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How to secure excellent marks in your exams

Stop reading this and go face your books. This post is not going to help you in any way.

Author Shumaila TaherPosted on February 7, 2013Categories LOL1 Comment on How to secure excellent marks in your exams

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Book Recommendation ✨ . In a remote Norwegian island, a sea-storm has wiped out 40 fishermen. As Maren watches the sea swallow all the men including her brother and father, the women are left to fend for themselves. As their days pass in a lull, haunted by the ghosts of those drowned in the reckless storm, the women learn to carve a life for themselves until three years later a sinister figure arrives at Vardo, uprooting their very existence. Absalom Cornet has arrived from Scotland, where he has built a kind of a reputation of burning witches. He is accompanied by his wife, Ursa, who is young as much as naïve, unware of the man she has married, and clueless about life in Vardo. . . Soon enough, Absalom demands for strict adherence to his rules. He believes Vardo to be possessed by witches, where women who roam freely, and run entire houses on their own, are untouched by god. Ursa is terrified of her husband’s authority and utterly lonely till she finds solace in Maren. Absalom’s growing power and blind belief by some women of Vardo lead to a devastating result. . . The Mercies is a feminist story of the threat women pose even when they’re just existing in their own skin, of how unchecked power and systemic oppression has led to abuse and ostracization of one gender. It’s a reflection of how rumours and hearsay can have catastrophic results. The blind faith instilled in a religious institution, the manipulation and exploitation of people who look up to a figure of authority is an issue still prevalent in today's time. The way the seeds of hatred and suspicion are woven into a community & how everyone turns against you is shown with finesse. Kiran’s writing is hauntingly beautiful; it’s visually appealing in a sense that I could smell the sea breeze, feel the force of the waves as they crash and submerge in a rhythm, and the way the women powered through despite gut-wrenching loss. . Image Description: The Mercies is kept on the table, with a cup of tea and a laptop. There's also a pen and a pair of glasses. . What are you currently reading? .

The past few days have seen the world take an unexpected turn. It appears as if the world as we know has been replaced by a TV show, where bizarre things happen because they’re supposed to, where time becomes an arbitrary concept and people we know change their roles—swapping their existence for something more precarious. No matter how much we get drawn towards this wave of paranoia, this despair that seems to be shadowing us, we must pull ourselves back. We must rid ourselves of this entitlement, this privilege we wear as second skin. It’ll be easy to go back into our old ways, looking straight ahead, only turning back when it concerns the self. In these moments of nothingness, one must also introspect: is everything we’ve considered sacrosanct legitimate? Or have the barriers we’ve erected under the garb of protection just alienating us from each other? Why must one’s existence be a negotiation when the threat to life poses a greater danger than man-made canon’s of righteousness? It’s important to ruminate because the standards and ideals and customs we’ve set for ourselves don’t stand a chance when we’ll be scrambling to not cease. That’s when we’ll realize how superfluous our lives have been, how much time has gone to waste and how many lives were collateral damage. Maybe then we'd stop chasing after goals to notice how beautiful the sky looks after it has rained, the way our mothers concentrate while typing on their phones or how just being is a gift in itself. I’m hopeful that one day, we’ll rise above our ego, our prejudices, our short-comings, and maybe for once, see the world for what it is. . Image Description: Shumaila is sitting with her back turned. In front of her is a desk with a laptop, a cup of tea and a planner on it. She's pretending to browse on her phone 🙈 #bookblogger #booksandteaareads #booksandteaarants #existence #living #biggerpicture #rightnow #bookstagramkolkata #bookstagramindia #bookishfeatures #bookishreads #lbbkolkata #readingandwriting #introspect #important #bookdragon #bookshelves #bookblogger #indianblogger #indiabookstagram #igreads #igcalcutta

We grow up being told segregation exists. We’re already given a tier in the hierarchal system of caste. It doesn’t come as a surprise that prejudice, discrimination & oppression are elements of a skewed society that only seems to be exacerbating. During my teaching years, I would often be asked what my religion was by a number of students. Their questions came from a place of innocence, but mainly, from conversations happening at home. It wasn’t enough to tell them I was ‘Muslim’ because not only would I be met with surprise but some would take it further to ask, ‘Sunni or Shia?’. I never took it as an offence and would always tell them it doesn’t really matter. After which they would drop the question and forget about it. Caste system has seeped into every layer of our being, taking shape and molding itself in subtle ways. You might say our family doesn’t believe in caste but it’s just your privilege talking. To assume, caste is a thing of the past, is shirking off accountability and giving up your privilege. . In this memoir, Yashica with great sincerity reveals how she spent most of her life running away from her reality, one she didn’t even question. We may not want to accept the caste supremacy still very much prevalent and spreading like wildfire here in India but many Dalits continue to face the brunt of systemic oppression that has eaten the very fabric of a ‘supposedly’ just nation. . Yashica points out the cruel treatment meted out to Dalits, the glaring flaws in not just the Indian education system but nearly every job sector, the entire narrative around reservation, lack of accessible opportunities, zero representation of Dalit voices in movies, arts or academia. Furthermore, she sheds light on Dalit women who are not only suffering caste violence but have no bodily autonomy, a recurrent patriarchal notion of women not having claim to their own body. Upper-caste men use mutilation, public humiliation to silence Dalit women. It’s just another way of making them know their place in the society. . "Continued in comments"

The Mercies is a story set in Norwegian island of Vardo of 1617, where a storm killed 40 men. The woman are left to fend for themselves who are looked at with scorn & hate. This island houses just women. The book is inspired by the witch trials that took place in 1621 where women taking charge of their own life was considered a ploy, a terrible conspiracy, labelling them as witches. I've only read a 100 pages & this is exactly the kind of escapist read I've been looking for. The vastness of the sea & it's cruelty to swallow entire human species coupled with magical realism & a sense of foreboding have kept me hooked. @kiran_mh is a brilliant writer. I've annotated so many paragraphs solely because of her beautiful analogies, the way a sentence melts into another, giving readers an experience like no other. . Reading this for women's readathon organized by @panmacmillanindia & I'm looking forward to seeing how the book pans out. . I stopped reading because yours truly broke her glasses 😭 So, I'm waiting till I get it back. If I had a dollar every time I broke something, I'd be a millionaire. Please tell me I'm not the only one? . Tell me what you're reading ✨ Image Description: The Mercies is placed in the center while a teacup and an open book is placed on either side of the book. . #booksandteaareads #themercies #panmacmillanindia #escapism #vardostorm #witchtrials #womensreadthon #magicalrealism #bookofthemonth #readingandwriting #lbbkolkata #bookdragon #bookstagramkolkata #bookstagramindia

Let's chat! 📚 . How are you coping with all that's going on? I started freelancing sometime last year so I'm quite used to working from home. But I do understand, that's not the case with everyone. It may feel too overwhelming & you might suddenly not know what to do. It's completely okay if you feel confused but do remember social distancing is our contribution towards flattening the curve of the virus. However, there are people who have to go to work (folks working in the healthcare dept) but also a number of people who do not have the liberty to stay at home because their livelihood depends on it. Let's be more mindful of them & hope the system that's built to marginalize a few changes. 🤞 . A few things you might want to do now that you have more time on your hands: 1.) Pick up that book you've been wanting to read. Or just read anything. 2 .) Take online classes. There are several free classes online on writing, social media marketing etc. If you don't want to do that, read up on things. 3 .) Exercise? No? Okay. 4.) Spend time with your family. I know, it's revolutionary. You'll probably find out their favourite color. 5.) Rest. There's no need for you to constantly fill your time by 'doing' something. It's alright. Give yourself some time. . How are you keeping yourself occupied? . #booksandteaareads #socialdistancing #reading #learning #onlineclasses #workingfromhome #safedistance #readingallday #socialmedia #bookdragon #bookstagramkolkata #bookshelves #bookishfeatures #bookishreads

You're looking for a book that reminds you why you read in the first place. One written well and that will feel like it was written just for you; one that will make you think about things in a new way, or feel things you didn't expect a book to make you feel, or see things in a new light. A book you won't want to put down, whose characters you don't want to tell goodbye. A book you will close feeling satisfied and grateful, thinking, now that was a good one. If I could read only great books for the rest of my days, I would be happy. But finding those books, for myself or any other reader, isn't so easy. A "great" book means different things to different people. ~ I'd Rather Be Reading, Anne Bogel . And just like that, Anne describes the relationship readers have with books. The stumbling, falling, picking oneself up the way books do for us, is a sentiment we all know too well. Here in simple prose, she talks about books that broke our hearts, making a dent in the deepest corners, where by the end of the chapter, our eyes are moist & the world seems blurry. Then there are those books that don't sit too well with us, like oversized shoes and uncomfortable socks. But she insists, there are books that are perfectly suited for us; those books that capture our minds right from the beginning. This book is an ode to readers, to their relationship with reading and ultimately, with themselves. . It's surprising to me that I've only read half the book & I know in my heart, it's going to be one of my favourites. . What are you currently reading? . Image Description: there are stacks of books in front of a brightly-lit window and a cup of tea & saucer placed right on the top. A person is pouring tea from a teapot. . #booksandteaareads #idratherbereading #annebogles #booksandreading #readerrelationship #findingbooks #bookdragon #bookstagramkolkata #bookstagramkolkata #bookstagramindia #lbbkolkata #bookishfeatures #writing #favouritebook

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