March 2020

10 Years of Ping!

Zubair Abid

Ping! is over ten years old now. Covering almost half of IIIT’s existence, these ten years have seen multiple articles, stories, and random snippets by students over the years. These pieces capture the zeitgeists over time for IIIT, and so we decided to play historian and went to the archives.

We found in the archives stories of another IIIT. Narratives of forgotten customs, mentions of still-familiar randirona, persistent concerns about “college life” over time. Hotly contested debates that are today foregone conclusions. The articles that were seemingly written as filler for pages have today gained significance, whereas popular topics of discussion at the time that are now dead; demonstrating how the Institute has, despite all apparent odds, moved on over time. Institutions (like Aarogya) that we take for granted (or not) have an origin story Read more….

Editorial

The untimely pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the middle of this semester is a one-of-a-kind event in an Institution such as ours, but one that shall likely be forgotten with the graduation of the next few batches. As seniors – which is to mean anyone who has been on campus for a year – we tend to not pass on ‘non-useful’ nuggets of information to the batches that come after us – knowledge of unusual rules, of motivations for student bodies, of a marquee event – memory of which would otherwise be expected to last through the years. It is an environment in which in the students’ minds there can be no legacy, there can be no “urban legend” of alumni heroics, of unfortunate tragedy. Whatever may happen is destined to be restricted to only the present students at any time, bound not only spatially but temporally as well Read more….

Creepy Crawlies

Jyoti Sunkara

I think, like me, most people regard bugs, as well, bugs—annoying little critters that sting us or just create a nuisance. Why would anyone be enchanted by them?

Individually, insects are not incredibly interesting, unless you get down on the ground or view them under a microscope to look at their complexity. But they are the invisible force working throughout the world to keep it running. They do everything from returning nutrients to the Earth to keeping wildlife going along by playing their role as the base of the food chain for fish, birds or mammals Read more….

Aarogya

Deepti Mahesh and Rohan Lahane

Provision for health care in our college has always seemed to be sporadic, influenced by a seemingly vested interest but at the same time immune to any beneficiary change over the years. The holistic well being of the student community, encompassing both physical and mental health, is one of the highest priorities for any educational institute. Yet, health promotion and prevention are the most neglected part of both policy and practice Read more….

From Country to Electronic Pop…

Abhinav Gupta

Haters gonna hate hate hate…

Taylor Swift shook the world when she released ‘Shake It Off’ from her massively popular ‘1989’. The ‘dance-pop’ hit debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a radio staple all across the globe, staying on the chart for an impressive 50 weeks. The uptempo beat, the saxophones and her rap make it hard for anyone to not dance to it. Surely, the southern country accent wasn’t a thing of the past? Read more….

Gender Awareness

The campus seems and claims to be a welcoming environment for all kinds of students. However, many incidents have taken place in the recent past that show otherwise, especially with respect to the campus as a whole being sensitive about the issue of gender.

The institute has a Gender Sensitisation Committee and a Gender Grievance Committee, consisting of staff members who can be approached in case of any incident related to gender issues. The Gender Sensitisation Committee also holds a two-day workshop every year on gender and related subjects, which is open to all students, as well as conducting smaller discussion sessions during the UG1 Induction programme Read more….

बचपन

Anubhav Sharma

During the time of war in Syria (beginning since late 2014′ ), thousands of children were killed or forced to immigrate under dangerous circumstances where in most cases, they couldn’t make it out alive. Their entire childhood of cheerfulness and curiosity is taken away from them. So this is a poem describing those happenings. The title of the poem is – बचपन (meaning ‘childhood’). Read more….

Practical Guide to Moving on

Dushyant Goel

The suddenness of the event shocked you – but now it’s done. You have had a heartbreak, it’s been a month. Any lingering doubts you nursed in the first week are gone – it is now certain as death that there is no romantic relationship down this path. Your crush has sternly warned against contacting them – and let there be no doubt, contacting them again is harassment. How do you now get closure? I hope this article helps. Read more….

Monty Python’s Life of Brian

Ujwal Narayan

The number of things that needs to happen the exact way for me to be writing this, and for you to be reading this is mind-boggling. If I had seriously studied adequately for JEE Advanced, I might not have been here. If you had decided not to be an engineer but be perhaps a climate change activist, you probably would not be reading this. And these are just the major decisions. Our life and our choices have been affected by countless random things, and one not happening might lead to a butterfly effect and things would be starkly different. This trope is popularly referred to as ‘For want of a nail” based on the famous poem, where because of a tiny nail missing on a horse’s shoe a merchant ends up losing everything he holds dear. Read more….

March Jukebox

Listen on Youtube Music

10 Years of Ping 

I Know You Are But What Am I? is sort of like the theme for the entire article, and also for the introductory parts of it. After that every song corresponds to a subsequent part of the article, either through title, mood, or mostly both. Forgotten Memories for “Zombie Events and Changing Names”, Begin Again for “Drawing parallels to current day” and “An Unlikely Origin Story”.  Eric Clapton Interview 1 for “The Interviews” works as a switch in general mood of songs/article. Azadi, Scalp Dem, Lost Ones are representative of the mood of “Representing Concerns in the First Five years”. Wdpk 83.7 FM is post-2014, another interlude. The trend is unchanged after. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (?title?, mood), Fortune 500 (also mood), SHOOK (title, mood) for Existential Concerns, Ethical, Commentary (on Institute Decisions). We Didn’t Start the Fire is kind of random but fits, like we didn’t start the fire (investigative, campus life, “articles with impact”) just reported it. Exit Music is exit music.  

Creepy Crawlies 

1. Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens
2. Walla Walla – Glass Animals 
3. Flight of the Bumblebee – Nikolai Rimsky 
4. Bug Rain – Looper 
5. Glow Worm – The Mills Brothers 
6. Cocoa Hooves – Glass Animals 

Aarogya 

1. Waving Through a window (Dean Evan Hansen) – Ben Platt 
2. Human – Christina Perri 
3. Paracetamol – Declan McKenna

From Country to Electronic Pop 

1. Elevation – U2  
2. Vertigo – U2  
3. One Wild Night – Bon Jovi  
4. Have a Nice Day – Bon Jovi  
5. You are in Love – Taylor Swift 
6. Haunted – Taylor Swift 
7. Jump Then Fall – Taylor Swift 
8. Tell me Why – Taylor Swift 

Gender Awareness 

1. Respect – Aretha Franklin 
2. Speak to a Girl – Faith Hill and Tim Mcgraw 
3. Boys and Girls – will.i.am 
4. Just a girl – No Doubt 
5. Man! I feel like a woman – Shania Twain 
6. Follow Your Arrow – Kacey Musgraves
7. You Don’t Own Me – Lesley Gore 
8. Woman – Kesha 

Bachpan 

1. Travelin Soldier – Dixie Chicks 
2. Noor Ae Khuda – Name is Khan
3. Orphan – Coldplay 
4. Dear Mr. President – Pink 

Practical Guide to Moving On 

1. Always Remember Us This Way – Lady Gaga 
2. Thank You, Next – Ariana Grande  
3. No One – Alicia Keys 
4. If you’re not the one – Daniel Something SOmething  
5. Takeaway – The Chainsmokers 
6. Turkish March – Mozart 
7. You Need Me, I Don’t Need You – Ed Sheeran  
8. Love Yourself – Justin Bieber  
9. Ready – Alessia Cara 

Movie Review 

1. Always look on the bright side of life