Month: August 2021

Month In Review: August

Since the inception of its new administrative board in July, the Rotaract Club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Arts, has sped ahead with a selection of carefully tailored projects. However, with the faculty mid semester examinations that began in August, the implementation of projects with the same pace as before proved to be quite difficult and thereby, the formerly designated projects for the month of August had to be postponed in an attempt to create a stress-free environment for the club members, devoid of any Club related commitments. Despite the lack of new projects, the Rotaract month of August was still very eventful to say the least, with the continuation of two significant projects that were implemented in July…

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The Old Order Changeth, Yielding Place To New; Spotlighting into the Ongoing Global Pandemic

We all live in a world characterized by constant change and if we really want conjugality and consensus, we should remain prepared for compromises. In fact, life is a series of compromises and the ones who learn this lesson well, find life giving them pleasure and relief. As we all know, the universe is on flux, the wheel of time is ceaselessly moving and whatever we find new today does have the possibility of becoming old tomorrow. For peace and goodwill, for concord and solidarity, adjustments are necessary since 'change' is the law of nature. As dawn changes into dusk, childhood into youth, spring into autumn and even extreme anger into cheerful smile, this change is both natural and essential.…

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The Magic of Reading

If I ask you how many countries in the world you’ve had the privilege of travelling to, some of you may say two, others five, and some might have even been to ten or more. But if you’re someone like me who hasn’t travelled beyond the native land, it is often perceived that we are missing certain delights of divergent cultures, and different people that one meets elsewhere in the world. Well, personally, I have never found myself missing that, as I have a different way of travelling not only to all the places you would find on a map, but also to places and spheres beyond that, those which sometimes could only exist within one’s imagination. If you’re an avid reader…

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“Pass or Play?”: A Queer Hunt For Hope In The Pandemic

“So, pass… or play?” Cairo Larzon, the 20-year-old video game streamer, is momentarily awestruck when beautiful Gavreel Alarcon flirtatiously asks this from Cairo. But something comes over Cairo, and the next moment, Gavreel (also playfully referred to as Gav) is the one who is left shocked when Cairo playfully replies, “Play”. This exchange marks the beginning of a beautiful love story between two people, who are daring to let themselves fall in love, in a time where romance, or even normal human interaction, seems like a distant fairytale. “Gameboys” is the story of two boys, young and emotional, feeling increasingly alone in a world affected by the COVID-19 virus, where even the act of stepping out of your house could mean…

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Stranded In An Airport

There's not enough cash to pay for my return air ticket. I know for certain that I cannot bear the torture of being a housemaid or a washroom cleaner anymore. The airport administration will give me only a few more hours, to experience the luxurious comfort and sit in a lobby under the warm air of a heater. My eyes found themselves continuously rolling up and down along the same page of a magazine, which covers my helpless and clueless face from the queer strangers that busily passed by. However, when I blinked my eyes again and waited, I pictured a cozy bed and room with good food and caring and sharing parents and siblings. I came into a solid…

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Learning from Hardships: Wars and Pandemics

War and violence, and pandemics, equally bring negative pictures into one’s imagination. It seems they have contributed nothing other than significant harm to the world. But as controversial as it may sound, once they are viewed from a different perspective, it’s clear that there are positive outcomes of both war and pandemic. They remind us of the things we have forgotten, the things we have misunderstood, and the positive changes we have to make within ourselves. The general perception of war War is often seen in a negative light due to its violent and disastrous effects. It becomes violent with genocides or massacres, and bombardments, but more than physical violence, the long term psychological hardships are severe and dangerous since they…

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Is “The Simpsons” Really Predicting The Future?

You are either fully asleep, completely hungry or thinking about the weirdest things at 2 a.m. Two a.m. thoughts are quite interesting if you ask me. Your body is trying to sleep but your mind decides to bring back the embarrassing, cringe memories from the past. It makes you contemplate all your life’s decisions or even lets you think about the most useless mysteries or conspiracies that have no definite use for human civilization. Well, I am not trying to generalize these 2 a.m. experiences, but that’s what happens to me at least. Do I like it? I really don’t know. Let me ask you a question. How are the creators of the Fox animated series, “The Simpsons” accurately predicting…

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The Importance Of Being … At The Dinner Table

The Academy award nominated feature film ‘Julie and Julia’ is an example for the perfect juxtaposition for the love of French food between two women. One is an American woman who moves to France and her love for French food brings forth her desire to learn to cook. She goes on to becoming a household name i.e., Julia Child (fun fact: her husband, Paul Cushing Child was posted to then Ceylon as a US civil servant representing the Office of Strategic Services during the Second World War). The other was a suburban New Yorker by the name of Julie Powell whose life we see through her love for comfort food and her undying desire to learn to cook through the…

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An Insight Into The World Of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’

How would you prefer to wake up in the morning? It might be to breakfast in bed, in the very utopian way that every single tea related advertisement would start or to the way in which most YouTube morning routines are depicted. My superfluous dramatic self on the other hand, would not settle for anything less than a bit of “Kuch kuch hota hai”. A Shah Rukh Khan post upon my feed would just be equal to a fancy English breakfast with an Earl Grey tea for me! As a person who has always been attracted to the neighboring country’s film industry, I've always pondered upon what exactly the reason was for these films to be embraced as flamboyantly as they are. Is it…

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Exploring the Fabulous and Feisty Roles of Women in the Patriarchal Roman Society

Similar to historical accounts of other civilizations, Roman history was also a glorification of male dominance and patriarchy. However, certain exceptionally influential roles of women in Rome shed some light in celebration of womanhood despite the patriarchal prominence. Although women in ancient Rome were deprived of their position in politics, socially they were recognized and possessed a considerable power. This article is an exploration of women in Rome in the aspects of mythology, family relations, religion, social structure, legal facets and politics. In the sphere of mythology, Romans had a neutral approach towards women as opposed to that of Greek mythology, which condemned the existence of women through the myth of Pandora, who they recognized as the bringer of the…

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