Posts

The Merchant of Venice: An Alternative Ending

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  Hey everyone and welcome back to #faltufriday of month(I lost count). Oh wait it's month 31!! Every last Friday of the year I author a completely random post which relates to my personal life. I read studied The Merchant of Venice for nearly 2 full years during my academic life. Contrary to the popular opinion of most students, it was a good play.  I for one really enjoyed reading it for 2 years, anticipating it's ending, and it was one fine Friday, about 3 months before my board exams when I flipped the last page.  And it was NOT what I expected. I was plain disappointed to read the last line - especially because GRATIANO said the last line. My brain went: " No. Just no. Nuh uh. They did not just. WHY HIM. OVER NERISSA?? THEY WERE'NT EVEN THE MAIN PLOT. Bruh " (yeah that's pretty accurate) So, I thought, why not come up with a few alternative endings(to the abridged version we studied) myself? Just a disclaimer: This post in no way a critic of the original...

Mask off: Insecurity On.

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Hello everyone! Welcome back <3  The novel coronavirus pandemic came as a bolt out the blue. With schools, shops and public places closing down, fear had filled the air. At the beginning of the global crisis, we were all forced to adapt to a “new normal”. Online activities rose and masks became the new uniform. However, 3 years down the road, with scientific advancement, we were able to reduce the spread of the virus, so much so that we've reached a 'mask optional' stage. While this is a relieving fact for many, not so much for teenagers of this age.  The reason: Insecurity. This fact may sound dumb to most of you, it's a reality that people are insecure of having their masks off.  Acne, puberty, social expectations and several other image conscious factors are a major contributor to this feeling.  Many people were glad to be wearing masks to cover these features of theirs that they were embarrassed of; and finally having a valid excuse. It served as a blanket ag...

Phone Addiction!

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Hey everyone! Welcome back :) Today's post is based on something nearly every single person presently suffers from: ✨Phone Addiction✨ We've all heard of the surveys that show the average amount of time a person spends on their phone. Recently, the numbers in India have risen up to 4.5 to 5 hours. And this is just the average of all age groups. Ask a teenager what their screen time is and I can guarantee you it would be no less than 6 hours (some exceptions included of course). 6 hours is the mean time people spend ideally sleeping or in school. (Okay enough with the emphasizing ; you get the idea - we spend an obnoxious amount of time glued to our phones.) But the real question is, Why? Simply, the applications. Teens who have active social media apps are 90% more likely to spend their majority time on their phone as compared to someone who has an imposition on these apps.  A secret that most developers don't reveal is that these apps are literally designed to keep you hook...

I asked ChatGPT to Write Me a Blog Post

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 Hey everyone! Welcome backzo :) I'm sure we're all familiar with the AI craze going through the charts with the introduction of ChatGPT right? As a fellow AI enthusiast, I have spent a significant amount of time experimenting with it which gave me an idea - why not ask it to write me a mental health blog post? Through this post, I'm going to share the response I got, and throw a little lime light on if it could replace artists once and for all. Without further ado, I present to you, the blog post! Teenage years can be a challenging time for many individuals. It is a period of transition, as adolescents navigate the physical, emotional, and social changes that come with growing up. Unfortunately, this transition can also come with its fair share of stress and mental health concerns. In this blog post, we will explore some of the common mental health issues that teenagers may face and offer tips on how to support them through this critical time. One of the most prevalent me...

CS is a Funny Subject

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"Ugh I can't solve this right now, I'll do this as homework." The homework: Stuck to the computer, Eye power going up, “Come outside for dinner” 2 minutes hours - Let me just finish this mock-up! Decoding at two in the morning, With a cup of coffee at the side , How did I fall in love with the subject? Okay, I tried! System.out.println(); Or print(‘I’m gonna win’); The inevitable battle between Java and Python, It’s 3am. Why am I hearing a violin? Gah! This code is killing me, I’m just gonna go sleep now. Binary code and The Matrix in my mind, The answer came up in my dream somehow? Hopped on to the computer, Single handedly making the coffee industry a billionaire, Ladies and Gentlemen, she’s solved the code! It’s time to get out of your sleepwear. From “Hello World”, To a 10th grade ‘Tech'- Tac Toe, A 3 line code, Became a kilo. Can’t wait to study this in the future, Probably going to get a lot worse, But Hey! It pays off at the end It makes your brain a lot m...

Rejection.

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 Hello everyone and welcome back! Rejection. Hmm. No matter the context, we've all faced this at some point. And regardless to say, it's often led us to spiral into a slump and ultimately give up. Personally, I've been through the same (multiple times), but only my most recent one proved to be otherwise.  The reason: Keep reading! I promise to try my best to keep this post from sounding like a Ted - Talk but nevertheless, I wanted to share with y'all in today's post: Why it's good to face rejection at times. Frankly, getting rejected made me  realise that the rejection was simply an opportunity to do Better and Bigger. It helps you perceive a situation from a new point of view: One which is opposite to the approach you had initially. It's a method of getting (maybe not so impressive) feedback on yourself but giving you the opportunity to better yourself and stand structured criticism. Another important point to note is that it reminds you that you are a huma...

Taking Breaks.

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 Hey everyone!  Welcome back <3 A couple of month's ago, I had authored a post titled " The Importance of Mental Health Days ", which led me to write on today's blog post. Taking Breaks: Something which we either do extensively, or choose to blissfully ignore until we burn ourselves out :) I've always had a lot of people ask me how I stay so productive, managing academics, blogging and other extracurriculars. Truth is, I learnt it the hard way.  When I was in 6th grade, I was the biggest procrastinator you could ever meet.  I'd put things off until a day before the deadline, and rush to complete them in a haphazard manner, which obviously did not have great outcomes. Jump to 9th grade, I set onto the journey to buckle up my grades.  What I didn't take into account in the beginning was that I immersed myself so much in my studies, that I cut back on the other part of my life.  And naturally, this led to burn out plenty of times.  Only after I began b...

New Year Resolutions.

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 Hello everyone! Welcome back to a fresh new year!! Who hasn't tried their luck at new year resolutions? Most of us have probably drawn up a list of things we want to accomplish in a year but failed to stick to it, even through January.  What a lot of you may not be aware of is that this can be directly linked to your Mental Health. So, I thought to myself, what would make a better first of the year than this? Without further ado, let's get to it! Why do New Year Resolutions not work out?  A lot of times our goals are shaped by what society expects of us.  An example of the same:  The iconic, 'I'll start gyming everyday'. Some people do this for their own satisfaction, whereas others do it to match societies idea of the 'perfect image'.  I've always been a strong believer of, jo bhi kar rahe ho, apne liye karo. Do what suits you best, for yourself - not others.  Another reason why new year resolutions may not work out is because its unrealistic. Say yo...

Mental Health Movies: Bollywood Edition

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 Hey everyone! Welcome back to month 29 of #faltufriday and the last one for this year! As many of you are aware, I am HUGE fanatic of movies, and even more of Bollywood.  For this month's Faltu friday, I thought why not cover my two favourite spheres: Bollywood Movies and Mental Health! I'm gonna try my best to keep off spoilers so without further ado, Let's get to it! Firstly, I have no idea why half the people I've spoken to haven't watched this film.  It's an incredibly heartwarming and comedic film with a really good turn of events in the middle.  I'm not that great at critiquing movies, but Sara Ali Khan's acting in this movie was spectacular and Akshay Kumar's role and acting was...epic. Definitely worth a watch - 10/10 would recommend  When we think of movies that involve Mental Health in Bollywood, Dear Zindagi tops the list. Most of us have probably watched this film, but if you haven't, I would recommend you to - it's a really nice...

Coloring and Mental Health

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  Hello everyone and welcome back to the last 'informative' post of the year!! We've all probably heard of the saying, "Coloring is therapeutic", right? We associate it with that word mostly because when we perform it, it calms us down. The reason behind the same: When we colour, our mind is fully engrossed in it, trying to get everything in line and perfect form that it blocks an anxious thing out of our brains. We fully focus on the art. But did you know, there's more to this? It has an immense effect on your mental health too! Without further ado, let's find out how :) Though there isn't an extensive research on this particular topic, evidence suggests that coloring can greatly reduce your stress levels. It can provide little relief temporarily to let your mind find some ease and relax and then go back to a stressor and approach it with a different perspective. 'Adult coloring books' acts as an alternative to meditation. Living in the presen...