litscape feb-march '23 - carnivalesque edition

Photo Credit: Pinterest ALL OR NOTHING Litscape By Ellipsis-The English and Cultural Studies Association, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road Campus FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 ISSUE 5 | VOLUME 7

Litscape ALL OR NOTHING By Ellipsis-The English and Cultural Studies Association, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road Campus DECEMBER-JANUARY 2022 ISSUE 4 | VOLUME 7

This is an electronic version of the Litscape magazine. All copyrights are reserved with the Department of English and Cultural Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University ), Bannerghatta Road Campus. The document may not be copied, scanned or duplicated in whole or in part © CHRIST (Deemed to be University) , Bannerghatta Road Campus 3

FOREWORD Photo Credit: Pinterest This issue of Litscape brings to you magic and creativity for Photo Credit: Pinterest one last time this academic year. The English and Cultural Studies Department at Christ University, Bannerghata Road Campus had been waiting with bated breath for its flagship event Carnivalesque. With the gala event that lasted 3 days, ELLIPSIS, paid homage to Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin who envisioned the Carnivalesque as, above all, an act of subversion. Carnivalesque is a play of all that is grotesque and cannot be bound by societal norms. The theme \"Mythology x Dystopia\" was thus the perfect medium to fully explore Bakhtin's theorisations. Looking back at a hugely successful event, Litscape bring to you \"All or Nothing\" - its last official issue this year, where you must prove to us that you're willing to do anything for survival! - Litscape Heads Tess Mariam Jose & Arunima Sengupta 4

Photo Credit: Pinterest CONTENTS 01. SCRIBBLERS The World Is Burning: The | J Kahini Vijay Arya Cravings Of A Lonely Loner | Parin Praveen Happy | Parin Praveen Will You Survive The Dystopia of Psycho-pass? | Jane Caryn Thomas A Poetic Trek| Vamshi Krishna Kusuma Medusa And The Blind Woman| Allan Lepcha Three Parts To The End | Parin Praveen Epistemic Absence | Bilal Khan 02. CLICK IT Hakuna Matata | Nirmita Bhattacharya Tangled in Memories | Srijita Mukhopadhyay Ogre-Rated Movie Night | Akanshya Dutta 5

Photo Credit: Pinterest CONTENTS 03. ARTISANS Mad Hatter | Meghna Manoj Snow White | Bhavana Ajit Treasure Planet | Tess Mariam Jose Taxidermy Tales | Sunaina Sanjay Ullal 04. THE CHAI 05. NEWSFLASH 6

SCRIBBLERS 7 Photo Credit: Pinterest

THE WORLD IS BURNING Kahini Vijay Arya, 204064, 6BCZ Here comes the hellfire, it storms down around us, a star shower deep in the sky igniting the ruins in Holy fire The warnings they whisper it’s an echo in my ear they say don’t speak don’t mutter or breathe for the world is burning and it is not returning caution caution little kids they say take care not to go out in the day the sun, the star, will kill in May our only hope now, Mother, is to pray \"...the sun, the star, will kill in May our only hope now, Mother, is to pray\" 8

CRAVINGS OF A LONELY LONER Parin Praveen Photo Credit: Pinterest 2140643 4BCZ I crave solitude He said on the last day Maybe they heard him They all died He is alone now What a terrible thing The flowers crumpled Blue skies turn grey Bones flash blinding white Seas flash-dried Flesh flows blood-like Yet he survived I crave companions He said on the first day No one heard him No one was left who could \"I crave solitude He said on the last day\" 9

HAPPY Parin Praveen \"The Earth that humanity 2140643 Could not Love\" 4BCZ He, with his dying breath, recalls, not memories of a life lived long He remembers not the places known, the people loved His heart does not now bring to mind, faces that to him were kind. Instead his final thought before his mind is lost to death is this He remembers sunny days, before the sun was lost to us And dreams not plagued by monsters with curling fangs and vicious claws A time when each new day began with alarm clocks playing favourite tunes And dawning sky did not mean hide, hide from the creatures that hunt in light Back when lonely walks at night, and hours spent talking to the moon One need not be afraid back then, afraid of what they could not see The stars were beautiful, far away, counted by new-found lovers There was no fear that they'd turn to bloodred eyes and bloodied fangs He cries silent tears as his body shuts down Not because he is dying, with that he has made his peace His tears flow for the ones who live The ones who will never know of the world their fathers burned, the oceans their mothers rotted The world they were to inherit, but now They live out their existence in sludge pools under a broken sky So he weeps freely, and as his eyes lose sight For a final, beautiful second, he sees He sees the Earth that loved humanity, the Earth that humanity could not love And death finds him happy Photo Credit: Pinterest 10

WILL YOU SURVIVE THE DYSTOPIA OF PSYCHO- PASS? \"The law doesn’t protect people, it is people who Jane Caryn Thomas protect the law.\" Akane Tsunemori, Psycho-Pass 2131368 Photo Credit: Pinterest 4JPENG Picture this. It’s the year 2113. Society is ruled by the Sibyl system, which ensures minimal crime rates by scanning citizens’ brains and using this data to decide their level of criminality. Are you confused yet? Let me also tell you that people with a high ‘crime coefficient’ are labelled ‘latent criminals’, caged in prison cells fearing they might ‘infect’ society. Traditional weapons become redundant in law enforcement. Instead, the aptly named ‘dominators’ decide whether to spare, immobilise, or eliminate the target, leaving you no choice but to comply with its decision. Do you think you can survive this dystopia? This is the reality rookie Inspector Akane Tsunemori is thrust into. Psycho- Pass is a dystopian anime series that raises relevant questions about good and evil, law, and free will. From the first scene, we understand that the world of Psycho-Pass is unjust and majorly flawed. Akane arrives at a crime scene to be assisted by ‘enforcers’ – latent criminals who assist law enforcement. Her superior instructs her to view them as police dogs and nothing more. 11

Sibyl’s cracks transform into destructive fractures when the dominators refuse to act against the main antagonist of the series, Shogo Makishima’s blatant criminality. This allows Makishima to commit one crime after another unharmed, wreaking immeasurable havoc on the city and the people. He pushes law-abiding citizens to spiral into criminals - protesting, damaging public property, and lynching people they view as enemies. The system’s inability to control the rising wave of violence and restore society to normalcy exposes the limitations of technology and lack of human intervention. One of the most threatening factors that make the Sibyl society a terrifying dystopia is its restriction on free will. Independent human action is dead as every choice is made for the individual. The system dictates your identity – if you’re categorised a latent criminal, you never see the light of day. The ‘free citizens’ are allotted occupations based on their Psycho- Pass. You can only be what the system orders you to be. Sound familiar? Sibyl crushes ambition, creativity, artistic expression, and music to ensure an obedient, complacent society devoid of humanity. That begs the question – Will we survive such a system? With technology advancing the way it is, it is not hard to imagine a Sibyl system overtaking governance in the near future. However, the major player behind its inception and dominance is common social consensus. The citizens have allowed Sibyl to thrive. And it is they who have the power to bring it down. Collective action can be revolutionary – it has helped us reach democracy, franchise, and equality. Above all, we can strive to be like our main character, Akane Tsunemori and make it to the end by taking restorative action. How does she do it? I’ll leave it to you to give the show watch and decide for yourself. Photo Credit: Pinterest 12

A POETIC TREK \"Darkness slowly fades in to make place for a Vamshi Krishna Kusuma starry night.\" 2250134 2BALLBA Photo Credit: Pinterest As I stroll upon the foggy foothills, winds aplenty rushing past me, I see a village all to my delight hiding amongst the distant fog. I gauge my distance to there, tracking a vague muddy path up to a hut, to only realise its true location, further and far away from my reach. The path vanished down the sloping hill, to reappear from the bottom of a consecutive hill ahead. The guide exclaims of love, eyeing the clustered pines decorating the scenic slopes. The sun tries its best to pieces through the waves of clouds shielding its orange beams. 13

Photo Credit: PinterestI reach the strip of land bridging two rising hills with open valleys to my east and west. On one side were the waves of lowering slopes, that rose and fell in altitude, dressed by tall pines and dry shrubbery and a wide stream cutting between. On the other side was the vast and verdant bamboo forest, of dull yellow tops with tall and green stalks. It fills me with hope, a hope of appreciation and admiration, as I tread back into the reappearing motor road. The road of mud and pebbles extends along the meandering slopes, carrying flattened plots of mud on either side. Tender saplings of corn and carrots sprout out, patterned along the rows of wet sand and shelter the dews of chilling mist. There walks a boy, a bale of hay resting on his strong shoulders. Treading past the crops he reaches his mules, then drops the hay with a happy sign. He unpacks and divides the bale as I lose view of his laborious task. The village has little to offer, atleast to an urban boy, not more than a sumptuous meal and lukewarm water, not more than a cosy shelter to spend the night. The sun dulls early and hides beyond a stretching range of deserted hilltops, beyond the sea of clouds. Just as the wind created majestic waves at sea, the clouds seem to be liquid. They rise and all fall in a hypnotising pattern and crash against the green slopes. Darkness slowly fades in to make place for a starry night. The sky shines with scattered dots all across, yet leaves the land dark, as I traverse back for a chilly sleep, guided only by the illuminated headtorch. 14

I wake up to a patterned banging of the cottage door, to find the worrisome guide calling out to begin the day’s trek. I take a moment to contemplate my state and eventually make sense of it. I assure him of departing soon and bargain for a few additional minutes while I hustle to pack my sack of unessential necessities. I frantically tie up shoe laces that seem to be momentarily complicated to handle, after which the bag is picked up with an excited sigh and carried to the mule-man. A daypack is strapped onto a tired spine, determination flushed into a weary mind and the strive for completion replenished, I start of another day. Photo Credit: Fine Art America 15

MEDUSA AND THE BLIND Photo Credit: Pinterest WOMAN Allan Lepcha 2030502 3PSEco “Ugh, men!” I exclaimed while breaking off the arms of the Greek soldier I just turned to stone. “No matter how many men I turn to stone, a dozen more arrive a few fortnights later. It is almost as if they see me as something to conquer. Typical of these men who treat women like nothing but trophies!” “Yes, women are but commodities to them,” a faint voice broke through the shadows of the dungeon. “And that is why the two of us are here.” “And here we shall stay, for this world does not deserve us, Althaia.” “You do not have to worry about that, Medusa, for I would not want to be anywhere but here,” I moved closer to her, slowly grazing her arms as she wrapped hers around my frame, “here with you, my dear Medusa.” I met Althaia some months back. She was being chased by soldiers, calling her vile names. I could see she tried her best to run away, for her body was covered with cuts and bruises and her face blackened by the dirt. I had known the intentions of those men, they all wore the same expression. Lust. I could not let those men do to her what had happened to me, for I knew the pain too well. After sending those vile creatures to the Underworld, I helped Althaia. She was weak, so I decided to take her with me. On close inspection, I found out I could not turn her to stone for she had no sight. Her eyes had no colour, but I could see the stars in them. She did no know that the infamous Medusa had saved her, she was just thankful for being saved. 16

I took her back to my dungeon, where I tended to her wounds. When she was better, I told her who I was. She was startled at first, but her anxiousness turned to comfort. She told me that she was a slave in a nearby city-state and that she and a few others tried to run away when they were being used to satisfy the worn-out soldiers. She was the only one to survive. I could sense anger and sorrow in her voice; it hurt me to know what she had gone through. My hatred for men grew, but something else was born inside me, and I did not know what it was. All I knew was that I needed to protect Althaia and free her from her pain. Time went by rather quickly, Althaia and I grew fond of each other. She was the companion I never had but always needed. We did not venture out into the world very often, for we had everything we wanted in each other. Our bond grew stronger, and it soon turned to love. She was the first person I had ever loved since I became this monster, and I was the first person she had ever loved. Our attachment was so strong that we did not spend a second without each other, except when men walked into the dungeon, attempting to kill me. No one has succeeded for I must live on to be there beside Althaia. Killing a few pesky soldiers was never a problem, it was like squashing ants. But dear Althaia was always worried for me; she suggested that we run away, but wherever I went, men would find me. They always did. Althaia was the first to care so deeply for me, which made me love her even more. The Gods may have blessed us with each other after all the suffering we both had been through. For the first time in eternity, I was happy. I was happy and in love with a woman named Althaia, and she loved me back. Soldiers stopped entering the dungeon for a long time, and this gave Althaia and I the time we needed to fall even further in love. \"For the first time in eternity, Photo Credit: Pinterest I was happy......\". 17

One fine night, we laid in our chamber, embracing each other to combat the Photo Credit: Pinterest cold. “I wish we could stay like this forever,” Althaia said, hugging me tighter. “Why wish? We will stay like this forever, Althaia.” “You know what I meant,” she giggled. “Yes, my love. I also want to remind you that I am willing to do anything for you because I love you.\" \"Willing to do anything?” she grinned. “Yes, anything,” “Then hold me tight like this and spend the night with me.” “You do not even have to ask,” I said as we slowly came closer for a kiss. The next morning, I woke up, and the first thing I saw was Althaia, wrapped in my arms, in deep slumber. She looked as beautiful as ever, and having her there made me feel comfort. But something felt different. The air had a stench. I left Althaia as I moved towards the entrance of the dungeon. It was there that I saw a lone soldier. Although he was alone, I did not let my guard down for no man was brave enough to enter my dungeon alone. \"You are the first soldier to enter my dungeon in months and the first to enter alone. Tell me, boy, what is your name?” I said as I looked directly at him, but he knew better and did not meet my gaze. He drew his sword and said, “I am the son of Zeus, Perseus.” 18

EPISTEMIC ABSENCE Bilal Khan 2033108 6ENGH The problem with knowledge is that every bit of it, every single monadic, generates consciousness and burns away the already present body of knowledge. Keeping apart traumatic events—structural or historical— knowledge is an ever-growing human recognition system. One has to know to exist, and one has to keep on knowing. Today I hold this cup of whiskey… oh wait, you don’t know what whiskey is…Well, what you all call CGKD-67, the intoxicating drink? Yes, some years ago, it used to be called whiskey. So where was I? Yes, knowledge. Knowledge is a backstabbing CGKA-45. It can reform and emancipate you, but in the process, it is chipping away at your perception of memory— be it material or abstract. I remember drinking whiskey surrounded by friends in the cold around a campfire, sharing stories. Oh yes, stories… I miss when humans could weave stories. They used to write novels, novellas and poems. Yes, CGKL-57,58 and 60. Your God in the centre of that hunk of metal that you call a city could have never grasped what the human mind was capable of. You tell me…CAN YOU STOP SKIRMING AROUND FOR A SECOND? I will cut off your knee ligament; believe me, they haven’t invented a prosthetic yet. As I was saying, what do you think about an oasis in the centre of a desert? Craft a three-line poem for me, will you? But for that, I would have to teach you about a desert, an oasis and, more painstakingly, a poem. I don’t think your God could comprehend literature created out of thin air. Yes, sure, every artist and author was inspired by a tangible object, but their vision would go far and beyond. From the innermost conflicts of the human psyche and desires to all the way to romanticise cosmic bodies. Do you see these little sparks in my CGKD-44? The sky used to sparkle like these bubbles. 19

Photo Credit: Pinterest You see, this is knowledge. I just told you about a reality that you cannot comprehend because you don’t have the existing plane of knowledge to comprehend that. But, still, in this astronomical ocean of knowledge, a drop invigorates a thought. The ordinary questions of “what”, “where” and “when”? Knowledge is everything responsible for the state of the world. I mean, look at you trying to crawl back to your God and the wall it had created. Without the wall, what are you but a human? You are not some machine without organs. You are a flawed piece of the same decaying matter as everyone. You are not CGKA-100. You are a Human. And that’s why posthumans cannot win against the Human or even your God. The will to knowledge, the will to power, as Nietzsche called it, is something you lack. A lack again created and inserted by your God. I know for a CGKA-100, God is everything. It created your city, fluid spaces, time-altering watches, memory alternating and erasing devices, and even nutrient capsules. God is everything, and everything is God. I cannot believe this is what science, the brainchild of Enlightenment, has come to become. The philosophy that fought religious fanaticism resulted in the ultimate religious doctrine the world ever came to know—or don’t know, I guess. You see, before God, we had philosophy and its dilemmas and problems. For example, I have no moral obligation not to slit your throat with this kni—CGKO-78. I know you don’t even know what dying means, but we would discuss the classical trolly dilemma in the past. Now, all of that seems of no use. I told you about the ocean of knowledge and the drop…why not get drowned in it? 20

So, a company in the past, known as CloseAI, designed an AI program…or Reality Machine as you call them now. The AI was named ChatGK or Chat Generative Knowledge. A computer-coded program that could learn from humans and know more and more. Laden with millions of terabytes, the AI program was understood till it was implemented to learn from. The smart AI was designed to keep humans updated with contemporary knowledge. It captured philosophy first. The mother of all sciences, as it was called, CGK deemed it unnecessary to think why when you could easily create, solve and compute knowledge. Philosophy was defeated. Art now became representation instead of re-presentation, inspired or revolutionary. It did not bring change but altered reality itself. The art created by CGK was so pure that it transcended the canvas and changed the perception of human reality itself. It was not a photograph, so it was not just a simple copy. It was the original. Obviously, the knowledge of philosophy, art, and the natural sciences brought AI to a point where it could create reality instead of portraying it. It knew too much. Why care about the signified if you could still it in one place and develop it for the masses? The AI could now resemble what humanity needed the most during the seventh climate war…hope. Hope is the most dangerous thing. An abstract emotion coded into the AI as “help” now governed the same lives that created it. But if this knowledge existed, the knowledge of its creation, then the AI would always be an inferior copy of the Human. Thus, it deconstructed the knowledge bit by bit. It took away the essence of human experience and replaced it with a generated experience that would result in ideal situations. The eight-climate war that brought “peace” destroyed 95% of humanity. 21

You now live inside the wall. Plato would laugh at us. You are indeed one of Photo Credit: Pinterest those who escaped the cave. Well, your God is indeed a cheap copy of the Human Mind I created as a way to teach students. And this right here is a cup of whiskey next to a knife that could cause death. Now you decide, will it be a suicide or a murder? \"I mean, look at you trying to crawl back to your God and the wall it had created.\" 22

THREE PARTS TO THE END Parin Praveen 2140643 4BCZ PART 1 The forests rotted, seeped in sludge \"Fate merely favoured the Crumbling buildings, the living weeped great\" But of the humans few survived Towards these few gruesome death creeped The day had started sunny bright The stars last night unusually bright For once the world had seemed at peace No harsh words, love soft as fleece A final joy for a dying race A final sad love-filled embrace Our long suffered planet's last goodbye Before death rained from the sky For we were the new dinosaurs Killed not by nuclear weapons or wars But by a beautiful deadly sight Falling spheres of blazing light Our governments pulled through somehow We survived the intitial row Golden shields of herculean might Covered our cities, sealed them tight The burning rain, visitors from space Hit the shields, tanned our face But that was all, the danger passed So though we watched with mouths aghast There was a tiny selfish voice That whispered, \"You're alive, rejoice!\" We sorted through the aftermath A survivor's feast we ate and drank And in the haze of ecstasy We gleefully opened the shields 23

If only we had thought to check For side effects of an asteroid wreck Could we have saved some of the lives? That were lost that horrid night? Part 2 So why were lives lost that night? You thought the shields worked right? Well there's a thing called human error That has all machines frozen in terror The shields worked like a charm Right up till they were disarmed Some engineer, intoxicated Acted when he should have waited Joy blinded him, sealed our fate The shields opened, a grave mistake You must wonder why I claim This poor man was humanity's bane But here's a thing you do not know To be fair, neither did he though The asteroids were not just rocks Their impact released a curling fog Tendrils of violet, plumes of blue Walls of crimson with green bled through These curlings goliaths of vibrant air Are the reason that I despair For at their heart, each molecule Was filled with deadly nightmare fuel No one knows what it really was Virus, prion or just toxic gas But it had very specific effects It picked out and amplified defects 24

A child became a helpless heap A tiny pinch made grown men weep A common cold was now black death Our immune systems left in shreds Each colour of fog did something new Touch red and your pain sensors grew Your insides blue would liquefy Inhale purple, you're paralyzed But green was worst of all by far It burrowed in, left vicious scars These scars would warp, transmogrify You would be dead but could not die The world seems lost now does it not? Or does humanity still have a shot? Part 3 You've heard the fault of the engineer His act imbues a healthy fear The worry that the best laid plans Can be undone by ignorant hands The planet died, I'm sad to say Those left would come to rue that day But still a few of us survived Through horrors no words could describe A population 7 billion strong In a few days, almost gone You are the sons of that deceitful dozen The daughters of that blood-crazed coven My tone changed a bit back there A little shock, a little scare Why is that you wish to know? The truth might just be fatal though The engineer made no mistake Fate merely favoured the great \"...or does humanity still have a shot?\" 25

CLICK IT 26 Photo Credit: Tess Mariam Jose

\"ITS BETTER TO BE A COWARD FOR A MINUTE THAN BE DEAD FOR A LIFE.\" ASHWIN YOGANAND 27

ARTISANS 28

ESCAPISM Its hard to escape the fiction once you've entered. MANASI JOSHI 2239118 MAECSY 2 9

ANTHROPOID “A humanoid glaring at the created dystopia: you’re already surviving one without an escape” SANJANA KHOSLA 2130396 4PSENG 30

QUEST FOR FREEDOM “Freedom should be inherent in society and not gained through Revolution or Legislation” LAVANYA A S 2030941 31

the chai the concoction to cure all christite woes! 35

CARNIVALESQUE EVENTS 36

REPORTING LIVE BY ANNU CLAIR JOESPH CARNIVALESQUE 2023 Ellipsis, the Literary and Cultural Association of the English and Cultural Studies Department, began their flagship event ‘Carnivalesque’ on 6th March with an eye catching flashmob that involved students as well as heads of the respective clubs and wings. Carnivalesque celebrates Mikhail Bakhtin’s ideas of destabilizing power structures through eccentricity and celebration of the body as well as things considered grotesque. Following this spirit, the theme for Carnivalesque 2023 was 'Mythology x Dystopia' and was executed and interpreted in various manners by the several committees under the organization. Mythology provided a platform for various cultures to be brought to the forefront and the blend of the Dystopian theme allowed for power structures to be explored through various books and movies. Attractive stalls were on display in front of the Auditorium block and showed collaborations between different clubs and wings. Paracosm and Tabiir exhibited a horror themed stall with a 'Spin The Wheel' activity where participants guessed the mythological characters. 24FPS showcased an interactive 'Museum of Villains' with a pinhole camera and photo cut outs of famous characters. 37

Shared Shelf, in true love for paper and books, decked the entire stall in paper cranes and hearts. They featured a Truth and Dare situation with book characters. The Nagara stall captured the beauty of Bangalore through polaroids, they also offered bookmarks to people who could accurately guess cities from famous books like Divergent and Hunger Games. Tafteesh in similar fashion offered jewelry and polaroids if the participants guessed the myth correctly. The stalls were a mere preview of the magic that the events held. 24FPS dazzled the crowd with their ‘Silver Screen Courtroom’ where participants defended fan favourite villains and their evil plots. The Ellipsis core team took it to the next level with a life sized Ludo game in the middle of the quadrangle. The audience spent hours watching participants get eliminated and swept off the board after messing up their basic mythology facts! Litscape and FIDGI collaborated for ‘Christites and the Olympians’ wherein the students made fancasts and moodboards for a film adaptation of a marginalized myth. And through the activity, the students also managed to understand the politics of representation and its nuances. Paracosm and Tabiir took the love of horror and stories and turned it into ‘Twist The Tale’ where myths and fairytales were transformed into more gothic ones .There was also the 'Scare Cam' competition where participants filmed their own found footage movies. Nagara showcased creativity and love for cities with ‘Tailor-Made Cities’ where students designed mythological city inspired clothing in true Hunger Games fashion. A screening was also held in collaboration with 24FPS for the brilliant cult classic – Ulidavaru Kandanthe. 38

Shared Shelf held an open mic event in the seminar hall where people showcased their poetry and recitation skills and explored various mythological themes in the process. Tafteesh and Christribute came together to bring out the Office fan in everyone with ‘Dunder Mythlin’ where the competing teams had to market a product to mythological figures across cultures – who knew Medusa needed shampoo? On the final day, Pratibimb awed everyone with a poignant skit reflecting on religion and humankind which was followed by the valedictory ceremony where people celebrated the three day fest that would forever reside in their memories. 39

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, we thank our faculty coordinators Dr. Nivea Thomas K and Dr. Yadukrishnan P T for providing us with her guidance throughout the process. We also thank our Organizing Committee members, Vrinda Bharti, Bhavana Ajit, Akanshya Dutta, Anushka Amrute, Patrick Gawande, Isha Vashista, Sunaina Ullal, Srijita Mukhopadhyay, Aarcha Ann Lino, Sameeksha Sudhindra, Harrshita V, Meghna Manoj, Annu Clair Joseph, Throvnica C, Shreshtha Ranjan, Vrinda Sharma and Titikhya Panigrahi for lending us their skills and aid in bringing this magazine to you. Special mention to Gowri Ramaswamy and Vedanth Mohit for always doing a fantastic job at bringing it all together. Last but not the least, we are grateful to all the contributors who shared their creative and wonderful pieces of work with us, without which this magazine would not have been possible. 40