SPECIAL EDITION 1 | JULY’15WWW.ISSUU.COM/THEFEATHERS

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We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.

- John F Kennedy

The age we live in.“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” with these famous lines, Charles Dickens starts his book “A tale of two cities”. If Charles had been writing about the 21st century instead of the French revolution, he’d still be true about it. There is no age that was perfect, no time we can travel back to and be happy about it. Let us be content with what we have and enjoy the age we live in. It is the best of times, it is the worst of times...

Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

Welcome to OutFocus.

With this issue, OutFocus has completed one full year online. We have written about Russian presidents to Higgs boson particles to MS Dhoni. We continue to write, because it is just what we do. We appreciate all the support, and as thanksgiving, here’s a special issue :)

Love, Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

PHOTO:NEENA SABARI MENON

SEESTORY06

MODI365: WHAT DID HE MISS?

Did the Tea that was in limelight during May 2014 stay hot during its first year? Prime Minister Mr. Modi enlisted the work done by his government, ranging from rejuvenating the economy to initiatives for the poor, and said this is just the beginning in the endeavour to transform the quality of life of people.

In an open letter to the people, he said, “we have been able to restore trust in the government, ensure a “corruption-free” rule and made state governments equal partners in the quest for national development, building the spirit of Team India.”

Let’s take a tea and have a look on what were missed in Modi’s 365.

Before venturing into what he had missed, it is also important to know that Mr.Modi was questioned by several critics for the high credibility gap that occurred from his transformation from the CM of a state to the PM of the nation. Yet he broke the barrier and had managed to succeed to a greater extent.

Economy:Views about Mr. Modi’s management of the polity and economic policy tend to gravitate to two extremes. But we also should consider the following fact. “We assumed office at a time when confidence in India story was waning.

Unabated corruption and indecisiveness had paralyzed the government. People had been left helpless against ever-climbing inflation and economic insecurity.” – Mr. Modi.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee- led Government had left a surplus of $ 20 billion on the external front, for the first time since 1977, a GDP growth of 8.5 per cent and job additions of by 61 million in five years. But at the end of the 10-year UPA rule, the economy was on ventilator for Narendra Modi to nurse it back to life. Against the current account surplus of $20 billion it inherited, the 10-year UPA Government posted a current account deficit of $375 billion. Not because of high oil price or gold imports as the UPA had lied. Reckless capital goods import of $670 billion in 10 years, much of it at zero-rated tariff, caused the current account havoc. The UPA record of high growth rate for eight years was phoney--jobless growth. The UPA Government added only 2.7 million jobs in the first seven years, against 61 million in Vajpayee’s five-year rule. Foreign debt rose by four times to $450 billion in UPA years. On top of the economy in ventilator, the UPA had left behind the 2G and coal scams.

“Runaway prices were immediately brought under control. The languishing economy was rejuvenated, building on stable and policy—driven proactive governance” – Mr.Modi.

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The truth is that Mr. Modi’s record at home has been mixed. The economy is certainly doing better, but things could have been even better. For reasons so far not explained, the government wasted its first six months in office as far as economic policy and governance reform were concerned. It paid a political price when it lost the local elections in Delhi and a handful of by-elections elsewhere.

The economy needs to move back to higher rates of investment and savings and higher levels of spending at home. This means expectations must turn decisively positive and remain so. The opportunity to alter expectations for the better immediately after coming to power last May was wasted. And only in 2015 has the government focused on governance.

If the government decides that the coming year will be about better and inclusive governance, and about increasing investment and business opportunities to create new jobs and better infrastructure, then expectations can still be turned around. This also requires careful management of social and political tensions at home. The quality of both the political and the administrative leadership dealing with these challenges has declined. Thus, more effort is required to translate the slogan ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ into meaningful improvement in the quality of administration.

Foreign Policies:Here, Mr. Modi has been the most effective, gaining the attention of different international power groups and having them compete for India’s friendship. From getting the UN to declare International Yoga Day on June 21, to having the US President as Chief Guest for Republic Day, to establishing a BRICS development bank, to land swaps with Bangladesh, to extending the policy of non-reciprocal ‘unilateral liberalisation’, pursued in the past with less developed economies in Asia and Africa, to China aiming to create mutually beneficial inter-dependencies and constituencies for better relations, Mr.Modi firmly establishes himself on this front. But the real challenge lies in the transformation of these ideas in Home Governance.

Home Governance:There are some good policies, such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (bank accounts), the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (life insurance), the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (accident insurance), and the Atal Pension Yojana (pension for the unorganised sector), but these have to be seen in tandem with plans to reverse the social impact assessment and consent clause of the Land Acquisition Bill, the hasty environmental clearances, and the near-zero interaction with the media in India. Thus, some very good initiatives that are people friendly, with some questionable decisions that are people hostile.

SEESTORY08

But few things remain unclear. What are Mr. Modi’s core beliefs? What is his understanding of the relationship between communities? What steps does he plan for the empowerment of women? How does he see dignity achieved in a society fissured by caste? What is his view on the rule of law even if it penalises his closest advisors?These are not idle questions. This is where Indira Gandhi fell.

Higher Education: Besides cuts in state funding which is a critical area of concern, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government’s overall approach to education is destructive of autonomy, creativity and diversity. There are alarming proposals to change the very nature of higher education. The most disturbing is the proposal to revive the Central Universities Act of 2009 which will require the Central universities to follow a common admission procedure and common syllabus.

The Central University (CU) Act seeks to replace the existing Central universities with one single Act which would require all universities to follow a “common” admission and “common” syllabus along with “transferable” faculty. India’s higher education system, serving a large and heterogeneous population, should ideally support a diverse and decentralised system. However, the CU Act will do the opposite; it aims at centralisation and homogenisation, ignoring the specificities and uniqueness of each university.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formulated the new proposals for a CBCS (Choice Based Credit System), a common entrance test and a central ranking system ignoring the assurances given by the government and the UGC

that it would hold wide consultations with all stakeholders before undertaking any subsequent educational reforms. A common syllabus is neither desirable nor feasible as this will diminish creativity and lower standards in order to conform to common standards.

Transparency:The BJP’s 2014 election manifesto said: “We will set up an effective Lokpal institution.”When the Bharatiya Janata Party won by a massive majority in the general election last year, one of the key election promises that brought it to power was transparency and accountability in governance.

A year later, many of the electoral promises made on that front remain on paper — the Lokpal Bill and the Grievance Redressal Bill, key transparency and accountability legislation, did not reach Parliament at all. Even the functioning of the Central Information Commission has come to a virtual halt without a functioning head.

Another election promise was to strengthen the delivery of poverty alleviation programmes through time-bound service. However, the Grievance Redressal Bill, which promises to do exactly that and had lapsed during the previous government, has not been introduced in Parliament at all.

Even though, putting every minus under one roof, the ruling coalition still has the advantage of numbers. The principal opposition party remains hobbled and unable to regain momentum. The government can have no excuses, other than its own inertia or lack of imagination, for not moving forward faster, and in a more inclusive way.

- Sga Thomas, Associate Editor.

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The recent earthquake and its

after effects in Nepal has doubtlessly

sent one alarming message: are we safe?

Read on.

Dogs and cats, like humans, are either right or left handed.

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The day was gloomy and was dangling in a Gaussian Blur effect. I don’t know what was going on. I am standing all alone, nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about the impending final Exams or my past. All I did was standing in that Blur. Visible but blurred. I felt vibrations in my subconscious. Vibrations that shook most of my reality.Vibrations that took me to an old past.An old reality. I woke up. Actually my friend woke me up. “Machan Earthquake da, Ellarum Keela Poraanga (Dude, Earthquake, Everybody is running to the ground, Come)”. Before I could grasp myself what’s happening, he left. I felt my bed shaking. I saw his bottle on the ground. Waters inside it were trembling. An Earthquake. I took my purse, cellphone and the room key. As soon as I left my room, I felt that it was gone. Yes it stopped. I went back inside.

The water calmed down and looked subtle. Calm after a storm. My first experience with an earthquake. Took my brush and went to the bathroom. Came back and opened the laptop. My friend returned. Apparently, it seems he felt the earthquake, when it brushed his laptop aside from his cooling pad. Thank God, he woke me up. The moment we opened our FB, news came screaming around in flashes. Earthquake in Nepal. 7.8 Magnitude. 1000s death. After-shock felt in North India. A Historic tower was down. Rubbles. Updated 8.1 Magnitude. Updated Avalanche in Everest.Mountaineers missing.India’s mission to help Nepal. The news streamed this till the next few weeks. Until it went to last page of the Newspaper. Until a hope was

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map showing the earthquake risk factor of various

zones

installed and rubbles cleared off. Until the #DontcomebackIndianMedia #GoHomeIndianMedia trended. Clearly I had few questions in my mind. Being an Engineering student, I was worried about whether the magnitude was 7.8 or 8.1? And as always, solutions came out from the Google. It was 7.8 in the moment magnitude scale and 8.1 in the surface- wave magnitude scale. The former was used to measure the size of the earthquakes in terms of energy based on seismic moment of the earthquake while later was used to measure the size of the Earthquakes using based on measurements in Rayleigh surface waves that travel primarily along the uppermost layers of the earth. The former is a scale used by U.S. Geological Survey, while the latter is the national standard of measuring the earthquake in China. Politics, I sighed. The next question came when I heard that the Dharahara Tower which withstood 2 earthquakes (1834, 1934). So why did it fell? Or rather why was proper renovations not done to make it Earthquake proof? It was severely damaged in 1934, but why did the renovations that followed was not Earthquake proof? Did they know the impending Earthquake? Or How come they did not know the impending Earthquake? Or rather prepare themselves for the impending Earthquake? The risk of a large earthquake was well known beforehand. In 2013, in an interview with seismologist Vinod Kumar Gaur, The Hindu quoted him as saying, “Calculations show that there is sufficient accumulated energy, now to produce an 8 magnitude earthquake. I cannot say when. It may not happen tomorrow, but it could possibly happen sometime this century, or wait longer to produce a much larger one.” It takes a simple mind (along with Google) to

calculate things. If we could look into the past, approximately every 60 - 70 years an Earthquake of severe magnitude might hit Nepal (1833, 1916, 1934, and 2015). This is because of its geology. A study also suggests that because of tectonic stress buildup, the earthquake from 1934 in Nepal and the 2015 quake are connected, following a historic earthquake pattern.According to Brian Tucker, founder of a nonprofit organization devoted to reducing casualties from natural disasters, some government officials had expressed confidence that such an earthquake would not occur again. Tucker recounted a conversation he had had with a government official in the 1990s who said, “We don’t have to worry about earthquakes anymore, because we already had an earthquake”; the previous earthquake to which he referred occurred in 1934. The next major question that came to my mind was”Am I safe?” or “Is India Safe?” or “Would there be an Impending Earthquake to strike India?”

Solution might lie in the past. Seismic Zoning Map might be an answer. The Geological Survey of India (G. S. I.) first published the seismic zoning map of the country in the year 1935. With numerous modifications made afterwards, this map was initially based on the amount of damage suffered by the different regions of India because of earthquakes. Most of the TamilNadu, West Andrapradesh, East Karnataka, West Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, North Madhya Pradesh, and South East Rajasthan come under Zone 2 or less prone to Earthquake according to the Indian Seismic Map. All most all of North India, North-East India, Western Gujarat, Western Maharashtra and Andaman and Nicobar Islands come under Zone 4 or 5 meaning that they are highly

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prone to Earthquake. Now time to be bit selfish “Is Tamilnadu Safe”?

Before I could find solutions for this question, I was already in Chennai hanging out with my friend, far from Noida. A week before I completed my finals. The Editor called me and asked whether I was safe. Earthquake hit Nepal. The Aftershock shook Chennai’s Coast.

News channels screamed. Terror spread instantly. The moment I opened my FB, I found that this quake that spearheaded the terror in Chennai was actually an after effect of the April 2015 Nepal EarthQuake. There were nearly 150 aftereffects within a month ranging from 3.5 to 7.5 in moment magnitude scale.

Does Chennai have an impending earthquake?

Tamil Nadu falls mostly in a region of low seismic hazard with the exception of the western border areas that lie in a low to moderate hazard zone; as per the 2002 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) map, Tamil

Nadu falls in Zones II & III. But Earthquakes do occur in Tamilnadu. Though not fatal as in Nepal, Earthquakes do occur. The Capital city is at Zone 3. The city, formerly in the comfort Zone 2, has now shifted to Zone 3 - indicating higher seismic activity. According to the seismic mapping, districts in the western part along the border with Kerala are also in Zone 3, along with districts along the border of Andhra Pradesh and a section of the border with Karnataka. The status of Chennai along with major towns on the eastern coast in terms of vulnerability has increased especially after Chennai experienced tremors in September 2001 following a quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale off the Pondicherry coast. Tamil Nadu, had faced the wrath of the deadly 2004 tsunami when the Marina beach was affected. Recently, in the year 2012, Chennai shook terribly due to a rather high intensity earthquake (having its epicenter in the Indian Ocean).

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List of Earthquakes in Tamilnadu(http://asc-india.org/seismi/seis-tamil-nadu.htm) Intensity VI and less 10 December 1807 - Chennai area, Tamil Nadu.16 September 1816 - Chennai area, Tamil Nadu.29 January 1822 - Vandavasi (Wandiwash) area, Tamil Nadu02 March 1823 - Sriperumbudur-Chettipattu area, Tamil Nadu.03 January 1859 - Kadaladi-Polur area, Tamil Nadu.29 July 1972 - Coimbatore area, Tamil Nadu, Mb 5.07 June 2008 - Palar Valley region, M?=3.812 August 2011 - Ariyalur area, Tamil Nadu, M?=3.5 Intensity VII and More 03 July 1867 - Villupuram-Valavanur area, Tamil Nadu.28 February 1882 - Udagamandalam (Ooty/Ootacamund) area, Tamil Nadu.08 February 1900 - Coimbatore area, Tamil Nadu, M? 6.0 Known as the Coimbatore earthquake, it was felt over a large section of south India and is the largest event during the historical period. 10 September 1938 - Gulf of Mannar, M? 5.826 December 2004 - Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake, Mw 9.1 So basically we might not expect a major one in Tamilnadu. Yet it’s better to be prepared as Prevention is better than cure.

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Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as

medicine.

FUNACTS!

SPOTLIGHT:YOUTUBE18

Confused? This is how each episode of CrashCourse starts!

Started by Green Brothers (Hank and John Green) who were notable for their VlogBrothers Channel, this YouTube funded YouTube Original Channel Initiative initially offered Science and Humanities courses to their viewers. The series later expanded to incorporate courses by additional hosts. Sounds interesting? So what are they offering?

They are covering everything possible!! Currently there are fourteen seasons of Crash Course, with Hank and John each hosting five. Along with Emily Graslie, they co-hosted Big History. Starting from World History, they have covered Biology, Ecology, English literature, U.S. History, Chemistry, Psychology, Big History (History of Universe). On November 2014, Hank

Green announced that a partnership with PBS Digital Studios would allow them to produce more courses, starting in January 2015. As part of the PBS partnership, Phil Plait and Craig Benzine are hosting series about Astronomy and U.S. Government and Politics, respectively. A second channel, Crash Course Kids, is hosted by Sabrina Cruz and has started its first series, Science.As of May 6, 2015, the Crash Course YouTube channel has earned over 3 million subscribers and over 222 million video views.

Check their channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse

So When did you become an expert in Astrophysics?

Last Night. :P

“If you’re wondering,this is how the most revolutionary course

in biology of all time begins.Come today to learn about covalent and ionic

and hydrogen bondsWhat about electron orbitals

and the octet ruleand what does it all have to do with a mad

man named Gilbert Lewis?It’s all contained within.”

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Happy Birthday (the song) is copyrighted.

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SPOTLIGHT:TV20

“The less you know about me, the easier it is to convince you that I am that character on screen. It allows an audience to come into a movie theatre and believe I am that person”Kevin Spacey Fowler was born in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Kathleen Ann, a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler, a technical writer and data consultant. He has two older siblings: a sister, Julie, and a brother, Randy. He has Swedish , English, and Welsh ancestry.

He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s. Deemed more of a “character actor” than a “leading man”, he stayed on the periphery in his next few films, but attracted attention for his turn as beady-eyed villain “Mel Profitt” on the TV series Wiseguy (1987). Profitt was the first in a long line of dark, manipulative characters that would eventually make Kevin Spacey a household name: he went on to play a sinister office manager in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), a sadistic Hollywood exec in Swimming with Sharks (1994), and, most famously, creepy, smooth-talking eyewitness Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (1995).

The “Suspects” role earned Spacey an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and catapulted him into the limelight. That same year, he turned in another complex, eerie performance in David Fincher’s thriller Se7en (1995)

During a career which has earned Spacey several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, his other starring roles include the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the drama

Pay It Forward (2000), the science fiction-mystery film K-PAX (2001), and the role of Lex Luthor in the superhero film Superman Returns (2006).

The movies are not my first priority - the theater is.

In February 2003 Spacey made a major move back to the theatre. He was appointed Artistic Director of the new company set up to save the famous Old Vic theatre, The Old Vic Theatre Company. Although he did not undertake to stop appearing in movies altogether, he undertook to remain in this leading post for ten years, and to act in as well as to direct plays during that time.

His first production, of which he was the director, was the September 2004 British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos. In 2006 he got movie director Robert Altman to direct for the stage the little-known Arthur Miller play Resurrection Blues, but that was a dismal failure. He starred thereafter with great success in Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. In February 2008 Spacey put on a revival of the David Mamet 1988 play Speed-the-Plow in which he took one of the three roles, the others being taken by Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly.

Since 2013, Spacey has played Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards. For his portrayal of Underwood, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.

Sga Thomas, Associate Editor.

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Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox, Unix is a registered trademark of AT&T.FUNACTS!

NERDTALK24

You may blame the modern interface, the this, the that of Windows for its underperformance as a smart mobile OS. But the only reason Windows still holds a mere 2.5% of the smartphone market is because the considerably lower number of available apps on Windows Store. Microsoft doesn’t ignore this issue. It is all set to address all these issues in the upcoming version of Windows – Windows 10. You have probably already read the new features in Windows 10. But before the OS launches on July 29th as per Microsoft’s announcement, we will look at some of the moves Microsoft has made in favour of bringing more apps and app developers to the Windows interface.

Move 1: First, Microsoft announced that its upcoming Operating System Windows 10 will be available for free to upgrade for existing users of recent versions of Windows (Windows 7, 8 and 8.1). This will unify all the users of 7, 8 and 8.1 to Windows 10, unlike before when users had to pay a hefty fee for an upgrade.

Move 2: Microsoft announced that all of the future Microsoft devices – PCs, laptops, tablets, mobiles and Xboxes will have a single core OS. This means that all these devices will run a similar version of Windows 10. Due to the unified core, an app developed for one of these devices maybe easily transferred to another device without much of hard work. Microsoft clearly knows its strength – PC operating systems. From PC app developers, apps maybe tailored for all Windows devices. More mobile apps will attract more mobile

users and hence more app developers and the cycle goes on.

Move 3: Xiaomi, the smartphone company signed a pact with Microsoft to make their future (Android) smartphones with flashable RAMs so that users can flash the pre-installed Android OS and try a Windows Phone OS. But whether the reverse is possible is yet unknown.

Move 4: Microsoft has revealed the new SDK (Software Development Kit) for Windows 10 app developers so that they can create apps in their favourite platform – Web, Java, etc. Additionally apps can now integrate with Cortana with a few lines of code. And... (wait for it…) Android and iOS apps may now be directly converted to Windows phone app by uploading the app code to a Microsoft server where it is verified and is given a green (app can be ported to Windows directly, no reprogramming necessary) or a red (unfortunately, this app cannot be ported to Windows).

It appears that Microsoft is leaving no stone unturned in its “more developers – more apps – more customers” agenda. Even though there are some misplaced steps, such as renaming the SPARTAN project to a boring “Microsoft Edge” and announcing that Cortana will be available for Android and iOS (seriously, Microsoft? You give away your biggest selling point to your competitors?), we have high hopes on how Microsoft is going to go in the upcoming years.

Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

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THEMICROSOFTMOVE

RECAP: Earlier, we learnt that the Indus Valley Civilization was called Meluhha by the Sumerian culture. We also understood that the Aryans could not have invaded the Indus Valley Civilization and the whole theory was a hoax developed by British Historians. Read on.

Ethnologue (www.ethnologue.com) sights 7102 living languages around the world. These are divided into language families. A language family is a group of languages related by a common ancestor, called the proto language of that family. Linguists have long maintained that Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit, Hindi, etc.) belongs to the Indo-European language family and Dravidian languages (Tamil, Malayalam, etc.) are a separate language family. There doesn’t seem to be any type of logic attached to this type of classification. Let’s see why.

According to current classification, Indo-European language family consists of Hellenic (Greek), Italic (Latin, Italian, Spanish, French), Germanic (English, Dutch), Balto-Slavic (Russian, Polish, Czech) and Indo-Iranian (Indo-Aryan - Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Gujrati and Iranian – Persian, Gorani, Shughni) among others. Language comparison charts depict similarities between two languages, and this study can lead to an understanding of whether two languages have a common ancestor or not. Indo-Aryan languages have

fairly enough overlap to ascertain a common ancestor, namely proto Sanskrit. The question is whether these are related to the other languages classified Indo-European.

The earliest “Indo-European languages” are Anatolian (Hittite, etc.), Albanian, Hellenic (Greek) and Vedic Sanskrit. If these languages have a common root, proto-Indo-European, they languages should share common characteristics. Hittite language was cuneiform, using triangular shaped wedges. The language was relatively simple compared to other Indo-European languages. The language has 13 consonants and 4 vowels which when added give additional sounds. The Greek alphabet has 24 letters like Latin and both of them have very complicated grammar. Sanskrit, on the other hand, had 16 vowels and 34 consonants.Hindi, which evolved from Sanskrit has a similar 10 vowels and 40 consonants. The cross of these vowels and consonants create several other letters. This is the similar to the Dravidian languages, basically Tamil, which has 13 vowels called “uyir (life)” and 18 consonants called “mei” (body). The crossed letters are called “uyirmei”. For example, the consonant sound “k” can be crossed with the vowel sound “aa”, making it “kaa”. Other than the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, no other language has the same system. Despite sharing nearby geographic region and having similar linguistic characters, Indo-Aryan and

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Sanskrit Alphabet

Albanian Alphabet

Greek Alphabet

Hittite cuneiform

Dravidian languages are classified as separate language families.

I believe all languages should have emerged from the same roots, as did humanity. If humankind had developed independently from the same ancestor in different regions, we would be different species of the same genus rather than one Homo sapiens scattered around the globe. If language had developed independently around the globe, there would be no similarity between any two languages anywhere. Considering North Indian (as I defy calling them Indo-Aryan) languages as European was another tool for the British to justify their own conquest of India.

The idea of considering them as one family is like saying bread and chapatti are the same family. Of course, they are, but there are closer relations, siblings and then there are long lost cousins. The whole point of all this is to say that North Indian languages should not be classified along with their distant cousins – the European languages, but with their immediate kin – the Dravidians. Further along this investigation, we will attempt to prove that Dravidian and Aryan are not independent communities but one community divided into two by European conquest.

Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

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Shanmu Uncle was busy listening to a gossip from an old lady when I reached his house. “Hi Rahul, Come”, he then turned to the gossiping lady and introduced me “This is my old student.”, for which she replied that she had seen us chatting before. Yes, we had chatted till the clock strikes 12. Those nights are unforgettable.

“I heard that Your cousin just finished 12th, right? How much did he score?”. “1097”. “Good Score”

“How much did he score in Maths?” “I think 179, sir” “Hmm”

The lady took leave.

“What was she gossiping?”

“About a 12th std Girl, in the neighbourhood.”“What happened?”

“She was a bright kid. But for past few months, looks like she wasn’t able to concentrate on

her studies. She scored low and she attempted to sucide this noon. The old lady believes that some kind of witchcraft was responsible.”“Might be”

“Might be?”. A smile. That “You are doomed” smile.

“What do you think a witch is?” he continued.“Someone who practices Blackmagic. Someone who has a pact with the Devil so as to gain powers and to do harm to others.”The same smile. He continued “You might be right. But the true definition of a witch, as well as the history of witches in general, is widely debated.”

“What about the it’s origin ?”

“Belief in magic and witchcraft has been around since the beginning of time. Early man paid tribute to the gods and goddesses that ruled his world and brought healthy crops and mild winters. The idea of magic came about when things weren’t so good: It grew from

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SORCERY&WITCHCRAFT:

WHERE DID IT START?

the chaos that accompanied bad weather, sickness and shortages of food. When times were bad, shamans, medicine people, witches and other types of sorcerers would cast spells and perform rituals to harness the power of the gods. Harnessing this power had mixed results: Witches, who were primarily women, were originally seen as wise healers who could both nurture and destroy; this belief in their power, however, eventually led to fear, and this often forced witches to live as outcasts.“

“So, Why does Christianity associated them with darkness ? ”

“That’s where things got crazy. During the time of the Reformation, which began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church but resulted in the creation of Protestant churches. Although it occurred primarily in the 16th century, it had its roots in the 14th century -- about the time when the witch hunt craze started.The witches who performed magic were seen as devil worshippers who held Black Masses, hexed people and flew around on brooms.”

“The Salem Witch Trials ?”

“Yes. It was a part of long lasting witch hunt that went on from 14th century till the middle of 18th Century. It was also the worst scar in the history. In 1692, in Salem, Mass., there was an outbreak of witch hunts and witch trials that all started with some strange behavior from two young girls. The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions. The doctor who examined them eventually decided they were under some sort of spell or bewitchment. One by one, women in the town of Salem and even in surrounding areas began being accused of witchcraft.

Among the first three accused, Good and

Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans. As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused. During the various witch trials, prosecutors often used extreme torture to extract “confessions” from presumed witches. Like Tituba, several accused “witches” confessed and named still others, and the trials soon began to overwhelm the local justice system.

Over a period of nine months, more than 100 people were imprisoned for being witches, and 20 were executed. Finally, a new court was constituted to replace the General Court, which had been holding the trials. This court, the Superior Court of Judicature, reversed the policy of the previous court. From this point on, only three more people were found guilty of witchcraft, and those three were later pardoned.”

“So, How does witchcraft emerged again?”

“In the following years, many attempts of revival of Witchcraft were done. A hypothesis became famous among the occult circles in 1920s. It basically said that the Witchhunts performed by the Chruch were actually meant to supress down the notions of the Pagan region. This leads to Modern Witchcraft to be considered as a subset of Modern Pagan religion. The hypothesis goes on to say that witch-cult revolved around the worship of a Horned God of fertility whom the Christian persecutors referred to as the Devil, and whose members participated in nocturnal rites at the witches’ Sabbath in which they venerated this deity.”

The clock struck 12.(To be continued...)

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Execution

Anand was surprised at his own clarity. His plan was foolproof, but he wasn’t surprised about that. He was intelligent and he knew that. But he wasn’t feeling a bit sorry about what he was to do. His thoughts were bordering the range of a serial killer and there was a complete lack of empathy. His pulse rate was low and he was emotionally indifferent to what he was planning. All the while he was telling himself that it is justice being delivered.

On 14th morning, Irene was behind like a puppy and whenever there was a chance

she hugged him and smooched. Anand felt repulsed, but he didn’t want to betray his thoughts and plan by bursting out.Actually, her nonchalance only helped in increasing his resolution.

The train was on time and that was a good sign. A good start is essential. It is like a T20 match where every single moment counts. Anand had some plans about the trip. It is going to take 6 hours and he wanted to at least 3 or 4 people to notice his presence in the train. It will make a strong alibi. He was at his charming best when he played with a child in the next seat and helped the couple out

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CRIME OF PASSION | SERIESFINALE

on a few occasions. Borrowed the newspaper from the person sitting across and in turn lent his book to him. The book had his name & date of purchase written on the front cover along with the stamp of Higginbothams in the station. He intended to leave it behind with that man or on the train. That will add to his alibi.

He then picked up a row with the TT in the train about the poor quality of food they serve and he found a few backers. He deliberately raised the fervor of the quarrel to have more onlookers, but at the same time was careful that he didn’t come across jingoistic. He should not be forming impressions in the mind of others. People are strange. They can make extreme connections. A guy who fights with another man would not hesitate to kill his wife is a dumb argument, but then he was not going to take chances with that dumb audience. The fight ended up in a mature resolution when the TT agreed to carry a complaint addressed to the powers that be and everyone sat back satisfied. Anand was sure that a sizeable part of the train population will remember him now.

He got down in a jiffy when the station arrived, leaving the book behind with the co-passenger as planned and rushed to the hotel. He checked in at the hotel. He had carefully selected the hotel. It had a lift to the basement car park and that meant he can leave his room unnoticed by the reception guys.

He took time to compose himself, rechecked his plan, collected all the paraphernalia and stealthily slipped out of the hotel after hanging a ‘Don’t Disturb’ sign in his room. He didn’t expect anyone to even try knocking the door at that time of the night beyond that sign. He was happy that things were going as per plan and he even thought that God was on his side because his cause was just.

He hopped a few transport modes and landed at Chennai unnoticed by anyone by 2 am. It was already Independence Day. He was lucky that they lived in a small house than a flat which meant no watchman to contend with. He reached the front door and got himself in. As he expected Irene was sleeping peacefully in her night dress. The room smelt of sex. Anand had a worry that he may end up seeing Vijay in the bed. This was their best chance with the cumbersome husband out of the way, but he was also sure that they would not become that adventurous in the neighborhood. He was relieved that she was alone with an unmistakable smile produced by multiple orgasms. Blood rushed into Anand’s head and he wanted to make a mess of what was Irene and leave a few shreds for the cops to pick up along with the threads of this case. But he anticipated such an eventuality and he calmed himself down. All he needed to do is a slight cut in the right vein.

He opened up his bag in which he had kept his stiletto and walked to the bed. He woke Irene up. In a post coital bliss induced sleep it was not easy to shake her awake. But when she did, she had that look. A look that betrayed her infidelity and the most recent occurrence of the same! There was no necessity for words to be exchanged. It was as if Irene knew that this end was inevitable and she was prepared. Many questions rushed intoAnand’s mind. He wanted to know why? But he knew that the answers would change very little. And Irene was a willing lamb led to the altar. Anand was kind of killing her. It was his last act with her and he wanted it to be kind. Blood was gurgling from Irene’s throat and Anand was crying. He didn’t want to stay behind and inflict himself with more misery.

He quickly rummaged through the drawers and the wardrobe. Scattered a few clothes and pocketed a few unimportant trinkets. He will dispose them on the way and he would come

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back to claim that there were more. It was he who is going to furnish the inventory. Irene wouldn’t be around to endorse or negate his claims. He has taken care of that part already. Before he came out of the house, he walked across the hall and left the French window open but with the curtains spread. He will come back to claim that in a few days they had forgotten to latch it properly. Negligence costing dearly! He recreated the return trip and only when he got down off the bus near the hotel at Bangalore he was relieved. His pulse stabilized and he starts walking in measured steps towards the hotel basement.

He took the elevator and came to his floor and to his room. He fumbled in his bag to take the key out. It was missing. Anand started sweating profusely. He could not think about where he had left it. Maybe he threw it along with the trinkets he robbed from his house. But he wasn’t sure. He called up the lobby, reported the loss of key and got himself into the room and lay down and slept.

Back in Chennai at the crime scene, the first thing Inspector Anbuchelvan noticed was a Hotel Key clutched tightly in the victim’s hand.

The EndSiva was exhilarated when he finished the story. It was just the 3rd day of this arrival at Kodaikanal. The first 2 days he spent thinking about his life with Sheela. The stock taking was a revelation. There were more items in the inventory that were in the positive side. Sheela had never once complained about the sacrifices she has made at his behest or on his cause. And he realized that he had not been very charitable in reciprocation. He had taken many things for granted. These are crucial match-changing moments if life was a cricket match. A small appreciation, a small token of love, a small kind word would have been ideal. Given the fact that he was feeling

so! The typical male bottling up of emotions which holds back expressions is a serious relationship killer. It would have costed him nothing to say what he felt whether it was love or gratitude. But they were never in front of the queue when words lined up in his mouth. It was always about what wasn’t there. And again, the anger that his small gestures were not understood and how an intelligent person like can miss the tell tale signs of his love.Anyway he thought that if he can express a story in so many words he should be capable of doing that in real life. If he fails in the spoken word, his writing skills should help him the least. But he avowed that he can’t be silent anymore. The clarity in his mind helped him finish the story faster than he thought. He was wondering whether the end of his story was fashioned by his enlightenment.He wanted to get back home immediately. No, not home, he wanted to get back to Sheela as soon as possible. It was around 1 pm at Kodaikanal and any mode of transport would take him atleast 10 hours to reach home. He thought of staying till evening and taking an overnight sleeper. But he could not hold himself back. Kodai didn’t interest him anymore. His love was somewhere else. He smiled thinking of the look of surprise on Sheela’s face when he reaches home. He told himself that he needs to stop by on the way to get something that will sweep her off the feet. The journey back home was one of happiest travel Siva had taken. It was like going to meet Sheela for the first time. Or the time when he and Ram managed to sneak her out of the house after a 5 month gap!By the time he reached Chennai it was around 11.30 and it would take another 45 minutes to get back home. Sheela should be sleeping and he would have to let himself in by his own key. Alternately he can press the bell and let the surprise start at the doorstep. But Sheela gets scared sometimes at these untimely knocks. On one occasion it was Ram who committed that crime and Siva had a lashing because of that. With her being alone, he would only end

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up creating an anti-climax. No, he would use his own key.Siva reached home and silently opened the front door. He wanted to be real quiet till he reached by her side in the bed. He tiptoed to the bedroom door which was slightly ajar and peeped in.Sheela was sleeping blissfully without a stitch of cloth on her looking like Venus. But her right arm was embracing Ram who was in a similar state.Dear Sheela,The letter that Robert Kincaid writes to Francesca is a masterpiece. I am refering to the movie Bridges of Madison County that you and I have seen countless times and invariably ending up in tears everytime. I believed that I will create one for you sometime during this life. I dreamt that all my wandering thoughts would be brought to a laser point and I would find divine help in getting the right words. That was supposed to be my own magnum opus. There were reasons to think so. Because you were as alluring as Francesca and a four day life with you would be equivalent to one of a life time. But something that would make me want more. Because I never believed that one life time was enough with you. I have never said that but. My best words were reserved for you to be delivered at a right time which will complete the wonderful love story that we scripted together and those words which are left behind would gain our love the posterity that it deserved.Do you remember that day when I first met you? The world around me was bathed in bright light so that I could not see anything

beyond you. It was a surreal feeling and the first word ran in my mind then was ‘blinded’. I was blinded to see anything else and I had been living blind since then. I never needed anything more. You were there. I didn’t need my parents anymore. I didn’t need my God anymore. Just you and you only! You possessed that magic.There were times when life threatened to take a different route given my nature, but every time it was your magic that laid the path ahead. Like it has done till this very morning! I knew that I was drifting aimlessly but with a certainty, always towards you.And what I witnessed now is what Kincaid would call as the ‘High Probability of the Improbable’. But in a cruelly opposite way! For me it wasn’t you and I don’t want it to be you.I am leaving. And I am also leaving a parting gift for you. It is the manuscript of the story that I completed recently. I am amazed at the parallel that I unwittingly created in an illusory world. But let me promise you, never once it has crossed me as a comparison in real life. Not you and Ram.It is true that I have created a character that punishes the wrong-doer. I don’t want to dwell on that. I feel punished. That’s all I can say. There was a slight second when I thought of what my hero did. But now I understand. There was nothing heroic about it.What I leave behind is dedicated to you. I am not Anand, but tonight I could have been.- Siva.

The End.Shrikanth Veeravalli. Writer.

“I am not Anand, but tonight I could have been.” O

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PHOTO:NEENA SABARI MENON

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“Almost” is the longest word in the English

language with all the letters in alphabetical

order.FUNACTS!

‘’Ah, you came!!’’, he exclaimed in a shocked yet subtle manner of tone.

I somehow sensed the ferocity of a condottiere in his words. A seemingly fragile, yet well composed man.

Another hot hunk who happens to be a very close childhood friend of mine. “Obviously!’’ I acknowledged him and managed to muster up a tiny smile. A matter of preference, yet I chose to. ‘’Missed you so much’’, he admitted. Somehow, I did too. All those treatments, medicinal ingestion and torments of pain seemed to have churned up his once prepossessing appearance. Except those pale honey-amber coloured eyes. They still look pretty much similar, boring a doleful expression this time. My smile died instantly to be replaced by his mirroring despondency.

I scanned around the four square panel room for a positive sight to muse about.

It smelled of anesthetics, misery and sickness. Not something worth remembering, musky and sharp scent.

A ventilator, intravenous therapy lines, an oxygen tank propelled towards the wall conjoined alongside with its mask. A frail friend trying to breathe some decent amount of oxygenated air. A heart rate monitor, and a bouquet of tulips with a scrawny scribbled get well soon note was tucked and placed neatly on the small table next to the IV. I nearly succumbed to tears. Nearly. Yet I somehow managed to regain control of myself.

‘’How are you?’’ I enquired placidly. What the hell, not fine it is!! I began to chide myself for being a silly dork.

‘’Never better ’’, he quipped.

“Hmmm....’’ So, initiate a talk.

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BUTTERFLIES FLUTTER BY

SHORT STORY | ROOPA

My mind raced at top speed trying to comfort this fella with words. Anything. Talk about literature or politics! No! Contemporary arts perhaps?

Scientific research, Theories and Law of science. Economics, share hold values, marketing and finance?

Nope. What the hell..!

‘’Butterflies” , I pointed out of the window sill of the small room just several yard across the freshly mown hospice lane.

Several yellow winged butterflies fluttered by dazzlingly and we both exchanged smiles. Those memories of yore came fleeting by in a blink. Stupefy!

‘’Yes, you’ve always had a knack for catching em’, and yellowish ones are rare.’’ he smirked.‘’I know, you used to dislike those cute liľ creatures.’’

‘’No, I secretly liked them’’, he bluntly admitted.‘’Uh! Really?’’

‘’But those are girlish things, you know?”, he added, blushing hard at the same time.

‘’Let me catch those yellow ones, for you’’, I announced brightly. The perks of being a kiddo. *sighs* ‘’I used to catch them for you once, thanks a bunch of returning me the favor.’’

‘’Nothing like that. I forgot to buy a get well soon card for you’’, I joked and he responded by laughing hard.

We spent the next few hours rekindling the happiest moments of our childhood. Of those sweet memories, some bitter ones as well. Moments passed by and we spent moments dwelling upon regrets, choices, lost words,

laughter, misery, and tears of joy. We pretty much killed time saying nothing as well. Tch,words are overrated sometimes. I’ve heard somewhere that the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had. It’s the exact situation here! I made a mental note to appreciate the sound of silence, and nothingness at times.

Seemed like an eternity that I’ve failed to recognize this amazing guy. I somehow lost you, in the process of searching for myself. I might have found some other replacement, instead of finding ways to mingle with him. I felt sorry that I abandoned such a great friend. After a long time, we transformed into the ten year old kid again who was being thwarted to the phase. Ahh, it was a momentary of ecstasy.

My inside cringed for an explanation, a pathetic reason of how and what happened in between. Two serious minded grown ups, who failed to cherish and willow the beauty of life. Of those littlest things that went unnoticed. Numerous little things that failed to catch my attention previously before made sense more clearly. Life is short, and this dying man seemed to have prevailed me to live mine at the fullest before I cross the great divide, someday.

“I’ve been a lousy friend, dude!’’, I abashedly voiced out to him after hours passed by. Total silence. Moments passed by. He gazed at me with such a deep intensity that I had to look away. I blinked away rapidly to stop out those near gushing tears. Hang on there, don’t cry now. Psst...think of a happy moment now. Expecto patronum.

A disheveled moment that was and then,..

‘’No! You’re not a lousy friend. At least not to me.’’ He replied with a knowing smile.

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Wise smile which eventually turned into a smirk. Both of us erupted into a hysterical series of laughter.

‘’I have been a lousy friend, babe’’, he countered. ‘’But you are not’’. ‘’Nope! I have.’’ I remained adamant.

But; we somehow changed into a better person. No longer that obstreperous or recalcitrant beings anymore.

‘’Trust me just this once,’’ he gushed.

‘’Wish I had spent more time with you,... damn.’’ I meant it. He rocks and I barely know the fun, humorous side of him. Of the grim jokes and analytical problem solving skills he acquired, this is something truly inquisitive about him. The ever opinionated man with a gentler side I’ve never known is no less than a fine gentleman himself. It’s true that we don’t know what we have got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t know what we have been missing until it arrives.

‘’Here.” I handed over a glossy photo album containing half wretched pictures and old photographs. “What? Kinky pictures ?” He mused, half grinning. I was baffled instantly, and tried to hide my upturned smile beneath my stern stare. It was an old collection of both our childhood picture, ex classmates, and pictures taken at various places during the field trips. A beautiful walk down the memory lane.

‘’This! -A perfect gift for me. Thank you.’’ He smiled wide. I caught glisten of tears welling its way, seeping through his eye ducts. Merely forming its way. He blinked away rapidly several times trying to hide the fogging white pearly droplets from escaping through his eyelids.

‘’Mm, no problemó.’’ I merely shrugged. Not intending to say anything, as his emotional

turbulence seems to be winding up.So is mine, as a matter or fact.

And I feared that I might cry any time pretty soon.

Not the side which I wanted to portray to him, not the part I wanted him to see.Look at you! -All misty eyed, I wanted to blurt out. But I decided not to.

‘’This is beautiful. Just the right thing that’ll keep make me believing in miracles.’’

“Miracles, miracles. Yes!’’ I repeated.

He is missing the life he once took granted for, I smiled sadly at that rebuking thought of mine.

Life is effing short and I’m feeling old already. People screw up sometimes, yet there is always a positive outlook in each and every phase of our life. Even during a struggling hardship.

‘’You’ll visit me again?’’ He asked me in a buoyant way.

I stared hard at the young man with doleful, melancholy eyes.

‘’Sure! Till you recover completely.’’ ‘’I highly doubt it.’’‘’Miracles. Remember?’’ I scored one this time.

‘’Thank you. ‘’ He repeated. ‘’You are indeed- *pauses* a good friend.’’

Accompanied by yet another smile. Not a sad one really, a contented one.

Fin.Roopa, writer.

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ENERGY:CLASSIFICATION BASED

ON ITS SOURCES

BASIC SCIENCE | AR MUTHU KUMAR

Energy is traditionally classified into two broad categories – Renewable and Non-renewable. While this criteria is functional and useful, it does not help understand the sources of energy. For the purpose of this paper, we can define energy as “power that is harnessed and utilized for work”. There are various forms of energy like heat, mechanical, electrical and so on.

Based on its sources, energy is classified into solar, wind, thermal, nuclear, hydro and tidal energies. In view of classifying them in accordance with their true sources, they may be classified into the following sources:

-Derived from the Sun or “Solar”-Derived from Gravity or “Gravitational”-Derived from a Chemical state or process-Derived from a Physical state or process

Solar energy comprises of all the energy derived from the Sun. This includes electrical energy produced using solar cells, chemical energy produced by photosynthesis (which secondarily becomes the source of energy for all life on Earth, if you’re familiar with the food chain). Solar energy is also the source of fossil fuels in the sense that dead organic matter (which derived energy through photosynthesis in the first hand). The Solar energy is also one of the sources of wind energy along with Gravitational energy. Air heats up due to solar energy and on rising up, it gets cooled down and creates wind.

Gravitational energy is responsible for tidal energy (energy produced using the high and low tides of oceans), which

is still a work in progress. Also, along with solar energy, it creates wind energy. The movement of the earth around the sun and about its axis creates inertia in the air which we feel as wind opposite to the direction of earth’s rotation. Another way gravitational and solar energy works together is in hydroelectricity. Without solar heat, water would never evapourate from the oceans, form clouds and condense into rain. But without gravity, the rain would never reach the surface again, run into streams, rivers, etc. which are tapped for hydroelectricity.

Energy due to Chemical state or process is acquired through exothermic reactions that would give off heat which can be changed to electrical or other form of energy. Also, nuclear energy is a subset of this classification.

In a future where humankind is able to reach Earth’s core or the mantle and for good or bad, extract the heat energy for our own use, it would fall under the fourth category – energy from a physical state or progress. In this case, we would be extracting heat from the physical state, namely liquid state of the molten metal, changing the state to solid in the process.

I have not accounted for the possibilities of futuristic modes of fuel such as dark matter for which we haven’t been able to devise a proper working model for. In the early 21st century, all forms of energy may be classified into these four categories based on its source.

Ar Muthu Kumar, Editor.

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Y O U H A V E E N J O Y E D A P R O D U C T O F

THE FEATHERSW W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / F E A T H E R S I N D I A