The Dysphoria Of Loneliness.

Everything that we see around us leaves a significant impact on how we feel, a child screams when accidentally he slides his hand over a knife and then every time when he sees a knife he would get a familiar haunting feeling. This phenomenon of sensory flashback is an intrinsic part of our human consciousness. One such emotion that we all relate to is Loneliness. 

Loneliness can be such a painful frightening experience that people would do practically anything to avoid it. There are no justifications as to why or how this feeling arises let alone why or how can it be erased. Our consciousness revolves around emotions, be it our etiquette or morals, we feel and hence we act. 

It is a feeling, a shear stare in an empty hollow room inside you, that overshadows every rational understanding. It is an acute awareness that overcomes you when you are looking searching for some peace. It is a feeling that shower upon you when you try and laugh, and in that bitter taste of saliva, does it hit! That it is a long corridor dazzled by anxious stares, asking you, yelling, how have you been? One tries so hard to get better, to get over it, to forget it all and move on, and on instances, you would say that you are better, you are over it, but with a blink, it all comes rushing back to your doorsteps.

 Luckily with a certain understanding amongst the crowd, mental health has become a vividly discussed topic in the society. The dysphoric discussions about loneliness have taken a turn into a positive and supportive hand. People tend to discuss things and talking always helps. It will be an impossible question to answer as to why does one feel so? In terms of the reason there are multiple factors that are often associated with loneliness, but to announce them as the base reason behind this anguishing feeling cannot be justified.  It is and has always been an intrinsic part of the human psyche, and most millennials should accept that emotions are a part of human life and they need to be felt with apt concern. 

According to a theory the level of any Loneliness is directly proportional to the perception one has of life. If you think that your life should be like this then you wouldn’t feel alone and if you feel your life should have more to it then the chances are that at the end of the day with probably a cigarette in hand you will sit by the balcony and think how life is unjustified to you. One more factor that plays an important role behind this phenomenon is of ‘quality-quantity complexity' one may have n number of friends in his life to hang out and play cool with but if the heart longs for a deep conversation with someone then you are alone amongst the crowd and so is the case with quality, if you only one or two people in your life and now you are tired of how they think or always talk about how the parlour lady is charging extra, then you are missing the quantity. So to sum to it, loneliness depends upon how badly are you Miss ng something or someone or how badly do you want something or someone. 

With all the justified reasons said there is the answer as to why do you sit with the silence around, with nothing but regret, a ray of hope shines somewhere but is lost in some old ancient corner of this mess.

By: Hammy

RARITY OF LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS.

Relationships can be complicated and difficult. There is no right way or set of predefined rules that one can follow to be apt let alone perfect. To understand and comprehend what the other person needs in this exact moment is how you move forward. And things become far more entangling when you are in a long-distance relationship (L.D.R) 

To put it right there hasn't been a person who said ' yes my partner lives 13 hours away in Shimla, and it's great' On the contrary, everyone who has somehow experienced LDR will relate to the agonizing feeling; that your heart is slowly being carved out of your chest by a butter knife and replaced with an unsatisfying  WhatsApp call and instant notifications. 

In this fast-paced world, the notion of every relationship can be summed up into two basic words ' compatibility and comfortability’ and surely there might be a way to find this in an ordinary love story but for LDR these two words are the hardest of milestones to achieve. 

Imagine sitting on a balcony, on a monsoon evening, and watching a distant diminishing shine, will it still be worth for you? For the millennials, LDR is more complicated. We have been bought up in an era where waiting isn't part of life. And before these video chats and long-distance calls, the only way to know the whereabouts was through letters but now with every single ping, and all the status notifications you connect the dots and every single insecurity embarks fro there onwards. Questions like: is it all worth it? Does he also feel the same way? Or who am I kidding? This ain't gonna work? There is no easy answer to this but to say, hormones can't be trusted but the person can be! 

There is no easy way to keep an LDR moving! But love was never made to be simple or easy and planning things work. One should be marking important dates and should look forward to them. These dated would be the one when you finally get to meet each other again in person. Perhaps the moment you stop having some milestones to look forward to, the harder it will be to maintain the same enthusiasm and optimism in, each other. 

Be slow to judge each other. It is alright to have doubts and getting irritated over simplest of mistakes, but try and understand it's the distance that is exaggerating it, irrational possessiveness will lead to nothing and yes it is truly said that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' trust in your self, that you are irreplaceable and things will fall in place. 

To put in the simplest terms, communication is the key to it all. Your partner needs to know how much you still care for them, and the only way you can make them realize that is to tell me them yourself, talk to them and they will feel secure .tell them your problems and they will help you even if the god doesn't wish to help. 

The relationship is all about dependency and if everything that excites you can't be shared with your partner than what are you even there for? One thing that is true about relationships is that if it is not growing then it is dying.

By: Roma

The festival of care: Raksha Bandhan

All of us, specifically Indians, know very well about the festival ‘Rakshabandhan’. It is observed to pay homage to the consecrated and unconditional bond between brothers and sisters. Rakshabandhan in Sanskrit actually signifies ‘the tie or knot of protection’. This special festival of India is renowned around the world. It is celebrated on a full moon day in the month of July, Sravan month (the month of Monsoon), with great pageantry or grandeur. 

On this festival, as a ritual, a sister ties a colourful band called ‘rakhi’, a holy string that symbolizes the love between siblings, around her brother’s wrist. The festival begins by performing traditional aarti and concludes with prayers for the prosperity for her brother. After the prayer, the sister applies a tilak, a red mark on the forehead of the brother. After that, the brother promises to guide and protect the sister throughout life under all circumstances. Moreover, as a part of the tradition, a brother presents his sister with varied exciting gifts. Gifts play a prominent role and symbolize tokens of love and affection. The brother may also feed his sister with his hands. Then they hug and the larger family ritually congratulate the festive celebration of brother-sister love and protection.

Raksha Bandhan is a festival not only celebrated for fun and enjoyment, but it is also a promise. A promise that brothers and sisters make to each other, to support and protect each other, come what may.

Now you must be wondering where does this tradition come from? Raksha Bandhan is an ancient festival and has numerous myths and historic legends linked to it. The popular practice of Raksha Bandhan has its historical associations also. The Rajput queens practised the custom of sending rakhi threads to neighbouring rulers as token of brotherhood.

But, if we go into our history and mythological legends, we will find that Rakhi doesn't not only mean a symbol of love and protection among brothers and sisters. In the legend of Indra and Indrani, Indra's partner Indrani ties a holy thread on his wrist to protect him from the evils. This story tells us that Rakhi was used to protect our close ones from demons. It was also used as a way to bring the Hindus and Muslims together during the Bengal partition that took place during the struggle of Independence in India. Rabindranath Tagore used rakhi to bring harmony and fraternity between the two religions to halt the decision of separating Bengal by the British.

There are numerous stories that carry forward the practice of rakhi time to time in a various distinctive manner. Thus, gradually Rakshabandhan comes in its modern form.

This year in quarantine, Rakshabandhan came at a time where you can truly show how much you care. This is a time for siblings to truly think about each other and in spite the fact that the tradition is for a sister to tie a rakhi on her brother's wrist, I believe that the sibling bond is same no matter if it came in quarantine.

Happy Raksha Bandhan!

By: Mahi

Friendship Day

What distinguishes human beings from other living creatures is their sense of relationships. While some connections are by blood – one’s parents and children – there are others that are acquired through betrothal or contract like spouse and in-laws. However, one relationship that is neither acquired by blood nor betrothal and that involves no responsibility, commitment, duty, impulse or formality but is purely a matter of heart and choice is friendship.

Friends are such an important part of our life, so we celebrate our friendship every year on 'Friendship Day'.  Usually, it is celebrated by exchanging gifts like flowers, cards or wristbands among friends. It was initially promoted by Hallmark cards. For the first time, Friendship Day was celebrated on 30th July 1958 in Paraguay. The International Friendship Day is celebrated each year on July 30th however, in a few South Asian countries including India, we celebrate it on the first Sunday of August. So, this year we'll be celebrating our friendships on August 2nd. 

Friendship Day is celebrated in various ways depending upon the age group. I remember being a little kid exchanging bands with all of my friends. I always gave the best bands to the closest ones. And then we all used to compare who got more and who got prettier ones. When I was in my early teenage, I would go for an outing with friends and then come back before it starts to get dark so that my parents don't worry. In High School, I would leave at dusk and come back late at night after a dinner party with friends. My parents always just make some calls to wish their closest friends. But have you ever wondered if the Friendship Day is just about wishing and celebrating friends? Not at all. You should celebrate with your friends, no doubt. But at the same time, it is also about making new friends, about reanimating the dismantled bonds. 

There surely must have been friendship breakups at some point in your life. To be honest, I have had many. Be it because of some misunderstanding or maybe a stupid mistake one of us made. But now that I think if that misunderstanding is worth letting the friendship we had to go? In most cases, it's not. Now that we know what the actual purpose of Friendship Day is, why not fulfil it? This friendship day, let's befriend a ton of people. Get in touch with those friends again with whom you have lost contact, intentionally or not. I know that I would surely get back with all of those who have not been in contact lately and I know your friends would too. Specifically, at this point in time when most of us are stuck in our homes, talking to old friends would feel like living in the fragrant memories again. Let's make them feel special, not just the old-lost friends but everyone out there. Make it beautiful for everyone.

Wishing you all a very Happy Friendship Day!

By: Hammy

EID AL-ADHA

Religion to most of us is an ideology, to some, it's naively written rules, and for a few, it is a view leading one's life. Though the following are only opinions to be held and accounted for the personal psyche. To quote religion itself, it was created to test humans, but more importantly to lead a life with rules, virtue and deeds. 

The literal translation of Eid al-Adha is the 'festival of sacrifice', it is based on an ancient story of where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own son as a test of god. And he would have if the god hadn't sent a ram underneath Abraham's axe.

The festival of sacrifice commemorates with thanking the god by praying to him, then each individual is supposed to give away charity preferably in the form of money and without giving it isn't allowed to go back home or have food. The humanitarian grounds are so adhere established that before beginning any form of celebration the lower strata of the society should be taken care of, so as to enjoy as humanity together. 

Putting aside the controversial ritual of sacrifice, where the first one-third share of the sacrifice is needed to be disturbed amongst poor and the next among relatives and neighbours and the left-over be kept at home and eaten, Eid al-Adha requires one to sacrifice his cherished things in the name of god.

Eid al-Adha comes at the end of the hajj, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime but only for those with means.

Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith. The story, as narrated in the Quran, describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed.

But, just as Abraham attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God.

Every distinct community within Muslims have their own touch whilst celebrating the Eid, some keep chocolates in their home and children from all around the neighbourhood would go around houses to ask for a treat, while in the eastern part of Asia, people make ‘sewai’ to feed one another at the visits. 

Festivals are meant to be celebrated in every religion but at its core, they always have a message embedded in them, we humans need to at least recognize them if not follow. 

To everyone around the globe Eid Mubarak. 

By: Roma

Entrepreneurship: A Road Less Travelled!

Entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness to develop, manage or organize a business venture along with risk in order to make a profit.  In other words an entrepreneur is the risk taker and an innovator who creates a new enterprise. They have such capabilities to bring an idea which changes the idea or a new concept that can succeed in the crowded marketplace.

Apart from this, they have excellent organizational and management skills, as they had to build the organization with his/her employees as well as with other stakeholders to ensure the success of the venture.

The path of entrepreneurship is very challenging there are a lot of sleepless nights. It takes too much out of the person- physically, mentally and emotionally too. It is like taking a pledge from that day onwards that one had to put one thing before anything else in your life- comfort, joy, family, friends and sometimes even the peace of mind.

Entrepreneur is the person who is motivated with the need for high motivation achievement and desire to be successful in competitive situations. They actively search for the opportunities to do new things or to do existing things in an innovative ways.

It has advantages and disadvantages too:

Being an entrepreneur will make you control of everything, you have the right to choose your own working time at any place of your choice whether be at home, office or any other place. On the other hand every business owner must sacrifice and spend long hours to put a strategy and to plan for work.

Working as an entrepreneur is very exciting because each day is filled with new opportunities but on the other hand there is a lot of competition it means that you have to differentiate your business from others.

One of the greatest advantage of being an entrepreneur is that they have no boss to tell you what to do while it is the biggest responsibility as you have to handle everything. There is a lot more independence as an entrepreneur.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur means understanding hard times is when you need to push. To become a successful entrepreneur is the journey not a destination. A successful entrepreneur does not have finish line they push themselves to step outside of their comfort zones and want to grow.

By: Aayaan Asif

Emotional Debauching.

Though this kind of rape is not much talked about or discussed or it may not be recognized by this terminology, but it is faced and experienced by almost all of us. Sexual rape is the violation of somebody’s body on the other hand emotional rape is defilement of emotions, feelings and above all and the human soul.

Emotional Debauching is a conscious and meticulously designed act of violence on a person’s emotions. Though calling such a deed as emotional rape is an extremely vulgar term, but it is a painful reality. The survivors psyche is inhumanly attacked.

One may not even be aware of what’s going on because the emotional abuse starts off slowly and deftly. Men have equal chances of being victimized. During emotional rape, the survivors are already vulnerable. Coping with a whole lot of dependence and addiction, they can’t believe what they are being told or what all is being done to them.

Here, I am using “She” as the rapist and “He” as the survivor because men do have emotions and they are also vulnerable to be raped emotionally. She shows so much admiration and tells ‘him’ how awesome, how understanding, how dazzling he is, making him feel alive and euphoric. He feels special and cherished. There is a sense of gratification which ‘he’ has never felt before in his life.

She is fully equipped with the knowledge of words to use and acts charismatically to manipulate the survivor of the relationship. Now he is ready to do anything for the lady love.  A woman can chase a man for years by setting the stage for him so that he feels completely helpless and surrenders.

Such people set this kind of stage for their personal gains. They are not bothered about the destruction of the relationship, or the emotional damage they inflict. They are also immune to accountability. When the rapist wants to leave ‘him’, she would not mind telling him that she can’t cope with him anymore, that he is just boring for her. The magical soul- mate relationship goes from hell to heaven.

While the survivor puts lots of energy into building relationship, the assaulter uses his energy to build a false persona of himself. The assaulter rapes the positive out of the relationship. The survivor self- respect and self- image gets shattered and thus become more vulnerable to abuse. Self- esteem and self- worth are stripped away

 There will be a change in the intense range of emotions like from fear to anger, from anxiety to shame and from guilt to humiliation. The person will not even be able to trust one’s own thought and perception.

There are different kinds of Emotional abuse:

·        Name Calling – They will blatantly call you “stupid” or a “loser” or any other word.

·        Derogatory “pet names”- This is just more names calling in not- so- subtle disguised. They use words which are not terms of endearment.

·        Character Assassination- This usually involves word always, for example you are always late. Basically, they say you are not a good person.

·        Yelling- Screaming, yelling and swearing are meant to intimidate and make you feel small and uncomfortable.

·        Patronizing- “Aw, sweetie, I know you try, but this is just beyond your understanding”.  They use this kind of words to make you feel that you are worthless.

·        Joking- They make fun of your weaknesses. Simply relate jokes to you which are insulting for you.

·        Sarcasm- It is actually hostility disguised as humor. Insulting you indirectly.

·        Public Embarrassment- They pick fights, eposes secret of yours or make fun of yours. Shortcomings in publics.

·        Ignorance: They simply ignore you. Ignore your calls and messages, stop calling and shows that they are not more interested in you.

·        Insult of your appearances- They simply make insult of appearances. For example: You look so fat, your dressing sense is so old fashioned etc.

Like sexual rape, this assault also happens without consent. Emotional Rape is a violation of the human soul.

By: Mahima