ISSUE #6 DECEMBER Quills 'n' Stills
Letter from the coordinator Dear Students, Reading literature enables us to see the world through the eyes of others. It trains the mind to be flexible, to comprehend other points of view. Literature has had an impact on the development of society. Literature gives us a detailed preview of human experiences, allowing us to connect on basic levels of desire and emotion. When students read magazines, they learn to appreciate words and their power. They travel to other realms and times through the texts they read. They understand their own culture and others’ through the valuable contents of the magazine. I hope this magazine shall be very helpful in shaping the mindset of our students and helping them flourish in society. DR A.K. VYAS Co-ordinator (IIIT Kota)
Dear Students, Convener IIIT Kota is one among the many new IIITs Letter from the CACS established in the year 2013. Right from its inception, IIIT Kota has made several strides towards excellence in every field under the mentorship of MNIT, Jaipur. Under the able guidance of our honourable Director sir and Coordinator sir, and well-coordinated efforts from the students and faculty, a good number of clubs spanning both co-curricular and extra-curricular activities were nurtured. I extend my best wishes to the entire Quills'n'Stills team, which worked round the clock to make this magazine a reality. I hope that this magazine shall be a great platform to showcase the broad spectrum of events that happen on our campus. I convey my best wishes and congratulations and look forward to the next edition. Best, Dr. Vinita Tiwari CACS Convener
I believe that creating anythingA token ofI’d also like to extend my of value requires a determined ratitudegratitude towards our institute team effort. The same goes faculty members, and staff with this magazine. The final members who provide us with published edition is the result their support whenever we feel of many burning hours of the need for it. Publishing this individuals who like to see the magazine without their support best version of the magazine would’ve been impossible. come out. That’s why firstly I Lastly, but most importantly, I’d would like to congratulate the like to thank all the fine entire team of Q’n’S to publish contributors who send their yet another fine edition of our amazing entries to publish in institute magazine. I’d then like our magazine. And the readers, to thank my seniors for always the ones who we do it all for, guiding us whenever we went a thank you for choosing to bit astray from our end goal. spend your time with these It's always great to have artists. With this expense of someone to take advice from gratitude, I think it’s time you whenever there is a need for it. turn the page over and dive right into the magazine.
Editor'S note Hello readers! This pandemic thing is slowly fading away, isn’t it? Though, what it has left behind are countless irrevocable scars that will fade even slower than the pandemic itself. We have been through a lot and continue to strive for normalcy with the new normal. No one is the same as we were when we first stepped into this pandemic. Most of our experiences have been slight to the edgier side, and the only benefit we got out of this is that at least we got to push our mental boundaries. But pushing ourselves emotionally too often takes a toll on our mental health. In this edition, we discuss the subtleties of mental health. We are often left on our own when dealing with the cruelest monster of all: our own dark thoughts. We urge anyone who is going through any mental strain to seek help and talk about it with the ones they love. With this edition, we hope to provide you with articles, poetry, photographs and more, to be your companion in these difficult times. With the placement and examination season going on, and most of the students being busy with it, this edition took far longer than we expected. I assure everyone that our team has put enough effort to make all the wait worth it. Get right in, and witness some amazing pieces of content created by your fellow mates. - Apoorv Kashyap
1 PTSD: Disorder of the Table Unknown 3 Trying to make sense of the world 5 Anime Review : Terror in Resonance 8 Anime Review : One-Punch Man 10 Grief : A Journey Of 13 Gen - Z & Mental Health 15 Do we become what we read, or do we read what we are Poetry Section 18 It was you.. 21 ..तो अच्छा होता 19 Can I ? 22 Crossroads 20 One Starry Night 23 उठो मुसाफिर !! 24 Insights of my Acheron Contents
T able Events 26 Independence Day Celebration 27 Poetry Competition 28 Teacher's Day Celebration 29 Vigilance Week 36 Neeraj Chopra - The Enthusiast Of 38 Art Section 48 Word Scramble 49 Anime Review : Kiznaiver 51 Book Review - Tuesdays with Morrie 55 1st Convocation Ceremony Contents
Disorder of tPheTSUDn:known Quills'n'Stills Mental health and the variety of disorders associating with the same has been lacking attention in many countries for centuries now. Ignorance of such morbid conditions as PTSD, among others, threatens almost 15-18 % of the world population. Many will be surprised to know that in some countries, until the 1960s, mentally disturbed people, depressed, schizophrenic, or otherwise were thrown in asylums or worse, were treated by drowning and incoherent exorcisms. As we know, people fear something that they don’t understand. PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - a severe mental health condition triggered when an individual experiences a traumatic incident or has been a part of exceptionally life- threatening events. Such instances leave a mental mark on the concerned individual and put him at risk of developing long-term sufferings and effects such as panic attacks, hyperventilation, extreme sweating, shivering, shaking, flashbacks and nightmares. There are abundant reasons as an answer to why and how some people suffer from PTSD, including 1
military confrontation (a significant population of soldiers suffer from the same and, the numbers have shot up due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan), personal assaults, terrorist attacks, sexual abuse, natural disasters, loss of a loved one and more. There are plenty of stages people suffer from but what’s important is to not be in denial. And in some cases, the inability to recognize the disorder can make the suffering stick for longer. The 21st century is learning to normalize all types of mental issues and spreading awareness to the primordial fact that it is indeed not shameful to seek help. Biologically speaking, some details regarding PTSD remains in the fog as to why certain people get affected by a situation and others don’t. Even when two people had been through the same traumatic event, each can have his own hormonal response that could be poles apart from the other person. Early recognition and consulting a psychologist to decide the course of treatment that involves psychotherapy is one of the best-proven ways to avoid complicating the symptoms and treatment of the same. Especially tailored therapy sessions assigned to a suffering individual like cognitive processing therapy creates a new perspective to look at things; exposure therapy involves mental confrontations of the same traumatic event by talking about it. And in some cases, doctor-prescribed medications like anti-depressants, among others, are used for faster recovery. We need a society with a sound mind, which is only achievable by spreading awareness about such unevolved topics which lack societal attention. It took more than a millennium for countries with a huge population and economic advancements to identify, plan, normalize, and begin this fight. Countries like India have recently been taking mental health as seriously as they should due to the sudden surge in the number of suicides in the global COVID lockdown. Our responsibility, as a collective societal voice, is to make sure that mental health disorders like PTSD, schizophrenia, depression, and others, never go undetected. We can educate and raise awareness among those around us who lack the sense to understand the importance of this crucial topic. We can include the study of certain sensitive topics such as mental health in our educational curriculum so that future leaders know how to grapple with them. This way, the young and bright will know the truth before the outside world corrupts their minds with myths and fallacies. S. Ramesh Kumar 2
Quills'n'Stills Trying To Make Sense Of The World - Abhinav Jain Most likely, everyone reading this When one achieves moksha, he is has given JEE. Each of us has also said to have gotten out of the braved through several months of vicious life-circle which binds lockdown, and many have suffered people to be reborn in one form or a recent loss of a loved one. Amidst another again and again. The state all this chaos, what is it that keeps of nonexistence is said to be the us sane (at least on the outside)? highest state of being. But one What is it that keeps us going even doesn’t need to read philosophy or after studying for a dozen hours religious texts to know this. If you daily for years, getting suffocated by have paid any heed at all to what’s the compulsion to stay in our happening in your life, or that of homes for months uninterrupted, anyone you know, or in the life of and mourning the loss of someone people around the globe, you will we loved deeply? If life is an realize that there isn’t one endless chain of suffering, then redeeming quality about life – or survival is an instinct that generally the world. takes over. It doesn’t take a genius to understand where the sentiments of anti-natalism, nihilism, and to an extent, atheism emerge from. There isn’t much doubt about the fact that life will inherently cause you pain. If the likes of Nietzsche, Kafka, or Dostoevsky seem too western for you, even Gita will give you a similar view of the world. Moksha is described as a state of non-existence. 3
Quills'n'Stills Perhaps if we go through what Afghans continue to live even when happened in this past month, this their world changed in a matter of would become even more clear. In several hours? Human optimism the past month, the US hastily would say that it is their hope for a evacuated from Afghanistan, leading civilians coup, but their actions to its return to the dark ages, UK and speak otherwise. What keeps them Israel have been reporting higher going is the strive to fulfill their daily covid cases than ever, and the delta needs; to fill their empty bucket variant has arrived in Kerela, while the tap is still running; to go to indicating the arrival of the 3rd wave work and earn some money, and to of coronavirus in India. Just hearing feed their children, and keep them about these stories week after week safe. They are living while is enough to make one believe in the consciously ignoring the sad state prominence of anti-natalism, or the they live in, waiting for a Deus-Ex- insignificance of his own actions, or Machina to arrive and solve all their in the absence of God himself. problems. And therein lies the Actually, believing this should have answer. been the norm, but yet it isn’t. Although logically, these ideas seem We are all waiting for a Deus-Ex- most rational, yet most people refuse Machina. This human optimism could to believe in them (if at all either be naive or selective ignorance, acknowledge them). So what is it but it keeps us from questioning the that keeps people going? unfair game of life. I’d like to believe that we are all romantics in a way. We Well, I’m afraid no one can answer this like to romanticize the idea of life, and question. Humans are quite optimistic, that is what keeps us going. We love the and this optimism keeps our civilization idea of life, and we strive until we alive. On a bad day, patting our experience the purest form of it. And it household pet or watching a game of is this love that makes us enjoy our our favorite sport is all it takes to cheer happiness way more than we mourn our us up. We are way too busy completing sorrows. It is our compassion for life that our daily quests to question the game urges us to keep going. If only we loved itself (and this is a very conscious effort living as much as we love life, the world to ignore the obvious). What makes could’ve been a far better place. 4
Anime Review: Terror in Resonance Quills'n'Stills 5
Directed by: Shinichiro Watanabe Quills'n'Stills with Yuzuru Tachikawa as assistant Terror in Resonance is a tale about two young boys who turned into terrorists and began assaulting Tokyo. They prepare ahead of time and place bombs in various areas, and before each bombing, they Produced by: Koji Yamamoto, broadcast a video on the internet in which they provide Makoto Kimura, police clues about their upcoming detonation. They Takamitsu Inoue offer the cops a chance to solve the puzzle and prevent the bomb from exploding. What made these two Original run: July 10, 2014 - adolescents terrorists, why did they give the September 25, authorities a chance, and how many explosives were 2014 (11 episodes) police able to prevent? I strongly advise everyone to watch this anime to find out the answers to all of these Written by: Shoten Yano, questions. It's a rather short anime with only 11 Hiroshi Seko, episodes. Jun Kumagai, Kenta Ihara You might be able to finish it in a single day because the plot grows more intriguing with each episode.Nine Studio: MAPPA and Twelve are the two major characters in this Music by: Yoko Kanno narrative. Yes, these are the names of the two bombing suspects. You'll find out why these guys were given these names in the second part of the narrative. I guarantee you won't be able to figure out if these lads are nice or evil until the eleventh episode. That is what makes this anime so appealing. It is really nicely written, as the tale is completed in only 11 episodes. Nine and Twelve disguise themselves as Sphinx and submit a video on the Internet. Those puzzles proved to be extremely difficult for cops until one of their greatest cops, Shibazaki, returned to the top post. The bombings were mostly orchestrated by Nine. The other duties, such as saving and planting explosives, are handled by the other twelve. Shibazaki and Nine begin to play mind games. You'll realize later that they carry out terrorist acts but never harm anyone; you'll understand why when you learn about their major goal. 6
Quills'n'Stills The narrative grows more intriguing after the introduction of another character, Five. She was a brilliant policeman as well as a skilled hacker. Nine was having a lot of trouble coping with her. Those two boys had a history with her. There is another female character named Lisa who does not play a significant role in the tale but does provide a unique element to it. It's all about the characters here. When it comes to animation, there are not many examples of great animation, but the animation and graphics are adequate. Building collapses and bomb blasts appear to be extremely realistic. There isn't much of a love angle in the tale, and you may as well disregard it. The music is nice, but I wouldn't say it's the best because the opening theme is mediocre. The last theme is pleasant and mellow.The story's primary features are the mind games, which make it impossible to anticipate who will win or lose. The narrative has a lot of unexpected twists and turns. So, if you're searching for a quick anime fix, this is a good place to start. -Adarsh Kumar 7
Quills'n'Stills ANIME REVIEW: ONE-PUNCH MAN Directed by: Natsume Shingo Produced by: Hosoya, Noboyuki Written by: Suzuki, Tomohiro, and Kawajiri, Yoshiaki Studio: Madhouse Music by: Miyazaki Mikoto Original run: October 5, 2015 - December 21, 2015 (12 episodes) The last decade in media has been dominated by one particular genre, the Superhero Genre. We see this in the extreme success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the various DC movies, and of course the other, indie or not movies set in this style. This means that the same stories and concepts have been explored a lot in many mediums with the MCU in the cinemas, My Hero Academia in the manga industry, and a similar state of affairs in other visual arts. What One Punch Man offers is a break from that monotony, it serves the same audience and offers the same tropes but then what’s so special about One Punch Man? This phenomenal anime offers a refreshing Satirical take on the genre while utilizing and respecting the mainstays in tropes and story beats that we know and love. It’s a story about a heroic man who finds himself bored from the lack of a challenge, we see him seek the thrills and a good fight involved in heroism and we see him in a very negative light but the admirable thing is that the show does this while also demonstrating his heroism. He finds every moment of being a hero boring and unchallenging but he keeps doing it because he is a hero and he would sacrifice his own stimulation in favor of saving lives. It’s these concepts of Heroics that drive the show. We see it demonstrated in the various colorful characters present in the caste, a perfect example being Mumen Rider who despite being a regular human being in a world of superheroes keeps on coming back and fighting, getting thrashed just to be a Hero and get to save lives. This sentiment is shared by a lot of characters but they differ not only in the vivid color palette and designs but also their respective motivations and characteristics. It’s a study in characterization with excellently done character arcs and conflicts. 8
Quills'n'Stills The world of One Punch Man is one that pays homage to a lot of the classics but stays original and exciting. Animation is top-notch, it is often cited as one of the best examples of fight scenes, choreography, and general fluid movement in the industry itself. The sounds are crispy, the music phenomenal, and the voice acting top-notch. The staff behind One Punch Man is legendary in what they have achieved with this show. It currently has 2 seasons but the focus of the review has been on just the first which has a complete story arc and a satisfying ending. Viewers who are left wanting more might want to watch the second season but as of yet, it provides an incomplete story and an overall lackluster experience when compared vis-à-vis the first season. If you’re looking for a superhero story with a twist or just really nice eye candy to binge over the weekend, this is the anime for you. Article by: Daksh Joshi 9
Quills'n'Stills “Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.” ― Leo Tolstoy GRIEF: A JOURNEY We are as human as we can get. We have all loved Grief: intense sorrow, especially caused by people, places, pets,moments and every thing there someone's death. is to love that our puny 12-inch heart can. But just like any wave, with the highs come the lows and with And it, too, has a journey. A journey we all go love, comes the loss. Life starts and life at some through. Yet, it might not be the same for all, as : point, expectedly or unexpectedly ends. And no matter how much of a warning we are given, the pain “ Everyone's grief grows differently.” of loss is never less. Keep in mind that everyone's emotions are valid The world is still recovering from the once-in-a- and everyone experiences different intensities. century pandemic, being highly unprepared whether That we can never truly know how one would feel it was medically, financially or mentally, did not help or experience these emotions and how they would us either. process them. The only way we can help is by creating a safe space for them and letting them Losing someone we know unfortunately is something know that you are available for when they are most of us are still healing from. The pain has a ready to share or when they want to seek help. name: Grief. 10
Quills'n'Stills As Sasha Sloan, a singer and songwriter wrote in 2. Anger: When denial is the coping mechanism, anger her song ‘ until it happens to you’: is the masking effect. It is very common to feel betrayed, cheated and intense resentment. This could “Somebody loses their somebody every day be directed towards your loss, for leaving or towards But you'll never really know what it's like things. Even though you rationally know that the until you wake up to some real bad news object of your anger isn’t to blame, your feelings at that moment are too intense to feel that. You'll never really know how it feels until it happens to you.” Exactly in that way, never question how a person grieves, for Joanne Cacciatore once said, “If you simply cannot understand why someone is grieving so much, for so long, then consider yourself fortunate that you do not understand.” What is this journey, you may ask. Where is the starting point, what are the stops, and where is the destination? The answer however is not that simple. In 1969, a Swiss-American psychiatrist named Elizabeth Kübler-Ross wrote in her book “On Death and Dying” about grief and how grief could be divided into five stages. Her observations came from years of working with terminally ill individuals. Her theory of grief became known as the Kübler-Ross model. While it was originally devised for people who were ill, these stages of grief have been adapted for other experiences with loss, too. The five stages in the journey of grief include: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Grief is not confined to only these 5 stages that one There is a great chance you might act out, and focus may or may not distinctively go through, some might your overwhelming feelings on something but once it recur, overlap or simply blend, it could also be cools down you will be able to think more rationally, accompanied by repent, numbness, shock, helping you process the actual situation which means disorganization and many more which are often that your adolescent stage of grief is leaving and looked at as the emotions that are birth from the transforming into stage three or closer to stage five. compound effect of the initial 5 mentioned. 3. Bargaining: There often comes a phase when one is 1. Denail: ''Just stay strong” is something that is more simply drowning in guilt and as much as you might not often said to someone who is starting to grieve and believe it, it's important to pass this stage. During the what that usually means must be in good faith but heavy guilt we feel, of all the things we could have done that also goes hand in hand with the denial phase. differently or could do differently we start to bargain, Loss of something is an overwhelming emotion and with a higher force that we might believe in or just with denying it gives you more time to gradually adjust to nature. Often sentences like “I promise to be better if the thought. This is a very common defense you will let this person live.” and all sorts of“ what if” mechanism that is triggered for almost any kind of and “if only” questions will arise. pain that cannot be physically felt. Denial helps you numb the intensity and acts as a waiting room for all you raw emotions to accumulate because as soon as you move out of denial and into the other stages, you begin to experience all of your emotions that you had been avoiding or denying for so long, and this is the hardest part of the journey. 11
When suffering from loss, we feel vulnerable, helpless 5. Acceptance: It is not necessarily a happy or uplifting and desperate and bargaining provides us with the stage of grief. It doesn’t mean you’ve moved on from only way to regain power. This is the stage that the grief or loss. It does, however, mean that you’ve determines our changes in life thereafter. Try to accepted it and have come to understand what it channelize all your guilt into betterment. For means in your life now. Likewise, it means that you example, if you felt guilty of not giving enough time to can survive it and as it's well said, “ You never stop the person you just lost, try to make a change in that grieving, you just learn to live with it”. and prioritize your relationships with the other people around you. There will come a time when you slowly This is the stage that truly varies for each and every start letting go of these imaginative situations and individual, it's going to be unexpected, you are going move on, that is when reality hits you the hardest, and to have high and lows, days when you might you move into a darker phase or stage four. momentarily forget and days when that is all you think about. Which is most certainly OKAY. 4. Depression: Whereas anger and bargaining can feel very “active,” depression may feel like a “quiet” stage This being said, there are different types of losses, and of grief. It is the stage where your emotional fog clears it does not always have to be the death of someone we out, and you start feeling the quietness and the were close to, it could be a pet, a relationship, a place, a emptiness of the presence that was once available. book or anything that you were emotionally attached Our loss feels more unavoidable and present, in to. Hence, do not deny yourself the permission to everything you do, places you go, things you talk grieve. Because : about or just your general routine. Depression isn’t easy or well-defined. Like the other stages of grief, “Grief is just love that has nowhere to go.” depression can be difficult and messy. It can feel -Mahi Rastogi overwhelming. You may feel foggy, heavy, and confused. It is natural to want to pull yourselves Jain Deemed-to-be University. inwards while this sadness grows, but if it prevails for too long, or you feel stuck, remember seeking a P.S.: If you decide you need help coping with the professional can help you work through it. When this feelings and changes, a mental health professional is a journey is nearing its end, comes stage five. good resource for vetting your feelings and finding a sense of assurance in these very heavy and weighty emotions. 12
Quills'n'Stills Evolution has been a part of humanity GEN Z since the day life started. It continues to AND MENTAL strengthen humanity with sheer confidence in the name of the future and HEALTH the generations to come. Now we are at a time, where we are calling an entire - Ansh Arora (IIIT Guwahati) generation The Gen-Z. One with & Ramesh Kumar (IIIT Kota) broadened perspectives and with the courage to tread into the unknown with 13 nothing but a will to explore, following the primal instinct of humans to evolve. We’ve changed, more evolved than yesterday physically as well as mentally, and will continue evolving till the end of time. Earlier, the concept of mental health used to be a giant hoax and, for some, it still is. Our generation broke this prejudice against mental health and brought awareness by spreading cognition for the same. Health consultants argue that sitting for long hours frequently, whether it is in the name of education or work, is one of the leading causes of physical and mental health problems. Given the number of diseases to which sitting is connected, and therefore the number of individuals, sitting is harming us in more ways than we could imagine. Senseless scrolling through our social media feeds after we take a few additional hours adds to our sitting time. As we learn “the subtle art of sitting” intuitively, and as this investigation is confirming, it is not the best tradition and is better to forsake as it contributes to a higher risk of heart and lung disease, obesity and depletes our mental health.
Quills'n'Stills A recent international study by LivePerson found 18 that seventy-fifth of English Gen Z and millennials respondents prefer to connect via textual communication over in-person. Too much reliance on textual conversation has certainly affected people's power to interact with each other as they're less often exposed to spoken and visual emotive cues. Tone of voice, posture, eye contact are a few cues which are always missing in any textual conversation. Kerry Cronin, a professor at Boston College, observed the cultural ineptitudes of her young students and determined herself to induce an official teaching task that required one to take someone out in person. The increased number of deaths globally caused by mental health problems, among which more than fifty percent are teenagers, has forced both the government and the people around the globe to implement pivotal rules, which will help the fight against mental health illness. People’s acknowledgment of the existence of mental health issues have also been proved to be a crucial in this fight. Philippines has already passed the “Philippine Mental Health Act”, sanctioned by families of the general assembly, which promises a rights-based mental health bill and a comprehensive set of rules and regulations to help the people in need of assistance in case of mental illness. It will also help in spreading awareness about the same. It is safe to say that Philippines is moving towards creating individuals alert to such problems and Social media has made the world a smaller helping them to fight it back. place. It is now way easier to connect with our We have come a long way from defying the loved ones, and strangers at the same time, but it things that we do not understand, to embracing has its own set of risks. and understanding them. One day the Why is social media driving the psychological seriousness of the threat will be acknowledged by health scenario among teenagers? Many everyone and, the prejudices against it will end. researchers have shown that continual social We are a lot closer to achieving that than all our media usage can result in bitterness, jealousy, previous generations were. We know how serious and intimidation among its users. People who problems of mental health are and we know that grow conversant in communication via text there is no shame in seeking help. Normalizing could have unhealthful social anxiety; in-person and educating people and the children of affiliation might not be altered and operated just tomorrow would be an efficient way to save like the curated online language. many more lives. 14
DO WE BECOME WHAT WE READ, OR DO WE READ WHAT WE ARE - Apoorv Kashyap It’s kind of a pertinent question that I’ve been musing on lately. I first thought of it while I was immersed in Murakami’s Sputnik Sweetheart. Before that, I had read three of his novels, and I was already in awe of his strange and subtle tales. I was on a Murakami reading quest. I wanted to read all of his works and continue to be a part of his surreal realities. With each story, I could feel my reality being subjugated by his tensed and engulfing make-believes. There was also a mutual agreement going on between what I was reading and how I felt. This wasn’t the first time that I chased the voice of an author. In the past, I had been on an author spree with this same devotion. Agatha Christie, Khaled Hosseini, John Green - each of them had been a subject of my fixation at some point. I found a clear resemblance between myself and these author’s signature protagonists during each of these periods. That’s the most important thing that binds a reader to an author - the congruence between the words on paper and the bits of beliefs he holds sacred. This time around, it was Murakami who established such rapport with his slightly dark, melancholic stories. Maybe that’s the kind of place I paralleled to where I could only have trusted a literary genius and his take on the absurdity of quotidian life. 15
Quills'n'Stills I am not as delusional to think of these outlying authors as my friends (not yet); our communication is too one-sided to think of them as someone close. But yes, I do feel fixated when I read those conceited thoughts of the author projected on paper. When I am inside the mythical world of a novel, a part of me can’t wait to see how that story unfolds and see it through to the end. But there’s also a silent, a more cardinal part who wants to build a home in that same world and live through my time with its characters. There’s an unsaid agreement between a reader and an author, one that binds the former to the latter’s fancy depiction. The promise to never let go until he takes us to the end of the story. This is the assurance a reader finds while investing his time in a book. Some stories are left without an ending; thankfully, not the ones in published and appraised novels. And now back to the question: do we become what we read, or do we read what we are? Just like most things in life, the answer to this is not clear. I believe in the theory that we are the average of five people we spend the most time with. If these five people happen to be the characters in a novel or the fancy authors you read on the trot, you inevitably impart some of their traits. Having said that, this is just an opinion, and the answer can only be highly subjective. There are days when I might be a little biased towards the latter argument, but then again, we are not constants; with our ever-changing moods, and desires, and needs, each of us may better resemble a variable. There’s no denying that we become what we feed off of. All the protagonists I’ve read and known still breathe a quiet and sustained breath in me. Their blithe undertakings and strong resolves will continue to influence my own way of upholding in one way or another. Even so, I don’t feel compelled to get started on a story if the characters or the plot are too remote for me. One needs to relate to a story and its characters for a flawless resonance to take place. Those few lines on the back of a book help me to check my harmony with the story. Reading is an effortless and enjoyable undertaking for those who find what they’re looking for and arduous mental torture for those who never find their cup of tea. Whichever argument you are inclined towards, we must agree that reading can be a form of bargained therapy. Depending on what you read, you can help yourself to get in a better mental shape. There’s a whole new world waiting for you to witness it in every book that you may hold; dive in, swim with the mythical beings and see for yourself if the journey was worth it. 5 16
..तो अच्छा होता It was you.. Crossroads Poetry Section One Starry Night Insights Can of my I? Acheron 5
Quills'n'Stills It Was You -Nishant Morya When I was in pain, it was you When I was in wane, it was you When I was cheerful, it was you When I was in tears, it was you When I had to talk, it was you When I was brainwashed, it was you In my ups, in my downs, it was you When no one was around, it was you It was you who heard It was you who didn't say a word It was no one, it was you My friend, it was you... 18
Quills'n'Stills Can I? “Can I live when it was at it's cruel best Can I starve, Loving to be in such an ambiance Oh, can I crave for anything I love Can I laugh When it was monstrous most Can I cry Too soft, too kind for this cruel world Can I just close my eyes Can I read That she's such heavy to handle Can I walk Planning to return back Can I feel something Can I really speak by myself?” the gift of heaven to earth Imagine your life like the one above. Much more than what humans deserve “Can I smell To accept and enrich it's worth. Can I sense anything Can I fetch some water Can I smile As time goes right beyond Can I be hungry when we were there Can I seek love At places unliked Oh, can I even breathe I pray to Lord, Can I think Gain some hope Can I have dream of my own Can I learn Hope to console the darkness Can I do things I want Hope to LIVE around Or can I wish?” the day when no tad die It was a vision of a little girl Due to prejudice alive Dreaming the beautiful world when I CAN, what I can. No manacles, fly free Like eagle up high Like lion downhill Like king's earldom Like the finest gold So pure and Ever-Shine!! -Priyanshi Mehta 19
Quills'n'Stills One Starry Night Tonight’s sky is a stranger to me, Unlike the starless one that I am familiar with, This one is blooming with countless stars draped around it. She remains yet so still, but a bit too vibrant. As I look up at her, I see but only a stranger. Enlightened with the forged gleam of her peers, She seems a little less remarkable. I wonder how can that banal naked sky from past, Mean more to me than this exuberant star-studded one. -Apoorv Kashyap 20
Quills'n'Stills ...तो अच्छा होता मेरी कला को सबने समझा अगर वो समझते तो अच्छा होता मुझे प्यार सबने किया अगर वो करते तो अच्छा होता इस ज़िन्दगी में सब मिला अगर वो मिलते तो अच्छा होता याद में वो हर रात आए अगर असल में आते तो अच्छा होता मेरे दुःख को सबने समझा अगर वो समझते तो अच्छा होता मैं रोया तब सबने समझाया अगर वो समझाते तो अच्छा होता मेरी कला को सबने समझा अगर वो समझते तो अच्छा होता -निशांत मौर्य 21
Quills'n'Stills CROSSROADS For all is lost ever to be found This world has lent me perspective in this pandemonium, So much to grieve, so many to mourn For my country sobs of the mayhem unleashed For my people suffer callously. As if hope has gone blind to the perils of being. And helplessness is all one could feel For the air I breathe is etched with sorrow. The world is sick and there is no tomorrow. The times are wicked The pain is slow Let me be, just let me be once more For I’ve seen the death so close, And it always says to let go, For I’m not yet ready nor am ever going to be. I’m scared in the darkest of rooms, Praying for light. “For none deserved the wrath incurred Suffer shall you all” said the fate. The people smirked “Have you met Hope?” For we stand united & strong in solidarity To live another day and we will prevail. For all is lost ever to be found. -S Ramesh Kumar 22
Quills'n'Stills उठो मुसाफ़िर मस्तिष्क में उबाल है जीना फिलहाल है रणभूमि सज्ज़ है लड़ना कर्त्तव्य है। मुड़ने पर धिक्कार है जीवन यही फिलहाल है। बूंदें आकाश है बढ़ने में विकास है चहुँ ओर प्रकाश है दृष्टि निर्बाध है। उठो मुसाफ़िर सवालों का तूफान है सवेरे से अंजान है पथ नहीं ये आसान है धरातल धरा से विमुख परेशान है उठो मुसाफ़िर सामना करो।। - Arya Ranjan (BIT Sindri) 23
Quills'n'Stills INSIGHTS OF MY ACHERON By S Ramesh Kumar I don't really want this night to end, Many things have bartered over the I could keep on staring at the innocence years, of stars, But deep down, Every year I accede something new, I am terrified by the uncertainty of I am compromised at my own will, tomorrow, My dreams have started to fade, Lying bare and thorough, I question myself My vision blurred, my voice fumbled, Can I face it? My pride is distorted, soul shattered What if not? And my heart has been broken into a But then again do I have a choice, I guess not. million pieces. There are droplets of disposal waiting at And it pains me more to know that the farthest corner of my eyes, It has been broken for quite some time Only to fall one day, One day when it should steer through, now, Marching like brave soldiers one after the Looks like every time other I just stabbed myself with a blind eye, Only in a different direction, And I know they will someday and that's How convenient. okay. I'm handling myself now, I'm scared of eloquence, It's funny how one has to merely manage I'm breached inside, oneself, We the mighty primal beings aren't in control Of ourselves, We talk and lose insights, We listen to gather anonymity, Or maybe it's just me, But trust me, it is not imaginary. 20 24
Events
Quills'n'Stills Independence Day Celebration We celebrated India’s 74th Independence Day celebration and it was more special than usual due to the ongoing celebrations of Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav. The celebrations at the institute was started at 10 AM with a welcome speech by Odyssey member Ashpreet Kaur and after a mesmerizing musical performance by Team incognito, it was followed by a patriotic poem by a member of Odyssey Ojasva Jain titled “Veer and Bahadur”. The next stop in this patriotic journey was a dance performance by non-other than Team Incognito, which was enjoyed by everyone. It was followed by a breathtaking collection of sketches, by the members of Artive Club. It showed India’s independence struggle and were further taken over by a zealous performance by the Drama Club of the Institute showing us the difference between situations of the country while being affected by Spanish Flu and COVID-19. The program was wrapped up by the vote of thanks and with appreciation comments to both the participants and the attendees. 26
poetry competition Quills'n'Stills On the auspicious occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day which will be celebrated by us on 15th August 2022, the Hon’ble Prime minister of our country has launched a program 75 weeks before the same and the celebration came to be known as – Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav. Team Odyssey has conducted an Inter College Bilingual Poetry Competition with multiple rounds where they received exhilarating responses from the students of our institute and of the other institutes as well. There were two rounds, the first one was judged on the basis of the written text of the poem, while the second one required contestants to send a video or audio reciting the same poetry to judge their oratory skills. A total of 11 people were qualified for the second round, now they have to send their videos or audios which will then be judged by our respected professors. The final result will be out tentatively in the penultimate week of September. 27
Quills'n'Stills teachers' day celebration Every year of 5th September we celebrate the birth anniversary of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan as Teacher’s Day. The people who are responsible for everything we achieve and who are a crucial part of this very society. For Team Odyssey it was an extra celebration day as it’s also celebrated as the Founder’s Day of Odyssey. Out of sheer respect and gratefulness, the team prepared personalized messages for every member of the faculty, each incorporated with a sign of respect and an effort to make them realize how important they are to us. Team Odyssey was happy to receive further replies from every faculty thanking them for this sweet gesture and appreciation for the efforts. 28
vigilance week Details about the events held under Vigilance Awareness Week 26th October to 31st October 30
Vigilance Awareness Week (26th - 31st October) IIIT Kota organized various events under Vigilance awareness week between 26th Oct to 31st October, 2021 with the theme \"Independent India @75: Self Reliance with Integrity\" स्वतंत्र भारत @75: ईमानदारी के साथ आत्मनिर्भरता”. These were conducted in virtual mode. Description of the events are given below: Integrity E-pledge ( 26th October) Vigilance Awareness Week starts with an integrity E-pledge. On 26th October, an integrity E-pledge was taken by the Coordinator Sir, all the faculty members, and the office staff. Some photos of the E-pledge event. 30
Online Debate Competition (27th - 28th October) Odyssey organised an Online Debate Competition on the topic - “Is being a vigilant citizen enough, OR does the administration need to be more accountable?” - “क्या एक सतर्क नागरिक होना काफी हैया प्रशासन को जवाबदेह होने की जरूरत है?”. It was held online on 27th and 28th October in English and Hindi respectively. The winner and runner up were awarded with cash prizes of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 respectively in both Hindi and English languages. Mr. Satya Narayan Sharma was the judge for the event. English Round (27th October) On the first day i.e 27th October the English round for the competition was conducted. Theparticipants for the event were : Rohit Yadav (2nd Year) , Rohan Routh (2nd Year) , Sameer Saifi (2nd Year) , Daksh Joshi (2nd Year) , Suyash Pandey (2nd Year) and Robin (3rd Year). To start with, the host introduced everyone with rules for the competition. With this the participants were called in pairs of two - one for the motion and one against the motion.Each speaker was given 5 minutes to express their views and in the end there was a one minute rebuttal round for the speakers to cross-question their fellow speakers. The round was concluded with a vote of thanks from Mr. Satya Narayan Sharma. 31
Hindi Round (27th October) On 28th October the Hindi round for the competition was conducted. Pratham Chandolia who was the anchor for the event introduced everyone with the participants : Piyush Parmar (2nd Year) , Abhishek Tanwar (2nd Year) , Sameer Saifi (2nd Year) and Parminder Singh (3rd Year). Similar to the English round, the participants were called upon in sets of two who expressed their opinion for or against the motion. This was followed by a one minute rebuttal round for each pair. The event was wrapped up by a vote of thanks for all the participants and the audience. 32
Quills'n'Stills Online Poster Making & Slogan Writing Competition ( 29th October) FIT INDIA Club organized Poster Making and Slogan Writing Competition under Vigilance Awareness Week 2021.The topic for the event was: Independent India @75: Self Reliance with Integrity. Students of the Institute participated with full zeal making it a successful event and a total of 22 entries (Poster + Slogan) were received. The winner and runner up were awarded with cash prizes of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 respectively. Slogans and Posters were posted on social media handles (Instagram , Twitter) of FIT INDIA CLUB, IIIT KOTA with #vigilanceweek2021 and tagging CVCIndia’s official account. 33 33
Quills'n'Stills Article Writing Competition (30th October) An article writing competition was organized on the 31st of October 2021 by team Q’n’S. It was an intra-college event wherein participants had to write an article on the topic vigilance issues, systematic improvements, and good practices adopted for wider dissemination and awareness. After the results were announced, S Ramesh Kumar of second year won a prize of Rs. 1500 and won the article writing competition. Online Quiz (31st October) On the 31st of October, Q’n’S organized an intra-college quiz as a part of events for the Vigilance Awareness Week. A total of 11 students from across all batches joined in as participants for the quiz. The platform for the quiz was the Kahoot quizzing app. Students were asked to join a meeting while the quiz was in progress as a safety measure against any cheating practices. Second year student Shubham Kumar won the first prize, while third year student Nishant Mourya came out as the runner-up. The winner and runner up were awarded with cash prizes of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 respectively. 34
Neeraj Chopra - The Enthusiast
Quills'n'Stills However, Neeraj sir's most significant achievement was at the Tokyo Olympic Games in August of this year. He was India's lone gold medalist this year. He won the gold medal with a Adarsh ZKumar tremendous throw The 7th of August 2021 will be a day to remember of 87.58 meters. He for all of us. Neeraj Chopra Sir earned an Olympic Gold Medal for India on this day. He became the threw the second- second individual to win a gold medal in an individual sports event, and the first in a track and best throw as field event, after Abhinav Bindra.He was born on December 24, 1997, in the Haryana hamlet of well.He is now one Khandra. Who would have guessed that a small child from a Haryana region would do anything of India's most well- unprecedented? known athletes. Now When we look at his history, we can see that his first international participation came in the Many aspiring WorldYouth Championships in Ukraine. In 2014, he earned his first international medal, and he hasn't athletes looked up looked back since. In 2015, he set a world record in the junior category by throwing 81.04 meters.In to him as an 2018, he won two gold medals, one at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the example. He made it other at the Asian Games in Jakarta. appear as if winning gold in the Olympics was a possibility. 36
A S R E T And C T I O N
Quills'n'Stills Nivi Upadhaya 38
Quills'n'Stills Adarsh Kumar \"YOU CAN CHANGE WHAT YOU DO, BUT YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHAT YOU WANT\" 39
Quills'n'Stills 5 40
Quills'n'Stills 41
Quills'n'Stills Adarsh Kumar 42
Quills'n'Stills Adarsh Kumar FIRE IN HER VEINS AND EMBERS IN HER EYES 43
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