Behold! - Here comes the new academic year, and the new cycle. As bittersweet as it is to see our lovely senior-editors leave, there is no time for mourning - for the fresh batch of editors is already here! Let's begin!

Fresh out of the oven!

- The 'full of energy' recently-turned 2^nd years.

Ritvik

Greetings, fellow literary aficionados!

Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Ritvik Ravi, the club’s resident dreamer, grammar vigilante, and self-appointed guardian of proper punctuation. Let me take you on a journey through my whimsical world, where literature makes up a big part, and deadlines are mere suggestions. I’d like to compare my life to a Dickens novel, except with fewer orphans and more existential crises about which book to read next.

Literature has always played a huge role in my life growing up. My journey into the literary world began at a tender age when I discovered that books were the perfect escape from reality – not that reality was unpleasant, but books had dragons and time travel. While the other kids were playing video games, I was making up epic battles between Jason Grace, Aslan, and Harry Potter. I still firmly believe that my Hogwarts letter is still lost somewhere in the mail.

My reading habits can be best explained as chaotic. I have a habit of reading up on all the books we buy in the summer within a week and left yearning for more. I wouldn’t brag much, but my bookshelf is a testament to my eclectic taste- ranging from the ‘I Funny’ series by James Patterson to the mythological tales of Rick Riordan, the fantasy world of J.R.R Tolkien, scientific books by Hawking and Michio Kaku to the yearly editions of the Manorama.

While my love for the written word is strong, I also love playing and watching hand-based sports like tennis, badminton, or even cricket (I suck at football). My love for music is beyond the literary limitations of the word ‘love’. Listening to The Weeknd, Drake, Kanye, and Lana Del Ray is a huge part of my growing up. On a side note, if you can’t find anyone to debate on the rap beef that happened with Drake and Kendrick, I’ll be happy enough to indulge in an enlightening conversation.

Finally, I love learning anything sci-tech. This might be the most generic statement ever (like, who hasn’t said that?), but I mean it in the truer sense. Talk to me anywhere from tissue culture to Artificial Intelligence and all the way to the Voyager series of probes- and I could go on rambling for at least half an hour while mostly maintaining factual accuracy.

To conclude, joining Udaan was a no-brainer. Here, I’ve found kindred spirits who understand the love to write poems and articles about their passionate topics, and also the agony of finishing a beloved series. Plus, there’s always the hope that someone will finally explain to me what War and Peace is all about. I’m excited to embark on this literary adventure with all of you. Let’s read, write, and procrastinate together – and maybe, just maybe, we’ll create something worth putting down our mugs of coffee for.

Yours in bibliomania,
Ritvik Ravi

Aadhya

Hello, I am Aadhya, a self-proclaimed collection of paradoxes. Here is a tiny excerpt showcasing one of them (based on my experiences and the opinions of my two friends). How do the cold and rain make you feel? Sticky, annoying, gloomy, 'just get it over with' - oh, stop already? I'll take the bait here and say that they make me feel incredibly warm and happy.

It has been extremely hot lately, and I long for the rain now. Physically, I am enduring 47-degree weather, but my thoughts dwell in memories of rain and overcast skies. I find great joy in these 'gloomy' days, relishing every drop of rain.

For context, I was jumping mid-end sems in December because of the heavy showers and my perfectly curated sad lover playlist. This might sound sadistic, but I thoroughly enjoyed the cyclone. Let me explain: firstly, it was my first time experiencing cyclonic weather, and I wasn't in perilous proximity to it. So, it was basically 1.5 weeks of constant rain - and who could be disappointed with that (except my clothes because they stank)? Secondly, it was December, and it was somewhat cold - quite contrary to the usual Tirupati weather, so my Delhi heart was happy.

I have often been questioned over my enthusiasm for the so-called depressing rainy season, but I find it deeply elating. The rhythmic patter of rain, the constant evening skies, the smell of wet mud, and the fresh breeze are unparalleled. Visualise the sudden eruption of green, clean dusky skies, drenched trees, deep grey concrete, colourful umbrellas, puddles, gliding motors, and the comfort of chai.

You might argue about the lack of vitamin D my body receives, but even a pill could give me the required dosage. However, no drug could satiate the comfort that these visuals provide.

Allow me to become slightly philosophical for a moment:

“In a glistening world, with solitude booming, the child asks the rain about the consolation he receives from the sunless, shadowy skies.

To this, the gentle rain replies: "It is because it all leads to where the light lies."”

To end, the rain for me brings the comfort of familiarity and constancy. It associates itself with each year of my life, and nostalgia, my friend, is warm. In the rain I find a little piece of home no matter where I am.

Yes, there are modern issues: flooding in cities, potholes overflowing, the traffic and chaos, the insects, and the following humidity. But hey, I am going to use my writer's privileges here and choose blissful ignorance over these inconveniences.

Adithya

When I was first asked, “List out some topics which really interest you”, a couple of my replies were instant but my head felt a bit empty. In the seconds that followed, a train of various topics ran through my mind, ranging from my favourite fiction series to the sport I follow the most. Before we enter my mind, let’s get to know the person. This is Adithya (yes, there’s an ‘h’ in there), and one thing I can’t do is find a ‘single’ word to describe me - unless there is a term for a bibliophile, cricket super fan, tech enthusiast, someone who loves public speaking (the list goes on so we’ll stop for now), all rolled into one person. Inside my head, I’m Elon Musk 2.0. On the outside, everyone probably has different perspectives on me. So let us stick to three simple topics: Cricket, Harry Potter and me!

What I still find amazing is that until 2017, I hated cricket and it wasn’t until 2018 when I realised that the sport I used to hate the most had managed to introduce me to a brand new world. I came to understand that there was so much more to cricket than just hitting a ball with a wooden stick. Bowling wasn’t running in, grunting and throwing a ball with all your might. Batting wasn’t blindly slogging at every ball. There existed terms such as ‘shot selection’, ‘seam’, ‘swing’, ‘matchups’, and even ‘mankading’ (my favourite controversy). Half of my Youtube recommendations were (and they still are) filled with videos on interviews, press conferences and even amazing playlists on cricket history. Whether it was the unstoppable Windies team of the 70s, the invincible Aussie bandwagon of the 2000s, India’s remarkable 1983 World Cup win, or the tragic 1999 Semi Final, our sport is full of amazing moments that are forever etched in history.

Learning about the journeys of various cricketers can give a lot of insight into their mentality and provides a lot of teachings. Whether it’s Kohli’s mentality, Tendulkar’s dedication, Ponting’s competitiveness, or Dhoni’s calm attitude - one can find a bunch of life-influencing qualities hidden behind their performances.

An aspect of the game that I’ve really come to enjoy is commentary, which I find to be really underrated. As a viewer, a game without commentary is like biryani without any spice (too bland and feels weird). It is the ability of a commentator to not just narrate what’s happening on the field, but also keep the audience engaged and hooked to the action. One man who has revolutionised this art would undoubtedly be Mr. Harsha Bhogle whose wit and eloquence have garnered many admirers, including me.

Even today, I can’t imagine getting through lunch without visiting the Cricinfo website at least once. Catching the latest score, reading about stats and matchups has become a constant. And if there’s nothing going on, I manage to catch up on poignant articles about the various aspects of the game that so often go unnoticed by the average viewer. I guess the influence those write ups had on me have inspired me to join Udaan, searching for opportunities to write a bit more.

Phew, let’s take a break from the real world for a while. The creativity of the human mind (and thank god for JK Rowling’s) has been a gift to mankind. I can’t think of a better example of this quality than Harry Potter. I spent many years hearing about the famous ‘name’ but continued to ignore the series until I ran out of stuff to read. I picked up book 1, then 2, and then 3. It was around book 2 where I fell in love with the series and finishing it became a kind of personal mission. It may be a series about wizards, but the magic was in the story. The characters, the quirky names, the way spells were named, the intriguing plot twists, the character arcs, all of it was so well-crafted. I guess the reason we are so enamoured with such stories is not just because of the characters themselves, but also because of the universe they exist in. I guess the most beautiful thing about sharing interests with many people is that you have a whole crowd to talk to. It’s about listening to the unique perspectives that people have to offer. It’s having those late night chats or discussions with your favourite people about the things that fascinate you. You discuss fan theories, plot holes, future events, possible changes which could’ve been made. Connecting with people online has never been easier.

Honestly, being an introvert never means that you have nothing to say. Rather, it feels like your mind is an explosion of ideas and thoughts running past each other. But it’s talking about these random thoughts with those whom you connect with that feels like bliss. The thing I’ve always found weird is that I'm probably not the best person to keep a conversation going on for a really long time - but give me a stage and a mic and I’m a dictator giving energetic speeches about any topic under the Sun ;). I’ve heard (so-called) rumours that the words 'introvert’ and ‘public speaking’ don’t go well together - but it’s always great to be an outlier. Hmmm... this is probably why I love cricket commentary as well. (Someone get me a mike, quick) Also, if you’ve been this patient to come this far, kudos to you mate and we can definitely catch up for a chat about anything ;). Till then, permit me to leave you with this:

“Words build bridges into unexplored regions"
- A famous Austrian painter (iykyk)

Anvay

Hello world! Anvay this side! I love to do an assortment of things, but most importantly I love to talk about the things I love. So, here is a little something about me that you might enjoy reading, have fun ;).

As a young child, I grew up very curious. Every day I kept asking questions: “Why does the horse have four legs?”, “Can a hen fly like a crow does?”, “Where does the rainbow originate from?”, “How were colours discovered?” and so on. As I grew older, I got the answers to a few questions, and became wise (or should I say negligent) enough to ignore the rest. I am a person who loves to sit and ponder to myself, I love to sail the river of thought. I have developed a lot of hobbies on the way, but something I never  mentioned before is my habit of getting lost in thought. I feel like the mind is the most beautiful thing in the whole universe, I love to get lost in the chain of thoughts, for my mind efficiently creates scenarios, made-up conversations and conjures people at my freewill. I love to sit and visit the little imaginary world of my own, taking refuge from reality for a while.

Sometimes, I am so lost that reality feels like an illusion - this sometimes gets me frightened, I am weird that way. I think about literally anything, but the most interesting thought process I have is when I try to trace the origin of stuff, and actually come to a conclusion. By stuff here, I mean anything from the names of the shops on the road that have been running since the early 20th century to how a particular car has been designed or why a tree has grown the way it has grown. Mostly, I hit a dead end at some point of time - but sometimes, I am able to reason out why things are the way things are, and then I am met with utmost joy.

Many people have told me that I am blanked out sometimes, but I like it that way :). What is sad is that I have a plethora of different hobbies - reading, poetry, listening to music, playing badminton and table tennis, watching stand-up comedy, and the list goes on… This leaves me with no or very less time to sit back and visit the world of my imagination. Though I will say that this strange habit of thinking and asking questions helps me to write poems effortlessly most of the time, something I consider as a gift from the universe.

Poetry has always baffled me, and I had never imagined I would ever write anything near a poem myself. After all, poetry is all about letting your subconscious take over and fill your canvas in the most classic style of literature ever. Oh! And lastly, I love talking to people - listening to their opinions about something and then presenting mine to them leading to a healthy exchange is something I would never want to miss out on. So, if you ever feel like having a go to guy to have deep conversations with or even do a poetry collab, that would be me ;).

Dharmesh

Hmm… about my life, eh? I’m probably like that one dude who wants to do everything but does nothing (unless something is at stake). There are probably some random interesting stuffs (some might not be interesting to you) in my life. Let me take you through the latest one - Football.

Before coming to this campus, I wasn’t much of a football fan. I just used to play football for some time during P.E. class. I mostly used to play volleyball and was selected in my school’s volleyball squad. When I went to volleyball selection here, I realized, like many people, I had lost touch with my skills due to COVID and JEE preparation. My friends used to play football regularly, and that’s when my football journey truly kicked off. While playing, I realized my instincts were good, and I predict well, so I started playing as a goalkeeper. All the non-football fans are probably like, “Oh, goalkeeper, very easy, right? That too, as you used to volleyball before, it will be very similar and you just have to catch the ball, right?” YEAH BRO! Really easy. (Cue in the "smile in pain" sticker.)

This reminds me of Madrid vs Bayern 2nd leg. Neuer was an absolute GOAT (bro literally was the best goalkeeper I had seen) till the 87th minute, but he just made 1 mistake, and all the excellent saves were erased from the viewers’ minds. That’s a goalkeeper for you. Even as a Madrid fan, I felt pain just seeing that. I understand how he would’ve felt. Now that I have mentioned it, I know Bayern fans will accuse us of stealing. But, bro, it's not our fault. I accept what happened was unfair, but it was Refree’s fault, not ours. If the whistle hadn’t been blown, maybe Lunin would’ve saved, or perhaps it would’ve been a goal we never know. (Even if you went to finals, you have Harry Kane, so Dortmund will w…) I think I went a little overboard; let’s come back.

Even though I played football almost every day in the 1st sem, I didn’t really start watching football. When I realized I was very weak in the Sports Quiz (wait, even the other ones… ermm let’s move on), I wanted to follow some sports; that’s when watching football started. So when Kridan was held the last sem, I got selected. I felt happy, excited, and nervous. The 1st match went pretty well until the opponent got a penalty. It was goalless until then, to be honest, and I was pretty nervous. It’s your first match, and there are barely 10-15 minutes left in the game; you definitely have to save it. The penalty taker shoots... Guess what? I saved, it bounced from my hand, and I punched it. It was and will be one of the best moments in my football journey. Even while writing this, I feel happy thinking about that time. It reminded me why I like being a goalie. The striker's face when you save the shot is worth a goalie's pain (It’s like as if I almost get a dopamine rush from that). But wait a minute, we still lost the match. The opponent scored a top-corner banger in the last 5 mins :(.

Even though we won the second match, we lost the third match. Even now, sometimes I think I should’ve saved the last goal in the third match. But the fact is, nothing can be done about it now. Just have to accept it, and practice so that it doesn’t repeat itself. After this, I started watching highlights of football matches. The 1st match that I fully watched was Madrid vs Bayern 1st leg. Brooooo, what was that Kroos pass? It was literally the best pass I’d ever seen. (I know I have very little ball knowledge; trying to learn, bro :)) (P.S. Even though I respect Reus, Madrid will win its 15th UCL title.)

Pranathi

A short tiny girl from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering... A small description about myself before we start... Hey there! This is Pranathi, one of the editors here in Udaan.

I really love to speak, and blabber, whatever thing that comes into my mind (which is the biggest flex in this era of introverts). Naturally, I also used to host events in my school days. With this same interest to speak, I became a part of Udaan last year. I hosted the 3^rd podcast of Udaan - The College Diaries, and really loved doing that. Back then, I was not much into writing. I know that even now, I am not doing it (really as) much.

Apart from magazine works, I am very much interested in social welfare activities. I also dance whenever possible, whether that be on the stage of a well organized event or on a random beat out there. While most people, these days, state their hobby as photography, I would state mine as "getting photographs clicked". But being a lethargic girl, my most favourite hobby would obviously be scrolling down my Instagram reels.

Being an average south Indian regular intermediate student - I was only concentrating on the JEE for the two really... really long years. So tiring. But time has changed now. Getting into a world full of options and opportunities here is something different. To explore, is the only thing that always comes into my mind. Try something new, at the end of the day, you are not gonna lose something.

Sometimes it feels as if I am not fit for this perfectly mechanised world - it feels like as if I should go... explore new things... find and stop at a place where I actually belong to. Restricted by the boundaries of being a girl, I had always imagined being independent and self reliant. With time comes change, I hope.

Now, here I am, ignoring all those who said: "She can't be there" or "She can't do that" or "She shouldn't..." and so on. Coming out of those ideologies, showing that all those ‘can’t and shouldn’t’ are actually possible, and stepping into the new world - with all these things in my mind I entered this college and am now happy that I have found something in which I am really interested. For all those who think that a magazine is only about articles and literature, here I am, the one who doesn’t write much but is still a part of Udaan.

And... that’s it. Looking forward to make many more podcasts and interesting stuff ahead - I hope the audience would bear up with me.

Done Medium Well?

- The 'I am getting the hang of this' 3^rd years.

Jonell

My Roman Empire

Young children always want to grow up, finish school and start to “adult”. Because to us this means that we don't need to study, don't have homework, don't have tight braids, and there are no restrictions on what we wear. We get to be independent, form our own thoughts and express them without being shushed or told to keep quiet because “the grown-ups are talking”. When we grow up, we become “the grown-ups”, we have the freedom to be creative and show it off on our own terms. 

As a child, my mum would tell me a lot and I mean A LOT of stories. Most of us and I grew up believing in talking animals, potions, fairy dust and wonderland. I still do believe in fairy dust, it just has taken on a whole new meaning. These stories feed into our innocent need to be creative, it would always lead to boundless imagination and dozens of side quests that I would make up in my mind just to entertain myself because my strict parents never let me watch T.V. or scroll through a phone. They built a world for me with their words, and I continued decorating and beautifying it in my mind. I had secret gardens and magic pink shoes and a gateway under my bed that led me to a fountain with sweet, sparkling water with healing properties. It had cottages and forests and castles and carriages that could talk, it was a whole new world in a land far, far away.

You sit in your classroom while your poor chemistry teacher is trying to get your classroom of 37 to memorise the first 20 elements of the periodic table, but throughout it, you are lost in a world of dancing princesses and diamond castles. While sitting and daydreaming, you hear someone talk about a place called Peshawar, you never heard this name before, it sounds very different, so unique that you do not even know how to pronounce it. “Oh my goodness, new map unlocked, let us check it out”. You go home and look it up. Bad idea, Jo, terrible idea. You wonder why there are videos and nightmare-inducing pictures of people just a couple of years older to you and younger than you and even people your age lying motionless, covered in a brownish-red sorta substance. This is when what the grown-ups call “the real world” hits you. 

You go back to school the next day, daydreaming as you always do (the grown-ups call it “dissociating”), but this time your mind doesn't run to Fairytopia, it goes to a place, not more than halfway across the world and you imagine yourself in those torn, empty shoes you saw on the internet yesterday and start to think about how you could have saved that world from the tragedy it suffered. You know that the scenario you’re thinking of is not real, none of the scenarios you ever thought of were real and you were always aware of it, but for the first time, the fact that you are helpless disturbs you in a way you never felt before. You then begin to wonder why your mind would take you to a place that unsettles you rather than a place that comforts you (like it always used to do). This confuses you and even slightly scares you. So, in a desperate attempt to save the world of magic and pastries in your mind, you start to pen down everything you remember, you put it all down on paper in any way you can. You don't have properly built storylines or characters with names and faces. They all exist in your mind, but you never really gave them identities, so this makes it harder to save. You can feel it all slowly fade away as you try to capture everything you love about that world. You can always go back to the stories and the movies from which this world you built stems, but will you ever be able to remember or capture everything that is slipping through your fingers right now? Will you be able to remember the details that are not very well defined in your mind but they exist and you know what it feels like but you cannot describe it? Will you be able to get it back if you rewatch and re-read and re-hear all those stories? With all these thoughts running through your mind, you try your best to capture everything you can. 

You are now left with terribly written paragraphs about the world you built because, despite your best efforts, your imagination is way wilder than what mere ink and paper will ever be able to capture. Now, you are scared that you will slowly forget your thoughts and lose the imaginary worlds that you love. So you begin to write down everything the moment the thought hits you because you cannot go through the loss of having a world crumble around you again. Your thoughts now start to take the forms of poems and letters (that you never send) and stories and conversations. The “wiser” you get and as your grey hairs grow in number, the inspiration from where your creativity stems, to you, seems to narrow down to your experiences. You no longer write about lands far, far away, but instead, focus on experiences that are near and dear to you. Is this happening because your imagination is limiting itself or because your experiences are expanding?

Akshay

Hi, I’m Akshay. I spend half of my life rotting in my bedroom. I am very good at procrastination. I have been procrastinating on this article for a while, too. Someone who knows me would say I’m the kind of person who would find interacting with someone (who doesn’t share a single interest with me) difficult. That could be anyone if we are being fair, but some people tend to adapt to their surroundings.

So, what are my interests? I love watching football. I may not be athletic enough to play it, but I love watching it. I am also interested in Formula 1, watching movies and series, and gaming with the homies. No, I don’t play Valorant and never will. Since two other people have already talked about football, I will not delve into it much. I support Manchester United, so if you support them too, hit me up :) (consider yourself an opp if you are ten hag out though).

I’m pretty new to playing video games and watching movies. I only started catching up with this genre of entertainment during lockdown. I sometimes wonder how I survived until then with no personality whatsoever. I like playing games that are more focused on the story while also challenging. My favourite games are Persona 4 Golden and The Arkham Trilogy. Lately, I have been playing a lot of Deep Rock Galactic with my friends. It's a co-op game that you can buy on Steam. I find it fun when you can play a game with your friends without having to face random people and get toxic with each other, like in Valorant or CSGO, for example.

At this point, it feels like I’m giving an interview and an introduction so you can decide whether you want to be friends with me. That’s how we do it here.

I don’t like to think much about life and its consequences. My general belief is that people are not complex. It’s not too deep. Everyone has their circumstances, and they act accordingly. I like staying out of trouble and not arguing much with people, but sometimes, while being excited, I try to stir things up even though I might agree with them. Like, I would agree Bruno Fernandes had a bad game, but if I see someone hating on him, I will start trolling and say he’s had a good game just to piss them off.

I have also played Dungeons and Dragons with some guys once-a-week for the past six months. It might get boring sometimes, but the combat is really good. I learned that even the most boring things can be fun if the company is good.

It is tough to find a good company with whom you enjoy your time from the bottom of your heart; it's a hit-and-trial method. It works sometimes, but it also doesn’t. I had to meet and be friends with so many people before I found the right set. So, if you ever feel down and think you will never find good friends, don’t give up and keep trying.

Neerav

Life? It’s a rollercoaster of love, career, money, emotions – the list goes on, huh?

My grandfather used to say that you gotta live 50 years to learn to live the 51st year in the best way possible, because the only way to understand life is to live it- if you haven’t tried, you haven’t lived.

Oh well, I totally disagree with grandpa, because guess what - I am about to show you some dark magic that can get you to learn about life in just 90 minutes instead (maybe some added extra time, too)?!

Yep, baby, let me coin this magic act as football. Now, before all of you who don’t watch it skip the part, I just wanna let you know that I ain’t gonna bore anyone with any Mourinho, Klopp, Cristiano, or those fancy names.

Let’s try this dating exercise. Say you, A, met B. Now B watches football. Yes! A fell for B’s oceanic eyes, the charisma that pulled A’s eyeballs like a magnet towards B’s locomotion involuntarily. 

A starts developing feelings for B. But how does A know if B is worth the commitment?

How can A predict B’s personality? Well, you can, based on the football team B supports. It’s pretty simple - like you get the entire LinkedIn profile of the person’s mind without chatting or texting a single word by just judging the football club one supports. How? Here goes:

1. Say B supports Manchester United (synonymous to RCB in cricket): A, go - these are fucking Amazon rainforests for god’s sake! Throw a bunch of saucy pickup lines; you won’t be disappointed in a million years. This team has been struggling for a decade since the departure of legends like Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs, Keane, and their manager Sir Alex Ferguson. These fans are the 24-carat love ornaments you’ll get in today’s market. Patience (though they see no hope), resilience, and courage (overconfidence sometimes, but it’s SO CUTE to watch!) all ooze from their souls. These fans not only live in depression, but they have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh boy, if they don’t dare to stop supporting this team that has lost all its hype since 14 years ago, there is no way he’d give up on you randomly. This also holds if B supports Barcelona even after their legends left - patience is their blood group, and they are never gonna give you up (oh, you just got rickrolled)!
   
   
2. Say B supports Real Madrid: Now, this is a weird scenario. Do not trust this person quickly. This team is an institution that has seen the biggest of names and has seen the lowest of downfalls. In layman's terms, supporting Real Madrid is no big deal - I’d rank it the 2nd easiest thing to do in the world with the first being a Ryan Gosling fanboy (oh Ken o Ken, yes that's number 1). Either B has a fragile heart - it could shatter, thanks to the poor tensile strength or B could be a serial killer for success. Could we see the sacrifice of relationships here in pursuit of career success? I can’t say, sit back and observe. Only time will tell. This also applies to people who support clubs that have attained recent glory - Manchester City, PSG etc, to be precise - THIS IS WHERE THE MIND GAMES BEGIN!!
   
   
3. Say B supports Bayern Munich: This category of people can be categorized as self-focused, mildly egoistic, and success-oriented, but the strongest hearts you’ll find on your Tinder database. This team is known for their scary, powerful teams and balance. Unlike Real Madrid, this team functions on a business model that gives equal importance to financial management - the only football team with a net debt of 0 Euros. This hard worker goes to the big stages but falls out of luck - injuries or poor refereeing (the list goes on). Bayern fans have experienced the worst traumas and heartbreaks, albeit being the synonym for consistency, balance, perfection and hard luck. Date a Bayern fan, and these cutie-patooties (UwU) will always try their best to impress you no matter what, and they have seen the worst of the worst- you deserve a cuddle with the tremendous mental strength they possess (all free of cost because the author is a Bayern fan himself - DMs open - Phone number: 9145000435)
   
   
4. Say B comes from a rare breed?: Say B loves Arsenal. Or Chelsea. Or Juventus maybe. The rarer breed you’ll see in India, but again come in the list of dedicated lovers who haven’t seen happiness for quite some time. They’ll marry not only you, but your problems, stick to you like Fevi-kwik, and don’t give a shit about anyone’s opinions because it’s “Me, myself and I” for B.
   
   
5. Say B supports nothing consistently?: The deadliest group of people. Red flags, red carpets, call them whatever. They can be tossed into the category of plastic fanboys- supporting success and big names and changing names every week- Ronaldo, Messi, Madrid, whichever allows them to flex blindly. This category of people has no knowledge about anything- they simply fly with the clout. Don’t fall for this rat-trap, young kids - they’ll use you, abandon you, and you’ll be left sobbing about your toxic relationship that played your mind by 180 degrees.
   
   

So yep, this is why you should consider taking an interest in European football - not just improving your dating life, but also fostering life as a whole - teaching you about balance, miracles, planning, tactics, man management (I’ll take another essay to talk about this, but never mind), finance, respect, dealing with breakups, toxicity, and being more romantic - I’m none of the above. Still, you guys get the gist of it, I hope?

So it’s not ‘if you haven’t tried, you haven’t lived’; it is ‘if you haven’t loved, you haven’t lived’.

Overcooked.

- The "What is life, if not a web of lies? Let's climb a mountain" 4^th years.

Akhil

“It’s something that non-car people just don’t get. They see all cars as a tonne-and-a-half, two tonnes of metal, wires, glass and rubber. That’s all they see. People like you or I however, know that... we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities. You can... develop a relationship with a car. That’s something non-car people just don’t get.”

- Jeremy Clarkson, a man of frightening genius.

It’s quite a passion, some would say. It’s quite an expensive one, others would remark. Few would even go so far as to say, “It is but a machine, what do you see in it?”

I’d call it…
…love.

So allow me, to ramble on a bit, about the love for cars.

Growing up, I got to see and experience many things, but I always felt like I was watching them from above. A superficial perspective ensured my little curious brain was never overwhelmed by the world out there. This wasn’t the case, however, for cars. I was thrown headfirst, into a massive ocean without a clue on how swimming works.

Every bit of the experience tickled a strange excitement in me that nothing else could touch. The thrill of a gear shift. The feel of the leather upholstery. The comfort of a well-tuned suspension. The strength of the car when it accelerates. The roar of the engine. The majesty of the car’s stance. The beauty of a side-profile. The murmur of the exhaust. The whine of the turbo. The ka-klink of the paddles. The tactile sensation of the centre console and knobs. The feeling of safety in wearing a seatbelt. The feeling of being in total control, when you’re in the driver’s seat. 

My love for cars was fuelled further by the entry of racing games into my life. NFS Most Wanted and Underground 2 brought to me a basic understanding of how cars worked. Forza Horizon taught me how a high-speed car would behave to some extent. Assetto Corsa taught me that I still have a long way to go if I want to become a racing driver. All of them put together, instilled an explicable sensation in me that arose every time I heard an engine revving up. 

To this day, the sound of Apollo IE’s V10 at 8,700RPM induces the same feeling in me that a smoker has after his first puff in a month. An addiction. An evil form of love. But love, nonetheless.

They say love is supposed to help you grow and keep you happy. Well, cars do that and more. They keep me wanting to experience the heavenly “harmony of man and machine”. They keep me wanting to learn more and more about the world of cars. They make me want to care for something that others dismiss as mere inanimate objects. 

That in itself, the ability to make someone want to care, is why you can develop a relationship with a car. 

Some people just don’t get it. They make 10,000 cars, they make ‘em exactly the same way, but one or two of them turn out to be something special. They have flaws, they make mistakes, they can outperform themselves. All of this gives them a particularly human nature. 

I think,
All said and done,
I love cars quite a bit.

Keshav

"I have no enemies"

- Thorfinn Karlsefni, Vinland Saga

Contrast is what the above line screams when it stands alongside my name, which loosely translates to Lord Krishna. Contrast is what I am. There's a blue here. One could see some vermillion and ochre, too. A closer look might reveal a bright crimson red. But is contrast supposed to be conflicting or unstable? Is it the natural law of Life that extremes wouldn't reside in the same den, sitting on the clay mound of the same wild soul? My mind and soul are but a juxtaposition of all these dazzling conflicting colours, splashing against each other, coding into each other's hues to create new ones, the drops of each blending and mixing to form the lighter and the darker shades, but all here together finding solace in the frenzy of difference and conflict. Ultimately, it is but a peaceful, pure blend of something indescribable. The colours were where all of it began when my soul began to mould itself into the craft as it now exists. 

"I'm too much for my life to contain" is what I tell myself every waking moment, yet I grasp the edges of it and push them out as I outgrow myself every day. As I said, it began with colours. I was 8 when my tiny hands curled around a pencil and scratched it on a white paper to sketch something that could be called a portrait loosely. God gave us eyes to see and art to envision beyond what is seen. "Art does not reproduce what we see. It makes us see." By the time I was 12, I could see more than objects around me; I saw textures, lines, and colours. I could see the arched curve that the upper nose formed against the eyebrows, the tinge of green that appeared on the contour of pale skin, the shadows that threads of linen formed against the shining light and the visible surreal curves in transparent bulges. I knew by this time I loved art; I loved to draw figures and faces, strike my pencil, and rub the old colours onto the canvas to give them life or perhaps just experience a significant essence of being human. 

But maybe my soul wasn't limited to this. When I was 7, I saw a Cricket team lift a World Cup for the second time after a hiatus of 28 years. "Just a sport" is what people would say, but the way it etched right into the centre of my heart made me fall in love with it, the mechanics of it, the beauty, the players, the moments and the idea that I could experience it too. A sport is so much more than a game with rules; it's a subject of celebration transcending cultures and religions. The shared emotions, collective brotherhood, the screams in unison, and honest teary-eyed smiles of such a large population, chanting the same names without hatred but with sheer exuberance and passion, is nothing but a spectacle of humanity, and I'm glad I'm here to witness it so closely. 

Interstellar was released in 2014, and perhaps ever since, I've been amazed by science and astronomy. I got my first encyclopaedia and read about nebulas and how they form protostars and stars, which grow into giants until they collapse within themselves to form dwarfs and black holes. For one, I sure didn't understand Interstellar back then, but then I knew I wanted to learn so much more about the world around me, everything I could see and I couldn't; I wanted to understand all of it. The way a basketball curves during its freefall because of the Magnus effect, the way firing a stream of electrons through a set of transistors could make a computer, the way Hydrogen atoms would fuse so that the days would be brighter, and a million more marvels. I didn't stop at this, as I laid my eyes on the art of writing when I learnt about Shakespeare, Premchand, Kahlil, Faiz, Dickens, Austen, and Rabindranath. Then I realised how powerful words were, how they could grasp and embrace or push you to the edge with their fingertips until you'd smile, sob or perhaps be lost in an unreal world. Although I'd started writing on my own, I discovered Wordsworth, Dostoevsky, Plath, and Kafka and soon delved into the world of poetry, too. 

While I was busy scouring for more in the world of words, I was then introduced to Socrates, Marx, Kant, Nietzsche, Vivekananda, Buddha and Confucius when I understood the curse of thought and intellect of humanity. Somehow, I found the same solace in philosophy as in poetry, as they were but mirrors shining at each other with lights of colours of different spectrums. And then I found Christopher Nolan, Hayao Miyazaki, Martin Scorsese and Satyajit Ray and realised how beautiful cinema could be. You have a series of running images with sound and music, and you could have one of the greatest art forms ever achieved by humanity. I began my journey with video editing, but soon, I started reading more about the true essence of cinema and what it takes to make art out of filmmaking. I learnt camera work, scripting, cinematography as well as acting, and somehow, I was now able to dissect every piece of cinema I saw and dream of reproducing it most elegantly if I'd ever get the chance to do so. However, as I immersed myself further into the world of cinema, I began to realise that the visuals create the canvas, but it's the music that breathes life into the art. The soundtracks and scores are what truly evoke emotions and elevate the storytelling, giving cinema its heartbeat. 

I decided I needed to learn music and delve into its creation. Although I've been very amateur, the idea of breaking down a track into its constituent instruments and being able to play those exact notes to reconstruct the exact music somehow baffles me. I struck my fingers down the strings to strum guitar chords over and over until I could play them one after another in sync with the tempo of a hundred songs, to truly grasp the ideas of notes, scales, chords, time signatures and the difference between sharps and flats and a million more ways just so someone out there could produce something like Beethoven or Zimmer. 

Somewhere in the middle of it all, I could truly behold the creation of beauty by humanity, the myriad art forms we developed to distinguish our souls from our mere bodies and realise the height of our existence. We have so much more than our prejudices, tenets, and established convictions to bind us together, to reach out for more and discover more within. I have no enemies, for I am someone who's compassionate about the hundred things that we could try to explore our essence of being human and find a thousand more anew. My heart is not a vessel for hatred, nor is it a home for contempt. I want to bring a hundred smiles into this world and help a thousand more. I bear this wild soul, a contrast that wants to reach out and fill more colours than ever in the small canvas of its own existence. Perhaps it is true that my life is too small to contain me, my emotions and my chaotic, ever-growing urge to learn and know and become more of a human. Perhaps this limit is what makes me more of a human. Nevertheless, I keep moving forward. 

Also, I love cats! 

- Keshav, a fellow human who finds stupid things funny

Sneha

This doesn’t follow the route I meant to take for this article, but inspiration has struck and I suppose we grab it while we can. 

We’ve made it to the fourth year. I’ve counted three scorching summers and three violent bouts of thunder and rain (oh, to perish by lightning amidst a purple sky), made new friends and regretfully watched as old ones slipped away, flipped a stone, redefined what several words like trust and love and anger mean to me, and most importantly, expanded and experimented with the breathing room in my ribcage. 

I’ve texted the family group chat “I’m dropping out” three times, changed my mind within the next day, passed courses I simply could not give a rupee’s worth about, found those few subjects that did reawaken my spirits, ached for home, ached to come back to campus, written things about people I will probably graduate before showing to them, despised people with a passion I never knew I could summon but whom I ultimately empathised with alongside my hatred, held a million thank-yous on the tip of my tongue, admired a hundred people I may never speak to and have fallen in love with tens of souls here, all so deeply and ardently. 

Do I feel any the wiser at this close-to-fermenting age of almost 21? One would argue I’m supposed to. I feel like a cucumber waking up to the glass walls of a pickle jar. I do love pickles.

What have I learnt, then? How have I developed?

For starters, a big achievement – I don’t carry as much luggage home as I used to. My eager first-year (and second-year) self, dripping with and tripping on excitement and wonder at the thought of travelling home by herself, who believed the strength of a mighty army would be summoned straight into her arms because she so willed it, tugged a suitcase, two backpacks and a duffel bag on her small person… for a mere week’s trip home. And yes, she believed it worthwhile… until she had to drag it all back. 

Secondly, things I’ve learned the hard way – I now return my library books sooner (after raking in a Rs. 600 fine at once last year), I remember that I should just buy the Maggi instead of refusing because I’ll binge on it for no reason (when you and your roommates are hungry at 2am, begging for Maggi is a humbling experience), I must race to the shop and buy all the chocolate croissants on the day they’re stocked because everyone is an unhinged, greedy, shameless animal (yes, me too), I’ve learnt the best way to end a bad day is with an everything shower and no texts, that even if you verbally slap some people on the face they shall choose not to comprehend, and I’ve hosted the teary funeral of my attention span as I have not been able to fully complete reading anything I’ve picked up.

Third, a special mention – at the core of every person (I imagine it to be a dense, glowing ball at their sternum) is their story. Synonyms you could use for it would be “a chapter book”, “a reflection of their intentions through water”, “the things their inner self yells behind iron bars”, and so on; I mean, you get the foundational idea, really. This ball, this quiet existence, shows itself through the eyes, through body language, slight jerks at the joints, minuscule sinking or rising of the chest, hesitation, anticipation, suppressed excitement, indecisive breathing – you can tell a person’s story, hopes, regrets, wishes, duties, and anxieties from their microscopic reactions, even in the most seemingly bland situation, and that is precisely what I find to be the most beautiful phenomenon to exist. An aurora borealis, indeed, a hanging garden.

It narrates what has gone right in someone’s life as much as what hasn’t. How the presence of love has built them, and how the lack of it has stunted parts of them they’re not yet aware of or will never be; you can vividly envision the reasons they rage, refuse to rationalise or seal their lips while greedily absorbing everything else. You can see why they are so flaw-fully who they are. That there exists the possibility to experience second-hand the kaleidoscopic, ever-changing, ever-shivering hologram that is them, is marvellous – is enough.

And, last of all, my favourite – Every time I come back home, I look into the mirror and see the last 4 months’ worth of lessons reflected in my pupils against the backdrop of my teenage bedroom, deepening and darkening the pool for waders and dolphins alike. I encourage the reader to try this for themselves, too, when they have a chance to offer a mirror their solitude and time. It can be a most confusing yet rich experience.

Bineet

It's a fine night with a drizzle outside. Chilling in the hostel room, you sit (bored) on your bed. You think about scrolling through Instagram, but realise that you have done too much of it already. You conclude that "Sleeping is an option" as you get lulled by the pitter-patter of the rain. But just as you are about to rest, you catch a glimpse of your guitar. And a few hours go by just like that, until you get too tired to hold it and just collapse on the mattress, way past your bedtime.

I just love how there's so many things that you can play on the guitar. Rock, folk, country, pop - you name it. And that's just on the acoustic - when you factor in electric guitars, sky's the limit. But I can only say so much without descending into a mindless ramble. So, I'll limit myself to acoustic guitars, and playing fingerstyle on it.

Take any song from your playlist. Though the "rules" of music need not apply everywhere (and they don't need to), generally speaking - It would have three key components: melody, harmony, and rhythm. I'll give a crash-course description of them all. Melody is the part of the song which is the most distinctive - think of the singer's part, or some intro being played by a violin, and so on. Harmony is the background upon which the melody lays - think of the guitar strumming, or the piano playing, and so on. You can think of harmony as something which decides the "mood" of the music. And lastly, rhythm. When you listen to a song while standing, and catch yourself swaying in some periodic fashion, that's rhythm - think of the drums blasting, or the bass thumping, and so on.

So, where does the guitar come in? Well, its decent range along with compact design allows us to hit all the three components right on its head! For melody, you can delegate that to the higher pitched thinner strings (melody can be done on a bassline too but that's a topic for another day). For harmony, you can play the chords and the bass notes on the bottom strings. And lastly, you can add percussion by slapping the strings or the guitar body (yes, this is not a joke. Look up "percussive guitar"). Sidenote: there is rhythm in essentially anything you play (percussion is just a method to "emphasise" a certain rhythm).

Okay, so that's the concept. But how do you "play" it? That's where fingerstyle comes in! It essentially means that instead of just holding a pick between your two fingers, and only using the pick to play the strings, you also use your remaining fingers - this allows you to play more notes at the same time and also improves manoeuvrability across the strings. A common way to do this is to just ditch the pick and use the thumb for bass and the rest of the fingers for chords and melody. Or, you can decide to keep the pick and just start using the middle and ring finger too (this is called "hybrid picking").

And that's it. Using this method, you can spend countless days arranging songs for the guitar. Regardless, I will also add that this is not an excuse to go solo and just ditch a band (another great experience worth talking about). In trying to implement some tricky parts or changing the whole mood of the piece, I have had my share of fun with Bollywood songs, movie themes and what not.

I am glad to have discovered this instrument and hope there's much more for me in store. When you need to log out from everything else, just let your fingers glide across the strings - and suddenly, the world won't feel so weird anymore. (And, I really need to start making money - do you know there are so many different types of guitars with 8 strings or 10 strings or when there are no frets or when there are those special tuners and …).

And there we go folks, a total of 13 (to hell with the unlucky number) introduction-type articles to help you get a glimpse into our writers' varied personalities.

Along the same note, we hope that the graduating seniors had a wonderful time in being a part of this team, and we truly wish them the very best for whatever they are doing, wherever they are going, and whenever they may be "being, thinking, existing".

And so, here lies both the ending and the beginning of the Udaan journey...