AR MUTHU KUMAR | SGA THOMAS | OTHERS

ISSUU 1 | JULY 2014WWW.ISSUU.COM/THEFEATHERS

SPOT LIGHTINTERVIEW WITH SURRYA

LAST. EPISODE 1NEW GRIPPING STORY SERIES

a good startmakes a good day

Where did it start?Four years ago, when ‘the Feathers’ was originally named K-Groups, we made a small magazine called the K-Groups monthly. Only two editions were ever released. The third one was still born. The original idea of ‘the Feathers’ started from writing. It progressed itself into an art production environment, but eventually, the old ideas were lost. It became primarily the short film and video development hive over the last couple of years. Recently while pondering over the past, it became evident to me that we’ve strayed well from my orig-inal intentions about writing. So the natural thoughts that arose from my past became the phoenix of this magazine to arise from its ashes.Fine. A magazine. So why OUT Focus? If you’re a photographer, or you kinda like the subject, you would know that every photograph is actually focused on a subject. Most or all of the commercial maga-zines available in the market are focused on one specific theme. We thought, “Why should it be focused on one subject?” The result was Out Focus. Because we believe that life ought to pay more atten-tion to the irregularities and the seemingly unimportant things in the background of the whole picture.Because Tyrion Lannister (“The imp”) from the HBO TV series Game of Thrones says in S04E08,“Too much has been written about great men and Too little about morons”

(editor)

03EDITORIAL

04OUT FOCUS

INSIDE

06 INTERVIEW WITH

SURRYA

16 SHORT STORY SERIES

LAST.

EDITOR AR MUTHU KUMARCHIEF WRITER SGA THOMASPHOTOS SAYED M SQUOTES COMPILER NIRMAL HENRY

24A GIRL’S PAGE

SARU

06ISSUES IN EDUCATION

THOMAS

05OUTFOCUS

06COVER STORY

INTERVIEWSURRYA M NARAYANAN

SPO

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Surrya M Narayanan, you would know if you’re following the short film trends, is an upcoming short film maker who has been working on his first film “Unakae Uyiraanaen” with Delhi Ganesh playing the lead. We got curious about this ambitious teenager and prepared an interview. He was friendly enough to take time to grace us with his replies!

We know Surrya as a director. Who is Surrya at home?

I’m just a normal film freaky kid, who spends most of his time with his laptop watching and writing movies. A big time workaholic. And I’m 19 now. Studying 3rd year B.E - C.S.E at PSG Tech in Coimbatore. My home town is Salem.And I should thank all the people who are personally associated with me, i mean , my family and friends. They sacrifice lots of their happiness because of my workaholic nature but still they give me unconditional love always. They are my biggest strength.

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08COVER STORY

What is the main theme of “Unakae Uyiraanaen” and how did you conceive the idea?

The main theme of Unakae Uyiraanaen is to make the younger generation realise that love has no expiry date. Adding to this theme, we had given the tag line ‘LOVE LIVES BEYOND LIFE’. So, the film is all about the love, fun, romance,seperation, pain of an old couple, Krishnan and Diana, in their final days of their life.

When you penned the script, did you have someone in mind, say, an inspiration?

I dint have any particular person as inspiration for this story, but I was really inspired by the love that existed in the previous generation. The previous generation’s love was very gifted and expressed with emotions, while the present generation’s love is only filled with emojis. My only target while penning the script was to inspire the present generation to fall in love without any second thoughts or without any gadget influences, just like many of our parents/relatives from previous generations did. I just wanted to make them realise that true love never fades away. Most people who have watched the film till now have told that the film has inspired them so much in their love life and they had loads of sweet things to take back to their loved ones. To get this kind of response from the audience was our aim while penning the script and while seeing that working very well, the UU team is very happy now.

What was the deciding factor to cast Delhi Ganesh as your protagonist?

When the script was bounded, the first name which came to mind was Delhi Ganesh Sir. The idea was to rope in some legendary actor who has registered very well in the minds of people. Many well wishers told that it is better to go with some supporting actor or a normal character artist. But, with no second choices, I volountered for the challenge of changing a veteran comedian actor, who has done more than 500 films in that type, into a prince charming romantic old man in just one film, that too, in just 25 minutes. Some felt that it was an over confident move to rope in a veteran comedy actor into a serious role, but now, every thing is answered in the film in the best way. More than myself, i was overly confident on Delhi Ganesh sir that he will do this perfectly. And he did 101% justice to my decision.

Delhi Ganesh, as a supporting actor, has done hundreds of films. How good is he a Hero?

He is the man who worked with the greatest legends in our industry. The Big icons like Balachandar, balu mahendra, mani ratnam, kamal haasan have told us through their films that what this actor is capable of. He is really a legendary actor who was not used well in most of the films. A film like PASI, which won him TAMILNADU state award for best performance is enough to show his mettle. And in Unakae Uyiraanaen, Delhi Ganesh sir will be seen as KRISHNAN. He has acted

09COVER STORY

in more than 500 films till now , but from the fifth minute you start watching Unakae Uyiraanaen, you will forget all his previous roles and will completely see a new Delhi Ganesh on screen. He is at his best in this film.

What is the most interesting/funny event from the shooting of Unakkae Uyiraanen?

Eventhough it is very serious kind of film, the shooting spot was filled with fun and laughters. The main reason for that was Delhi Ganesh sir. However the situation is pressurized, he will make the crew to rofl with his sudden one liners , behind the scenes. It was fun shooting the bike sequence and the dance sequence with two aged persons. The heroine of the film, Patricia Tanner , a theatre artist and an athelete and teacher, also made the set very lively. And moreover, our crew is like a family. Our biggest strength is Raja Bhattacharjee sir, who is our DOP. The visuals will surely excite everyone who watches it. Sankar, my best friend, John, my associate director, Hari, my dearest friend has been the pillars of our shooting. Their part was tremendous in the shooting in managing all other tensions in the spot like food, travel, locations, stay etc.

When is #UU gearing up for a release?

10COVER STORY

UU’s official chennai screening is on July 13 at AVM Preview Theatre, Vadapalani. And following that, there will be screenings in Coimbatore, Vellore, Bangalore and it is most likely to have a foreign screening also.

After #UU what are your future plans? Small screen or theatre?

Right now, no silver screen plans. The next project is a short film only. It will be very different from UU. I want to try a very different making from UU and so our team has decided to do a Police story. Right now, all we can say is, it will be a path breaking police story breaking all the cliches about Police in our industry. So, the other announcements will be out by the end of August.

If ever offered any job, as a bribe to leave films, which would you choose?

Nothing can make me do that. And I’m sure no film maker will leave films just because of any other job. Because, film making is not a job. It is a very pure art. In any job in the world, you cant get a chance to recreate a world of your dreams into frame by frame. The pride of being a creator, no matter what, you may be the best or the worst, but , a creator is a creator. Even the biggest creator,

11COVER STORY

GOD, has made some mistakes in creating some creepy people. So, as a film maker, I’m a creator and I will have that pride in me that I’m doing the job which is the toughest job in the world. Even if I fail tremendously in future, there will be no question of leaving films. It is more than an oxygen to me.

Anything else you would like to share?

Thanks for the nice interview. Was a great experience talking to your “Out Focus” web magazine. Thanks a lot to everyone who support us. Please Do come for the screening of UU with your friends and family. You will never be disappointed by the film. Best wishes to every dream seaker out there. Thanks again for your support.

Interview: Ar Muthu Kumar

12COVER STORY

Towards the cliff she movedSilhouetted against the light

Against the wind her frock swayedFearful to let go, she stood tight.

She loved a heart as soiled as mudLife flashed upon and she wept

Hands now stained with his bloodA pain that all her time she kept

Memories stung, her heart bledEchoing a beat of forlorn soundA hurting yet empty life she ledAnd true love she never found

As the misty moon came around,Fear left her and she quit life

The soul flew from the groundTo a world void of all strife

DAMSELIN DISTRESS

NIRMAL HENRY

“Ithinkaudiencesgettoocomfortableand familiarintoday’smovies.Theybelieve everythingthey’rehearingandseeing. Iliketoshakethatup.”

-Christopher Nolan

14PICAPTION

15PICAPTION

Again it was the Sun that woke me up. Another day had just passed.

*****

My father was the one who usually would wake me up. Be it any day, the first word I would hear would be my father’s scolding.

“Come ‘n you good for nothing... Wake your ass up.”

‘Good for Nothing’. Yes, still unemployed, even though completed

a B.Tech degree.

“It is time that you guys start making a history in this world. When I was in your age, I started a business from the scratch. And now I am here inspiring you all. I can see my energy in your eyes. Yes, you can do it. It’s time for you guys to inspire others. It’s time to make history.” I never knew that the inspiring speech by that businessman was actually a death trap. Many were recruited in his company just for

10K. 9 pointers went to do MBA or M.Tech in order to avoid those cheap salaries.

What did I do? Hmm... I was attending Parent- Teachers’ meet. Not exactly. It was Parent-Principal meet. I had 4 backlogs. I need to spend another semester to clear them. And hence the title “GOOD FOR NOTHING”.

*****

Thud. Thud. Thud. Footsteps. Not the normal ones. Should be

LAST.AN ANOTHER DAY

1

17SERIES

them. I could sense them. They are back again. I stayed low. As low as possible. Creak. They must be in the kitchen. They are coming upstairs. My heartbeat rose.

The door banged on the wall. A creepy sound followed. My breath went ups and down. And so were they. Tick.Tick.Tick.

Who are they ? I still have no idea where did they came from. It’s been two hours since they entered the house. They come and walk around the whole place. It’s been nearly a week, since these guys came. They come at particular time and leave two hours later. They left.

*****

And so did my parents. It was Saturday. They said they are going for a world tour, which was organised by their friend. They took my sister with them.

They said they will be returning within a week. And from the next day these guys came in.

“If hope would cure a cancer patient, then fear would kill even an ulcer patient. Fear. It is the biggest weakness for the whole human society. If man had feared lightning and fire, he wouldn’t have survived. He came across that fear and made leaps in the history of civilization. Never fear. Never ever.”

A p p l a u s e . I yawned. Boring speeches. Meant to inspire the passouts to be professional. Of course, it was not for me. Not for this “GOOD FOR NOTHING”.

“Be alert. For the world would stamp you down, if you don’t.”...

*****

“Hey GOOD FOR NOTHING! Wake your ass up. It’s already 8.”

“Don’t call me that”

“So how do I want you to call you “Genius”! Couldn’t even pass a semester without backlogs. Wakes up at 8, hurries to bathroom, has a running brunch at the canteen, bunk classes and burns the midnight oil till 2 AM. Facebook! Twitter! Is that your life? Shame on you my son. Unless you earn a penny, you are GOOD FOR NOTHING. That’s it. Now hurry up to your college. And do have a haircut in the evening. You look like a beggar.”

‘GOOD FOR NOTHING’. What is the use in living with such a name? I felt like dying the moment he yelled like that. But it was my mom, who lit some sort of hope in my mind. She was the one who would cool the heat down during such situations.

“You know about your dad, right. Don’t worry everything will be

18SERIES

fine. Just try harder this time. Here keep it. Have something at the canteen. And don’t forget to cut your hair unless you want to get killed.”

A smile. It gave more meaning to my life.

*****

Silence. This silence is killing me. I need someone. I need company. All I have are those strangers. Are they post humans ?

*****

“Hey! Did you read the headlines today?”

“What? About Posthumans?”

“Yes! And the P.O.T.U.S agreed to finance the project !”

“Looks like there will be death and devastaions. What do you think?”

“The Government says that it funds the project in order to secure and understand the future of humans”

“Secure and

Understand the future?”

“You know the D-Day would come some day.”

“D-Day is a myth.”

“Whatever, the Government believes that to save ourselves from that D-Day, we don’t have many cards to play”

“If D-Day occurs then that D-Day is the result of what our human society did to this land.”

Those two were busy discussing their topic that day and were

19SERIES

preparing for their group discussion.

*****

“When are you coming home ?”

“Dude! Got struck in traffic. Will be there in ten!”

*****

Calling Bell rang.

“Are your parents not home?”

“Yeah. Went for a world

tour with my sis.”

“Oh! Got any drink ? “

“Yeah. Coke.”

“So. Mr. GOOD FOR NOTHING, What are you planning for this week ?”

“Don’t call me like that”

“You are the only one in the college having a backlog.”

“So ?”

“Ok. Fine What are you

planning ? And where is my harddrive.”

“Yeah It’s upstairs ! Wait I’ll fetch it.”

5 minutes later. Calling Bell rang again.

*****

I heard the door open. A creepy sound followed.

Boom.

Again Sun woke me up.

Another day had passed.

(To be continued)

by SGA Thomas

“... the Government believes that to save ourselves from

that D-Day, we don’t have many cards to play”

20SERIES

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COFFEE AND A SCRIPT22FOTOGRAPH

COFFEE AND A SCRIPT

Ar Muthu Kumarf/3.2 1/30sec ISO400

23FOTOGRAPH

24A GIRL’S PAGE

We always think it otherwise!! Ironical! So ironical is our life that we live. I always wonder about our way of thinking. Summers are spent with expectations for a small drizzle while when rain pours with joy we yearn for a ray of sunlight. As innocent children we dress up like our parents and like to be addressed as grown ups but on turning adults we daydream the days of our childhood. On the day of valentines we long for a partner to cuddle and caress while lovers envy the singles. Our minds always take things ‘otherwise’. Obese people obsess about their excess weight while thin ones celebrate chubbiness. Poor ones imagine that rich are happy whereas rich ones remain sleepless thinking about the peaceful sleep that a poor gets. We dreamt of flying high in sky those days while today we pen poems about green trees dwelling in concrete jungles and long for a life to be spent in the lap of mother Nature. Such is our life. Even if we possess the most rare-to-get, impossible-to-buy, eternal treasures, we still long for the things that we ‘don’t have’!!!

“THINKING OTHERWISE”SARU MATHI

25A GIRL’S PAGE

Ar Muthu Kumarf/6.3 1/160secSHOT @ HINDUSTAN UNIVERSITYZONAL NASA 2014 “ATYANTA”

WHEN THERE’S FUNNIGHTS DON’T MATTER

28GRAPHICAL DESIGN

29GRAPHICAL DESIGN

30RESEARCH

ISSUESIN HIGER EDUCATION

SGA THOMAS

important decision they will have made in their lives thus far. This is the choice that will help a person build for the future and a critical decision that will shape his or her life for years to come.Hossler, Braxton, and Coopersmith describe student college choice as “a complex, multistage process during which an individual develops aspirations to continue formal education beyond high school, then later makes a decision to attend a specific college, university or institution of advanced vocational training” (Hossler et.al., 1989, p. 238).

Bergerson (2009) and Teranishi, Ceja, Antonio, Allen, and McDonough (2004) have pointed out that the

most widely cited and used process model known as the three-stage model was developed by Hossler and Gallagher (1987). This model posits that student college choice is a developmental process, consisting of three developmental stages: predisposition, search, and choice.

• Predisposition, the first stage, refers to the period when students develop aspirations for college and decide whether to go to college or choose other alternatives, such as work or military service.

• Search is the second stage; students actively seek information on specific institutions and develop a list of colleges to which they intend to apply.

• Choice is the final stage in which students complete applications and choose a particular college to enter

ccording to the Carnegie Foundation, for most young people, the decision to attend college is probably the most

«There is, perhaps, no college decision that is more thought-provoking, gut wrenching and rest-of-your life oriented - or disoriented - than the choice of [college].”

St. John. In Beggs et. al., p. 381

A

31RESEARCH

From an economist’s point of view, it is very important that prospec-tive students apply for the universities that fit them best in order to maximize human capital production and to mini-mize drop-outs.

Being an important de-cision in life , there arose a question, what college does the student choose? Under what factors does he thinks that it suits him. What is his mentality in choosing a college. Is he choosing a college un-der his own thought pro-cess or is someone else enforcing him to join a particular. Does the SES (Socio-Economic Status)

become a concern here. Does he actually chose the best college? Before entering into predisposition, let’s ud-erstand the SES factor.

SES factor andAcademics:Socio-economic status (SES) plays a big role and gives substantial impact to students in making their decision to enroll at Higher Educa-tional Institution (HEI). SES is defined as grad-ed hierarchy of social positions which can be used to describe a per-son’s overall social po-sition or standing. It can be indicated by a num-

ber of sub-concepts such as employment status, occupational status, ed-ucational achievement, income and wealth. SES is considered to be the strongest predictor in tertiary study. Three di-mensions of SES were identified as parents’ education, occupation and income.

Criteria for High SES is that their parents work in any sector and do hold any certificate, diploma and degree and for low SES their parents do not work or has retired in any sector and do not hold any certificate, di-ploma and degree

32RESEARCH

Parents or family with high or low income react differently to their chil-dren education espe-cially when it comes to their beliefs and expec-tation towards their chil-dren. Davis-Kean found that this matter indirect-ly affected the children academic achievement. There are differences between high SES stu-dent and low SES stu-dent. The studies re-ported that high SES student intends to pur-sue tertiary education, attends university and pursues post graduate degrees. However, low SES students take dif-ferent direction. Both statuses also affect the student choice of course program in the college or university. High SES students prefer to study engineering and sci-ence. While, Davies and Guppy in Leppel found that low SES students tend to choose subjects that can guarantee im-mediate job prospects upon graduation. (But these SES trends started to change as we could

hear news like daughter of Auto driver becoming CA and so on.)

The Predisposition :In India, except for some students in cities and few towns, most of the students are forced to skip this predisposi-tion stage. No matter whether the student is capable of surviving the college, because of the peer pressure from family, he is pushed to choose some college (mostly engineering). Moreover in some cas-es the student is forced to take a particular course because his par-ents wanted to. In other cases, even if a student aspires to pursue higher studies, because of lack in financing and/ or oth-er family problems, he could not continue fur-ther more. And this situa-tion occurs mostly for fe-male students. And from frying pan to fire , most of them aspire to study a particular course be-cause their friends took or some of their rela-tives had a settled life

by choosing that field.

The Search:All literatures related to this study agrees unan-imously that college search requires all stu-dents to ask themselves how they want their col-leges to look, what mat-ters the most, and what shortcomings they will tolerate in areas out-side their primary re-quirements (Shaw et.al., 2009). The variables students usually resort to as they make their choice are academic performance, demo-graphic characteristics, home and school char-acteristics, and partic-ipation in school activi-ties.Many factors contribute to the students’ selection in engineering program. Seymour and Hewitt (1997) suggested that the factor of interest is the strongest element that affects students’ decision. University fa-cilities also play a role. Many researchers also found that the factor of family and friends’

33RESEARCH

influence was the strongest factor in the decision making of Asian students to pursue their study. It should not be forgotten that in some cultures like in India, parents have a great role in the decision- making process. Such parents put pressure on the youth, and rather than letting them choose a college according to their talents, capabilities, aptitude and perhaps most importantly their aspirations, parents fulfill their own dreams through their children. Parents would want their young adult teens to have not just any but prestigious professions in the future that they could brag about. Medical schools or engineering schools are at the top of their list. Through private tutoring and constant support/pressure, such parents would make sure their teens score high points in the university entrance examination.Usually , this stage begins with student

analysing his talents, capabilities, aspirations, current academic performances and then after looking into his financial background, he should go for a search for colleges that best suits him. But few parents book famous colleges prehand by dumping lakhs in the name of donations.If a student gets low marks in his high school, parents don’t ask them what’s wrong with him, they just want to send him to either an engineering or a medical college. Some parents force him to go for IIT training and make them get good grades in those exam. Other case is that student selects some college blindfolded even before analysing what his talents are. Most schools in general don’t provide a basic platform for students to find and train their talents. Students are in fact not encouraged to do extra curricular activies both in school and at home during their

high school and force them to get good marks. Unless a student knows what his talents are, how would we expect them to chose a right course?In the USA, the situation is rather different. Whether it is a state college or a private one that students go to, they still have to pay for tuition. Rates change tremendously from school to school, and that is the point where students feel some parental influence because it is the parents who have to cover the tuition and other costs if the student cannot get financial aid or a scholarship. However, many parents leave it to their teenagers to decide what program they want to pursue at the college and which college they will attend. Parents should let the students develop interest in extra curricular activity and let the student select his career. They should be guiding them but they should not force them.

34RESEARCH

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