Uncertainty is the value

Question, Answer, Question: The Unending Loop Of Philosophy

Aparajita Lahiri, AIS Pushp Vihar, XII F

“Oh! you are being so philosophical!” we are often caught saying this to people whose opinions or ideologies  appear confusing to us. And, why shouldn’t we? Philosophy does seem to create more uncertainties than it ever gives answers for. Take Plato and Aristotle for instance; the duo who shared a mentor-mentee relationship, but largely diverge when it comes to their respective ideologies. One such difference is in their stance towards the human condition.
Plato saw the human condition as a trap that separates the mind from the truth. He was a transcendentalist and thus believed that one must transcend to a higher world as it is there that the true concepts of the world emerge.  For him truth could not be found in the reality of life but in asceticism, through an ignorance of the sensory distractions which entrap the human body. But then what purpose do our sensations really serve? How it is the only thing that makes us human so futile and pointless?
Aristotle comes white-knighting to the rescue. He outrightly quizzed Plato’s belief in asceticism and discarded it with a firm belief in the human capacity to sensorily observe the world and broaden their knowledge to learn the ‘divine’ truth. He was a naturalist and for him this truth did exist in the natural world. He believed in the meaningfulness of everything in nature and we as humans kept swaying in it. But, to say that everything has a purpose, isn’t it in itself cynical? There are things in nature that don’t have one, but still exist. Human existence is in itself meaningless, if Hamlet’s question “To be or not to be” is anything to go by. For everything is a loop with no specific answers but only questions, with absolutely no way to prove one thing right and the other wrong.
In fact, all philosophy worth its salt begins in a question but not all these questions bring with them  an answer. If we talk about science and math, we create our problems as well as solve them. But in philosophy, things are not so simple. It has never had any success in our need for the answers, partly because it is not about gathering empirical facts or doing calculations.
As soon as definite knowledge of any subject becomes possible, the subject in question ceases to be called philosophical and becomes scientific. After all, all the astronomy and cosmology as we know them today were once just philosophies. Philosophy has evolved to be associated with hope, of a new science emerging, from the questions we can’t answer yet. It keeps alive the speculative interest, the uncertainty, which one day would lead to finite answer in the midst of infinity. It keeps us aware of the paradox, which is the universe.

A letter from Yamaraja

To Let The Humankind Know About His Tale Of Anguish

Yasmin Tandon, AIS Pushp Vihar, X A

Not-so-dear mortals,
I’m sure you won’t be happy hearing from me. And trust me, I am not happy writing to you, or anyone else for that matter, either. After all, what can be happy about ruling the land of dead souls? And as if my unhappy job wasn’t enough, you hate me too. For what? For doing a job that chose me, and not the other way around. 
There I was, a simple mortal, just like you living a simple life until I didn’t. It was just my luck to be the first ever soul that left a body and by precedence, the duty of ruling the dead fell upon my shoulders, not knowing that one day you all would be hating me!
If I had Twitter, I am sure one of you might have started a hashtag to ‘cancel’ me by now. And why wouldn’t you? For your ignorant minds, anything or anyone associated with Yamalok is a bad omen, and sadly, that is where I live. And just FYI, I am merely the ruler of the dead; and not the one deciding who lives and who dies. So please, stop trying to bribe me into not picking you. I am NOT the one doing the selection! Which brings me to my other pet peeve – why don’t you hate the ones who selected you to die in the first place?
You conveniently forget that I am also the God of Dharma and escort the worthy to heaven, which is what most of you wish for throughout your lives. Be reminded that you make your own places in heaven or hell; I merely provide the ride like an Uber driver. I am simply doing my job, controlling spirits and demons, and frankly, I believe I deserve some gratitude because it is you who are afraid of them.
I don’t understand how  other Gods and Goddesses, who have negative roles too, are so loved.
None of you seem to condemn Lord Vishnu, who despite being the preserver is going to bring the mortal world to its end one day. I see you all worshipping Lord Shiva and Goddess Mahakaali, who allow me to remind that you all are destroyers and strongly associated with death and doomsday. Why am I the only one discriminated against, pray tell!
I can go on and on but I only wish to jog your memory into remembering that all Gods are equally responsible for all the problems faced by mankind and all of them are equally responsible for solving them. And if silly you still blames me, I can understand; you are human, after all.

Yours lovingly *scoffs*
Yamaraja

New decade

A very Happy New Year 2020 to all my dear Amitians. Two decades of this millennia have passed and if we look back at the last two decades, particularly the last decade, several transforming events- both good and bad, took place. But what set the past two decades as an important milestone was how the good leveraged itself over the bad, giving the world a way forward. Even if darkness prevailed on occasions, there was always light around the bend, paving a new path ahead.
Amidst various issues that drew attention it was the environment that took centrestage, as it should. Forest fires across the world killing wildlife brought despair. But hope soon followed as one could see several environment champions and school students coming forward to save the planet. If the world ran astray under the effects of global warming, eco friendly campaigns showed us that all is not lost.
While there was political unrest across the world, there were social crusaders taking charge, giving us new-age leaders. While technology brought us closer, giving us faster and easier access to our loved ones with WhatsApp and other instant messaging services; it at the same time drove us farther away as the world remained glued to their phones as opposed to the ones sitting next to them.
While stereotypes continued to rule the roost on the entertainment front, a series of fresh concepts and new forms of entertainment came as a welcome breeze. While we continued to be a cricket crazy nation, we also gave the world successful athletes and sportspersons in other fields.
Having lived much of 21st century, I have seen that the last two decades were a mix of both-  great times that ushered in an era of change, and challenging times. I am hopeful that the positives will take over the negatives and give us a future that we have always dreamt of. Here’s wishing all of us a better and brighter future.

Be grateful

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see!”
Mary Davis

There is a spark that can be lent to your eyes only when you feel thankful. When you start being grateful for the things you have, you experience more of all good things – you feel more positive emotions, feel more alive, act more compassionately and give out more goodness to the world. And this is why it is extremely important for all Amitians to be thankful for everything they have been bestowed with in life, whether by your parents, your teachers, your school or by the Almighty. We need to be thankful to each and every person who has shaped us, and one of these shaping factors is definitely The Global Times.
GT has provided a unique platform to the students, shaping their brilliant minds to create an edition that fills every member of AIS PV with utmost joy and pride. We are lucky to have been provided with such an exclusive opportunity and the students have worked hard to make this edition the best. I know that each and every student  involved in the making of this special edition is thankful to the school teachers as well as GT mentors for all the guidance they received in the course of this journey and our beloved Chairperson, Dr (Mrs) Amita Chauhan for giving the essential platform. I am elated to see the efforts of my students, their hard work, dedication and above all, their gratefulness, and I know we have done our best to make the GT trophy ours.

Trust is paramount

One of the key lessons I’ve learnt over the years as a GT mentor and a teacher is the beauty of trust. When we trust a student with his talents, we find him performing to his full potential. Every student who is given this gift is bound to flourish. Parents and teachers who note progress and deem a toddler’s crayon drawings to be masterpieces might just be applauding a maestro in the making.
We have all had this person in our lives who was the first to trust our abilities and gave us space for ourselves. I wish to be that person for my entire team. In this way, I have come to experience amazing transformations, growth and what I now deem to be the best relationship in the world- that of a mentor and a mentee. The writers, the artists, the graphic designers and the photographers, year after year, have inspired me with their resourcefulness and strength. 
I trust my team to the fullest and with the same spirit, we present you our contest edition 2019-20.