Kal Tak

Stories from yesterday, stories for tomorrow

Purpose

Kal Tak consists of a team of final year journalism students who aim to bring out a series of stories covering a range of themes from food, books and films to climate change awareness, caste discrimination and relationship exploration. Through this site, we want to showcase what we have learnt in a variety of forms, employing different mediums such as photographs, writing, podcasts and videos, all while we both entertain and inform our audience.

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NEWS FEATURE

Caste discrimination in Tamil Nadu: As it stands
Sanjana Ezil and Rithanya

Discrimination against people based on their religious, regional, ethnic, cultural, caste, gender, or economic class is widespread worldwide, and Tamil Nadu is no exception. However, caste prejudice appears more restrained and subtle in Tamil Nādu than in many other Indian states. Another critical item to notice is that, under the decades-long dominance of Dravidian parties, Tamil Nadu is also the pioneer and leader in reverse caste discrimination.

Tamil Nadu has a long record of brutal violence in opposition to Dalits and different marginalized groups. It also has extended records of war and success towards caste discrimination and the upliftment of oppressed communities. The CPI(M), alongside mass organizations, has been preventing the war against caste legally in Parliament in addition through mass mobilization for several decades.

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, along with different mass companies and the CPI, carried out a state wide survey in 2008 overlaying 1,849 villages of 22 districts to look at the time-honoured types of caste discrimination inside the state. Nearly forty years after the 1969 Keelvenmani massacre, wherein forty-four landless Dalit laborers were burnt alive employing goons of upper caste landlords for worrying better wages, this survey found out the atrocious forms of untouchability that keep. Around 445 villages throughout Tamil Nadu nevertheless exercise untouchability, a form of suppression in opposition to human beings belonging to Dalit and Tribal groups.

The Dalit community in Tamil Nadu is anxiously looking for government movement as they undergo caste atrocities and discrimination, with over 15 such incidents stated because Assembly elections concluded within the country in April this year. The offenses are of severe depth, including a double homicide, discrimination of a village panchayat president, and denial of participation to Dalits in temple fairs, amongst others. Furthermore, many incidents go unreported, even as many others are settled even earlier than it reaches the court of law because of political intervention or worry of in addition intimidation.

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front and different Dalit rights firms are urgently demanding the state authorities convene the biannual nation-stage vigilance and tracking committee. The demand for constituting the kingdom commission for SC/ST has also been raised. After a brief lull because of the Assembly elections on April 6, reviews of attacks on participants of the Dalit network are on the upward push again. Days after the polling, two Dalit adolescents had been killed with the aid of a gang of adolescents belonging to the Vanniyar community in Arakkonam in the Ranipet district. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi claimed that the murders had been politically stimulated. A Dalit youth was murdered in the Palayamkottai valuable jail in Tirunelveli, which has been termed as a deliberate homicide through the deceased's loved ones. Caste clashes had been allegedly at the back of the assault on the Dalit inmates.

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VOICES

Abdul Manaf, founder and owner, Fruit Bae
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Striking a balance between mediums
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(Click on the arrows to read the full story.)

Interview-review: Grape expectations
Sandhya Kumar and Aryan Goel

Fruit Bae and one man's road to creating a successful brand

A sense of calm arises within me as I guzzle down shot after shot of colourful concoctions on a sweltering weekday noon. Mind you, these are not your average alcohol shots. Fruity and healthy, they are just what we need to cool our nerves in Namma Bengaluru’s unforgiving summer. And bringing this respite to us is Abdul Manaf, founder of Fruit Bae, Bengaluru's newest fruit-based juice and dessert shop.

The fruitful journey

From starting in a small 200 square feet outlet with seating for just eight people in Kochi in November of 2018, this former IT solutions professional’s brainchild, Fruit Bae, has opened its newest outlet in Bengaluru. Being creative and innovative are crucial to survive in this industry, he points out. "Growing up, I have always been a fan of fruit juices, but most juice shops across the country serve juices mixed with high amounts of sugar and water. The idea is to create a fruit-based retail outlet that serves healthy juices and fresh fruit-based high-quality desserts that everyone can enjoy," says Manaf. The high quality is retained by using only natural ingredients, he adds. "We benchmark fruit juices, milkshakes and desserts, and we never use store-bought syrups and purees," he shares. With 26 outlets in a span of four years, including the pandemic, Manaf is working on opening more outlets in Bengaluru, Chennai, and even Dubai. “The pandemic didn’t just help us sustain but also grow, all thanks to our loyal customer base and strong social media following,” he offers.

What’s in store?

Starting the afternoon off is Berry Up, which is credited as their signature dish. Layers of pureed berries, muesli, vanilla yoghurt, and vanilla ice-cream are packed in a quirky glass jar that is later pulled up to form a delectable mess on your plate. It's a delight for the eyes and the palate. Upon Manaf's recommendation, I went with the raspberry puree which is available in three varieties — raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry. “Our purees are freshly made in-house, daily, with locally sourced fresh fruits and imported berries,” he says. As I sample this, I find that the sweetness from the yoghurt and the ice-cream perfectly balances the tartness emerging from the raspberry puree, but it is the muesli that holds the dish together.

To counter the sweetness of the Berry Up arrived the subtle Russian honey cake, a chilled honey-flavoured cake filled with layers of honey whipped cream. “The Russian honey cake is prepared and stored in our cold storage unit in Kochi and is shipped to Bengaluru daily,” he notes. With a firm structure but a softer texture, this pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth cake contains no additional flavour other than honey, making it light on the stomach. The mild flavour of the honey found in both the cake and the airy whipped cream can pair well with a cup of freshly brewed coffee or tea.

I then graduated to Fruit Shots to quench my thirst. Served in tall shot glasses in four, eight and twelve variations, these fresh fruit juices can be quite an attention-grabber. Amid the options, it was the orange shot with mild hints of bitterness from the rind and no added preservatives that stood as the clear winner and the perfect refresher. Besides this bestseller, you can expect flavours like watermelon, grape, pineapple and sweet lime.

From the plate to the heart

Feeling sufficiently healthy from the meal, my senses seem to slow down, but Manaf recommends I try the Fruit Parfait. Strawberry yoghurt paired with muesli and fresh-cut seasonal fruits compose this simple, hearty dish. Though the elements bind well together, the strawberry yoghurt was mildly overpowering, masking the flavours of the fruits. Nevertheless, the parfait is light and full of texture, making each bite a fruit-lover’s delight.

The final course of the day was the Fruit Gazpacho, a creation best described as a handful of summer with mango, pineapple, passion fruit, and lime topped with chopped mint leaves. The crunchy texture from the passion fruit seamlessly cuts the fresh tartness of the pineapple, mango and lime, making this bright yellow concoction a winner for your summer woes.

Manaf hopes to expand the brand to international standards. "Work is already underway to open more outlets; we aim to open 33 outlets within the next two months and 100 outlets in the next two years," shares Manaf. And as I make my way out, it’s not just my stomach that has been filled, but my heart as well.

Fruit Bae is located at Lulu Global Mall 2nd floor, Rajaji Nagar Gopalapuram, Binnipete, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560023, and is open from 11 AM to 11:30 PM every day.

Survey: Books or movies?
Gauri Tandon, Anand A and Vishnu Menon

Trying (and failing) to settle a perpetual debate

Books have existed for centuries and have provided us with education, relaxation, and entertainment. The popularity of movies, on the contrary hand, has skyrocketed in recent years.

A survey was circulated among students, aged 18-23 to add to the age long debated of which of the two, book or movies, is better. While there is a prevalent belief that books are superior to movies, there were many who disagreed to the same. Of course, that greatly depends on whom you ask, as some people may have a different viewpoint and may even have some evidence to support it. That said, despite the fact that the novels and the movies share the same plot, story, reading a book as opposed to watching a movie offers a lot more advantages.

In the debate between reading books and watching movies, it is evident that reading is far healthier for us. Out of the respondents, 83.3% of them read books and surprisingly 70.3% want their favorite books turned into movies, while also believing that they movies somewhat ruin the essence of a book. On one hand the readers voted that they prefer reading books because it enhances imagination, improves reading abilities, and helps to better their vocabulary too, while on the other, the watchers believe that watching movies is better because it way less time consuming, easy to comprehend, it creates a more immersive world for the stories, and because they can’t keep us with the books.

On asking why shouldn’t books be turned into movies, the participants explained that not every book should be made into a movie because almost more times than not, the movie makers are not able to match the standards and expectations of the audience and that the books are setting. Film adaptations of books are less engaging and in also lack depth and detail. There are always a few lines that lose their essence or are completely changes/ removed.

Where the movie critics have strong opinions on the above mentioned, movie lovers had some interesting points to make as well! Making a movie is just as much of an artistic endeavor as writing a novel. In some cases, the movie makers of the novels the movies were based on, were finer artists than the original, writers.

There are benefits to watching movies for the audience, which is one of the reasons why they are so well-liked nowadays. Here are several reasons why our participants believe that movies can be superior to books, despite the fact that this scenario is not often. Movies have more aesthetically appealing content, and actors give life to their favorite characters. They occasionally tell the story in a better way, and more can be said, using fewer words as the audience can understand the characters' emotions through their facial expressions and body language.

While the books vs movies discussion is clearly one which is far from being over, one thing that has become evident is that the advantage of reading books, weighs more than that of watching movies and straining your eyes. While not disregarding the advantage of watching movie adaptations of your favorite books, we not only encourage you to walk the healthy path, of reading but also encourage you to explore both sides and decide for yourselves!

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EDITORIAL

Environmental education should be remodelled in Indian schools
Chirrag Guha

Incidents of natural disasters and extreme weather around the globe have an enormous impact on health and economy, and cost many lives each year. According to the World Meteorological Organisation report on “State of Climate: Asia", India lost $87 billion in 2020 to natural disasters. Whilst world leaders meet in the UK for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP-26), India needs to adopt innovative ways to incorporate youth in the climate change movement.

Encouraging change in every sector is imperative to construct a vigorous mechanism against climate change. Environmental education in academic institutions will aid in shaping and sustenance of future policymaking. It will rear critical thinking and problem solving skills which are the foundation of progressive education. The net zero emission targets, pledged by governments across the globe, require nations to design an environmental education curriculum that instills in students the willingness and the potential to build a society free from oil and powdered completely by renewable energy sources. It also makes it imperative that we design an environmental education curriculum that imbues in our children the willpower and the potential to design a world that moves away from oil and runs only on alternative energy sources.

India stands as one of the few countries in the world to have compulsory environmental education at all levels of formal education at all levels.The supreme Court in 1991 recognised environmental contamination and ordered it to make it a compulsory subject at all levels of education. In 2003, the NCERT prepared the model syllabus for environmental education, and the SC ordered for it to be implemented in schools across the nation of grades 1 to XII. These steps towards creating awareness and finding solutions are possible only if teachers are trained to address the issue of climate change and drive project-based learning in the classroom. For instance, several schools haves an environmental club where students participate actively to environmental related activities, along with programmes like "Capstone projects" where students develop projects leveraging clean technologies that can be developed for use by the masses. Reflection is also needed regarding the relative importance of environmental education in schools, not only with respect to curricula but also in terms of the opportunities it creates for students and the impact it has on the physical and cultural environment.

Active participation of students as change-makers requires that their voice be incorporated in the programs they participate in. Environmental

education must develop in individuals the capacity for self-reliance. This requires an active engagement with local communities that have adopted sustainable practices over generations. Working with indigenous people wherever possible will help students adopt sustainable living. While environmental education has become an essential element of our education, tackling climate change needs a broader educational approach.

Environmental education in schools requires more consideration not just in terms of curriculum but also in terms of possibilities it provides students and its influence on physical and cultural surroundings. The behavioural change in students and the community at large determines the impact of environmental studies rather than the grade of students. Curricula across schools and examination boards mandate that students be aware of the effects of the combustion of fossil fuels. Students study alternative energy sources that are currently in use and those that have the potential for development. This however remains a theoretical lesson because of the minuscule weightage it receives in the assessment.

To imbibe the values of environment-friendly living, schools should develop a sensitive mindset in students about climate issues. Geography and environmental education classes should be active with discussions and debates on topics like poor air quality and wildfires. Schools must allow students to create prototypes that employ renewable energy sources and design devices that use mechanical energy of a moving cycle to charge a rechargeable battery. It will be possible to implement these steps only when the teachers are trained to approach climate issues in the country. Instituting programs that study and critique legislation and policies to mitigate climate change will go a long way in nurturing the administrators and policymakers of the future.

Developing an eco-centric value system will go a long way in preserving our environment. Not just case studies, but expeditions to places where students see people living in harmony with nature will help them believe that it is possible to be content with minimum exploitation of our resources.

All in all, making the curriculum more practical and reflective, equipping teachers with the right tools and training in environmental pedagogy, partnering with the community and valuing students' voices will help us develop an education system that combats more than just climate change.