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The Conflux Rivista WHO ARE WE?'The Conflux Rivista' is a youth lead e-magazine found in the month of June, year 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The brainchild of Ms. PakhiGauba & Ms. Esha Saxena aims to explore opinions of the youth through webinars, workshops ,stories, music, dance, sketching and various other art forms. The theme of this edition is ‘Fiesta Of Freedom’. It is a compilation of the work done during the four months of our journey . It includes articles written by our team, pictures, and in addition, it discusses our major accomplishments as a youth-run venture.Before you dive deep into the Fiesta of Freedom by turning your page, we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to this edition. Without your support, this wouldn’t have come to existence.We Thank You For All The Love and present before you, ‘The Fiesta of Freedom’Happy Reading! Regards,Team, The Conflux Rivista WE WELCOME YOU TO THE FIRST EDITION OF ‘THE CONFUX RIVISTA’ – The Fiesta Of Freedom!

The Conflux RivistaThe Fiesta Of Freedom September 2020 esha dd . ddfs • 6- Cate and Class in the Urban World • 7- More Feminine, Less Feminist • 8- A Letter to the 13 Year Old Me • 9- Our Events • Webinar on countering Gender Discrimination and Negative Stereotype • Managing Relationships • To dear stranger with love • 10- Social Media • 1- Do you have a hobby too? Mine is Make-up! • 2- Music as a Way of Living • 3- Independence Day • 4- Let’s Celebrate Festivals • Rakhi • Janamashthmi • Ganesh Chaturthi • Teachers Day • 5- No FANCY GOALS, just SIBLING GOALS!! 3 The Conflux Rivista

Do you have a hobby too? Mine is Make-Up! 1 "As a kid, I always fantasized about wearing make-up. I remember applying lip-balm multiple times a day and using my mum's make-up material for the annual day event. As I grew a little older, fashion shows became life! The glittery eyes, glossy lips, flawless skin never failed to tempt me. Perhaps, I decided to save money just to buy myself fancy makeup brushes and cute packaged stuff, and that is when I started to experiment with makeup.” Pratichee Gupta IG : @creative_contour The Conflux Rivista 4

. 2 Music- As A Way Of Living for Tushar & Mohak In the Picture : Mohak Sharma In the Picture : Tushar Singh “The inclination towards music is not something that was externally inculcated in me. It's a love that naturally developed over a period of time. I have only recently started going to concerts and attend these musical meet and greet events. Honestly, I don't aim to become a famous musician, but rather an Indie artist who moves and plays gigs around the city. Four years back when I got into college, I didn't know how to play guitar. So I started watching some youtube tutorials taught myself how to play. Now I am an intermediate level guitarist. I love making melodies and have even composed a few of my own songs. Currently I'm waiting for an opportunity to help me grow as a musician and collaborate with local artists. I can never thank my parents enough for their constant support for my music, and my friend Madhav who helped me enhance my guitar skills and also introduced me to some of the best Indie artists. If you happen to be a musician, feel free to reach out and I'll be more than happy to jam together! Stay tuned for my upcoming covers and originals.” -Mohak Sharma “Music has always been more than a source of entertainment to me, it has been an escape from my everyday life into a world where I didn’t have to worry about the people around me, their thoughts or judgements. As a fat sensitive kid, I was always the bullies favorite target. Playing music allowed me to break free and calm myself, plus I assume that girls love guys who can play the guitar. Growing up, my taste in music changed, and I turned towards playing more advanced Jazz as well as Metal music. Listening to Iron Maiden for the first time after vibeing with Boney M for years really changed my views on music. Soon, I was head banging to Metallica and Megadeath, only to be drawn towards Progressive metal a few months later.Dream Theater, Polyphia, Animals as Leaders have got to be few of the best progressive bands today, no matter what kind of music you’re into you’ll definitely love their music. Being Progressive metal rock bands they fuse traditional heavy metal music with jazz, pop or even classical music creating, in my sense, the perfect genre of music.Even though, I have an order or preference, I love all sorts of music. Music to me is a form of expression, an art, and listening to music you like is like talking to your best friend for hours. It changes the way you think, your language, your imagination. For me music is my private paradise and my refuge.” - Tushar Singh 5

Independence Day - Kshitij Freedom from the forces of past, From what fulfils, and what leaves us aghast, Freedom from oppressive ways, Freedom from, what goes and stays, Freedom from those sold souls, Freedom from deceptive prowls, From my beliefs and yours too, August fifteenth was just one such cue, A day that stood as symbol of fight, The fight for freedom, for a better day, bright! A day that did not end the strife, A day that started the real fight, Fight from not the other side, A fight for freedom within, inside! A fight for freedom within, inside! PC: Krishna Gupta ..

RAKHI Let’s Celebrate Festivals! - Muskan Aggarwal “A festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. It usually falls in the month of August. Temples get filled with devotees who come from places far and near to pray and celebrate. A symbolical ceremony of “Maatki -fod" i.e. breaking the Matki (clay pot) full of Makhan (butter) is also performed in many places. Like every year, we were looking forward to celebrate Krishan Ji's birthday this year as well. We decorated our temple with lights, paper ribbons, and balloons. My mother prepared a variety of delicious and mouthwatering dishes. This time, the pandemic made it impossible to get Lord Krishna’s attire from Vrindavan and we had to buy it from our local store. In the morning, we gave a milk bath followed by a water bath to Krishanji. Then, we adorned him with the new dress, jewellery, and of course the bansuri (flute). Afterwards, all of us prayed together and the offerings made by my mother, called prasad, was shared. Then we relished the food altogether. Following, we also danced to devotional songs and the children of the house showcased some individual performances. The day was full of fun and frolic and a beautiful experience that we all would cherish.” JAN M A S HT HA M I Picture Credits: AnujKulshrestha राखीकात्यौहारलाताखुशीयोंकीबहार ,आताहैयेसालमेंबसएकबार! वैसेतोलगभगहमारीहोतीहैलड़ाईयार, परराखीपरमिलताहैभाईकाढेरसाराप्यार! रूठजाऊतोमनालेताहै, नहींतोअपनेगंदेजोक्सपरहंसादेताहै! पढा़ईमेंकुछसमझ न आएतोसमझाताहैवो, मैथकीप्रोब्लमसोल्वकरनासिखाताहैवो! गुस्साकरताहैपरदुलारभीकरताहै, जतातानहींहैमगरवोप्यारभीकरताहै ! मूडख़राबहोताहैमेराजब, बिनाबताएजानजाताहैभाईतब! मुझेदिनभरअपनेकामकेलिएपरेशानकरताहैवो, मनाकरूतो "यारभाईकेलिएइतनानहींकरसकती" कहकरइमोशनलब्लैकमेलकरताहैवो! हांथोड़ाटेढ़ातोहै, परजनाबभाईतोआखिरवोमेराहै? HathiGhodaPalki, Jai Kanhaiya Lal Ki“

Let’s Celebrate Festivals! G A N E S H C H A T U R T H I - Muskan Aggarwal T E A C H E R S’ D A Y A big belly and much bigger brain, We noticed the first, and the latter went in vain, A personified intelligence, is what he is, On the fourth of waxing moon is what we miss! "Ganapati is another name for the intelligence that's universal in nature. Let's celebrate intelligence on Ganesh Chaturthi every year! Drawing Credits : MuskanAggrawal “Teacher's day is celebrated on the 5th of September every year to give regards to not only our teachers, but also to our parents and other people who add on to our knowledge, help us turn into better individuals. It's an exciting day for the students of class 12th as they get to dress up like their favorite teacher and showcase a little mimicry act. I chose to dress up like my Maths teacher, wearing an ethnic dress with a badge of her name pinned to it. Other students also did the same thing. Afterwards, we were all invited on stage in the preset order to thank our teacher for their valuable guidance and to give them each a rose. Then everyone was dragged onto the dance floor. We danced together with our teachers and principal ma’am, and clicked pictures with each other to preserve these moments. Post that, we were allotted classes to handle a respective group of students. All of us absolutely enjoyed this part where we got to interact and play games with each other. Later we returned back to our rooms and conversed with our teachers. A cake cutting ceremony also took place. The teachers felt elated and gave us love and blessings for a bright future. It’s indeed a beautiful memory for all of us.”

The Conflux Rivista ‘FASANA’ ‘Fasana’ aimed at providing people with a platform to remember their travel stories and share them with fellow travelers. This pandemic has forced us all indoors, and with ‘Fasana’, the participants got an opportunity to go down memory lane and feel a sense of nostalgia. Everyone who registered found the evening delightful. You know what they say – to travel is to live. - Covered by Divya Sharma ‘GUFTAGOO’ An open mic session was organised by the team keeping in mind the deteriorating mental health during the Covid-19 times, wherein 10 shortlisted performers were given a chance to showcase their work ; poetry, music, stories and other forms of art. It proved to be an evening full of enthusiasm, zeal and passion. - Covered by MuskanAggrawal BINGO! The event entailed playing bingo and performing poetry, music, stand-up etc. The order of the participants was decided through riddles. The first prize was given to Mohak Sharma, and second and third were given to Sagar Bhatia and Venu Gopal Arora respectively. Numerous people registered themselves as an audience. And towards the end, the singers even took song requests from them. The event received active participation and an overall positive feedback. - Covered by Divya Sharma Creativity In Quarantine The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the definition of creativity. We’re all going creative in someway or the other. To team henceforth, made an effort to organise a webinar on ‘Creativity in Quarantine’. - Covered by Divya Sharma

NO FANCY GOALS, Just, 'SIBLING GOALS!!' TRIOS : Some are boon , some are bane... - By MuskanAggrawal The best trio I have, is a "SIBLING TRIO " which includes my brother Tushar and my sister Tanisha and yes, don't forget me. From our childhood phases to our teens, we have always been together, and have had our fair share of aggressive quarrels or those nasty arguments. In fact that's the best thing about our trio. We attend almost every function and all the parties together. I used to go on drives with bhai, snatching away last bites of food, playing badminton and doing things that sometimes made our family question our sanity! Bhai is the mentor of our trio. He used to help resolve my doubts and I used to resolve Tanisha's. This is our chain of learning. We used to play Ludo a lot on weekends and bhai cheated every time. He used to snatch the phone when someone tried to slice off his token! A week ago, we formed a group named after us. It's spelled as "TMT" where T stands for Tushar or you can refer to him as t-su**(can't reveal the complete name)! M for Muskan (me), and T for Tanisha or call her Thanos if you wish! The story behind this weird group name is that Tanisha and I were playing games on Snapchat and bhai (Tushar) also wanted to join us. So, we decided to create a group and sent the invites so that it's trouble free to play anytime for the trio. In the game, instead of uniting with each other and attacking others, we try to attack each other so that our game ends together and that I think is hilarious! We are six siblings in total but the age gap has put us into two separate groups. Three of us are very close to each other, and same goes for the other three who share the same age bracket. But yeah, it's wonderful to have many siblings and some hustle-bustle instead of a quiet home!! ( pc: MuskanAgraawal) The Conflux Rivista

Caste And Class In The Urban World :- Ayushi SPEAKS! Yes, you read the topic correctly, one of the controversial ones, that seldom highlighted on the mainstream platforms of discussion. But no, this is not what you find in your History or Civics textbooks. This is a mirror. A reality check of what the society actually looks like, what we were, how we have progressed and where are we heading. There is no point in discussing what we are unless we have a solid understanding of what we were, and how far we have come along the way. In an early Indian society, we were divided into four groups, typically based on birth, which strictly specified the profession one could undertake. Brahmins, the elite class, were responsible for studying and teaching the spiritual books. They were extremely protective of this knowledge, and hence it was available to only a select few. Next came the Kshatriyas, the warrior group, who protected their land and plundered that of others. They held complete control over the administrative functioning of the areas they ruled. On the third rung were the Vaishyas, who were involved in trading and craftsmanship. They formed the economy and society which the Kshatriyas ruled over and the Brahmins taught. Needless to say, they had a lot of influence over their day to day lives. Then came the disregarded and exploited class, the Shudras, treated as the bottom-feeders and untouchables. They were responsible for doing all the menial jobs that no one else wanted to, alongside their regular labour work. In addition to this, there were strict rules regarding mingling and relationships outside of one’s own community. The concept of caste and class differed from place to place, with the above mentioned one being the most prevalent. Within the caste itself, people were treated differently based on where they resided. -By AyushiAnand Picture Credits:- AnujKulshrestha Now due to whatever reasons you may want to assume; Mughal invasion, revolutionary thinkers, British colonisation, or people finally coming to their senses, the 19th and 20th century was a period of great change for India. While fighting to gain independence from a foreign crown, there were leaders who were also fighting these social evils of our own society. Taking into consideration all these social movements, one might say, change is inevitable. And so it was. One might say when people started moving into urban spaces of living, these concepts got left behind in the backward areas. Another’s opinion might be that as we advanced technologically, socio-economically and politically, we left these primitive ideologies behind. Due to progressive education, people started respecting everyone in their peer groups regardless of their cultural differences. A perspective can also be that between the high pressure and long working hours of jobs these days, one does not get time to think of such trivialities. I somehow do not find these statements completely acceptable. Why? you may ask. Let me substantiate this statement with a few simple examples: The Conflux Rivista

When you open up the newspaper every day, apart from the gut-wrenching, troublesome news on the first page, ones who bother to through the rest may come across something called a matrimonial section. This page is full of “wanted” advertisements, by people looking to marry and settle down. Now the first thing that they talk about is the caste and religion of the person whom they would consider for marriage. After this comes their looks, complexion, height, educational qualification and a whole list of qualities that honestly make me want to question everything our society stands for. So the situation is such, that apart from caste based inequalities, we also have to make do with body-shaming, racial discrimination and more. • -If the problem of caste-based inequalities has been solved to such an extent, why is there still a need for reservation? Granted, that it can be greatly misused these days, but national statistics show that most people below the poverty line, the uneducated, and those living in unsanitary areas in urban cities, belong to scheduled castes and tribes. They have a history of living in poverty and facing discrimination. - While we have moved away from such discriminations to an extent, there are newer forms of inequalities emerging on the scene. While people may not judge you for the caste anymore, they are definitely taking into consideration your education level, your professional experience, your dressing etiquettes etc. Your social standing and lifestyle have become the parameters now. The focus while shifting from the earlier definition of caste and class, has taken up a new meaning in cosmopolitans, one that revolves majorly around your income level. - The future is uncertain, but it still is in our hands. We are the ones who will decide where and how to lead our country. We can choose to remain ignorant of these issues that our society faces, just as the current generation of political leaders and media houses do. Or we can choose to own up, take charge, and kick it in the ass! We can continue living as we do, or we can create a society which is in every sense of the word, is free and respectful of all its citizens Now before you start dreaming of becoming the next Prime Minister of our country, take a moment to gather your thoughts. Reflect on what you just read, and how far it is applicable in your own life. The change starts from within, analyse what you can do as a powerful youth of the nation (albeit with limited or no economic resources) to be a harbinger of this change? PC: EshaSaxena The Conflux Rivista

More Feminine, Less Feminists - By Kshitij “Most people who think or talk about changing human psyche and behavior, often don't realize that their approach is similar to a person who struggles hard with the branches and thorns of an unwanted plant without giving much attention to its roots. And end up philosophizing their failures with heavy words like nihilism.” To give my readers a context to this self-explanatory quote, it has got to do with a societal error that has been prevalent in most human societies since ages, i.e. gender biases. For those who believe that at some point of time in history, some societies were free of this error; I believe you. But the fact that it's been prevalent almost everywhere at some or most points in time is a harsh reality which cannot be overlooked. Now we might not say it often, but most of us have encountered people whose intentions are pure without a doubt, people who try to find a place for the reforms to revise such errors. To articulate it better, we should look at this problem with how deep inside it has penetrated in the societies, and how complex of an idea it is for it to be born out of the human mind. Historically, when humans were not a part of organized societies like today, hegemony of muscular strength took over. Which was male dominated. That does not mean nature wanted men to be the hegemon, but it definitely indicates the way we as a group or society leaned towards. As we grew into more organized structures, and our activities became more nuanced, the societies that were created with insight and forethought understood the need to recognize the role of the segment of their population which was perhaps considered inferior until now. Although at the smaller level of communities, that is families; I would think that the importance and role of women were never completely insignificant, even during the very early stages of societal structuring. But it was only when we evolved and organized, the perspective evolved and broadened, opening up gateway beyond that hegemony. Wise men and women used this shift to their advantage, but it did not sweep across every society like that. It came with some strong limitations. The second major shift was more general due to the advancement of technology, which resulted in the decrease of the need for muscle power and laborious work. Consequently, this levelled the field for both the genders in some way. But while mentioning the early human societies, we must also look at some of the beautiful societies of South India and some parts of early Middle Eastern settlements, as well as some of the tribes of America that were ruled by queens and had a matriarchal system. This shows us something very interesting about human beings, where with every other animal species there is a fixed social way of structuring the group. Like matriarchal societies of bees, or patriarchal structures of lions, it’s us, the humans, who show both ways of structuring ourselves. Although in significantly imbalanced ratios, but still both. Which means that nature gives us a certain choice. The way gender warriors have been working on equality is praiseworthy but they are aiming to move away from the roots and perhaps their failure will in some way alter humanity. Because when the definition of success is masculine, the effect of it can be devastating. The duality of the mind is to be realized, one side is compulsive and the other one that is conscious. Compulsive mind is masculine in nature, it's animalistic. PC:Krishna Gupta The Conflux Rivista Add A Footer

Conscious mind is feminine in nature, it’s tender and gentle. It's due to the prevalent masculinity in our minds that we consider everything tender as weak. And that there, is an error. If we look at it with clarity, we'll see it was not out of wisdom or conscience that our societies saw women as better or equal to men, but it was a compulsion created by the technological advances. What we lacked as a society then is the same as what we lack now. It is an erroneous way of thinking about human potential and productivity, i.e. we still give more importance to the masculine aspects of our lives. A century ago, it was believed that man is superior because he earns more. A millennium ago, it was believed that man is superior because he can hunt and bring food. Today instead of dropping this erroneous idea off, we were made to believe to be successful one needs to do as a man does. Instead of crushing the idea of the superiority of men, women were fooled to be more like them. Gradually we might think in a different way, a way less flawed, it’s just that we took a long cut to reach where we have. Economy is necessary for survival, no doubt, but its not 'the' thing or the only thing. It is time women and man choose to work the way they want. Because humans are not bound by the limitations of nature and neither are we bound by the societies we create. Because it was created for convenience not for curtailment. It is time that what is gentle, what is caring, what is artistic and what is feminine takes over what is harsh, what is crude, what is rational, what is masculine. It’s time both women and men begin to know the power of these qualities. It’s time the world becomes tender. It’s time we become more feminine, less feminists. Painting By: PakhiGauba The Conflux Rivista

A Letter To The 13- Year Old Me - Divya Sharma Hey everyone! This is Divya. I hope you and your loved ones are safe. So, here’s a letter I wrote to 13-year-old me who actually went through a lot of things. Let’s get started. Dear Me, Your life has not even begun yet. Everything will get a lot better; I promise. It will all be okay. I know you miss your old home and your friends but trust me! Jaipur will definitely love you and after a certain period, it’ll be your perfect home! I know you have faced separation from family, and from your friends, all the while becoming a more mature girl, and a kind sister, helping your brother out with his problems. But dear 13-year-old me, you are awesome! And it’s okay to have change in life! I wish I could give you a hug and reassure you. I don’t want to sound inconsiderate, but just know that everything you are worrying about now will all be insignificant one day. Constantly thinking and talking about your old friends will not do you any good. You need to accept the change and come in terms with the new reality. You will get everything you ever wanted. You will get good grades, you will become the school topper, you will get so many awards and certificates, and even become the head girl of the school! Like every other teenager, you’ll experience it all, success and failure, loneliness and anxiety, sadness and happiness. And it’s okay to let it all happen to you! But I’ll let you in on a little secret, by the time you turn 18, you’d have grown into one of the most beautiful souls, prioritizing your family and career. You will become the strict mother of your home who will take care of her parents and everything else at home. You will even be a great chef. I know right now you are not big on socialising but that’s okay, take it all as an experience. By the time you’re 18, things will not be the same. You would be surprised to know that you’ll start hating Instagram and Snapchat and will prioritise real life over social media. You will become obsessed with books and let me advise you! Stop overthinking, it’s the worst habit you have. Don’t be influenced by others. Stop thinking about those who don't care about you, and look at those who loves you. You know what Divya! Being a teenager is hard, harder than most adults like to admit. You’re somehow expected to figure out who you are, all the while enduring an onslaught of hormones, and social and academic pressures. Divya, you have a family who loves you, friends who accept you, a good education, and you have yet to pay for a single thing in your entire existence. So just be happy and enjoy this time! You will meet many people and I am sure you will love them. But in the end, the only ones who’ll be there for you are your parents. Always respect them like you do. Love them as much as you can. Love your brother and teach him all the good things. Be happy and yes! One more thing at 18, still a fan of Mr. Modi and one more person added to that list is JassManak. . Take care and enjoy this time! Love, A more mature you The Conflux Rivista

The Conflux Rivista OUR EVENTS The Conflux Rivista is an upcoming organisation of the youth, by the youth. The initiative began with the idea of bringing youth opinions and perspectives to mainstream attention. The organisation does this with a multitude of outlets such as enriching discussions, informative videos, and different art forms. The organisation does not lay emphasis on a particular field, rather wishes to cater to all crucial issues that in any way, shape, or form bring about a wave of change. It not only addresses the status quo, but also aims to challenge and debunk societal evil hindering progression. Working on this line, The Conflux Rivista organized various webinars this year. A Webinar On COUNTERING GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES 1. ‘The Conflux Rivista’ its first and tremendously successful webinar on ‘Countering Gender Discrimination and Negative Stereotypes’. The line of panellists included Abhinav Sharma, Pooja Majumdar, Arjun Jaiswal, Abeer Khan, Kartik Nangia, and Vihaan Chaudhary. These talented group of individuals reside in different corners of the world and belong to different age groups. Their perspectives brought about divergence to the panel and left the audience with a lot of food for thought. Some of the aspects covered during the webinar were the history of gender roles, gender discrimination in fields such as entertainment and health care, the rigidity of societal systems, and signs of positive change. Specially emphasis was drawn towards the LGBTQIA+ community; and a touch of emotion was added by all the panellists talking about acceptance and promoting equal rights. With the success of its first official event, The Conflux Rivista embarks on this journey of giving a platform to voices that deserve to be heard and opinions with a potential for the much-needed change. In the words of Angela Davis, “I am no longer accepting the things I can not change. I am changing the things I can not accept.” - A report by Arya Singh and Khyati Bajaj

The Conflux Rivista Attaching below the letter we loved. Do you too? We humans are interdependent upon each there, and therefore relationships play a significant role in our lives. Managing relationships is an art in itself. To get to know that art better, to analyse various perspectives the team organized a session on ‘Managing Relationships’. The speaker of the session were: Ms. Nikita Deshwal, Ms. Kike Bataglia, Mr. VijjualPundir, Ms. Sunita Pandey and Ms. Lizu Kaur. The cherry on the cake remained the participation from the audience. - Covered by Muskan Aggrawal To Dear Stranger…With Love Different colors reflect of my eyes, They reflect of my happiness and pain, Some bring joy while some don’t. There are times when we are surrounded by people yet end up feeling alone. We fail to express our emotions to the ones we know but feel comfortable to portray them to strangers. Keeping the same in mind, a week of letter writing was organized in which letters were exchanged through a random shuffle and at the end of the week every participant ended up receiving a heartfelt letter from a stranger. The event proved to be a bliss as 50+ letters were exchanged in the week. -Covered by Divya Sharma Managing Relationships

Social Media If you like the edition of our magazine, do follow us on social media, and don’t forget to repost about our magazine using the hashtag #theconfluxrivista The Conflux Rivista @ConfluxThe @theconfluxrivista The Conflux Rivista The Conflux Rivista confluxrivista@gmail.com

The Conflux Rivista Design & Theme Pakhi Gauba & Esha Saxena , Founders, The Conflux Rivista Kashish Gauba, Student Digital Marketing, Urban Tech University Editing Arya Singh, Editor- In- Chief, The Conflux Rivista Content Muskan Aggarwal, Student BBA Digital Marketing, Northcap University Divya Sharma, Student B.A Political Science, IGNOU Kshitij, Student Mass Communication, IPU We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who contributed their clicks and indirectly helped in the establishment of this edition! We look forward to welcome each of you as our extended family. If you wish to work with us or collaborate, kindly drop a mail at confluxrivista@gmail.com See you soon in the Next Edition! Regards, Team, The Conflux Rivista

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