GNOSTOS PERENNIA

“Believe in us, believe in fineness”
“Tell us your dreams, we make them true”
“I,B and C are the three most important letters which teach you everything from A to Z”
“Enter as a person, leave as a manager”

These are some of the lamest opening lines the writer was able to come up with as the introductory quotes for an article launching the new logo. But then I realized one thing. It doesn’t matter whether the person introduces the logo with some flashy commercialized statements or simply put up what the society actually does, as long as they implement it with perfection. So just one caption, “GNOSTOS PERENNIA”
Intellect Browsers Consortium (AKA, about me): I am a consortium (association) of intellect browsers (people who browse the intellects). And I couldn’t find a better way of expressing and explaining this, than what Kamakshi Gupta and Sanjana Wadhwa have done it, in this logo. This logo (at the end of the article) is my official logo from 21.08.2013.
The whole creative team was assigned the job of submitting their ideas. Brilliant ones, ranging from simple, yet creative designs to complex and meaningful were invented. In the end, the team chose a logo which echoes the meaning of IBC. Browsing the intellect.
You are the team. Every single thing you learn elevates the society by a step. Never stop learning because knowledge is imperishable.
-IBC

When the team actually initialized the process of creating a new logo for me they were flooded by a plethora of ideas (so has been told to me). Brains. Pens. Spectacles? 3-dimensional designs? Gears? Some were apt, some were absurd. But they finally found definition in the blur.

Our new logo composes of a mouse (not the Jerry member of the rodent family), a device, in front of you right now, as a matter of fact (or its successor, the trackpad or a touchscreen maybe), used for browsing the internet. But in this case it is used for browsing intellect, pictorially represented by a bulb (did that thing light up over your head too?)

Gnostos Perennia. Hasta La Vista!

ANNOYANCES

I have been pondering over the topic on which I should pen down my thoughts (by which I mean, I thought over it for two minutes in a shower two days before submission.). And then I concluded, the best topic would be the one which annoys me (or in general, people of my age group) the most.

1). Cheesy posts on facebook.
Yes, facebook. Right from the milkman who gives us 2 litres of milk everyday (which he claims is the best in the entire world) to the super cool- self assumed stud –biker on VIP road to all the educated people, everyone is engrossed on this website. What people don’t understand is : 
I am not interested in your pout faced pose with an irrelevant googled quote as the description of your DP !
And we all know that, a picture which is an epitome of editing through 5 softwares can not be a RANDOM CLICK. So please, stop this baloney. The most common description being,
“I was smiling yesterday, I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow simply because life is too short for anything.”
Yes. We all get that. And trust me facebook user, if you leave this website, you will put a smile to all the people in your friend list. Kindly consider that fact! 
Also, we are not interested in your weather reports and cricket updates every nanosecond! We may seem urchins to you, but we have a TV at home. And yes, it has NEWS channels.
For instance,
“ OMG! OMG!!!!!!! Such a luvleeeeeeeee wether!!! Woooooowwwieee !! I luvvvvv rainsssssss.”
“ Finalllllllllyyyyyyyyy SExyyyyy MAUsammmmm ! Osssssum mausam.”
“MS Dhoni! yOu ArE AwEsOmE...CSK mahhh favie team.”
Awesome. 
This is the only word left in the positive vocabulary of English language.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Please. Do not. Decimate. English.

                                      
2.) Dating is not a synonym for marriage.

So. Mrs. Patel , a lady in her late 40s visited our home one fine evening. She’s a resident of our colony. I reflected, the woman is here for a little chitchat and would leave decorously. I was wrong. She started the conversation by mentioning a girl who is the daughter of her neighbour’s elder sister’s brother-in-law’s cousin’s relative’s son or so she meant. Yes, our Mrs. Patel is quite talented. She will never, even by the slightest of memory slip, forget such momentous relations. Cutting the crap, the lady had a problem that the girl in reference has already dated 2 guys and she is not even engaged to one of them!
Excuse me, Mrs. Patel, did you mean she should marry these 2 guys simply because she “dated” them?  Importantly, how does that the matter even concern you? I mean, knowing the fact that you are a happy homemaker, I’m sure your maid’s leaves have nothing to do with this poor girl in discussion! So get a life and stop being judgemental! *Nahi bhai. Hum to bolenge hi! Hamara adhikaar hai! Chahe kuch bhi bolein. Bolenge zaroor.*

What most of the people in our nation need to understand is, dating is a common thing among the youth today. It simply means that we are trying to find people who match our intellectual and emotional quotient, people who can understand us and would be compatible with our lives. Dating doesn’t mean that it is an INVISIBLE ENGAGEMENT RING which we have fastidiously given to the other person. Take a break. Think indubitably. The last thing we need is a set of “ Hey bhagwan! Isko dekho zara !” and “ Haye Allah! Dimaag toh theek hai is ladke ka?” Stop being a hypocrite.


3.) THE QUORA CRAZE FOR IITians.
IITians are hot. They are demi-gods. They are real life X men. They have direct connection to the destiny creators. They can change your life by just a minute touch of their fore finger. They are going to be Mark Zuckerburg right after graduation.
ONLY BECAUSE THEY CRACKED IIT JEE AND YOU DID NOT.

Yes. No matter if you follow the topic IITs or not, your home page will be flooded with news like, XYZ upvoted an answer:
“How does it feel to have an IITian boyfriend?”
“How does it feel to be a sibling to an IITian?”
“How does it feel to be married to an IITian?”
“Do IITians consider non IITians as dumb and stupid?”
“How do I become friends with an IITian?”

“Are the people crazy for IITians?”

                                                                                                                                                                   

 But my all time favourite is this one :
3834  votes.  I’m not the only one who feels that way !
People, take a break. Stop overrating IITians so much. The ones who didn’t crack JEE aren’t dumb. What society doesn’t understand is the fact engineering is not the only education! A person can be a graduate in literature or commerce or journalism and be equally smart as an IITian. No doubt IITJEE is the hardest exam at the +2 level across the world. But there are colleges which are excelling too ! Like BITS . Not all the IITians walk away with a handsome package of 36 lakhs per annum in an Indian job. Not everyone invents something new. There are students who strive very hard and yet are jobless, because their field of specialisation doesn’t need much of employment. That doesn’t lower down their intellect in any manner possible! Stop pressurising your kids to be IITians . Instead, discover the best in them and let them pursue it. After all this, people complain as to why there are no Picassos, Michael Jacksons and P.T.Ushas. To all of them, the answer is, they are very much present but they are busy attending IITJEE coachings somewhere!

4.) The random crap crowd.
The Delhi gang rape case has just reduced to a CASE. We had countless furores, public debates, demonstrations and rallies. All of them zeroed to one thing: THE GIRL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER TRAGEDY. The saddest part of the conclusion is, that a lot of women consider the main factor for rape arousal as obscene attire. Yes, the 4 year girl looked so hot and sexy and arousing in her juvenile frock that three men brutally raped her. Exactly! It is her fault, right? She should have covered herself in a vile before stepping a foot out of her home! If the innocence of a child can instigate your hormones so much, YOU NEED A TREATMENT. 
To all the ladies out there, who believe that a girl is responsible for all that happens to her, think twice! Have some humanity! Your narrow-mindedness might be harbouring the rapist in your son!

I look forward to the day when all the girls and women in this nation will feel free to move out and continue with their lives. But seeing the present scenario, that seems to be surreal.


Such things annoy us to no end. But sometimes, all you can do is turn a deaf ear or a blind eye or write an article reaching out for more people like you!

DANIA FARUQUI

Chemical, 2nd year

THE INDEPENDENCE

“Walking down the streets of “independent” India, I saw people who were happy. Some were happy because they got a vacation, some were happy because they got themselves a nice august 15^th sales offer and some of them were happy just because they have to look happy on such an important day. Then I took a right into inner streets and I saw the people who were imprisoned. Imprisoned in their own hearts. Imprisoned by falling rupee and growing crime rates, imprisoned by infamous politicians and famous sadhus, imprisoned between the line of poverty and rich people. Then I took a bus to red fort where the flag was hoisted and they created an artificial wind to keep it flying. I was a fool to search for independence in the nation where the flag of the nation has no independence to fly on its own. ”~vivek         

_______________________________________________________________ 

Bheekhu saw more people these days in Bade Sahib's office. Ravi, his co-worker (a very modest coinage for another domestic help like him) informed his in a smart tone that it was an election year, so they will have more chores to do in the house alone. He had worked in Bade Sahib's house for almost two months; Ravi had been there ever since he was five, but even he had still not seen as much furor as this. He had overheard the driver talking about "a return to power" or some homonym. While doing the dishes, Ravi once again bragged him about Sahib hoisting a flag some day next week. Bheekhu asked what was the occasion, cursing his negligence and his naive nature. While Ravi howled he, told him it was 15 Agast.

Bheekhu was an illiterate, but he was still not stupid enough to ask Ravi what it meant. But he was curious boy, and eventually rounded the cook in the late hours of a dopey afternoon next day. With a bundle of bidi he bribed him successfully. But his answer was really terse, and left more questions than it answered- it means being free, the Angrej left the country and we were free to do whatever we want.

As the day progressed the skies grew grey. He finished doing the dishes, ate his food and took his place on the kitchen floor. He looked out of the window, the lightening, the downpour being incessant. Free, the word had echoed in his mind throughout the day. He dare not discuss it with Ravi, he made enough fun of him already. But free was not a difficult word. He knew it alright. He knew that it meant doing something out one's own will. He wondered what it could be like to free for a day or two.

Would he be allowed to dress up in a smart uniform and board a shining yellow bus for an Angreji  school? Would he have two square meals each day? Would he get a a proper bed to sleep on? Would he get to see his poor parents again who had sent him to the city for some cash? Will he ever get to dress up in crisp and colorful clothes like these city folks do? Will he ever own one of these cars which run like raging bulls on the roads? Or a shiny handsome bike, which the Chota Sahib owns? Will he ever learn to read, something that he desired with all his heart. Will he ever be free of his limp, the one which he had carried since some polio thing happened to him. Will he ever be free of all these constraints that hold him back and live life as he should- free.

Bheekhu turned and tried to catch some sleep, and secondly the floor was damp while facing the window. He suddenly remembered that he had to wash Sahib's car next morning. He closed his eyes, he was not free; not yet.

NISHANT CHATURVEDI,

ELECTRICAL,

FINAL YEAR.