1. The
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Youth Spark
Volume 5 Issue 36
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
When exams are near,
They cause great fear,
Many things are not clear,
And some subjects are not dear.
Exam stress is at its peak over the
coming weeks. The pressure to achieve
a clutch of A*s has never been greater,
so it’s no surprise that many students
struggle to cope. Two weeks before,
comes the timetable, none of us can
dream of living a life that is stable at
that point of time.
The stress levels are massive, causing
tears and sleepless nights to many.
There are times when students tend
to forget everything and are unable
to concentrate. The high- achieving
students who are perfectionists can
be most in danger. Some feel anxious
and often give themselves negative
messages like ‘I can’t do this, I’m
useless and I’m going to fail’.
It can be difficult but try to replace
these with encouraging thoughts such
as ‘this is just anxiety, it can’t harm
me and relax, just concentrate, and it’s
going to be ok’. Everyone is walking
on eggshells. The students at least have
something on which to focus their
nervous energy but for the teachers the
greatest battle is containing their own
concerns and battling with setting the
toughest possible question papers.
Exams are a hassle. We say this because
it’s true. No one likes doing them and
cramming information into your brain
over a short period of time can prove
to be very stressful. A bit of stress can
make you going, but too much of it
can make you exhausted, angry and
annoyed.
Exams are pretty much always
stressful. But it’s completely possible
to manage some of the stress that’s
brought upon by exams if one uses
different strategies. If there is stuff you
are not strong on, or you are really
stressed out, there are people who can
help you.
There are a whole bunch of things you
can do to help you get through exams
the best way you can. Manage your
stress, break your study material into
manageable chunks and start working
through it. Plan some break times and
days off too! Take the pressure off. If
you are putting too much pressure on
yourself, try to realise failure isn’t fatal.
Study together, go easy on substances.
Make sure you don’t pin all your hopes
on one outcome. Have a few options,
and realize that if your heart’s set on
one thing there are always going to be
other paths to it.
Isha Sehgal, I sem, MJM
Students and Success
Trepidation about
examinations

2. 2
We are heading towards growing
violence, poverty and its unbearable
consequences. The system we have
created is responsible for many dark
patches in human life. Over centuries,
thesystemhavebeencleverlymodified,
manipulated and even corrupted with
the thought to serve the interest of few.
But because man can adjust to live
under any condition, has enabled him
to survive. Most of the societies have
developed and they try to stay in power
by controlling the economy.
This is the age where work is done only
if one has wealth to display in their
bank accounts, where there is massive
disparity between rich and poor and
the youngsters leading to indiscipline.
There are millions of people who go
to bed without food every night and
in comparison to this there are people
throw away their food. Wastage on one
hand and being deprived on the other.
What kind of system have we created?
Whenwetalkaboutterrorism,it clearly
states what these horrendous terrorists
have done to us and not what we have
done to them. It form a simple ideology
that we never tend to look at our own
crimes but point out what others have
done to us. Nobody wants to be a
terrorist. But they’re driven towards
terrorism. Due to the simple reason
that everything is snatched from them
, be it their farmland, their property,
their resources, etc. They can’t make
a living out of what they are left with
for their kids and families. Day by day
things just got worse for such people
leaving them with no option but to
snatch away peace of many people who
tried snatching theirs.
In reality it all limits down to power
and democracy. We are creating
massive sufferings that have no
limits. An individual might not be
able to change the whole system, but
our history is filled with examples of
people who threw themselves to adopt
radical changes. Dedicating one to a
great cause, taking responsibilities and
gaining self knowledge is the essence
of being human. Humanity’s greatest
ally is the self-educated individual,
who can read, understood and walk
around with their eyes wide open.
Bhaswati Guha ,MEM, SEM 1
Which World You Want?
The Choice is YOURS…

3. 3
WAITING… No matter how much I try to push you away
You are like a tattoo on my skin even today
My heart is not accepting that you’re gone
My mind thinks of you day in and out
It’s your thoughts that wakes me when the sun rises
It’s your dream that haunts me when the lights are out
You have moved on faster than eyes can see
But I’m still,
Dreaming,
Hoping,
Waiting,
That one day in my arms you’ll be…
MAHIMA, BAJ 1st Sem
Young hearts put to work
Child labor refers to working or
employment of a child at a very
tender age, where they do not reach a
legal age to work. The employment of
these young children, snatches their
childhood away. Not only this, it also
affects the young minds mentally,
physically and socially. Not long
before, child labor was announced as
means of indulging in malpractices by
many international organizations and
NGO’s. But over the period of time,
there have been some changes in the
way working of a child is being seen.
For example, a child artist, working in
some soap operas, now, does not fall
under child labor category. Or maybe
it does but the fact and the child being
made to act and work is not questioned
like it was before. In many large scale
industries, little children are made
to work vigorously towards making
crackers, not realizing they are being
subjectedtomanygasesanddiseases.It
is said that children who fall under the
age of 5 to14 are restricted to work in
any country. But the scenario portrays
something else. These young hearts
do not work to have fun, poverty and
lack adequate amenities force them to
take up such tasks. Dating back to the
period of industrial revolution, little
children were made to work near big
fire furnace and chimneys, selling
match boxes, flowers and cheap article
to earn money. There were times when
they were made to work for hours and
in return were not paid enough money.
The basic ideology needs to change, for
the good, bringing about a big change
in the way people see. Child labor
needs to come to a halt. The sooner,
the better.
SRISHTI SAO, MJM, Sem 1

4. 4
It Is Better To Burn Out
Than To Fade Away
‘It is better to burn out than fade away’
– the lines of the great Kurt Cobain, a
lead singer and a guitarist of the very
famous rock band Nirvana. Kurt’s
life itself is a portrayal of his message.
Nirvana had released great albums and
just when they were coming of age and
when things had started looking up
for them, was when Kurt Cobain shot
himself after an overdose of drugs. Sad,
isn’t it? Yes, he burnt, he didn’t fade.
Nirvana didn’t fade, nor has it faded
till now, it still burns miraculously in
the hearts of millions of people all over
the world.
Enough of these memories, let’s go
down to the crux of the matter; the
question is, to burn or to fade away.
The world we live in, is a ruthless place.
Here, the bold people take all sorts
of actions and the rest of them get
blown into minor fractions. These bold
people burn their lives away, yet their
deeds never fade away.
These people are the winners who
never waited for the trophies, who
remained honorable and glorious till
the very end. It was a flash, no remains
for the wind to blow away. History
is full of such legendary examples –
Julius Caesar, Napoleon and Mahatma
Gandhi. Every age has had such
people who will never be forgotten.
It’s true; burn rather than fade, die
with honor rather than let it decay. An
honorable end is far more worthy than
a disappointing final phase of anyone’s
life. All the greatness gathered over the
years can be ennobled by a stellar end
or all of it can be depleted slowly by a
bad end.
Life is meant to give and earn in the
process, it is indeed meant to be lived
for virtue and till the end. When it
reaches the end, the end is meant to
be very special, it’s meant to shine out,
it has to be a memorable one and the
end must be fiery. In the end one must
burn and live forever. Staying and
decaying is for the lowly. The real ones
burn themselves and their light shines
throughout.
Isha Sehgal, MJM, Sem 1
Depressed, Am I ?
I feel weird,
But I still smile on seeing pretty things,
Laugh at funny jokes,
Talk to people in the most positive manner,
And enjoy nice bright days.
It’s when I sit alone,
I feel the body getting cold,
There is something that seems so broken.
I look at myself in the mirror,
Sadness surrounds my face,
Still I have the ability to smile in spite of having a dull face.
At times I don’t like what I see in the mirror,
Tears begin to fall,
But the best I can do is,
Just smile my way through it all.
I feel lonely at times,
And the other moment I am bright,
I fall weak for a moment,
And the other moment appears as a shining light.
Am I depressed or is it just a feeling
That surrounds my heart day and night,
I wish I could drive away this confusion,
Not once not twice, forever even at all.
NAMITHA AI, MJM, SEM 1

5. 5
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN
IN ADVERTISEMENTS
When people say sex sells, most of
the time what they really mean
is that sexy women sell. For decades,
advertisers have been finding different
ways to feature women in ads in order
to entice buyers. And, it would seem,
the strategy works.
But the way women have been
portrayed in advertising has changed
over the decades, and changed the
way society views women because of
it. From housebound drudge to sexpot
to business leader, ads are constantly
arguing with us about women’s role
in society. Chances are that it shows a
westernized oriented woman, wearing
a formal office wear, driving a car
and using a laptop computer. She is
depicted as a go getter who has shed
her traditional inhibitions in her single
minded drive to become a successful
achiever competing equally with men.
The advertising industry has always
targeted the women from the early
years be it for household products
like toothpaste and washing powders,
electronic goods like TVs and radios
to daily grocery products and food
as well as products for her grooming
and personal care. But due to more
and more women now into full time
work, a drastic change has taken place
where a portrayal of her as the loving
and obedient wife, eager to please
homemaker, doing her daily chores is
unlikely to cut any ice with these new
independent working women. But
the depiction of working women as
mentioned earlier in that stereotypical
manner with the belief that working
women will find these images of a self
driven highly ambitious and western
oriented women something to aspire is
also fraught in extreme danger. Most
working women find this stereotypical
depiction very alien. This ambitious
woman, financially independent and
extremely self obsessed may occur
in only as a very small minority. For
most working women they do not
ever want to even remotely resemble

6. 6
such a woman. More importantly,
working women resent brands which
endorse such depiction of them in this
alienating manner.
A typical working woman is someone
who works full time in the purchase
department of a large multinational.
Her day starts at 6 am when she wakes
up and gets her children ready. She
also finds time to pack lunches for her
husband, her kids and for herself. She
leaves home by 8.30 am and reaches
office by 10 where she works hard
till 6pm. Back home she sits with her
kids, helps them do their homework,
cook dinner and also find some time
to catch up on her favourite programs
on TV. It’s very late when she has put
the children to bed, spend some time
with her husband and finally gone to
sleep. So while advertising has shown
her breeze through the day with
everything at her command, her real
lifeisaconstantstruggletofinishallher
tasks and balance her work and family
life. Even though she can afford some
domestic help or there could be in-
laws to help her, she ends up exhausted
and totally tired by the time she goes
to sleep. The next day is another battle.
The pressure of a full time occupation
along with demands of being the best
home manager, results into a whole
generation of working women who
are stressed out and exhausted beyond
belief.
Advertising in order to succeed has
to address this point of the working
women struggling to balance work
and home but stressing out due to
the deep rooted fear that she is not
seen as giving her best in her role of
home maker. So even though she may
be doing extremely well in her work
arena, her real test is when she delivers
results in the home front, her children
are not feeling neglected at home or
their grades are not suffering, the
running of the home is like clockwork
and the family is happy.
So what can advertising do to reduce
her stress? To begin it, brands through
advertisements can make her feel
important and appreciate her for doing
a great job. Brands can make her feel
that she is doing her best and thus give
her the recognition she deserves. Also
theonusisonbrandstorelieveherguilt
of her not feeling that she is not doing
enough. Brands can go a long way with
her if they can make her feel as an
explorer who is using the experiences
she goes through in enriching her lives
of her family instead of being a purely
achievement driven go getter. Brands
can reassure her that life has its ups
and downs, the experiencing of both
is very important and an integral part
of modern day living. So if she had not
been able to come home early when
her child was sick, she needs to feel
that such things happen and is not a
reflection of her in a bad light.
Brands can also help in enhancing her
self esteem. It needs to reassure her
that she has played a very important
part in the overall success story of the
family. Brands also need to commend
her on her achievements. Not just
achievements of the family or in the
external world but also her personal
achievement inside the home. Her
being celebrated as the perfect mother,
wife or even a cook makes her feel that
she has not neglected or put her family
behind her career.
Advertising has a huge role to play
in making the modern working
woman feel elated and proud of her
achievements. Advertising needs to
show her as a woman who is HUMAN
and not always able to balance the
work and home in the near perfect
manner. She can fail at times, she is
not a superwoman but her efforts are
always 100%.The least advertising can
do is recognize that she is human after
all and go beyond the stereotypical
portrayal of a working mother, a
superhero who can easily sail through
theworkdemandsofherexternalworld
while ensuring a smooth functioning
of the home without any hiccups.
ISHA SEHGAL, MJM

7. 7
MARINE DRIVE
Sultry sun shining above,
Dangling waves clashing below,
Hitting the immovable rocks,
Like problems hit our life.
We stand still and struggle through,
Reverting the waves like the rocks do.
In the water, reflecting sun rays,
Turning the surface, alike a pearl.
Increasing tides with every waves
Splashing water on the rocks, dead.
Asking it to wake up from death,
And feel the affection of waves.
The gelid breeze kissing my face,
Leaving a feel of beloved.
Caressing my hair gently,
Like my mother does lovingly.
Marine drive filling my loneliness,
Caring like a mother and loving like a beloved.
PERVERT SHE OR HE?
She was walking in sari,
People staring at her belly.
Followed by numerous guys,
But she is a pervert, because she
Was showing her belly.
She walks with attitude,
In her western uniform of office.
Returns home late because of work,
So she is a pervert.
She wears skirts,
Roams around with boys.
Stays for night out,
So she becomes a hoe.
People think they are advanced.
Listens to Taylor & Gaga,
Watches only Cruise.
But thinks a girl is pervert,
Because she’s a girl and no other reason.
ABHISHEK MAYANK, MCA 1st SEM

8. 8
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Publisher:
GCCPublication,
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Patron-in-Chief:
Dr.JosephV.G.
Chairman,
GardenCityCollege
EditorialBoardPatron:
Dr.SiddaramaiahPujar
Principal,
GardenCityCollege
Staff EditorialBoard:
Dr.PayelDuttaChowdhury,
Vice-Principal,GCC.
Prof.ManjunathM.
Prof.RevathiAnand
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StudentEditorialBoard:
Ms.PrathikshaMishra
IshaSehgal
AbhishiktaKumar
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BhashwatiGuhaMuzumdar
StudentContributors:
Bhaswati Guha
Isha Sehgal
Srishti Sao
Mahima
Abhishek Mayank
StudentEditor:
Namitha A.I.
SMELLS LIKE
TEEN SPIRITLow pants and short skirts
Laughter, smiles, cries and smirks
A chitter here and a chatter there
When thrashings and fights are not so rare
Where no one is even close to hermit
It smells like teen spirit.
When our parents are no longer friends
Their objections increasing with the changing trends
Perturbing arguments rising every night
Ahh! The teens would not give in without a fight
When the personality strangely splits
It smells like teen spirit.
Wider views and Widest of the gangs
Back bitching and HELL YEAH !! the notorious pranks
Bunking classes just for fun
Woahhh!! Friends and enemies in tons and tons
But the best part being stealing merits
It smells like teen spirit.
Where young minds race in all directions
Attitudes in infinite variations
The diet pills and hardcore gym classes
Those sparkling faces like ignited matches
When everyone wants to cross their limits
It definitely smells like teen spirit.
Isha Sehgal, MA Mass Communication, sem 1