Padmaja's

Being in a place like Kerala, I am in this phase of insatiable lust for everything. Be it reading papers, magazines, studying or travelling. There is always room for more. As our semester exams ended on 17 th of December, I couldn’t wait to go out somewhere. So hence on 18 th , I went for a small trip to vagamon hill station situated 60 kilometres from Kottayam. Travelling for the first time when you have no idea how to get there can be tricky. Hence, I along with my friend started out the journey quite early at around 6. 30 AM. We first took a bus to Pala, then Erattupetta and from Erattupetta to Wagamon. I now feel we could have got a bus directly from Pala KSRTC to Wagamon. As we proceeded towards Wagamon, the scenery started getting better and better. The hills on the other side looked magnificent and I couldn’t take my eyes away from it. It looked like a painting.  Seeing the plains below was an exhilarating experience. The air started becoming cooler and pure.

“Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.”   ―   Deborah Reber ,   Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul I don’t know why but I always had problem making friends. Was it because I am too boring, can’t crack jokes or was it something else? I longed for an answer and at the same time envied people who were popular among everyone. I longed to be like them. I wanted to be the live of the party but then at the same time I disliked having too many people around me for no reason. I cursed myself because I didn't think and didn't act like my class mates. I eat clumsily in public and I am okay with it. But I try to eat like every other girl. Why should I have different opinion than what is circulated in the mainstream media? Can’t I just be like everyone else who loves selfies and KFCs? Why should I continue feeling guilty about the things I did long back? Why do I

There are varied types of news. Some appear like a breeze and some like hurricanes. And there is some news that is unpredictable and gives the intensity of an earthquake that shakes the earth underneath our feet. Just a few days back, our academic director, KM Srivastava came to Kottayam to take us to Malaya Manorama, a reputed Malayalam daily, to make us familiar with the concept of integrated newsrooms.  As the day progressed, I realised that he was a true gentleman . He taught us to think beyond the conventional and to see the different sides of everything.   The next thing we know is that he suffered a heart attack and is no more. It made me aware of the fragile nature of life. The nature of life is such that we are always walking on thin ice. We do not know when it will break and take us inside the icy cold water freezing us to death.  This forced me to unwind my life. Have I accomplished anything worthwhile in the last 23 years of my life? Alas, I didn’t

A trip to a place where nature is in full glory is always refreshing particularly when it is a getaway for the week end. Getting to such a getaway also demands a bit of work. Early on a Saturday, I and my friends, set out on our trip towards athirapally waterfalls. It is situated in the Thrissur district of Kerela. From Kottayam, it is nearly a five hour long journey. Thankfully, one of our classmates hailed from the area and hence things turned out to be smooth. Our hostel is located at Athirampuzha near Mahatma Gandhi University which is on the outskirts of Kottayam town. I am always in a dilemma whether this place is a town or village. There is a university and a medical college nearby, but the surroundings are fields and tree gardens we took a bus to Kerela state transport depot and got into a Thrissur bound bus. The bus drivers here are very smart. The roads are narrow and full of bends; still they drive very fast, often giving jerks to the passengers. We passed through Kottayam

The very word ‘Beauty’ stirs a lot of commotion within us .There exists strange and challenging opinions about this topic. My grandmother would give its definition as ‘Truth is beauty’. But is this it? Do we tend to see beauty in truth? John Keats in a poem which we all must have read said, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever.’ The dictionary tells us that a thing of beauty is a thing which arouses our admiration, to which something in us responds with approval and delight as soon as our eyes behold it Do here comes the famous adage, ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’. So is beauty really lives in the eyes of the beholder or there is something more than it meets the eyes stating beauty as a relative term is less dangerous when compared to truth  or virtue. Hence, something beautiful to my eyes may not be beautiful to others .I find the blooming of the tender  leaves or a small bird trying to such  the nectar out of the flowers as beautiful but my sister may not. So, how

Rape in any form is an act of degradation and violation. Before proceeding towards ‘marital rape’, let us understand what the law has to say about rape. Under Article 325 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) defines rape. A man is said to commit ‘rape’ who except in the case hereinafter excepted has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the six following descriptions: First : Against her will Second : Without her consent Thirdly : With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of hurt. Fourthly :  With her consent, when the man knows that she is not her husband and that her consent is given because she  believes that he is another man to whom she is or believe herself to be lawfully married. Fifthly : With her consent, when at time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another o