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Why is the Moon White?

(The origin of this tale of fantasy shall remain a whimsical mystery. The reader is requested not to delve into scientific facts and read the story with the same curiosity as a child does and perhaps begin to question the world the way a child does.) As all tales would stereotypically begin, this one begins once upon a time. When I expressed the title of the tale, there were excited suggestions if milk or paint was spilt on it. I would not have expected any less from an audience who was two and three-quarter years old. The tale begins when the universe was the young. It was an age when Earth was unpolluted and unblemished. It was an age of the balance between harmony and chaos. It was the Age of the Planets. It was the age when planets had a voice and they could speak to each other. The Universe was a big family of brothers and sisters. The black holes were the brothers and the stars were the sisters. Some sisters had a family of their own which was called a solar system. Each so...
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Kottayam, Kumily and the 'Little' Pleasures and Joys of Life

Mangalore was getting ready to set into the month of May. The semester exams had come to an end and everybody in the class let out a huge sigh of relief. We had two solid months of vacation and everybody had plans to scoot off home. I, on the other hand decided to put good use to the two months of vacation. My travels began on 4 May 2015. My first trip was to Kottayam and then on to Kumily. The journey began at three in the morning. I had to catch the first train out of Mangalore to Kottayam. I was never an earlybird and getting up in the morning was way too painful. But then the thought of not reaching Kottayam made it all the more painful. The alarm screeched at three in the morning and I was too stoned to wake up. I dragged myself out and packed my bags. I was ready by four and I walked out toward the road. The whole place was deserted, as always. I was hoping to get an auto rickshaw which proved futile. I walked four km to the station at four in the morning. Fortunately and Unfort...
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The Uncertain Beginning

In the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray Gone from the path direct: and e'en to tell It were no easy task, how savage wild That forest, how robust and rough its growth, Which to remember only, my dismay Renews in bitterness not far from death - Canto I,  Inferno , Dante As is, with every blog post, I begin this one with the aspiration of writing regularly which I have failed to do so. I shall, however, endeavour to be committed to posting content regularly. Perhaps, I should begin with explaining my journey from Mangalore to the moment I am typing out this post now. I had hopped, skipped and jumped out of Mangalore with memories of long drives, misty mountains, sun-kissed beaches, scintillating yakshagana performances, mouthwatering seafood and of course with a Masters degree as a footnote amongst the memories. I had moved west from Chennai and I decided to throw caution to the wind and refuse an MPhil offer fr...
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Location: Aberdeen, UK
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Do Students have a Voice?

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A teacher effects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops - Henry Adams In the past two days there have been several viral reports of gender biased sexist rules in a so called prominent college in Mangalore. A college which goes by the motto 'Lucet Et Ardet' which means 'Shine to Enkindle'. Now this was rather unexpected of a college of such caliber. It was unexpected of the college I had studied in to come out with such regressive and archaic rules which in no particular way seems to 'enkindle'. I would rather call myself a 'migrant' student who moved from Chennai to Managlore to pursue my higher studies. The atmosphere I had encountered at this college was one of the most liberal ones that i had experienced over nine years of my college life. As most of you might know most of the colleges in Chennai are notoriously popular for their extremely oppressive and draconian rules that are imposed upon the students. I have also been a victi...
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A Journey to visit the Clouds

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It was the 13th of June 2015. Dantis had sent a message that he had boarded the train from Kanhangad . It was late in the afternoon. The summer heat was sucking me dry. The refrigerator and the air conditioner were my constant companions. Nithya had called me for her birthday party in the night and I had to go to the church before the party. The heat was making me lazy and I dozed off on the sofa with a glass of cold Frooti on the table and a book in hand. An hour later I woke up with a jerk, and realized that it was time to go to church. I rushed off to the bathroom, took a bath and few minutes later I was riding my trusty Thunderbird towards the church. I parked the bike outside the church and walked. Just then Nithya came out of the church and asked if I could give a ride to her home as dinner had arrived. We towed the hot box into the kitchen, opened it, and inspected its contents. It looked and smelled great. We want back to the church and the priest was still droning on. I...
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Making Acquaintances with Mangaluru

The first thing that struck me about Mangalore was the slow pace of life. The whole city seemed to be in sync with a slow monotonous walk. The college, the people, the shops , the buses! Nobody seemed to be in a hurry. You wouldn't find buses running at six in the morning or after nine in the night. Tea shops which I knew to be open throughout the night used to shut down by ten. College started only at nine in the morning and closed in the late afternoon at around three. The initial few months were a little difficult to digest. The city was far too small to be called as 'city'. I could almost walk around Mangaluru in a little over four hours. The initial few days went on with the exploration of the city, its malls, beaches, restaurants. Midnight walks were lonely as the roads were entirely deserted. The whole city looked like a ghost town. A nightlife in the city was non existent. The initial few days in the college were a little dry. Shinoj was the name of the guy sitt...
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Moving to Mangaluru and more!

In July 2014, I never had a thought of moving out of Chennai. My admission to Loyola was denied and I didn't have any backup plans. A few minutes of thinking and I recalled my journey with Leo to Mangalore. I remembered that there was a Jesuit Institution by the name St. Aloysius College. A few phone calls later, I had decided to move to Mangalore in a matter of few minutes. I had booked my train tickets and I was on my way to Mangalore the very next day. Being a Loyolite one would know that the admission procedure in Loyola is quite a long process involving a written examination and a personal interview, after which the result would be published online. That was where Aloysius had caught me off guard. I reached the college at 9 and I was asked to meet the Principal for admission. I was told the Principal would be available only at 9 30. While waiting to meet the Principal I saw a rather stern looking priest who was staring at every student who walked in late. It looked as thou...
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