, the main plot of both is that there is a stalker who influences the lives of the main characters. Though they are both different in their own way (one is more violent than the other), that's the main gist of it.* The thing that makes "You" different, is that the show is taken from the perspective of the stalker. Badgley's character, Joe Goldberg, plays the stalker (as usual) and we get to take a look inside his head. Throughout the episode we hear the little comments that we normally keep to ourselves. It's definitely interesting and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this show.

*On a side note, PLL is one of my absolute favorite shows. It's what got me hooked on TV shows in the first place. So if you haven't watched it, then go do that first.

Manifest:

Normally I read up about a show before I watch it, just so that I know what to expect. That didn't happen with this one. All I knew about Manifest, was that a bunch of people board a plane and arrive at their destination 5 and a half years later. That was intriguing enough to get me started. But I was so wrong when I thought that's all it would be. Once you start getting used to the whole 5 years later situation, BAM! They introduce a new plotline. And that was totally not something I was expecting. But it absolutely reeled me in. Apart from the main plot, the subplots with each character adds more drama to the show. Manifest started out so strongly. I can't wait to see what else they have in store for us.

With our serious shows out of the way, we can now move on to the fun stuff. The Comedies! First on my list is:

Single Parents:

Single Parents has a killer cast. Gossip Girl Alum, Leighton Meester, Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond, Taran Killam, Kimrie Lewis- Davis and Jake Choi star in this adorable sitcom. If you love kids, watch this show! If you love comedy, watch this show! If you love sitcoms, you know what you have to do! I know that's a strong recommendation for a show that only has two episodes out, but it really is that good. It had me laughing throughout. Raising kids is not easy and doing it as a single parent is even harder. But this group of parents and their kids, make it fun. And if you watch it, you'd know that It really does take a village!

I Feel Bad:

This was a show I went into with no expectations. I hadn't really seen anything else with the main lead in it. Needless to say, she didn't disappoint. It had a slow start to it but, it picked up pretty quickly. You can't help but relate to the main character, Emet (Sarayu Rao). The things she goes through are just so normal. They're certainly hilarious, but also normal. The relationship she shares with the people in her life is also pretty interesting. From her parents to her coworkers, everybody plays a unique role and contributes to her  life. in some way or the other. It's definitely worth the watch. 

Happy Together:

Happy Together does make you happy. It's hilarious. There are some shows which make you forget how much time goes by, when you're watching it. That's what happened with Happy Together. It was a little too fast paced at times and they definitely could have slowed things down in the middle but I think it will work out as the show progresses. The relationship between Jake (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Claire (Amber Stevens West) is sweet. Their chemistry is pretty great. And when Cooper James, the popstar, played by Felix Mallard, walks into their life, it certainly messes up their flow. It shakes things up for them but ends up being the best thing for all three of them. The show might have some trouble competing with the rest. It's too hard to say with just one episode but I'm hopeful that it will pick up.

That concludes my list for now, though there are so many more great shows that are being released this fall. The Emma Stone and Jonah Hill starrer, Maniac is already out on Netflix while more are on their way. There's The Vampire Diaries and The Originals spin-off, Legacies, the new Charmed reboot and Chilling Adventure of Sabrina, all coming out this month. As a bonus here are some returning fall shows that are on my must watch list. The Good Place and Mom are among the top of my comedies list while The Good Doctor and 9-1-1 are my drama picks for the season. 

What are your favorite shows? What's on your watch list? Leave a comment and let me know what you think and what your recommendations are.

The silent sweetheart with a magic brush...

Bonjour mes amis! This is Teju doing her first article for the blog. All these days I've been "behind the scenes" with the ideas and editing and finally here I am xD Like we've mentioned, we're going to be writing about various impressive talents from our school and this week we'll be covering an exceptionally unique talent. 

The beautiful maniac I'll be writing about today is ...

   M a h i s a   P a r t h i p a n 🤓

Mahisa has always been a person with a bag full of talents and was always found doing things not every girl would be interested in. Shifting between Taekwondo and beat boxing, the girl's now landed in face painting!

Mahisa got herself into face painting through the 'gates of boredom and loneliness' during the long break after 10th grade. All she did was scroll through Pinterest and voilà, there was something that looked amusing and she tried it out. 

        🤓 Pretty amazing right? 🤓

Most of the face painting Mahisa does is Fx make-up. Pinterest wasn't just her start factor, she says she fell in love with fx make-up because of its uniqueness and that was because of Pinterest. Later she started digging in deeper about Fx makeup and her sources grew from Pinterest to Instagram.

Mahisa, being an introvert, fx make-up to her is something beyond what we can see. According to her, it's a way for her to express the crazy and mysterious side of her and scare people. Mahisa hasn't decided on what to do after graduation but she says she might consider taking this stream seriously​ if the opportunity falls. But for now, it's her hobby :

    Like I mentioned earlier, something Mahisa was doing from before she got into face painting was Taekwondo​. Mahisa got inspired to do Taekwondo by seeing the unity amongst the teams and also for woman empowerment. She wanted to change peoples' minds to let girls pursue their dreams❣ I've got to say.. she's an incredibly amazing fighter! The girl's a real sweet bunny.. but that's only till you step in the ring😂 Mahisa's currently in her blue belt. She's been doing Taekwondo for 6 years and took a break after 9th grade to prepare for her boards. Mahisa's won 11 medals in total: District region -4 silvers and 1 gold ; South&west region -3 silvers ; National level -1 silver and 2 bronze.

In general Mahisa's interests are in sports like badminton, swimming, and ice and roller skating.Her other interests include making musical.ly  videos, singing and beat boxing. Mahisa isn't much of a reader but she's a huge net surfer. She loves looking up fun facts. She's also a huge pet lover and owns a cat❤

So Mahisa.. what else do you have for us eh?😉 Let's wait and find out...

Find her interesting?

Follow her on Instagram❣ 

@mahisa2009

https://www.instagram.com/mahisa2009/

The boy with a DREAM....

Hey guys!!! Sindu here. We just started our final year of school last week. So as a way to make the most of our last year, we're going to be writing about some extremely talented people we know. So first up we have Navneeth Rajendran, a self taught artist.

Navneeth is pretty amazing at what he does. Every time he draws, you can see him visibly relax. He truly has a passion for what he does. But he wasn't always so great at it. In his own words, he said that when he first started out, he sucked horribly.😂 But through the years he became exceptional.

Passion first struck him around the years 2004- 2006, through the form of Dragon Ball Z. But he didn't start drawing then. He first started drawing in the third grade after watching the Spiderman animated series. With lots and lots and lots of practice, this is the end result of his hard work. He has his own YouTube channel and posts a lot on Instagram. He's also in the midst of writing his own comic series.

But drawing is not his only talent. He loves directing and his inspirations include Guillermo Del Torro, Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock and Christopher Nolan. He would love to become a Director when he grows up. Though when it comes to filmmaking, directing is not the only thing he's good at. He's also amazing at editing and VFX. He has such a creative mind and a true passion for media.

 Navneeth also loves the videogame Undertale. Most of his favourite background music also comes from the game. Though his all time favs are Megalovania, Doomsday and Dovahkin. But when it come to songs, he has a much more varied taste. They include songs like See You Again, HELP, Stressed Out, Hurt,etc.

He's a major comic fan and absolutely loves creating stories. He's a joy to work with and is a truly amazing person at heart(though he has a pretty twisted sense of humour). I would be lying if i said this is just the beginning but you can expect great things from him. He will get his moment in the spotlight..... one day.....

Naveriptor X
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC1t2qOkjdV4U9cYYihjMtWg

TVD... Always and forever

Hey everybody. Sindu here. Well today's a pretty emotional day. We laid one of my favourite shows to rest today and it was indescribable.

After 8 years we had to say goodbye to the Vampire Diaries. I was 8 years old when it started and I hadn't even heard of it until I was 13. One of my best friends told me to watch it and said that I wouldn't regret it. So I did. I watched it. And that changed my life.

I started watching it only after the sixth season finale and I'll admit that I knew Nina was leaving before I even started the show. But it didn't change a thing. I never thought a show would be such a big part of my life but it was. And no matter what show I watched after it, nothing could ever compare to it. It was a journey that we were all a part of. We laughed when they laughed. We cried when they cried. We felt what they felt.

This is the first time that I have ever followed a show till it's end. And this will always be special to me for that reason. But Julie Plec gave a fitting ending to an epic show. And though it's over, it will live on in our hearts. Always and forever. #tvdforever

Dear Zindagi

 

Hey everybody!!  This is Sindu. So today Teju, another friend of ours and I went to see Dear Zindagi. Now, I'm not usually a fan of Hindi movies but let me tell you that this is a must watch. It was a refreshing change from many of the movies these days as it's really relatable to people. They talked about things that happen in real life. They faced the problems a lot of people suffer from, head on.

 

Something everybody loves to do is watch beautiful things. This movie is made up of beautiful actors and one of the major reasons to watch Dear Zindagi is because the acting of the cast members was spectacular. Nearly every single person has faced some problem in their life and this movie portrayed such problems in a very impressive way that helps you relate to it and makes you feel what they feel. During the most emotional scenes of the movie I found almost the entire theatre crying. And even though they made us cry it is a movie I would gladly watch again.

 

In conclusion, it's a movie that had it all: a good storyline, a great cast, amazing acting and a beautiful location. I highly recommend everybody to watch it. It's not one of those movies you would want to miss. And I assure you, it will make you say Dear Zindagi to your own life.