We’ve all disagreed about something, with someone, at least once in our lives.
And somebody has most probably disagreed with us on something.
It could be something absolutely petty; like disagreeing on what’s to be made for lunch.
Or it could be something more; like parents disagreeing on whether their child should be allowed to have candy twice a day.
(Over here it’s slightly more serious, because a person’s health is at stake. But not all that serious, really.)
These disagreements are still resolved, regardless of whether or not everybody involved is satisfied with the arrangement. And then there are disagreements that can’t be resolved at all. These occur far more often than you’d think. If they are settled, it’s at a huge cost - the cost of war. Where many, many lives are lost and lives brought down to a hair’s breadth from death. Families, children, people that don’t even know why they’re fighting, all put into extremely harsh conditions, all because of a disagreement.
The supposedly ‘larger’ disagreements are settled, not resolved. With paperwork, money, bribes, the list is endless. And yet everything that runs above is fear. Everyone is scared to lose, not afraid of the consequences of losing. In today’s world, where people are immediately called out for a mindset that doesn’t account for everybody’s freedom in society, you’d wonder why there’s war. You could take any war in history, and if you trace it back far enough, it comes down to disagreement.
The Second World War, for example, was started because of Hitler’s disagreement with the world, over many things, like the freedom of the Jews. Here, Hitler himself was at a disagreement with something else entirely, but the freedom of many thousands of Jews was pulled away. As you see, Hitler’s disagreement cost so many lives. And if the people’s lives weren’t over, they were severely affected.
From different perspectives, Hitler’s actions may be right or wrong, but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t have happened that way. The first atomic bomb, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki; countless Jews tortured to death because of their faith; Indians, who had nothing to do with the war, fighting— for both their lives and their freedom, and tens and thousands of lives completely unrelated to the war, forced to fight to live another day. Imagine, all because of the same mentality that makes you want everyone to have a sandwich for lunch, when someone else wants everyone to have a burger. Sure, it’s a beautiful thing that all our unique differences are being accepted, but I can’t help but wonder if these things would’ve happened if we were seven billion exact clones.
So maybe next time you get into a disagreement, think about it. How much would you really lose if you let the other person have it their way?
Author’s note: This article is based off things that I was told, and does not have an actual source. It therefore may or may not be factually correct from a different perspective. Apologies for anything that is not credible. These are simply my thoughts, and are based on understanding rather than research.
This was the only thing I had to do, and it could be worth dying.
I tip toed out of the backyard, grabbed my safety gear and ran. I ran and ran endlessly. Finally when I paused, I froze when I saw what was ahead; it looked like it could go all the way down to the Underworld.
An enormous canyon, “The Valley of the Dead”.
The moonlight shone above me. A small voice in my head told me to go down while another yelled for me to go back. I was about to head back home when suddenly I heard a loud screeching sound; it was as if a rusted door screeched as it closed. I trembled at the thought of the creature made that horrendous sound. I felt hopeless and scared, like an ant that was about to get stepped on. I heard footsteps not soon after. After barely a second of consideration, I took my chances with the canyon. I yanked out my grappling hook and threw it onto a sturdy looking rock and started lowering down like my life depended on it when- SNAP! The rope snapped apart.
I felt hopeless falling down. It felt as if it was a never ending way down. I landed on some jagged rocks which were painfully sharp, but luckily not fatal. I wondered, “Is this is how it’s all going to end, at the bottom of a valley? Is anyone even going to find me here?”
I had scratches and wounds all over. And despite the wounds being reasonably small, the blood was everywhere. Like a child’s painting with only the colour red, the paintbrush carelessly tossed around everywhere. The deep crimson stained the rocks, and with the little trickle of rain falling, they seemed eerily similar to tears of blood. It started raining heavily; it was so cold it felt as if ice was being hurled at me. I couldn’t walk without feeling like a hundred needles were being poked into me. I thought I heard the faint screeching sound again, and I knew I had to get out of there as fast as possible. Despite everything, I walked as fast as my injured legs would let me, dodging more of the sharp rocks as I moved. Somehow I managed to find shelter against the rain and crawled underneath a cave.
I heard another noise this time louder, was it a roar? My blood froze and I stayed in silence. I sighed in relief as I realised it was my stomach. I was getting hungry and was grateful when I found out I had packed food for the way. It rained heavily that night, and I wouldn’t have survived if there was a leak in the cave. Even though I was in pain I managed to sleep.
When I woke up I found myself in the hospital. How did I get here? Who brought me? Or did I come here myself in search of shelter and food and I have no memory of it? Did I forget everything? I brought my hand up to rub my temple, and found out I was covered in bandages. I looked up and saw someone smiling at me. She was a girl around my age, who had thick hair which was dyed in green and blue hues. Her eyes were as grey as storm clouds. As I stared into her eyes I found that she was sad, those pretty grey eyes were troubled by something and a feeling of sadness rushed over me because I knew exactly how she felt.
She said hello, but I didn’t reply. The girl told me that I would have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks and I didn’t know what to think of that. I had to get to the mountains to get the medicine to the doctors. I looked around the room after she had left me and saw spiders in a huge cage. I couldn’t identify any of them, and they weren’t your average spiders. In fact, I was sure I hadn’t seen them in any books or on the internet either…
The weeks passed, and turned into a whole month. I had been under almost constant supervision for an entire month, and tonight was the only chance I had to escape the hospital. I got out of my bed and dashed out. I didn’t have my safety gear anymore but I wouldn’t need it. In full health, I could take anything on. I kept running until it felt like my heart was about to explode, and ran more.
The night was pitch black.
And there was something following me.
...to be continued
What is patriarchy? The patriarchy, as I understand, is a framework for viewing the world. It is shorthand for explaining historical and modern inequality between the sexes. Since patriarchy can be different in varying periods in history, it is a highly generalised topic with many interlocking systems that are patriarchal to varying degrees.
This generalisation filters a lot of complicated information into something more condensed, but the problem arises when people mistake it for the reality of the given situation. These definitions of patriarchy do not explain complexities of the term and its application in the social world.
Each social system or historical period throws up its differences on how patriarchy works, but the basic principles remain the same where the social systems get organised around male supremacy.
There is no doubt that there is inequality and unevenness regarding employment for men and women. Men hold the majority of high-level positions in the corporate world. The patriarchy might be an accurate way of explaining the continued gap to some extent. However, to say it is the singular reason for any disparity or perceived inequality, is incomplete.
The illusion is that women are weaker, both physically and mentally, and thus incapable of making important decisions on behalf of others. Men on the other hand, are believed to be stoic, emotionless and the sole breadwinner, who are capable of running social, moral, political, and economic life, promoting rigid gender norms.
Patriarchy still exists and often manifests itself in casual ways that tend to go predominantly unnoticed, pushing aside the better judgment. This causes the person to sacrifice their needs to fall in line with how they think they’re supposed to behave according to gender stereotypes. By not falling in line, they risk sticking out for all the wrong reasons, driving away potential friends or professional opportunities, ultimately resulting in isolation.
Having said all this, even though patriarchy suggests the idea of male domination, both genders are equally affected by this ill notion of society or so-called patriarchy. Patriarchy is dangerous and persistent. It will not vanish over time. It must be fought if we are ever to have a genuine hope of freeing ourselves from it. The world would be a better place for everyone if that happened.
In this poem, Kipling's speaker outlines for his son the behaviors and attitudes it takes to become a man—in this case, a gentleman in British society. It is good to keep in mind, however, a concept from the Italian Renaissance that lies behind the speaker's advice. This is sprezzatura, which means projecting a nonchalance or effortlessness in everything one does, and in that way, making difficult tasks look easy and natural.
In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker advises his son to cultivate keeping his cool or keeping chill when others around him are losing it. He also advises his son not to repay low behavior with low behavior—don't respond to lies with lies or hate with hate. In other words, to use current parlance, when others go low, you should go high. He advises sprezzatura, too, when he states his son should make this all look natural and effortless:
"yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise"
In the second stanza, the speaker turns to advising his son to develop self control, as well as an ability to hear the truth and avoid flattery and have grace under pressure. No matter what happens, his son should respond to it with cool equanimity, treating triumph and disaster with the same ease. If his life's work is broken, he should simply quietly and graciously pick up the pieces and rebuild, as if it is costing him no effort:
"watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools
In the third stanza, the speaker tells his son he needs to develop nerve as well as grace under pressure. He describes this as follows:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss"
It's nervy to bet everything on one toss—but the important thing is to keep chill no matter what happens. Never complain or show your pain. Always maintain the stiff upper lip.
In the final stanza, the speaker tells his son he should treat all people, whether kings or commoners, with the same courtesy, and that moreover, he should stay aloof, never getting too close to anyone, so that
"neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you"
At this point, if he can do all of this, his son will "be a Man".
- Tejasmira
Note: Only people who play/watch Minecraft will understand this article. Enjoy! :)
Ah…Snow Golems.
Useful little companions, they are. Snow Golems can (only) be spawned by placing two snow blocks (obtained by combing 4 snowballs which are obtained by shovelling snow) one on top of the other, and placing a pumpkin/carved pumpkin/Jack-O-Lantern on top of them.
They are passive mobs, but when encountering hostile mobs, they will throw snowballs which are handy because the snowballs distract them and stop attacking the player until the golem is dead, and also knock them back. Sadly, the only mob the snowballs can damage is the Blaze Rods.
Recently, I just randomly searched “Minecraft” on Spotify, and then I saw so many Minecraft parody versions of songs! People have made parodies of songs like “Last Friday Night”, “DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again”, “Drag Me Down” and even “Gangnam Style”! Then I thought, why don’t I make a parody myself, just for fun? The first song that came to mind was “Snowman” by Sia. The topic of the song was (You guessed it!) the point of view of a Snow Golem. So far, I’ve only made the chorus.
To the tune of “I want to know” onwards:
I want you to know that I’m never leaving,
‘Cause I’m Mister Snow, till death I’ll be freezing,
Yeah, I guard your home, your home for all seasons,
So come on let’s go
Let’s go on adventures through snow and deserts,
I’ll survive even through the harshest weathers,
And when we encounter hostile mobs I’ll throw,
Snowballs, distract them, go ahead with your bow
I’m your Snow Golem..
I’m your Snow Golem…
Golem…
This is what I’ve made so far. Try singing it!
P.S. If the lyrics don’t match, it does because I checked them many times
P.P.S. The last line is a bit difficult to sing, try it a few times, and you’ll get it!
Well, that’s all I have for this week. See you next time!
-Aravind Nair
Jyotsna: Our unnie; the oldest in our group. The first to introduce the bob obsession, she’s the peacekeeper (I see you hunger games fans) and is on the tranquil side of our team.
Moukthika : Our Artist!!!! Her art skills are next level - Even buzzfeed agrees that she’s artsy and she cooks really well.
Bhargavi: She’s our editor and personal kpop spammer; expert at burning toast. She’s also everyone’s (self proclaimed) favourite unnie.
Shubhaangi : Kpop spammer #2!! She’s the photographer, and sides with Bhargavi on bad (they disagree) puns.
Vedika :The one most known for her positivity, she has a adorable lab named Lily. She also contributed to the beautiful photography along with Shubhaangi.
Paddy: known by the name ‘Evil.’, She’s our evil, chaotic teammate she’s the inventor of a language we’re proud to use. She talks equally as often as Favorite Unnie.
Anhiti : the youngest here, she contributed an article and made the website for the particle. Famous for convincing us to save the reefs – budding artist and author. (Don’t tell her, but she’s basically kpop spammer #3.)
particle0221@gmail.com