Untitled

(image source: kanayoede.com)

packed beautifully was a gift

awaiting,

for he had no profound reasons

to rush,

astounded by the curves,

time having stopped for him,

mind was now left

to spin it’s own yarn of thoughts,

merely a ‘word’ was a

difference for his ‘world’

but he knew speaking wasn’t

possible now..

looked, stared, admired, conquered,

rhyming words were his only defeat,

he knew now someone would listen his song

for now he had a reason for it,

noticed the strings that ran like

those auburns,

he realized the realm of his powers

now, all the mockery, love and

anger,

could be granted their own wings, now,

21 frets to 21 guns, now

realized what a topsy-turvy world it is,

all he could figure

was his fingers plucking down,

and up to the brand new-tune,

came a clear voice

with a more stern tone

“Black or white?”

the old man enquired

“Black, of course!”

it always had been

for now he would own his new guitar..

© Mohammad Shuaib

(English Hons 2nd Year)

माँ की लाडली, पापा की गुड़िया

माँ की लाडली,
पापा की गुड़िया….
बड़ी होने लगी थी,
मासूमियत खोने लगी थी….
पर थी तो बच्ची ही ना..
हाँ थी वो ग़लत
पर गुनेहगार ना थी,
उम्र ही एसी थी उसकी पर वो बेकार ना थी….
प्यार पाती तो समझ जाती….
इतनी हैवानियत की भी हक़दार ना थी….
उन्ही लोगो ने हक़ छीन लिया जीने का,
जो कभी उसे पाने को,
अपनी गोद मे खिलाने को बेकरार थे….
मंदिर, मस्जिद
हर जगह तो माँगा करते थे
इस नन्ही जान को….
ले ली उसी की जान,
मिटा दिया उसी का वजूद….
क्या गुनाह ये था की वो लड़की थी
जो उसने किया नही कर सकती थी,
सोचने को हर औरत, हर नवयुवती
आज फिर एक बार मजबूर है….
अगर “आरुशि” ना होती “आरूश” होता….
क्या तब भी ये
आज के माता-पिता
इसी तरह दफ़ना देते अपनी औलाद के लिए अपना प्यार,
मिटा डालते उसका भी वजूद…
और कर देते जीवनदाता के रिश्ते को शर्मसार?

© Abhilasha

(English Honors, 2nd Year)

Yosemite: Quick Review

It was only roughly two months ago when Apple decided to unveil their new OS X operating system, Yosemite which is named after a National Park situated in Southern California, U.S.A. Craig Federighi, a top executive at Apple Inc, drove the crowd wild with the latest announcements. The few major changes in OS include a completely redesigned UI and introduction of Continuity features between multiple iOS and OS X devices.

The User Interface (UI) has been completely revamped to give Mac Users a feel of the colorful and translucent experience of iOS 8 on their laptops and desktops. Built-in apps like Safari, iMessages, Mail and iCloud are the ones, which have been refurbished with a translucent title bar and a cleaner, compact toolbar with Menus. While using iMessage, you can now record audio messages and add them to your ongoing conversation; Apple’s another bold response to tough competition from other messaging apps like Whatsapp, Hike, BBM and WeChat.

There is also a new improved Spotlight search, an intrinsic search engine by Apple that lets its users search for files and information on the system, as well as online, right from the desktop. It now provides a preview of every search result, accompanied by results from Bing and Wikipedia.

The iTunes and iBooks apps have also been revamped to give the whole Operating system a touch of Apple’s classy UI structure and design.

 On top of that, listening to your favorite Radio Channels on iTunes has become easier; Apple has created a completely different tab for iTunes Radio and integrated it with the application seamlessly. 

However, many Apple Fanatics would decry these changes as a destruction of the foundations laid by Steve Jobs, before his death but, the same time, the change in technology is inevitable and with competitors like Windows and Chrome catching up, Apple decided to show the world that they are still the same company that created the technology as we know it. Even though the changes aren’t substantial, Apple needed an Ace in the deck and that’s what the new Operating System, Yosemite OSX 10.10 proves to be.

 The cherry on this lavish cake is that we get a new icon for Trash, closely resembling something one would see in a Sci-fi movie.

© Vidit Deswal

(Physics Honors, 2nd Year)

“Face”ing it

Colors. Infinitely many shades, from violet to red. All sprung up from the same rainbow, but distinctively identified by our eyes. Humans, originating from the same source, made up of the same matter, but the human eye itself figures them all differently. Maybe we were all created the same, with the same shape and size, same color and shape of the eyes, same shape of the nose etcetera, etcetera. Maybe the reason we perceive everything differently, is because we sense it differently.

Apprehension of beauty : Is it some specific shape…or size..or color, or is it just perception? Our creator, whoever that is, did not define beauty. There is no evidence of the fact that big, round eyes are supposed to be beautiful, and that small eyes are not. They are eyes, is all. They give us the ability to see, to perceive, to absorb, to learn and to understand. Had they been squares instead of the shape they originally are, but did the job they were supposed to do, they’d still be eyes. Eyes that help us watch and learn, hence beautiful. A brain, full of nerve cells and veins, when has memories and knowledge and beautiful thoughts, is called “mind”. Knowledge and insight is what makes this ball of flesh beautiful, not the way it looks. Our guts, coiled and fleshy and gooey, are beautiful when they chuck the waste out. When they stop doing their job, mind you, they could turn you into something you wouldn’t want to call beautiful.

I have a beautiful pair of eyes, a nose, a crazy but beautiful mouth, pretty hands and nice legs, which aren’t beautiful because they are big and rounded, or long and pointed, or plumped up, or manicured, or “in-shape”, but because they do their job and keep me alive, everyday, without fail.

Why though, a big fat belly, or a dark skin is seen as ugly, draws one huge question mark in my mind, with a huge, blinding dot. “I want a fair woman”, “I want a tanned man”,” I want a tall, dark and “handsome” man”, quotes within quotes, because words like “handsome” are not very easy to comprehend either. Well, when I come to think of it, all I want is a man with some skin covering his bones.  Another attribute to such perception : expectations. “You need to lose some pounds to find someone for yourself”. Gee, I hardly find anyone genuinely ask someone to lose some pounds just because being the right weight is healthy. But because being slim is “impressive” to the human eye. Everything we do or decide to do in our lives, is to directly or indirectly please the human eye, or human perceptions. We are so deeply absorbed in the pleasing business that we forget what made us, and what we are made of.

P.S. I tried searching images of “beauty” on Google to paste here, and all I got as a result were images of models, and make-up products.. How deluded are we?

© Nandini Malik

(Maths Honors, 2nd Year)