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Priyanka Rachabattuni, PhD Research Scholar in Translation Studies, Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies, School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad, has been selected for the two best summer schools in the world, one which is currently being held in Spain, and the next, scheduled to start on July 4th, to be held in Copenhagen.<\/p>
The summer schools, IBN Tibbon Translation Studies Doctoral and Teacher Training Summer School is currently being held at the University of Granada in Spain, whereas the next one, Harvard University's 7th edition \u201cWorld Literature Program\u201d is going to be held at University of Copenhagen, Denmark from July 4th to July 26th, 2017. Needless to say, the two summer schools have an incredible reputation amongst academia. <\/p>
We caught up with the research scholar about her journey to the summer school and more, here is what she had to say! <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498554926125","data":"5952228ebf936"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498554946460","data":"
\"I'm studying audio-visual translation currently at University of Hyderabad,\" she says, speaking to us over the phone from Spain, \"A lot of advertisements are made for North Indian audience and then translated, voiced over and played for the South Indian audience, and a part of my work is studying that.\"<\/p>
Priyanka, who has finished her second year pursuing PhD, spoke about aiming to finish her PhD as fast as she can, \"With this, I hope to finish my PhD as soon as possible and I'm confident that with the exposure and being taught by some of the greatest minds in the field across the world will help expedite the process.\"<\/p>
The summer school Priyanka is currently attending in Spain is the IBN Tibbon Translation Studies Doctoral and Teacher Training Summer School, a joint initiative by 5 different universities (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Bo\u011fazi\u00e7i University, Turkey; University of Turku and University of Tampere, Finland; University of Granada, Spain) and focuses, in particular, on contemporary research into literary and non-literary works from a historical perspective. World\u2019s Eminent Professors like Mona Baker, University of Manchester, UK Dr. Dorothy Kelly, University of Granada, Spain Dr. Kaisa Koskinen, University of Tampere, Finland Dr. Tamara Mikoli\u010d Ju\u017eni\u010d, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia etc. are participating in the workshop.<\/p>
The schedule is hectic, with classes starting at 9 AM in the morning and continuing till 9 PM in the evening, but Priyanka loves every moment of it, \"Just being here still feels surreal, and I'm glad that I am. The experience has been thrilling, the people we get to interact with and the place itself is amazing.\"<\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498555556320","data":"59522507e1596"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498555582622","data":"
\"I had submitted my application for selection to the schools,\" she says, on being asked about the opportunity, \"I have 10-12 papers and 3 publications to show for my work, and I believe that helped in the selection process.\"<\/p>
Dedicating your life to academics and understanding complex conundrums that make us tick can be difficult, but Priyanka embraces it, \"I aim to become a teacher, a good one that can make a positive impact on a student's life and set them on a path to achieve greatness.\"<\/p>
We ask our concluding question, on what her advice to students would be, especially those who want to be part of the academia, and she says, \"The key thing is discipline. Even if you don't feel like studying, go to the study room and just sit there, make it a habit and eventually you'll get around to it. It encourages discipline and without that, no matter what you do, it won't matter.\"<\/p>
Priyanka already sounds to be one of the best teachers a student could ask for in their quest for knowledge, we wish her all the best for her endeavours. <\/p>"}]
The Telangana State EAMCET 2017 allotments list will be out tomorrow, June 28th, for students to go through and see if they've gotten selected for counselling. You can, however, check which colleges you can potentially get into through eamcetrank.com, which you can access by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>For the uninitiated, The Engineering Agriculture and Medicine Entrance Test (EAMCET) is an exam students take for admissions into undergraduate courses across the state of Telangana. Almost all colleges in Telangana take the EAMCET rank into consideration, so it is quite important for one to score a good rank for some of the best colleges in the state. <\/p>Naturally, competition is high and students need counselling before being allotted a seat in a college. The procedure and more details can be found by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>We wish all students looking to get into undergraduate courses all the very best! <\/p>"}]
For the uninitiated, The Engineering Agriculture and Medicine Entrance Test (EAMCET) is an exam students take for admissions into undergraduate courses across the state of Telangana. Almost all colleges in Telangana take the EAMCET rank into consideration, so it is quite important for one to score a good rank for some of the best colleges in the state. <\/p>
Naturally, competition is high and students need counselling before being allotted a seat in a college. The procedure and more details can be found by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>We wish all students looking to get into undergraduate courses all the very best! <\/p>"}]
We wish all students looking to get into undergraduate courses all the very best! <\/p>"}]
For a freshman stepping in the college life, it is always a concern about how his\/her 'interactions' with the fellow seniors would go. It is said that the way others respond to you reflects the manner in which you present yourself. For a person who is not having any preconceived notions about you, it's your attitude that drives the conversation.<\/p>
<\/p>
It's true that you can't change yourself overnight, just to get the approval of every other person that you're going to meet. But yes, whoever doesn't synch with your thoughts ought to have a different perspective of life. And that's the best thing to learn from all these interactions. 'Cause the more you know about life, the better you live it.<\/p>
It's not everyone's cup of tea to smile and acknowledge everything that's put up against them. The sense of being an introvert does surround you at some occasions, if not always. But it's highly unlikely to avoid these interactions, especially when all the activities are student-oriented. You'll be needing their guidance them in all the upcoming college years of yours. So it's better to cut away the feeling of unfamiliarity to ensure a sound tuning between you and them in future.<\/p>
So some day or the other, you'll need to open up in front of your seniors, if not on day 1. For the aforementioned students, the best route of escape is the following:<\/p>
1. Agree to whatever the other person is saying. <\/p>
2. Do not cross-question his\/her opinions.<\/p>
3. Keep your thoughts to yourself.<\/p>
4. Answer only what's being asked.<\/p>
5. Do not interpret the situation according to yourself.<\/p>
And there you go. You're now free to leave. But is that what you've come for in the college, to be submissive to any other guy? Well, that just can't be the apt getaway. As you go on interacting with people, you get to whom what to speak and more importantly, when to speak. That's what will go a long way.<\/p>
Being an extrovert shouldn't be your first call (just an opinion, mind you). 'Cause the things might seem to go your way but that won't be the actual case. Instead, you'll be soon considered arrogant, self-centred and a 'to-be-ignored' guy. Again, that's what the people will 'consider' but you certainly can't avoid that, can you?<\/p>
We live in a society where most of our demands and requirements are derived by our surroundings and the people we interact with. So you can't just go outright to have a stand so rigid that you neglect all the other worldly ideas. Being that sort of smart is what the primary objective of college is: To develop who you are and to connect with more of your peers.<\/p>
The best way to develop such traits in yourself is to learn from seniors, 'cause they have been in your shoes (at least academically) in the past. And more often than not, they can relate with your going-throughs more than anyone else. And they deserve to be thanked for their gratitude.<\/p>
Thank you Seniors for testing me on your scales,<\/p>
for letting me explore what I am.<\/p>
Thank you for cracking me from inside,<\/p>
so that I can bloom from within and cherish.<\/p>
Thank you for proving me I am a failure,<\/p>
and inspire me to evolve like the Sun.<\/p>
Thank you for drowning me in the valley,<\/p>
for exalting me to rise above every summit.<\/p>"}]
1. The country celebrated Eid today as the holy month of Ramzan finally comes to an end after the crescent moon was spotted yesterday evening. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498480363427","data":"5950ff544a769"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498480389309","data":"
2. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today gave his greetings for Eid celebrations and said that he hoped Eid would bring peace in the Kashmir Valley. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498480491025","data":"5950ffca7fb7f"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498480508518","data":"
3. China today said that they were in talks with India after 47 pilgrims who were to make a trip to Mt. Kailash in Tibet were denied entry. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498480562459","data":"595100297eb60"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498480601092","data":"
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal where he stated that the logic of US-India relations were 'incontrovertible', writing that the US and India shared many common goals such as world security and tackling terrorism. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498480756236","data":"595100c93b45a"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498480760928","data":"
5. In 2017, a hotel in Hyderabad refused Nupur Saraswat, a single woman, from staying at a hotel because she was alone and had nobody accompanying her. The woman took to Facebook and her post went viral, being picked up by various media houses across the country. Nupur has, since then, checked in with a hotel that did not discriminate. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498480894422","data":"5951015381f89"}]
You find out a lot about yourself when you move out and are paying the (super expensive) rent for a place in South Delhi all by yourself. For starters, you find out that you're a horrible person and should have never become an adult, the second is that you'll start smelling like a corpse really really quickly if you're not careful. But then again, that just might have been me.<\/p>
Part of why being an adult sucks is that sometimes you have to move to another city for your job or even studying, and if you're going to be living alone, you better prepare yourself for some intense self-reflection because you're gonna find out a lot about yourself and, if you're lucky, learn to improve as well. So here are the things that you need to remember. <\/p>
1. Learn to stay tidy <\/b><\/p>
Your mum or your housemaid isn't going to come pick up that thrown shirt off the ground, you've got to do it yourself, unless you're loaded enough to not take any responsibility, of course, some people carry privilege with them wherever they go. <\/p>
Start by keeping your own room back home tidy without any help. Clean out the dust, sweep the floors yourself, arrange your desk, keep your desktop clean (okay this last one is just me, I absolutely hate a cluttered desktop), peer into your Desktop PC's cabinet and clean out the dust so your CPU doesn't burn itself to death. Sounds tedious, but once you actually get the hang of it, you'll start to enjoy it; it's quite cathartic to clean up your own room and it'll make you feel great! There's no reason not to do it, so better get to it! <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498476575458","data":"5950f9666e150"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498476587173","data":"
2. The Nose Knows<\/b><\/p>
Smell something funny? Yeah, that's just your clothes and your body, cuz you forgot to take a bath for a few weeks now. There's only so much you can cover with deodorant before even that fails, so it's probably a good idea to take a good long shower or a bath and scrub yourself clean.<\/p>
Really though, don't allow yourself to get into a situation where dead people in the morgue of a hospital in the next town can smell you, it ain't worth it. If you're moving to a colder country or a colder city (New Delhi got bone chilling in the winters), that is not an excuse for you to miss your regularly scheduled bathing sessions. Don't skip on this, maintain your personal hygiene, especially when you're away from home, because.. well, onward to the next point. <\/p>
(By the way if your shower looks as fancy as the once below, please let me know.)<\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498477361771","data":"5950fb84b8bce"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498477364023","data":"
3. Try to not get sick, if you get sick, try not to die: <\/b><\/p>
The fastest way to recover is to stay home and let your family take care of you, the second fastest is about as fast as the snail in the garden nearby. You see, when you're in another city or another country, you don't always have the luxury of going back every time you develop a serious case of the common cold, or something worse. Which of course, means that the sole responsibility of surviving the illness lies on your slumped shoulders while you confine yourself to the bed wishing the illness away. <\/p>
This is why maintaining hygiene and keeping your room tidy is such a big deal; a clean room means a healthy you, and that is always a good idea. Plus if you get sick frequently, your new workplace or class might not really like it, and why do you want to be seen as someone who frequently skips class or work?<\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498477631594","data":"5950fbdcbf88e"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498477633690","data":"
4. Kitchen Nightmares: <\/b><\/p>
Your room is fine, but when you've rented the whole place, it also means that you have other rooms to take care of as well unless you have a roommate. One of these extra rooms is the kitchen, and the kitchen nightmares you'll have here won't be accompanied by Gordon Ramsay screaming obscenities in your ear. <\/p>
A common thing about just graduated students living in different cities is that they never wash their own utensils and make an effort to keep the kitchen clean, which is a massive mistake. I once had to scrub out maggots from the kitchen sink because we let some uneaten food rot in there for too many days, and just thinking of the smell is making me nauseous.<\/p>
The point is, the kitchen is one of the most important parts of your home, if you even cook food in a maggot infested hell hole, there is no guarantee that you won't poison yourself. Now with that out of the way, we come to the final point. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498478168346","data":"5950fc2f713a1"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498478170169","data":"
5. Learn to Cook <\/b> <\/p>
The most important skill you can pick up, not just for living abroad, but for your life. I am of the opinion that this is a life skill that must be taught in schools instead of wasting all our times with boring subjects. Not only will cooking help you stay healthy (unless you have a radioactive waste filled kitchen like mentioned above), it will also be incredibly cheap on your pocket, all you have to do is spend some money now and then on groceries, put on your chef's hat\/bandana, and cook! Watch Chef or Ratatouille for inspiration, and try not to imagine yourself in a Kitchen Nightmares episode, you'll be good to go. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498478377570","data":"5950fc4f2bcad"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498478379574","data":"
Living alone has taught me that I can run as far as I can from my responsibilities but they will always catch up to me, so why run when I can face them head on? I can definitely say it has made me a better person, more self-reliant than ever. Now if only there was a cure for laziness, I'd be looking like a greek god by the end of the year. <\/p>"}]
The list of short film makers who started off as students and reached great heights in film-making is not small and with social media, it has become very easy to become popular if you are into short films. But what if you want to make a short film before the college starts again and you have no clue what to do? That precisely is the reason I am doing this blog, after talking to our in-house video production team (all of whom started making videos and short films when they were students).<\/p>
According to Srikanth Yadav from our team, it is always good to start off by structuring the schedule and the process in a proper way. All the different elements, story, screenplay, budgeting, shooting and post production have to be channelised properly. Once the story is there, turning it into a good screenplay decides whether the end result will be good or not. Softwares like Celtix help a lot in writing a script. Once the screenplay is done, the rest of the production comes into play, with casting being the next step.<\/p>
\"The most common mistake that amateur film-makers usually make is while casting. Most of the time, friends come on board the project but later show disinterest and back off. It is crucial to ensure dedicated people come on board and bring a lot of enthusiasm to the project. Another mistake is not having auditions before taking people and it is something that should be avoided completely. Always have auditions before selecting people,\" explains Srikanth, who has done several short films so far.<\/p>
It is advisable to schedule the entire shoot in the least amount of time possible, and at easily accessible locations like friends' houses or colleges. And to shoot, renting the equipment is a very cost-effective option. \"It is imperative to shoot in a minimum of 3 angles and because amateur film-makers like ourselves don't usually have the necessary technical knowledge of aspects like lighting and all, it is better to shoot in sunlight. Early hours and evening hours are the best, in my opinion. But one thing that needs to be taken care of is the uniformity in light. If you shoot a scene early in the morning and have to redo it, it is better to do it at the same time on another day, to ensure the same light is seen in the scene,\" he shares, adding, \"Also, make sure script papers are on the set, this gets rid of a lot of confusion.\"<\/p>
Ensuring that all the scenes at one location are shot in one day, adds up to reducing the cost of the entire project. And about post-production, he says, \"Another thing that needs to be taken care of for sure is the nomenclature of the different takes of the scenes. This makes post-production easier. Adobe Premier Pro is really easy for beginners to edit, learning this software goes a long way.\"<\/p>
For audio, hiring a studio is ideal but if it is not affordable, student film-makers can just use a phone recorder in a very silent room but care needs to be taken while syncing it with the video. And lastly, music is also very important as that is the one aspect that changes the mood of the entire film. For music, free sources like Indian Movie BGMS and Bensound can be used without any hassle.<\/p>
So what are you waiting for? Unleash the creativity in you and make the most of this vacation by making a short film. <\/p>"}]
I remember hearing about The Last Wish sometime in 2006 when fan translations were hitting the obscure internet forums dedicated to gaming. You see, the story of Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy series was being made into a video game titled The Witcher. The book series, which also came to be known as The Witcher Saga, was already famous in Poland, where author Sapkowski is based, where before the release of The Last Wish, fantasy was seen as childish and not worth a serious readers time. <\/p>
While the elitism amongst book readers of the world might still exist in one form or another, I had heard from a Polish friend I had made on Yahoo! Messenger that it was quite a big deal that the saga was being used as an inspiration for the games, and insisted I read the books. And so I did, unsure what to expect as I picked up The Last Wish, a collection of short stories, and got myself acquainted with one of the most memorable characters in pop-culture in return: Geralt of Rivia, also known as White Wolf, and The Butcher of Blaviken. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498467650677","data":"5950cdd34e15a"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498467719582","data":"
Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a group of superhuman warriors trained from childhood for one purpose only: Killing monsters. For the world of which Geralt is but a mere speck of is infested with monstrosities of all kinds, drowners dragging fishermen and people near shores down into the dark depths of their watery graves, ghouls that feast on human flesh burrowing their way from underground wherever there was a battle or a corpse lying around, lesser vampires, the kind that cannot think for themselves but must feed on blood, out to bite any human's throat they can find, giant manticores, harpies and worse. <\/p>
There was a need for a group that would exclusively deal with monsters for gold, or whatever local currency the locals could muster, and so Geralt, much like his brothers in arms, wandered town from town, looking for work and monsters to kill. <\/p>
It is also this world that Andrzej Sapkowski effortlessly thrusts you in as you follow the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher who had not yet met the people that would change his life forever. Sapkowski's paints a grim picture of the world infested with monsters and humans banding together and retreating to their homes, fear in their hearts, of monsters that would vary depending on the part of the world they were in and also whether if they were in a city or not. <\/p>
But does everything seem as bad as it appears to be? The best part of the Saga, and indeed this book, is the way Sapkowski handles morality. A Witcher is supposed to be neutral, keeping his head out of conflict unless it directly benefits them, but the monsters he faces don't always have to be monstrous, and in many cases, Geralt has found, humans themselves turn more monstrous than actual monsters. <\/p>
All these factors, the grey morality, the choices Geralt faces, especially during the incident that would earn him the nickname 'The Butcher of Blaviken', the world which feels oppressive, dark and extremely grim, the characters with Geralt's dry sense of humor and the others that make for the rest of the book's most memorable moments and the fact that it is presented in short story format, with each story being a different adventure adds to the overall experience; this is a book I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat, it is your journey down the type of fantasy you don't often get to read. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498468679556","data":"5950d1fa54add"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498468780248","data":"
This is the world where knights in shining armours are usually the ones that are more likely to screw you over, than a 'mutant freak' like Geralt and the other Witchers, untrusted by common folk because of how they appear and the myth that a Witcher only draws his sword when he hears the chink of gold coming his way. <\/p>
Of course, after the first game released, more Witcher books were translated, giving the world some of the best fantasy fiction we've seen in a while. The world is unapologetic, depressing even at times, there are no knights in shining armour, only Witchers, whom both the monster and men fear, although if you ask Geralt, sometimes the difference between a monster and a man is difficult to tell. <\/p>
This is a fantasy book unlike anything you've ever read before, and we highly recommend that you read it as soon as possible. When you do finish the books, there's always the games to play, and such excellent games they are too! <\/p>
Click here<\/a> to buy The Last Wish! <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498469217497","data":"5950d3b62ea27"}]
The definition of an artist means 'someone who is good at a particular form of art'. A question might arise making one think 'art in an engineering college, is that even possible?' Well, of course, it is every form of art is appreciated and applauded by everyone who performs it wisely. One might have witnessed people who are good at a single form of art, but in our college, we have someone who is great at every form of art.<\/p>
The name of the multi-talented artist is Mike*. A Final year student of Mechanical Engineering, so talented that he captures all of our hearts. Let it be music, drawing, sketching etc. When he does something it is bound to perfection. The initial stages for him were tough i.e to be noticed for his work as it was discarded time after time by notable professionals. He realised his true talents when he was in school i.e in 9th grade and still hasn't given up on improving because he is capable of something more better than that. All his sketches were made on an A3 sketchbook and further published and applauded by various people. He does tattoo designs and portraits work as side works. He might not be Bruno Mars but the students believe that he is much better than him i.e a future Lionel Richie. Who sings so beautifully and bags unlimited prizes for every college events. A footballer at heart but because of certain injuries, he was unable to attend the final tournament of the college as his college days were coming to an end. Sad and disappointed he decided to hit fitness centres and work until his leg was completely repaired. A true football lover will never give up no matter what. He continued to work and now plays with his friends from time to time. A nerd who apparently says he doesn't 'touch' the books but somehow manages to pass with great marks every semester. Teachers when they mention his name they talk with so much of pride and affection. A good soul at heart and mind who helps people when they feel down or with any pending work. He has annexed and conquered every heart in college and will not stop doing it. Neither shall we permit him to stop on whatever he has because not everyone has a multi-artist within them.<\/p>
The memoirs for him are in the form of trophies and medals that stack up on his shelf which obviously requires more room because a shelf is not enough to accommodate the appreciation for his works. Not many people exist and when they do so they are one in a million and that's what makes him amazing and the best for his works. A great soul with amazing talents who will never be forgotten no matter what.<\/p>"}]
We, students, are a worried lot. We worry whether we will do well in the exams, whether we will get placements or not, whether the assignments will be completed or not and the list of our worries is almost endless. In fact, most of our time is usually spent in speculating about scenarios that might happen and if they do then what should be done. What we forget in the midst of all this we have almost forgotten to live in the present.<\/p>
What all of us need to know that the future is uncertain. No matter how planned we are (although that is almost a foreign concept ), there will always be instances which will catch us by surprise. When such things do occur we will have to deal with them anyway. So where is the rationale in incessantly worrying about how things might turn out to be? Instead let's try to live in the now.We have no idea what the next day might hold for us. So let's try to enjoy the present.If we are able to live each and every moment to the fullest, we will eventually realize that things are turning out exactly the way we want them to be.Happiness can truly be sought only if we are conscious enough to pay attention to the things that happen around us in the moment.So let's relax.It is alright to let go of our worries and to take things the way they come to us. <\/p>
So don't wait for tomorrow. Do anything that you want to do today itself. That opportune time in the near future usually never comes.So make this moment yours and live it to the fullest.<\/p>
It only seems right to conclude this article with a quote from the film Kung Fu Panda by Master Oogway,\"Yesterday is history.Tomorrow is a mystery.But today is a gift.That is why it it called the present.\"<\/p>"}]
1. BJP Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind will seek support for his election in Lucknow tomorrow, appealing to the bloc of the ruling party. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498402854438","data":"594fd09e37155"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498402895916","data":"
2. The on-going Srinagar encounter between terrorists and the Armed Forces ended today with two terrorists being killed and 2 armed force personnel being injured. More info to come as it happens. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498402963767","data":"594fd1106147c"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498403011342","data":"
3. Shrestha Thakur, a woman cop in Uttar Pradesh, made the headlines as video of her dealing with BJP workers went viral, with many praising her bravery. While it is indeed sad that a policewoman doing her job properly is newsworthy, the fact that Thakur stood up to Pramod Lodhi, husband of a district panchayat member, has netizens showering praise on her. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498403204074","data":"594fd1d9a16b5"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498403210763","data":"
4. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to visit Israel, calling it 'a significant step.' PM Modi is currently on a 3 nation tour which will also take him to the White House in the USA, the first world leader to meet Donald Trump at the White House dinner. <\/b><\/p>
<\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498403344273","data":"594fd267b54d9"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498403352035","data":"
5. Indian Women's Cricket Team Captain Mithali Raj created history yesterday in India's opening match against England, hitting her seventh consecutive half-century after coming 3 down to bat, at 144 for 1. Raj, who was pictured reading Rumi in the dugout before coming to bat, started her career in 1999, and has since been one of the finest players to grace the sport. <\/b><\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498403537580","data":"594fd324eb9aa"}]
It was a couple of years ago, on a rainy night much like the ones we see in Hyderabad today, that I realised I was just piling my collection of books and never reading them, putting them back on my ever growing list of books I have to read. My love for books never went away, but reading them, that was a major challenge. <\/p>
I told myself that I wasn't ready to read a book just yet, that I didn't have the time to pick a book and read it in its entirety. I had even skipped the annual reading of The Lord of the Rings, something which a few short years ago I thought I'd never do. <\/p>
Needless to say, it was a crisis of sorts, I knew I wanted to read but kept putting it back, delaying it constantly, all the while doing nothing with my time and occasionally playing video games and watching movies. So when I saw that the 20th-anniversary versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone were released in four different editions, each with their chosen house's logo on the cover and backstory of the houses written in the pages, I had to buy it no matter what, even though I told myself I probably needed to save money and that this retail therapy could wait. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498400261021","data":"594fc675c153f"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498400295264","data":"
It turned out to be the best purchase I've made this year. When I got the book (I'm a Ravenclaw), it was like discovering the magic of Harry Potter all over again. Flipping through the pages, reading the story that had defined my childhood, made me who I am today as a person, seeing it back in my hands after so long, I couldn't resist for I had to finish the book as soon as possible, and that I did.<\/p>
I finished the book in one sitting, flipping through its 300-odd pages in the matter of a few hours. I was happy that I got to read the story again, but what I was happier about was the fact that I could read again, without giving up on the book halfway, even when I knew the story by memory at this point. <\/p>
You see I was 8 when I read the first Harry Potter book, and speaking to my mother, asking her about when exactly was it that I started reading, she spoke about yours truly eagerly scanning pages of the newspaper for familiar words as young as 3 and 4. I read my first book at the age of 6, and at 8, when I was introduced to Harry Potter, life took a turn. <\/p>
This was fiction that I could relate to, that I could empathise and sympathise with. This was a boy, just like me, living in conditions he didn't want to live, which was very unlike me, but the way he saw the world, the innocence with which his world view was captured so poignantly by Rowling made him a character you liked right off the bat. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498400682587","data":"594fc8133261a"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498400685032","data":"
Through Harry's journey of Hogwarts, I realised why I loved reading so much. The intrigue, the drive to find out what's next, the necessity of us curious beings to know, to find meaning in unexplainable things, and to understand their own history is what drove me to read as many books as I could. I learned more from my books than I did in school, and that is not something I say lightly. I read about stars exploding, life evolving, I read about Melkor's thirst for power and Sauron's rise, I read JRR Tolkien's poems over and over again, letting it tear my heart with grief and put it back together with joy, I read about the stories of our soldiers, manning our borders, their victories, triumphs and defeats. All of this, because I wanted to know, I wanted to improve.<\/p>
Somewhere along the way, I grew up, and the magic disappeared. <\/p>
Being an adult is terrible, you barely have any time for yourself, all your friends are awesome but you have to choose between spending time with them or spending time with yourself, and for someone like me that is a major task, for there is nothing more I like than curling up on my bed with a nice little book in my hand and a cup of hot coffee on the bedside table which I let go cold way too many times to count. There's always gaming, of course, but that is a story for another time. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1498401113504","data":"594fc9c89d4f6"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1498401147624","data":"
Different people have different books that get them started, mine and my peers, my generation, had Harry Potter. Reading the story about a boy who lived under the stairs at Number 4, Privet Drive made me discover the inexplicable magic of the written word, it cast a charm on me so powerful that all I ever wanted to do in life was to write, and the first signs of trouble began when I lost sight of that goal.<\/p>
I suppose that was a lesson hard learned, but then, we shall forget nevermore. <\/p>"}]
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