Feeds Issue 2 | Volume 9 by Feeds

Director Dr. Mini Shaji Thomas

Dean (Students’ Welfare) Dr.Samson Mathew

Faculty Advisors Dr. S. Mekala Dr. K. N. Sheeba

Cover Story: Venkat, Parasu, Harshini, Tania, Sripradha, Abhilasha, Swedha, Manu Cover: Gokul Writers: Amritha, Ashwin, Deeksha, Gokul, Kratika, Naman, Pooja, Prathamesh, Rohit, Sandeep, Sriram, Sunil, Surya, Swami, Umar, Vaishnavi, Vignesh, Vishnu, Ajay, Amogh, Anisha, Arpit, Athreyan, Avinash, Daniel, Dhwani, Ipsita, Isha, Koushik, KGP, Manu, Nila, Renga, Rishab, Shiva, Shiwang, Shrikar, Sruthi, Swathi, Swedha, Vedanjali, Abhilasha, Adhithya S, Anirudh Ram, Nandini, Parasu, Preetham. Sashank, Siddharth, Sudhir, Venkat. Illustrators: Gokul, Sneha, Vaishnavi, Vijay, Arpit, Isha, Nikhil P, Piyush, Renga, Sruthi, Swathi, Komal. Designers: Abhishek, Naman, Pramoth, Rasika, Sandeep, Sneha, Ajay, Amogh, Arpit, Athreyan, Harish Raj, Nikhil P, Rishab, Shiva, Shiwang, Sindhur, Sivapriyaa, Sruthi, Swedha, Swathi, Vedanjali, Komal, Mukhesh, Preetham, Sashank. Photographers: Abishek, Sumiran, Yash

Editor

S. Akaash Preetham

Co-Editors

Parasuram Srivaths Pinjala Sai Sudhir

Editor, Online Presence Venkat Natarajan

Editor, Design Komal Telagavi

Founders

Parasuram Srivaths Co-editor College life, for each and every one of us, represents a world of our own making. No longer under the watchful eyes of our parents, we feel a sense of truly being able to create our own understanding of the world. All of us arrive at the gates with our luggage, not knowing what to expect - excited and slightly nervous at the same time. Our minds are filled with extravagant stories about life in college - stories from elder siblings, others in the community and of course, movies. The fact is, they end up painting a rather tainted and skewed picture of it. And once confronted, it leaves many of us reeling in the rather different reality of it all. It was a similar experience for me. There were classes to attend and exams to give, which were a truly sobering experience grounding me to the fact that first and foremost, I had come here to gain knowledge, in one form or another. It has so happened that a lot of the knowledge I have been able to acquire has come to be from outside the classroom, which says a lot more about me than my professors. Most of the knowledge I have gained has come from my experiencing real life situations in college. These experiences have come through the acquaintances I have made in a little more than three years. Feeds has been a steady constant in these otherwise tumultuous three years. I have written pieces that I never thought I would read and reread articles I wrote I never thought I would read. The primary objective through these extra-curricular ventures is one of self development. Growing is a continuous process and constitutes the most imperative part of one’s college life. A fitting division of one’s time is imperative for growth across all fronts. To help us with the academic side of things in college, the college provides a good amount of resources. As an effort to highlight these resources we have provided an abridged introduction to a few of these resources in our cover story in this issue. These resources are a suitable supplement to the resources already available on the internet and elsewhere. These, if utilised appropriately, can be essential tools to guide us through our eight semesters here. There are also steps taken for the advancement of individuals after the completion of their undergraduate program here. An innovative initiative like TREC-STEP can help aspiring entrepreneurs start up in a competitive environment. We also have written about the ongoing Hong Kong protests, which represent a community trying to make their voices heard loud and clear, which is not unlike what we at Feeds are trying to achieve. We have also written about the ongoing economic slowdown in many countries, which could end up being the precursor to a worldwide recession. We have also written a brief about equal pay in sports for men and women, an issue that we thought needs immediate addressing. We hope you have fun reading the issue. May the Feeds be with you.

Feature

Athreyan

Sandeep, Kratika

Sports

Sudhir, Ajay, Dhwani, Vedanjali

Harish Raj

Miscellaneous

Gokul

Yuvan, Nandini Rakshit Umar, Sunil, Avinash

Psychology

CAPGRAS

Imagine a nine-year-old you. You enter your house, craving badly for your mother’s homemade meal, only to find her asking where her child is. Isn’t it strange considering you’re an only child? You initially dismiss it as a joke; your mom has played this card on you before. But you can’t disregard it anymore. She looks into your eyes and asks, “Who are you, and where is my child?”

Moving forward in time, your mother comes to pick you up from school and starts screaming at the authorities, "Give me my daughter," even though you're standing right there. The situation only gets worse from here. You watch in dismay as your mother is admitted into a psychiatric institution, written off as delusional and psychotic. Medical jargon whizzes past your nine-year-old brain, not making this ordeal any easier to endure. With no one by your side, you watch, helpless, as you are placed in Protective Services. Venkat, Shrikar,Shrikar Tania Kratika, Vedanjali, Vishnu, Ashwin,

wife's identity saying that he knew his wife very well as “his sons’ mother” and that she was not his wife. Later, along with Capgras, he was also diagnosed with other neurodegenerative disorders like language disturbances, which again suggest frontal cerebral dysfunction. A few other patients have been diagnosed with psychosis or schizophrenia along with Capgras. This again suggests a correlation between these conditions and Capgras.

This is a typical case of Capgras delusion. It is defined as a psychological disorder wherein the person is deluded that a close one, be it a family member, pet or friend, has been replaced by an identical imposter. It can be acute, transient in the form of episodes, or chronic. Capgras delusion has been identified through various signs and symptoms. The primary sign is the person’s strong belief that everything that happens around them is being staged by some imposter. This psychological condition is often also referred to as imposter syndrome for this very reason. Additionally, it has been observed that patients have been incapable of linking successive episodic memories because of the huge role emotion has to play in memory. Strong emotions tend to cloud the memories of the patient in the case of episodic moments. This syndrome has often been linked with reduplicative paramnesia, which is a delusional belief that a particular place or location has been duplicated. However, this condition is caused due to damage in the frontal lobe of the cerebral part of the human brain. Capgras delusion, being very close to the aforementioned condition, is thus believed to be caused by physical damage to the frontal lobe of the cerebrum as well, among other possible causes. One other popular belief is that neurodegenerative damage could also cause Capgras. Fred, a 59-year-old man was diagnosed with Capgras delusion after repeatedly refusing to accept his

Sneha

A study by Ellis and Young suggested that the brain has two pathways to face recognition conscious and unconscious. Their hypothesis was that Capgras is caused when a person is able to identify the person consciously but is unable to do so unconsciously. As a result, even if the person recognises somebody as someone they’ve encountered, they fail to produce the corresponding emotional response and hence cannot accept that a person whom they have no emotions toward could possibly be close to them. Capgras delusion does not have a concrete treatment methodology as such, owing to the nature of the disorder. One cannot pinpoint the exact cause for it, which only makes the treatment more difficult. However, in most cases, a positive environment wherein the person affected feels safe and validated tends to be helpful. In some cases, ‘validation therapy’ is used, where the delusion is validated and reinforced, relieving the affected person of any anxiety or disquiet. Other measures include giving constant reminders about major events and people in the person’s life to give them a grip on reality. Besides these, medication and antipsychotics are also provided, although their efficacy is not clear. One thing is for certain; a person affected by Capgras experiences a terrifying loss of their grip on reality. It is an emotionally difficult time for everyone involved: for the loved ones being confused as imposters, for close friends and family, for the patients themselves. In such a situation, only patience, understanding and care can help alleviate the symptoms. With developments in medicine gaining pace, we can certainly hope that a viable treatment is not very far away.

Science/Tech

Rasika

Deeksha, Abhilasha

Feature

Kosuhik

Swami, Nila, Pooja, Ajay, Shrikar

Miscellaneous

Swedha, Vishnu

Venkat, Preetham, Arpit Swathi

CAT’S CRADLE Once upon a time at the edge of a forest lived a pale, bony and semi-burnt woman. Fate had dealt her a strange hand when the fire took out her entire family yet left her half-dead. Ostracised by the villagers for her hideous appearance, she lived in solitude. Every fortnight however, she was allowed to mask her burns, enter the village and stage/teach string acts. It was an art that her ancestors had perfected, conjuring outlines of living beings, things and such with a long twine as a medium. Her regularity was pristine, unaffected by weather or self ’s condition. The performances were a homage to herthe little dead boy, the one who would always nag his mother to teach him more and more of the strange craft. She was glad that the villagers never shunned her while she was at it. As of late, however, she had noticed a stray white cat following her. This went on until the woman pitied and befriendedpetted the cat. That day onwards the human and the creature stuck together. The villagers started growing wary of the masked performer who looked as if she was conversing with the mute animal. Time flew by until one day when the duo went to the stream to fetch water. The woman was busy filling the waterskin when she felt the cat’s mewling seeking attention. As she went closer, lo and behold, the sight of a baby in a bundle greeted her at the banks. The woman cursed the heavens for abandoning such a precious life to cruel nature and decided to take it upon herself to care for the child. The villagers did not see her enough for the next few days. The woman felt the baby was a present from the almighty. She fed it, bathed it, clothed it yet it would keep crying. She decided to rock the baby to sleep but she would need a cradle. This was the first time she believed her art mattered at all. The next two months saw the villagers getting restless due to the absence of the burnt woman. When their curiosity got the better of them, a few mustered the courage to go up to her hut and check. A strange sight welcomed them. They saw her lifeless body, a cradle hanging in the middle of the hut and the pet cat sitting under the cradle guarding it from someone or something. On closer inspection, the villagers found a white kitten inside the cradle. Alas, they exclaimed at the irony of the scene. They freed the little kitten, went their ways while leaving her body to rot. Her art however blossomed on and came to be known as the ironical situation, ‘Cat’s cradle’.

FOX’S WEDDING In a land yonder, where all beings animate or inanimate lived in harmony, lived a princess who went by the phonetics, ‘Hau-ty’. Some scholars spelled it as, ‘Haughty’ while others cited, ‘Hotty’. Despite the ambiguity, both the names suited her well. Tales of beauty and arrogance had reached all ears. Suitors thronged the palace to seek her hand. The king and queen were plagued with constant worry because she had admonished all her suitors. The truth as to why she was doing what she did because among all the kingdoms, hers was wealthiest. She was plotting to kill her wretched parents and rule as the queen. To prove an admirer incompetent, she would give him the impossible task of gathering together the arch-enemies, the sun and moisture laden clouds. When all bachelors of the land failed, the king lost all hope and sought the counsel of his prime minister. He summoned the last ace up his sleeve, the trickster spirit, the famed fox. The fox didn’t want to meddle in kingly aﬀairs but decided to take it as a challenge after learning of the princess’ devious plan.

He approached the pouty, red hot sun and joked about his marriage with the princess and how the cloud would create such a serene atmosphere. A sunny weather would mar the joyous occasion and the sun could never achieve the level of pristine as by the clouds. The ever so full of himself cloud was told something along similar lines. The princess believed this to be the last hurdle separating her from glory. However, the day of the wedding arrived and something else was in store. Everyone was astounded to witness the stand-oﬀ between the two arch nemeses. Both had brought their A-games to play. The sun shone brightly, while it was raining cats and dogs. The fox smirked and wedded his enraged bride under the silver lining of the story i.e. the rainbow. And this is why children and adults, a fox’s wedding is called such.

Athreyan, Shiwang

F A K E

Creative Space

E T Y M O L O G Y

Zebra Crossing Long, long ago, it was not one of those regular days. Black clouds swirled amidst the white sky. Doopy, the striped Equidae looked up at the heavens, his eyes filled with worry. He then shifted his gaze to the herd. Yes, he was the crown jester, but still, he felt capable of deciphering the godly signs. The crackle of thunder put the roaring of a pride of lions to shame. The lightning flashes lit the sky as the sun had never before. The clouds burst and chaos ran asunder. Doopy ran across the grassland to announce to the herd how the lions above are coming to prey upon them. Lest they make a run for it, the animals are either going to be buried underwater or consumed alive by the maned beasts. The leader considered the counsel of the old ones and brushed aside Doopy’s foretelling as a tail would swat flies. But as the rain increased pace, as the thunder terrorised the weak ones, doubt started creeping into their minds. Doopy was summoned to provide a possible solution as to where the large herd could go. The jester knew the answer yet pretended to take his time, logically considering his choices only to arrive at the conclusion that the abode of the two-legged, the most powerful beast, would be the safest. Silencing the growing anxiety among the congregation, the leader issued a decree that the herd will abandon its lands and seek sanctuary among man’s town. Doopy was requested to lead them unto this quest. They galloped and galloped until they encountered one of man’s greatest marvels, the ‘Roads’. They followed the roads, admiring the clippity-cloppity sound their hooves made on the hard tarmac. It was a strange day for little Lily too. Her mother had coerced her on staying indoors. It was the first day of his father’s mayorship, and she wouldn’t miss it for anything. The curious child sneaked out of the house, followed the general directions memorised over the weeks while she had accompanied her father for the elections. What greeted her was the throng of speeding vehicles. She waited, looked left, right and left and moved along. She was just in front of the large building that housed the mayor’s office when she heard it. A horn’s crackle followed by stamping of hooves. She turned around to witness the strange sight of hundreds of zebras running across the road. The new mayor had a busy day. He had leisurely stepped outside the office for a smoke when blood drained out of his face. There she was, her little darling, with a car speeding towards her, metres from ramming into her when out of nowhere the crossroad gets filled with dashing zebras. God forbid if anything had happened to the apple of her eye. The following few days bore witness to some peculiar changes. The particular spot, in commemoration of the legendary zebras who unknowingly saved a pedestrian from the onslaught of a hasty motorist, was declared a Zebra Crossing. Both biped and quadruped beings were allowed to cross the roads without worry for a limited time every few minutes. Our local striped hero however was banished from his post of the royal jester and the herd because his prank had successfully led to usurping of their grazing lands by a pride of lions.

Ajay

Arunagiri

Cover Story

21 19

Harish Raj, Preetham

Cover Story

Venkat, Parasu, Swedha, Abhilasha, Manu, Tania, Harshini, Sripradha

23 25

Creative Space

Mukesh Anisha

Sruthi Parasu, Arpit

Feature

The Brain orgasm

The results bifurcated the participants into two groups, one experiencing ASMR and the other reporting no ASMR like sensations. The study found that those who experienced ASMR had a significant decrease in the heart “‘K . . . R . . .’ said the nursemaid, and Septimus rate with a simultaneous increase in positivheard her say “Kay Arr” close to his ear, deeply, ity. Some also attribute ASMR to binaural softly, like a mellow organ, but with a roughness audio which is based on how ears respond to in her voice like a grasshopper’s, which rasped his sound, one at a time all the while receiving spine deliciously and sent running up into his brain different intensities. However, there is still an waves of sound which, concussing, broke.” This is ocean of information about ASMR yet to be an excerpt from the book, ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ by the uncovered. great author, Virginia Woolf and perhaps the first evidence of a major phenomenon that has taken the internet by storm. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response or ASMR as coined by Jennifer Allen, a cybersecurity enthusiast way back in 2010 has had a cult following from its inception. The first inkling of a definition came into being when a user started a thread about weird tingling sensations on a public health forum. There has been no turning back since. Videos of women whispering too close to the microphone, devouring chocolate crunchies, scratching the sides of the matchboxes besides others have been doing the rounds on YouTube with some of them garnering as many as 13 million likes. As to what exactly ASMR is, a loose explanation can be feeling sated, often associated with arousal all the while with tingling sensations in the scalp and the lower back of the neck. These sensations are characteristically triggered by some external stimulus which, in most cases, is a sound. Exceptions exist like role-playing scenarios, touches at sensitive body parts or engaging in some sort of trivial activity which tends to generate similar sentiments within the participant. The sound of clear water flowing in a river amidst a quiet, dense forest, turning crisp pages of a newly printed book, popping bubble wrap, etc have been known to have a calming effect on certain people and even relieve them of stress and tension. All of this growing uproar about ASMR led the scientific community to try and biologically explain how the mind and the body get affected. Few of the conducted studies have been quite successful, particularly one by the University of Sheffield. In this study, a group of people was made to watch ASMR videos and the physiological changes were studied.

Sandeep

The current novelty of ASMR lies in helping reduce issues such as anxiety, trauma, and even depression. For the imaginative, however, there can be many ways into which the whole concept can manifest considering the massive social media it’s currently based out of. It can turn out to be an addiction because of the arousal factor. For those who consider getting their daily dose of ASMR when they are sad or depressed, it serves as a potential coping mechanism. ASMR’s medicinal aspects can be utilised too. Parallels can be drawn with psychiatry whose scientific nature is often the subject of arguments. Then there’s the group which seeks to monetize it, setting up therapeutic sessions hiring professionals and selling merchandise. ASMR is still a highly untapped avenue. It needs extensive research and scientific backing to realize its complete potential. Until then, why don’t you go check out an ASMR video and find out if you are one of the special few who feel that ‘silver sparkle’ in your brain?

Shiwang, Pooja, Daniel, Arpit

Poetry

A Lone Dear loneliness, Promise that you’ll never leave me alone. You’ve grown as a flower Inside my hollow chest. Of which, I pluck the petals. For the answers I cannot have. It’s almost evening now And we set off for home. Holding hands like lovers, Singing our favourite tune. ‘You’ve always been by my side When no one else stayed.’ I murmured to you. You didn’t say a word. I assume, you were smiling Too shy to display your feelings. We’ve reached home now. The room is dim. Just the way my life has been lately. I light up the lamp. And now, there’s a light, escaping out through oil films. Shimmering, rising and falling, like hopes. The room is still dim. But I’ve grown to hate too much of light.

Naman

I sit on my couch. Which sinks, as I go in. Just the way, time has been these years. Slow, deep and down. I wonder how, all the things are appearing, so much synchronous to my present. Now, I’m staring at a happy screen. Searching for your replacement. In faces, in poems, in songs. Almost forgotten about your existence by now, I look from the corner of my eyes at the rightmost corner of the room. You are sitting on my bed. Calm, patient. Maybe, waiting for me to come back to you. For, you know for sure that you’re my ultimate abode. My fingers are tired now. So are my eyes. I crawl into my bed. With clothes and shoes of the day, still on. Maybe not knowing it. Or maybe, because it doesn’t matter. For you accept me. With all of me. Once, you were the wings of the still ceiling fan. But now, I’ve stopped looking up. So, now you’re the blanket that wraps me. Like arms, for nights. We cuddled and slept. I felt so lucky. I wasn’t lonely. I never have been, with you on my side. Dear loneliness, Promise that you’ll never leave me alone.

Naman