Frames of Me

  Hello people! Y'all know, and for those who don't know, today's match was between CSK and DC. With regard to today's match, I was both disappointed and amused. To begin with the disappointment part, of course, I was disappointed that CSK faced their first defeat in the league. Especially, at moments like Rahane getting out at 45 and a point where Mukesh took back-to-back wickets, I became really down. I didn't get to watch the first few overs, but I heard that the first two wickets were lost for 1 run each. This was not CSK's day after all I guess. But to be honest, after the 4th wicket fell, I was eagerly waiting for Dhoni's arrival, but he arrived when the 6th wicket fell. At that point, I felt a little silly. I think this was the main point I am going to be discussing about. When Dhoni came, the whole stadiun was filled with cheers of hope. Especially when Khaleel missed his catch, hope was really high that 'Thala' was going to make use of this ...

  Hi folks! Recently, I got to watch one of Tarantino's remarkable entries into his filmography, 'Inglourious Basterds'. I've heard quite a lot of rave reviews about the film from cinephiles, most of them being Tarantino fans. The film's one-liner itself hooked me to the film and incited interest in me to go check the movie out. The plot of the movie is this:  Lt. Aldo Raine, a black ops soldier along with his crew of Jewish-American soldiers sets out to kill Nazi soldiers and finally Hitler himself. On the other hand, a Jewish theatre owner, too, has plans to massacre Nazi Germans while they are attending the premiere of a German propaganda film. What happens next and did their plan work out or not forms the crux of the film.  Spoiler Alert! Now frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed with the film. It is a historical fiction, and what intrigues with historical fiction is, you cannot alter history, but still, manage to weave a fictitious tale without taking t...

  Hello people! Is everyone around you trustable? Is everyone in this world acting only in your best interests? Well, quite not. We all know that we have adversaries in our life. If not, we haven't grown full mature. If you are growing and if there are people against you, then its an indication that you are developing.  It is not very difficult to tackle your adversaries. The problem is, identifying one. That is the harshness of this world. Both friends and adversaries look alike. It is quite difficult to identify who is your friend and who is not. If everyone around you seems to be good and kind-hearted, it could only mean two things: one, you are not upto the mark or two, you are not cautious enough. The best way to identify an adversary, is to identify hypocrisy. We ought not come to a conclusion of a certain person only with respect to how he/she is acting towards us, but from various other aspects. You may think that if this much scrutiny is needed for just interacting wi...

  Today, we staged our play for the second time at SRM, the first being at Selaiyur Hall in MCC. From the start, we actually had a lot of problems. Firstly, the rehearsal began 20 minutes later than expected. Then, my phone got misplaced but luckily I found it back.  Many of us weren't able to get to the station on time. Some of them had to come by two-wheeler. But finally, we managed to reach the place on time. And, we actually put up a great show and received standing ovation. Not to flex, but we were told that we made MCC proud. After that, they had arranged dinner for us. But some of them couldn't stay back and had to leave. The rest of us stayed back and had our dinner. But unfortunately for us, just as we were opposite the station, the train left. We waited for half an hour, got our train and got home. It was pretty hard, but to be honest, it was a great experience. I got to learn a lot. It was really a personality enrichment for me. The time we had in the train, it was ...

  Hello everyone! Giving up is so easy. If at all you feel like you have done enough or you can't go further because you have not the skill, this is the path everyone takes. What I feel is, whenever one feels like he/she is about to fail, it is best to continue what one has been doing so far with the same level of intensity, because that is the time when one knows about his/her own level of temperament.  I would like to mention here today's match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. The Sunrisers were on Cloud 9 after posting such a record-total, while it was quite evident that it is too difficult for Mumbai. Yet, they gave a good fight and lost the match only in some 40 runs or so, I guess. It's their game that made me curious. Each and everyone, even after they knew that they were fighting a lost battle, gave their everything. Because their aim was to increase the run rate. It's good to know that we had been fighting a lost battle for so long, since that is...

  Yesterday, I had my Value Education exam. I did it quite well. Of course, there is nothing right or wrong when it comes to Value Education. But I wonder, what is the need to hold exams in it. For that, we need to understand the need for such a subject at the college level. What is Value Education? It is basically a type of study which adds to our knowledge about values. In it, we have several branches. Social Studies, Christian Studies, and Gender Studies. Value Education period is actually not new to me. Till my third grade, I had a class called Conversation Class, where the students would simply talk with the teacher. That was a great idea first of all. But the problem is, we had that class only till our third grade. Actually, we should have such classes more intensively only after then. Because, as we get promoted, we are taught about various subjects, except that of values. We are only taught to think with respect to our career, our freedom, etc. In a way, we are trained to b...

 Hi guys! It's quite difficult to find a failed hero right! A popular notion is that a hero is meant to inspire and therefore, he is not allowed lose. He is victorious in some way or the other. Either by breaching of logic or by some divine intervention which is inexplicable. But does it need to be the case every time? I mean, I understand that a hero is there to instill hope, but would only winning instill hope in people.  Even people around us concentrate only on cheering us and motivating us to face life more, giving us hope that life is more than just one victory whenever we lose. I find that approach more realistic and useful. The two pictures that you saw in the beginning, is that of Dhanush in Captain Miller and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man: Far From Home. I purposefully chose these two pictures because of the characters. First about Captain Miller. It is a very big film and it has a wider theme, but I wanted to talk about one aspect. That one aspect which all the othe...

  Hey all! For quite some days, I've been finding it difficult to do the right thing. Then I realized, that my problem was not figuring out how to do the right thing, but realizing what the right thing is. We may have numerous tasks in front of us and may be puzzled about what to do. I tried, tried and tried to do something, but kept failing. Failing in the sense I didn't just fail. I was not able to take even the first step.  The right thing doesn't matter only with respect to the nature of the act, but also the time when it is done. Staying up all night to study doesn't become the right thing just owing to the outcome.  At that point of time, sleeping is the right thing. I don't know if it is a good example. Anything that is unnecessary for that time, is not right. Whatever is needed at that point of time, is the right thing.  In my experience, I am trying to overcome this problem by trying to do one thing after another. If I am not able to do one thing at a time,...

  Hello everyone! I had been the kind of person who immediately panics whenever group activities are announced. While others are excited on how they are going to accomplish their task, I will be worried about how I am going to pass this phase. It took me long to realize what my problem was. First, I thought that I was an introvert and am finding it hard to gel with people.  Today, I got to know that I was neither an introvert nor an extrovert, but an ambivert, which means selectively getting along with people. I wondered how that could be possible but realized that it's just about whom you are most comfortable with. With whom, one is more of oneself and is unafraid of being ignored. Generally, people have this tendency to strive to get along with others and in the process, compromise a lot about themselves. They give up themselves, their own desires and opinions just in order to stick with others, even if they are not enjoying it. I previously had this idea of befriending ever...

  Hello people! Biopics! What a great genre! You know, translating the real life incidents onto the screen. That's not easy. It's not even difficult. It's quite unimaginable. Because, you need to be entertaining while you present such subjects. A director needs to pick out the most interesting aspects in the life of the person involved, weave them together in such a way that they don't feel crowded and finally present them in a way which sums up to the person's final image. Such a thing could be done as novels or web-series, but talking about a 3-hour film, that needs one hell of an effort. There will be many incidents in a person's life which would have contributed to his/her final image. The director or the writer needs to pick out the parts which had contributed the most. Sometimes, these parts may not be interesting. And the interesting parts would have nothing to do with the person's final image. In such cases, the director needs to pick out only those ...

  Hello people! What is observation? Well, as far as I've heard, it is the act where you notice something, which is very minute and you don't need or are a part of immediately. In my childhood, I've often been advised to observe whichever place I go. At that point of time, I hadn't taken those advices seriously.  But later, I started realizing its importance. I realized how well it helps me socialize and find out solutions. For example, when people are discussing about something, I am able to take part in the discussion though I am not experienced as much as these people had been in that matter. Its my observation that helped me then. Same way, I am able to put one and one together and identify solutions to problems due to my previous observations in completely unrelated matters. From then on, I realized one thing and decided to adopt it. Observation provides you with knowledge. People ignore to observe feeling that those matters would not be useful for them. When we th...

  Hey people! What makes a good friend? Well, a friend who is supportive most of the time. A friend who keeps you happy most of the time. A friend who is there whenever you are in need. A friend, who consoles you when you are sad and a lot of other things make a good friend. But, what makes a best friend? If we talk about best friend, he/she is the one who doesn't tick any of the boxes for the questions above. I don't know if he is supportive, but stays with you all the time. A best friend is that person who annoys you most of the time. More like, a 'ஜோடி கிளி' (pair of parrots). That friend is the one who, I don't know if he consoles, but gets you irritated so much so that you forget your original depression. If you are hurt, he will hurt you even more, making you invincible to hurt. A best friend does not choose you and you don't either. It is a knot tied by the Almighty himself. A best friend is not there to help you. He/She is there to make you who you are, ...

  Hey everyone! Today, I got to read another of Oscar Wilde's amazing stories, called 'The Happy Prince'. It is such a touching tale, which also makes us realize some harsh realities of the world. The story is about the relationship between a swallow and the statue of the prince of the state. The swallow, during its travel to Egypt, happens upon the statue which comes to life immediately and tells the swallow about how the prince got his name, 'The Happy Prince'. The prince says that he was brought up with much leisure, such that there was a huge wall surrounding his palace which prevented him from witnessing his citizens or his city. He remained happy as long as he lived, and then his statue was established decorated with rubies in his sword and having sapphires for his eyes. The prince asks the swallow to remain with him for one day and help the citizens who are facing hardship, under his directions. First, the swallow takes the rubies in his sword to help a young...

  Hello everyone! Today, I got to learn what leadership is. Well, if not completely, at least basically. More than what makes a good leader, I  learned some qualities that would help me grow personally. It is not that I would develop as a leader, but if I attempt to develop these qualities, it would help me as an individual itself.  Especially, there was a point that was put forth, which said that not all people face the same challenges. Each one has a "different" challenge. That very point immediately caught my ears. And the main thing here is, that doesn't mean the degree of difficulty here. I mean, challenges are meant to be difficult, right? But there has been a certain notion on several occasions that only because one doesn't have the challenges that the other one faces, it doesn't mean that the former doesn't have challenges at all. Also, if the former's challenges look simple to the latter, it doesn't mean that the latter is a skilled person and...

  Hello everyone! Today, I read a short story by Oscar Wilde, called 'The Model Millionaire'. I really enjoyed the story and want to discuss with you about my takeaways from the story. To begin with, the story is about Hughie Erskine, a jobless youth who is in love with Laura Merton, who happens to be the daughter of a retired Colonel. The Colonel also likes Hughie, but is not ready to give his daughter's hand in marriage to a jobless man. Therefore, he puts forth a condition to Hughie, saying that he has to earn 10,000 US dollars. Hughie is dejected as he is unable to find a way to earn so much money. One day, he meets his friend, Alan Trevor, who is an artist and painter. Alan has been painting the picture of a downtrodden beggar. He and Hughie have a brief discussion on what art is and how the beggars' pitiful look contributes to his artistic interests. When Alan takes a moment out for himself, Hughie is unable to bear the sight of the poor beggar and ends up donatin...

  Hey folks! Today, I want to discuss with you about one of the most brilliant screenwriters and directors of Tamil cinema, K. Bhagyaraj. To begin with, have any of you ever heard about him or seen any of his films? If not, please do check them out. They are simply amazing. Don't know where this man picked such amazing out-of-the-box tales. He was one of the prominent directors of the 1980s. He was a junior to P. Bharathirajaa, another ace filmmaker that Tamil cinema was blessed to have during the 80s. While Bharathirajaa focused on portraying simple rural lives with an intense approach, Bhagyaraj approached it in an entertaining way. His speciality is, he would pick very serious backdrops and present them in an entertaining way.  For example, his film Mundhanai Mudichu (1983) was based on a young girl trying to win the affections of a teacher, who is a widower and single parent. This is an exciting storyline and has very much scope for dramatic storytelling. But how can one s...

  Today, it was the intercollegiate event of our Dept. Fest. I learned a lot of things today which I would like to share one-by-one. Firstly, it was the first time that I volunteered for some work. I learned how to observe a place, understand the situation, process it through the mind and then start working. No matter what the work is, I needed to make a go for it and not restrain myself out of fear or insecurity. I needed to find out what other people's work was in order to identify mine. I also realized that I need not appear to work in front of people, but actually work to our best to attain satisfaction. Before, I was under the impression that it is enough if I work when work is given to me. Today, I understood that it was upto me to volunteer, because people don't give us work but entrust it to us. That means I need to gain their trust, for which the only way is to prove my involvement.  I also got to know what decision-making is. Sometimes, responsibilities may be given ...

  Today, we finally staged our play at Selaiyur Hall. It was delayed, but all went very well. Some even said that the play is one of the best aspects of today's event, which is our Department Fest.  I would like to share the process and what I felt during the process. First of all, the play is based on Macbeth. It is not a re-enactment of the Shakespearean play, rather a re-interpretation. The play focuses on Banquo, who is Macbeth's fellow soldier, and his view of Macbeth. While the original Shakespearean play deals with what the hunger for power could do to a person, and later its guilt could drive the same person, this play is about the contest for power. That is, both Macbeth and Banquo have a longing for power, but Macbeth is so driven by ambition that he goes to every extent. On the other hand, Banquo, though he too has ambition, is a dignified person. The very first plus point is, we have Macbeth in our syllabus in the oncoming semesters and so, I've got a pretty goo...

 Most of us like to watch movies, especially in theatres. But only some are really lucky to get the opportunity to watch them in theatres. There may be many constraints viz. money, time, etc. But there is a problem with watching movies in theatres. Some people are not comfortable with the cheer and celebration of the crowd. They wait for OTT release and then watch. Me personally, am a person who opts to watch movies in theatre.  So I find people citing two reasons to watch movies in theatres. One is, they want to experience the movies in the big screen with the speaker surround system. They feel that this would help them immerse themselves in the world of that particular movie they're watching. On the other hand, there are people who want to celebrate the movie by cheering at the appearance of their favourite characters or clapping at high moments, etc. They want to celebrate what they like, along with other like-minded people to feel a sense of bonding. I think I belong to th...

  Today, I am about to share with you my experience on the bus on my way home. So this bus is always crowded since there are only two  of them for my area. And they too, are, minibuses. If you leave one, you will have to wait for at least an hour or more for the next bus to come. Therefore, most of the people on the bus would be standing and the rest, on foot boarding. I am new to the area. I had shifted there only a few months ago. So in the beginning, I thought only I was facing this problem. But later, I realized that there were people who were facing this problem on a daily basis. Now, talking about today's experience,there was a passenger who got ticket for one stopping but was planning to get down on the next. The conductor caught him and asked him to either get ticket for the next stopping or get down on the one he bought ticket for, and he was willing to do neither. The conductor asked for the bus to be put on hold, and the bus stood on that particular stop for quite s...

Hey guys! Today I got my first semester marksheet. The results were only partly satisfactory to me, but I was relieved overall because the marks were too gracious when compared to my preparation. I am not saying that I didn't prepare, but the point is, I didn't prepare properly. But the first semester exams helped me to realize where I stood and what were the areas I need to concentrate more on. When I say proper preparation, it doesn't mean that I didn't work hard, but that I hadn't worked smart. I was relying only on the faculty and notes for my preparation, and I realized that I needed to take a look at the prescribed texts. That too, again, I messed up. I failed to realize that this was college and no spoon-feeding should be expected. Funny, I tried to memorize most of the parts, like I did for my school exams. I remembered another incident here. When I tried to convince my dad that I was not much into science, he saw my marks and asked me how I had gotten so mu...

 Hello people! Today, I happened to watch this episode in Neeya Naana which was based on fitness. On one side, there were wives who were urging their husbands to concentrate on their fitness and on the other side were husbands who were arguing that fitness was not their cup of tea. In my opinion, when we talk about fitness, I think we need to make sure what fitness really is. Does fitness concur only with the idea of going to the gym regularly and training on 12 kg, 15 kg, etc.? There were meaningful as well as questionable arguments on both sides. But on the most part, the wives were concerned with theit husbands' health issues.  Me personally, I've previously been under the impression of what use is such a fitness routine of. I've thought before that we're running from pillar to post in life to lead a satisfactory life, and yet, are restricting ourselves in the name of fitness. But it was later that I realized what a satisfactory life is. It's not just doing whate...

 Hi guys! Today I went for Selaiyur Hall Day, invited by one of my friends. I had a great time. And I also had quite an idea of what Hall life is I say. Let me start with the time from me reaching the venue. I spent some time with my friend in his room, and then went around exploring a lot. I've heard before that a Hall resident would become attached to his Hall, where he would have spent only three years, more than his home where he would have spent the better half of his life. From that exploration, I got to know how much people from Halls cherish their moments and even the minute beautiful things around them, which most of us fail to do. The students themselves admitted how they had changed from what they were before coming to the Halls. They shared how they were moulded and all. I was asked a question about what I felt about Halls. I just said that had I been in Halls, I don't know if I would have enjoyed the time, but surely, I would have become moulded such that  I overc...

 Hi friends! What's today's special? Of course, it's Women's Day. So, if we talk about the occasion of women's day, we can keep talking. But I just want to share one particular episode I witnessed today in one of my classes. During my GC hour, our professor talked about the occasion and expressed her displeasure in the way in which it was celebrated. For example, she was totally unhappy with the beauty contests being held on this occasion, saying that it could indirectly lead to validating a woman based on her beauty. She also talked about a lot of other things, and explained how women were perceived and still are being considered inferior to men. Now I am just going to express my opinion. Neither am I judging and don't want to be judged either. I just have a few questions. Isn't the notion of beauty subjective? How could a group of people gather together and discuss and especially "judge" if a woman is beautiful or not? And the judging of a woman...

 Hi people! Today, during my Allied Paper class, there were presentations being done by the candidates for their Internal Continuous Assessment (ICA) II. I too am assigned to the same professor to make my presentation, and I was really confused on how I was going to make my presentation. I had chosen Novel, to present for my CA II. I was confused whether I had to tell the summary of the novel, or do something else. Also, I have this very bad habit of unnecessarily complicating things instead of presenting them short and sweet. But today, I would say that it was an eye-opening session, since I saw my classmates do their seminars and some of them inspired me to a great extent. Previously, I had this notion of presenting either complicated concepts, or presenting simple ideas in complicated ways to make them appear valid. But today, I realized that that is not required. A simple and clear presentation would ensure a fine output. My classmates' presentation not only inspired me on how ...

 Hello friends! Today I am going to share with you about my dinner experience and how it led me to do some things which were unusual of me. To start with, I was going home from college and I was terribly famished. As I went closer and closer to my house, I was thinking only about having anything to chew in my mouth. But unfortunately, I had no other choice other than the curd rice my mother had made in the morning. The side dish was lady's finger roast, which, too, I knew would have gotten over by the time I got home. So, it's just curd rice and nothing else to have for a side-dish. Now I do like curd rice, but having it without anything for a side dish makes me a bit unhappy. But just when I got home, I came to know that my dad had made chicken gravy for dinner. I was not a big fan of his chicken gravy till then, but this particular day, I don't know what got into me. I was hell-bound to have it. Coincidentally,  while having lunch with my friends, one of them mentioned ab...

 Hello people! Welcome to my blog. This is my first post and my hearty thanks to all you people for supporting it by visiting it. I am a first year under-graduate student of the course B.A. English Language and Literature. Today, I would like to share with you my journey towards choosing this course and how I have perceived it so far. To start with, I heard about this course for the very first time when I was in my eighth grade. It was suggested by my father at a time when I was on a spree of writing stories. Thise were neither short stories nor essays or poetry. Those fit in a category which is yet to be founded. I had then had a notion that I would go on to make those of my stories into films in the distant future, although now I laugh at myself for having such crazy ideas with those kind of stories. It was at that point of time when my dad suggested that I take up English Literature for my UG and then pursue Film Studies for my PG, reasoning that such a path could help me shape ...