Let's have a talk

 "Writer's block is a privileged statement. If you can't write, it just means you've run out of raw material to create from." These were the exact words a professor of mine told us in our writing club. And as someone who suffered with writing consistently, these words hit a bit close to home. That day, I came home, opened my laptop and sat there to write. For about an hour, it was just me staring at the blinking cursor. I got fed up, slammed the laptop shut and walked away.  But the guilt of not writing keeps eating at me. It's not like I don't try. Every day I sit to write a new chapter for my novel. But I end up hating the hours of work I just did. I open this very blog after avoiding its stare for more than a month. But words fly away just as I try to reach it. Even writing this is only a way of me penning down my feelings. Maybe it's not privilege, but rather incompetence. Maybe, I just emptied all my creativity into those two chapters, twenty poem...

 Have you ever felt stuck inside your own head? Not stuck in a thought, but you cannot take control of what you are doing? It's like you are a spirit wandering outside your body and just watching your soulless vessel walk away. It doesn't matter what you do next or who you talk to. It doesn't matter if you are not at a place you are supposed to be. No one is going to notice your absence anyways. It doesn't matter if you suddenly stop making the effort that kept that particular friendship hang on a thread. They are not gonna start making that effort or care anyways. You are too much. You are not enough. You are too complicated. You are too simple. You are funny when you are not supposed to be. You can't take a joke.  I get stuck in my head often. I think about all these things more than I probably should. It becomes worse when I cannot write. When I cannot let it out through the only outlet I know. These are thoughts that crept in my mind years ago and grew roots tha...

 Let's have a talk. Today will be an extension of yesterday's topic. Staying with the media curve, let's talk about the other wave of media that took over us decades ago - Serials. I'm not talking about the short 2-3 seasons of Netflix series that everyone started watching during the pandemic. I am talking about 1000 episodes long "mega serials". Because if you think movie represents sensitive topics in a bad way, boy do I have bad news for you. Let's get to it. Serials started off as an entertainer for homemakers who had no sort of entertainment. And even these were available only to those rich enough to buy a television. But around the late 80s to early 90s, almost every house had a television, which blew up the popularity of serials. Now, unlike films, these serials had the need to be relatable to housewives and interesting. So, almost all of them focused on a family and the hardships that family faces. And more often than not, the story revolves around...

Let's have a talk. So, I was watching a film yesterday, and even though it was my second time watching it, it was this time that I noticed something. People who watch Tamil films might understand what I am about to say. Some films focus on a particular area that people live and basically stereotype the people and the area there. Some of what happens in the movie might be for awareness and a lot of the movie is just for pure entertainment. But, in a society like ours, where movies cannot afford to be pure entertainers, these stereotypes cause more harm than people imagine. Let's dive into it, shall we? The movie I was watching yesterday was "Raayan". The film focuses on the relationship between siblings and a gang rivalry of sorts. Now, despite the mixed reviews, I really liked this film. But I can't help but imagine the stereotyping this film did too. Even though they never mentioned where in Chennai this was happening, everyone watching and those who know Chennai...

 Let's have a talk. Today's post is going to be a little different from the ones I usually write. Today, I went to Patrician College to participate in their Intercollegiate event - Madras 360. And I wanted to share my experience of being in that competition and everything that happened. This event happens every year as a way of celebrating Madras day, and this is the second time I am attending this event. I went there last year, and it was my first intercollegiate event ever. As someone fresh out of school and around all these older students who have had experience before, naturally, I was very nervous. My dad had dropped me off, and my hands were trembling a little bit. I had participated in events in school before and won but never with other schools or on a big scale like this. My senior encouraged me to do my best, but alas, it was an event I was not comfortable with - Spin a Yarn. For those who do not know, Spin a Yarn is a story-telling event. You will be given a prompt o...

 Let's have a talk.  Last night, my dad and I were watching TV. We were watching YouTube and I'm sure everyone can sympathize with me when I say the unskippable ADs are the most frustrating things ever made. We were watching one such AD for an anti-dandruff shampoo. Now, when I say this AD pissed us off so much, I mean it. Not because it was unskippable, but because the way the AD was written. And thinking about it, I realized this is a similar pattern I have witnessed in a lot of ADs. So, with my coffee's companionship, I sat down to break it down and analyze. Now, This shampoo AD starts off with a guy asking the girl what's for lunch. As she takes out her lunch box, he exclaims, "AGAIN?!". Her immediate reaction to this is he noticed my dandruff. He continues, "the same lunch again?". Now this might seem like a perfectly normal AD but my concern is, why is this girl worried about her looks and dandruff when that guy says again? Do these AD director...