Improfane

  What is stan culture and why is it toxic? This popular term is a portmanteau of stalker and fan. First originated from a 2000 song by Eminem which went by the same name. Stan culture can be defined as a  hyperbolic obsession towards a particular person, usually a pop celebrity. While this obsession can be directed towards anyone in general, stan culture is synonymous with K-Pop obsession, in particular, BTS. Now BTS is a South Korean, seven-member boy band that debuted in the early 10s. They gained momentum around 2013, subsequently garnering hundreds of millions of fans. This was all fun and games until the fans evolved into an unhealthy faction of obsessed stans, who are rather fanatical about the boy band and are resistant to any form of criticism towards their idols. Stan culture is also characterized by harsh reactions towards opinions against the idols. This results in the individual’s bad image in society. This breaks relationships as nothing good was ever born of an ...

   The Genesis of Disguised Tyranny I recently watched a TED Talk given by a young man about the Indian Education System. He spoke informally, in a casual and friendly tone, even made some hilarious jokes between statements, but the audience’s response wasn’t all that significant. I knew the answer for this, the answer for why the room was awkwardly silent throughout the course of his speech, and the answer was obvious--The audience was in favor of the system.  Picture this: A peaceful scenery, disciples of the village Guru offering presents to him. The Guru teaching and inculcating values, religion, science, and math to his students. Blissful, isn’t it? Enter Thomas Babington Macaulay, a British historian, who scoffed at the prevalent system of education in India and suggested his very own version, known popularly as Macaulayism.  Enough history, let’s snap into the 21st century: The education system incorporated into India by Macaulay is now a multi-billion-do...

  INDIA & CHINA – The Economic Race China is a 15 trillion dollar economy, but why isn’t India??  Improfane Econ! Factors: 1.Education: China : China’s Academic Talent Search Programmes. The Best and the Brightest are identified - and fully sponsored for education. No Minorities or Majorities. India:  69% Seats in Engineering Colleges and Medical Colleges are reserved based on Community and Caste. The Best Talents find themselves abandoned by their Own Governments – Doesn’t matter if it’s Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi or MMS or Vajpayee or Narendra Modi. In 2020 - In 8 States - only 0.9% of Doctors came from the Forward Castes and only 9.3% Engineers. China: 80% of students who did their Masters abroad return home within 15 years to China to serve their Government Contracts in their respective fields. They are offered many benefits - Fewer Taxes, More incentives, etc. India: Less than 7% of Students return home to India after 15 years. Sure they’ll do all this flag-wa...

  Can minors date in India? Suffice to say, this question needs to be addressed with all urgency. Can two minors indulge in a consensual sexual relationship with each other? Most sources say that consent of a minor for sexual intercourse cannot be considered legal consent in any way. We also need to note the fact that a minor/child in India refers to anyone below 18 years of age. This means that the age of consent-the legal age at which a person can give consent for sexual relationships is 18. This is relatively high in comparison to other countries of the world. The age of consent in the United Kingdom is 16, while the age of consent in The Philippines was until 2020, a surprising 12! While some countries like India and the US have high age of consent, countries like The Philippines have low age of consent, thus, the mean age of consent is challenged by extreme values. Snapping back to the topic, it is illegal for minors to indulge in any form of sexual relationship in India. Alth...

 Is campaigning resistant to COVID-19? It’s been more than a year since India began its battle against the COVID -19 pandemic. In March 2020, the country was confronted with the emergence of the virus and a simultaneous lack of resources to tackle the same, especially medical infrastructure, and so the Indian government decided to go for a nationwide lockdown. Despite the negative consequences related to the economy, this firm measure helped to curb the spread of the virus while India acquired the necessary resources and began working on vaccines. Now India is in danger of facing a serious second wave where cases are rising exponentially and the response seems to be slow. One reason behind this is the heavy influence of politics that is rooted in almost every aspect of life in Indian society. Take, for example, the government’s reluctance to impose reasonable restrictions during public gatherings that took place from August last year. The election is another occasion that has been...

  Why can't boys grow their hair long? Schools speak of equality, our constitution speaks of equality, gender equality is trending everywhere, feminists voicing out the suppression of women even for the most subtle of causes. Agreed, society should treat all the genders equally. But things get complicated when inequality is practiced right in front of our eyes but is overlooked because the victim isn’t the quintessential sort of victim. Yes, we’re talking about men-the gender that is almost always overlooked these days. People who belong to other genders treat men like they are privileged in some way or the other, this puts the modern man in a state or situation where he is barred from even complaining about the misdeeds done against him. Schools in India generally have rigid rules that students have to follow, some of these rules are accepted as they make some sort of sense, some rules simply don’t make sense-like the one that prescribes that boys shouldn’t grow hair longer than 2...