In classrooms, offices, and even personal diaries, handwriting is quietly being replaced. Keyboards, voice notes, and predictive text have become the default tools of expression. Writing by hand, once an everyday act, now feels almost ceremonial—reserved for signatures, exams, or rare personal letters. This shift is often described as progress. Yet the disappearance of handwriting raises deeper questions about how thought, memory, and self-expression are changing. Handwriting as a Cognitive Process Writing by hand is not merely a way of recording words; it is a way of forming them. The physical movement of the hand slows the mind, allowing ideas…
Author: Pradnya Oak
It has been observed that morally uncertain, emotionally fractured and ethically compromised characters increasingly populate contemporary literature and cinema. The traditional hero: brave, virtuous, and unquestionably right, has given way to the anti-hero, a figure who resists easy admiration and clear judgement. This shift is not merely a change in narrative fashion; it reflects a deeper transformation in how society understands morality, power, and the self. From Idealism to Ambiguity Classical storytelling often relied on heroes who embodied cultural ideals. Their purpose was to model virtue and restore order. Modern narratives, however, are shaped by disillusionment; with institutions, leaders and…
Boredom has become unacceptable. It is treated as a problem to be solved immediately, a gap to be closed, a failure of attention or imagination. The moment boredom appears, it is smoothed over, with a screen, a task, a distraction. Yet boredom was once a common human state. It existed without apology. Boredom as a Pause, Not an Absence Boredom is often mistaken for emptiness. In reality, it is a pause, an unstructured stretch of time where nothing in particular insists on being done. It is uncomfortable precisely because it offers no instruction. In boredom, the mind wanders without purpose.…
To document life has become almost instinctive. A moment occurs, and the impulse to record follows immediately—photograph, note, message, archive. Experience feels unfinished unless it leaves behind a trace. This habit is often criticised as distraction or performance, as though recording a moment automatically distances us from it. But the relationship between documentation and living is more complicated than simple opposition. Documentation can both deepen experience and dilute it. The difference lies not in the act itself, but in how and why it is done. Why We Document At its most basic level, documentation begins with attention. We record what…
The first time we read a book, we are often impatient with it. We want to know what happens, look for meaning, direction, payoff. We move forward, trusting the narrative to carry us somewhere worth arriving at. The second reading is different. It is quieter. Less hopeful, perhaps, but more honest. Reading for the First Time Is an Act of Faith A first reading depends on trust. We surrender time without knowing whether the text will reward it. Characters are strangers. Motifs are invisible. Sentences are absorbed quickly, sometimes carelessly. In this stage, reading is dominated by plot. We read…
We no longer rely on memory the way we once did. Names, numbers, dates, directions, conversations—most of them live elsewhere now, stored carefully in devices that promise recall without effort. At first, this feels like relief. Nothing is lost. Nothing needs to be held for too long. And yet, something subtle has shifted. Remembering used to be an internal act, shaped by repetition, emotion, and failure. To forget was not a flaw but a function. Memory worked unevenly, selecting what stayed and what dissolved. Now, remembering has been replaced by retrieval. We do not recall, we scroll. This change feels…
In recent years, the short story has quietly re-entered literary relevance. Once considered secondary to the novel, it is now finding renewed attention among readers who struggle with time, focus, and emotional bandwidth. This return is not accidental. It reflects the conditions of contemporary life. The resurgence of short fiction tells us less about shrinking attention spans and more about the ways modern readers are learning to cope with fragmentation. The Fragmented Reader Today’s reader lives amid interruptions—notifications, deadlines, headlines, and constant digital noise. Long-form immersion, once central to the reading experience, is increasingly difficult to sustain. The short story,…
Few literary series have shaped a generation as profoundly as Harry Potter. Often reduced to fantasy or nostalgia, J. K. Rowling’s series is, at its core, a narrative about growing up under pressure—about learning to live with loss, choice, and moral ambiguity. What makes Harry Potter endure is not its magic, but its emotional realism. A World Built on Absence The series begins with loss. Harry’s parents are dead before the story starts, and this absence structures his entire life. Hogwarts, for all its enchantment, is not an escape from grief but a space where it quietly persists. The Mirror…
Every year seems to crown an unlikely cultural figure—an image, a phrase, a joke that escapes its origin and embeds itself into collective consciousness. Last year, Labubu joined that lineage. At first glance, it appears frivolous: absurd, exaggerated, and unserious. Yet meme culture has never been merely about laughter. It is one of the most immediate forms through which societies process anxiety, power, and contradiction. Humour, especially on the internet, often arrives before language does. Why Memes Matter Memes operate on speed and recognition. They compress complex emotions—frustration, cynicism, despair—into a single frame. In a country like India, where public…
In contemporary literary culture, attention is overwhelmingly directed toward writers—their visibility, productivity, platforms, and relevance. Readers, meanwhile, have quietly slipped out of focus. Literature increasingly appears as something to be performed, shared, and displayed, rather than privately read and absorbed. This shift marks a subtle but significant change in how literature is experienced today. Reading in the Digital Age Social media has transformed reading into a public act. Books are photographed, quotes are circulated, and opinions are expressed almost instantly. Reading is no longer confined to the private space between a reader and a text; it unfolds in timelines, comment…