Yours truly

A slightly hypocritical open letter from an Editor-in-Chief

Khushi Ko, AIS Saket, XII F

To the young editor on the eve of attending your first ever GT edit meet, So you think you have what it takes to be a page editor? You’ve probably written for GT already, maybe even been published a little here and there. Well, leave all of that at the door. The madness herein will have no use for your naive ‘experience’. Four out of every five ideas you give have been beaten to death or have too niche an audience. The one idea left sounds good as a headline and forcibly stretched as anything beyond that. Welcome, young editor, to the world behind your favourite school newspaper.
Now as you sit across the table at the edit meet, a million thoughts will pop in your head and you might even be applauding yourself for your being so creative. You’d want to leave everyone awestruck with your in-depth know-how of conspiracy theories. But here’s news. As fascinating as Bermuda Triangle and Illuminati maybe, chances are all those conspiracy theories you’ve devoted hours to are either old news or plain boring. With conspiracy theories out, you might want to bring to fore Gen Y’s penchant for YouTube and all of its random glory. And that’s probably why everyone has written something or the other about it to the point of overkill. So, even though we all love this branch of the Google Empire- writing about it or any of its offshoot careers is not your best course of action.
Even as your hope of being the next big thing in GT dwindles, you will try another shot, maybe this time at new gadgets. Now, we live in a world of constant innovation. From water that doesn’t need bottles to 3D printing pens- we’re witness to an era of unmatched innovation. But regardless of how wonderful these inventions are, they’re unfortunately not a viable topic for articles. The truth of the matter is, articles written about these new gizmos will always turn out to be listicles, the kind of which are best left to BuzzFeed.
Now, this isn’t to say that it’s impossible to write good articles about the things you like. While it is important to remember to assess whether or not your idea will make for a good article, it’s even more important to express yourself. So when you go out there and attend your first ever edit meet, don’t be afraid to speak up.- . After all, a great idea gets cracking only after a few, initial rejections.

From my brave heart

  I’ve a confession   

Kshitij Dhawan, AIS PV, V

It was one of those regular evenings. I had to go for my basketball class. But seeing my friends play in the park next to my house, I started looking for excuses to skip the same. I had a lot of ideas, but none of them seemed to be  good enough to convince my mother. After 15 minutes and rejecting countless ideas, a superb idea popped up in my head. I quickly ran to my mother and told her that basketball coach had cancelled the class because he was unwell. My mother didn’t doubt it even once and said fine. I took permission to go and play in the park with my friends. Without even realising the consequences of the lie, I ran to the park and played with my friends in full enthusiasm. After an hour, when I reached home, I saw my mother upset. On asking her what the matter was, she looked at me and all I could see was anger. She told me that the basketball coach had called to know why I was not present in the class. My heart was in my mouth as I expected a harsh punishment. But to my surprise, she didn’t say a word. Instead, she just walked away. I felt ashamed and couldn’t see my mother in the eye. I knew I’d hurt her. I went to her, apologised and promised to never lie again.

Mithaidas’ story others’ words

Time To Update Your Vocab

Karan Dhall, AIS Gur 43, XII

“Hey Mithai, what’s up,
Look at yo simple attitude
Dunno the meaning of simple phrases
About the trends of life and its crazes?”
These people, they laugh off
My plain, sweet name
Trying to be cool show-offs for fame
What language is this
How do I solve this cryptic mystery?
I think it’s time to convert my diary
Into an urban dictionary…

As Mithaidas struggled to acquaint  himself with this new dimension of English, he jotted down some words of Generation X. And, he set out on his mission-to enlighten unfamiliar to mankind’s new creation, the language of ‘hyperbole’.

Roast
What it really means: Cooking food through prolonged exposure to heat
How they use it: To criticise and insult someone, often with hilarious anecdotes
“Hey dude, did you see how Rob roasted John that night, he was left in tears!”

Savage
What it really means: Fierce, uncontrolled and vicious; also refers to an attack by a ferocious animal.
How they use it: To describe an activity or a person which/who displays behaviour beyond the normal scope of the situation; something so incredibly cool that just the word cool doesn’t suffice.
“Damn, the way you roasted Sam last night, you’re so savage”

Thug
What it really means: A mugger, gangster, killer, hooligan, basically a criminal
How they use it: Usually used with the word life as in ‘Thug Life’ which means having a cool or ‘I do it my way’ attitude.
“I didn’t even study for the test, but I still got decent grades. Thug life, ain't it!”

Dead
What it really means: No longer alive, deceased. Come on! You know what dead is.
How they use it: When you’ve passed the normal point of being tired, so you hyperbolize the word little too much.
“I’m dead from all the walking.”
 
Extra
What it really means: More than what is necessarily expected or required.
How they use it: Over-display of emotions/style; basically anything OTT
“A dress to the movies? You're so extra!”

Slay
What it really means: To murder someone
How they use it: When someone does something amazingly well
“Girl, you are slaying that outfit.”

Lit
What it really means: Something’s on fire and is bright
How they use it: When you are in awe.
“That party last week was lit!”