The Inquisitor

TISBS STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Grades, Grades, Grades

TISBS Mark-Centric Culture

While grades are one of the most

important components on a college
application, the irony here is that
colleges are looking for uniqueness
and individuality- not a multitude of
students with only 4.0 GPAs which
seems to be our primary focus. There
are so many cases where other activities take precedence over grades.
TISB students speak in the boilerplate, programmed, success-oriented words of their parents, teachers
and college coaches, from the very
beginning of Grade 9. Are we conforming to the Indian stereotype that
we claim to be separate from?

The tension consumes you, suffocating. As

the teacher calls names, you sit there, at the
edge of your seat, holding on to those last
shreds of hope. A paper finds its way to your
desk, as another one of the many exams is finally given back. You look at the paper, the decisive red ink scrawled across- and you relax.
You feel relieved. You feel happy. As people
begin to talk and discuss, you turn around to
see a sad, broken face that peers at you. Tears
seem to well in her eyes. Out of curiosity, you
ask How did you do?, in effort to offer some
sort of comfort to the anguished soul. With a
sad, near whispery voice, she responds. I got
a 19. On twenty.
You stare back, confused, not knowing what
exactly to say. You dont know how to respond. This is what 19/20 reduced the girl to.
You look back at your own paper. 17 stares
back at you, bold and proud. And then youre
reduced to hysterics. Mental panic, shame.
Perhaps youre the one who should be worried, with the mediocre grade that youve received. Going into an emotional breakdown.
If this is how she looked at 19, imagine her
dismal expression of receiving what youd
gotten. The horror. You shudder, pondering
where this strange mentality has come from.
At first, you feign distress when you realize
that someone else did better than you, to
make it known that youre just as capable as
them. But slowly, this distress becomes real.
After a few more exams, you are genuinely
disappointed with a 17. You expect more. And
suddenly, everyone expects more. No matter how a high grade youve achieved, there
will always be that someone who has scored
higher than you, and you forget to appreciate
what youve earned.

Grades have come to equal respect

in TISBs unusual social hierarchy.
Initially, this seemed to be a good
thing - it motivated TISBians to study, after all.
But lately, it has only been exams and grades.
Late night cram sessions, one after another.
While many claim that this was created by the
schools competitive atmosphere, one teacher rightfully says The school encourages only
inter-school competition. The students here
have created this internal competition all by
themselves.
The Perfect Score, The All A*s, The 2400.
Have you ever felt as though all this is for
nothing? And that its not worth it? School
used to be a place to have fun, to meet people, to learn from your mistakes and help the
people around you. Not to face the aftermath
of a poor grade.

By Ria Vinod and Gowri Somayajula,

Grade XI

Newspaper Staff
Aditi Shenoy - Chief Editor and Designer
Dev Pant - Chief Editor and Sales Manager
Ria Vinod, Gowri Somayajula , Ria Ranadive, Richa Gupta - Junior Editors
Yash Jain - Game Correspondant
Rhea Mittal - Art Director
Krishna Ramalingan - Columnist

INSIDE
Going to College

Unsure about choosing and applying to US

Universities? We outline the college application process, with handy tips for researching,
applying, and getting in

page 2

TISB Boarding
A new boarder writes about her experience in
the GIH. Whats it really like to live with people
your age in the GIH? Other students praise
the friendly atmosphere, but complain about
annoying roommates...

page 6

Interview with Ms
Muthulekshmi
I always remember one incident that reflects
one of my best moments teaching. At the end
of explaining something, and suddenly Pritika
gets it, she opens her eyes so wide and says
HAAAAH! I GET IT NOW!

page 4

Boys Dorm Jargon

Ship me that ketchup, my main man chiller.
Ill paste you, Bobbert. The Newspaper Club
attempts to translate these strange phrases
that are so often heard in the BIH.

page 6

Comics
Is the IB really making our teachers go bald?

page 8

2
Colleges: The Application
Process and Getting in

Try finding colleges that you might be interested in by researching on the internet, attending college visits, and talking to friends
and advisors. It would be helpful to have a
vague idea about the place that you are interested in. Websites that might be helpful to
explore include College Confidential, RateMyProfessor, Niche, etc. Theres a pretty handy
book in the library called the Fiske College
guide; go through this!

As dramatic as it sounds, this question

will most likely be asked of you at several points in your life. One such time
would be around your senior year of high
school. This is the time when college
representatives will be walking in with
brochures and dreams and opportunities, your friends will be talking of dream
colleges in great cities and your parents
will want to know what your plans are.
Some of us will have the exact answer
to that question. They would know the
name of the college, the course and the
dream job all planned out. For the less
sure of us, dont worry, feeling a little
lost is just part of the process.

do, consider liberal arts colleges that might

allow you to explore different things and find
your concentration later on they usually alStill, there is a lot you can do to make the pro- low you to decide your major after trying out a
cess a lot simpler for yourself. Here are a few variety of courses.
suggestions from students:

major:
Try to ask yourself what your areas of interest
are (the subject that you are most passionate
about, etc). Large US universities, most UK and
Europe colleges, and Indian colleges require
you to apply to the course you want to study
for your Bachelors degree. US universities
usually allow transferring into another course
after a while if you realise you dont like the one
youre doing; but this option isnt always available.
If youre really unsure about what you want to

have heard about Princeton than Swarthmore,

though both are nearly equally selective).
On the other hand, you could choose a small
liberal arts college, which would allow you fluidity to explore what you want to study.

4 Make a college list.

Contrary to popular belief, liberal arts colleges

often have very strong science and maths
Start by learning about the different types of courses and facilities (Yale NUS is a good excolleges and universities.
ample of this!), and are huge graduate feeders.
That means that students who attend liberal
Larger universities are the most popular, with arts colleges often go on to do their Masters
the most resources and facilities to offer. A degree or PhD in famous schools like Harvard
common example of these would be the Uni- and UC Berkeley.
versities of California (for example, UCLA,
UCSD, etc). They often have over 50,000 stu- When you make your college list, make sure
dents. These universities tend to have much you have some target and safety schools
bigger alumni networks (to help with post-col- on there as well colleges that you know
lege job hunting), many more choices for youll probably be admitted to. You dont want
courses, more people (therefore, more clubs to only apply to the Ivy League colleges and
and sports options), and more name recog- find yourself rejected from all of them. US colnition. That means more people will be famil- leges publish something called the common
iar with the university. (Youre more likely to data set, in which they mention the mean SAT

So how do I get in? Its just luck, says senior

The college admissions process isnt linear, especially in the USA. Good grades and SAT scores do, of course, play a huge role in admission. So do extracurriculars; try to find extracurriculars that are unique and match your interests. You dont need a laundry list of extracurriculars; two or three are fine if
youre very deeply involved in them. Showing colleges you have a deep passion for something works better than telling them you did a bunch of things
for the sake of it.
One TISB senior who wishes to remain anonymous disagrees. But in the end, she says, colleges especially famous ones receive many, many more
qualified applicants than they have place for. Whether you get into a college or not is often just luck. Maybe Harvards missing a trombone player for its
band; itll take the first trombone player who comes along. Or maybe a university only wants a certain number of Indians in its new batch, and youre not
as good as all the other Indians who applied. You lose. See? Its just luck.
There could be some truth to this. After all, the holistic admissions process was started because Harvard thought it was accepting too many Jews. And it
cant be denied that having legacy (parents who went to a college), or having a US passport, increases your chances of getting in exponentially.

TISB allows you to apply to 13 colleges a

good spread for a college list is 3-5 dream
schools, 3-5 target schools, and 2-3 safeties.

4 Start research early.

WHAT DO YOU WANT

TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE?

4Decide (or dont decide) your

data set, in which they mention the mean SAT

scores of students who are admitted. That,
and selectivity (% of admitted students from
total applicants) will help you decide whether
or not youll get into a college.

Also part of the research process is deciding

what youre looking for in the perfect college.
Often the highest-ranked college isnt the
college that would be best for you after all,
youll live there for four years! Consider the
details. What kind of college environment do
you want to study in? Do you want to be in
a smaller class or a bigger one? (Liberal arts
colleges provide smaller classes with small
student to teacher ratios to accommodate a
one-on one learning experience. On the other
hand, larger universities can have up to 500+
students in one class). Do you want to go
somewhere with lots of Indians and resources for international students? Do you want
to live in the city or on the outskirts? Its important for you to consider these things, and
more, by yourself prior to the application process.

SAT has changed

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My experience in Manya - The Princeton

Review was really quite enjoyable as all of
the staff members were quite kind towards
me. When I started off, I was scared of
anything that even smelled like math, but
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the teacher found a way to create and
connect with us in a way I have never seen
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Manya ID: WHT1415S00017E060001

Joining Manya - The Princeton Review for the

SAT prep is one of the best decisions I have
taken so far. Both my verbal and math teachers
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push my sat score up. They are extremely
passionate, encouraging and supportive and the
tips and tricks provided are quite unique. Also,
the practice tests taken at their Whitefield center
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idea of what to expect on the final day.

Manya - The Princeton Review course was a

very memorable experience, My teacher is an
awesome person, he really puts in an effort to
connect with his students and personalizes the
course to your child's needs. He develops
interest in areas that are generally considered a
mood kill. I enjoyed the class thoroughly and
recommend it for anyone else who is planning on
taking the SAT.

Stay up-to-date with the counsel-

ling process.
Speak to your college counsellor regularly and keep them updated about your plans
and your prospects. Clear out any doubts you
have and make sure that the counsellor who
is guiding you knows what YOU want to do
and what you are looking for.
Also attend college visits! It will not only give
you unknown insight into the college, but it
will also show the college representatives
that you are interested in that college, which
might greatly increase your prospects during
the application process.
Finally, start your application early. College
applications involve writing many, many essays if youre applying to the US. Dont let
deadlines stop you from applying!
These are a few tips that were helpful to students, if you have any more tips, share them
with us! You can write them to us at theinquisitor@tisb.ac.in .

Author: Rishika NJ, Grade 12

Manya ID: WHT1415S00013E120001

Meghana ashok

Manya ID: WHT1516S00005E060003

Comments are shortened/modified for printing. Search for the Princeton Review Whitefield in Google for the complete review.

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Editors Note

Interview with Ms Muthu

Our favourite Physics teacher

Ms Muthulekshmi Rajendran (a.k.a Ms Muthu)

teaches IGSCE and IB Physics. She implements
innovative teaching methods using PowerPoint presentations and simulations. The average IB score of her Physics class in 2015 was
6.3. Many TISB students love Ms Muthu and
requested us to interview her. She offers her
insights on everything from her favourite TV
shows to her steadfast belief in her students
abilities to work hard and do well.

Four and a half years.

What do you like about it?
My students. (nods) Yes. I have been here for
the students.
Do you think students of different abilities
can still do well?

I always remember one incident that reflects

one of my best moments teaching. At the end
of explaining something, and suddenly Pritika [currently a 12th grade student] gets it, she
opens her eyes so wide and says HAAAAH!
I GET IT NOW! - and I feel like okay, thats it,
thats what I teach for.
I mean, thats just one example. Of course,
many of you dont do such dramatics. But still,
There was one eye-opening incident for me. its nice when were discussing something and
Sometimes people say Okay, maybe that stu- you people get to understand it.
dent is not up to that particular level in that
subject. That was the impression I got of a
student who came to me in the 11th the feedback I had gotten was along those lines, and I
had not taught him before. And Im ashamed
to say that, as a teacher, I went along with it,
and thought - maybe it is so. So when the student got a 6, I was happy with that 6. Then the
student asked me whether I was happy with
the 6, and I said I was. And that made the stu- And I feel like Im helping students at the highdent angry in the sense how can you be sat- er level as well. The other day her sister [Sadisfied with my 6? He gave it for re-evaluation, hana Senthilkumar] was messaging me about
and he got a 7. So whenever I begin to doubt something I taught in class it has helped her
that all my students are going to achieve at over there [Stanford]. And shes very thrilled
a higher level, I think about that student. Be- about the fact that shes able to apply it over
cause that student showed me that if you put there, in an entirely new context. What I mean
in that effort - a consistent effort - it is possible is that Physics is not something that Im teaching for just two years or whatever; those stuto achieve anything.
dents take it further.
Thats really reassuring to hear. So is that why And theyre really enthused about the entire
thing.
you teach?

What teaching methods do you believe are

the most effective? You use PowerPoints,
right?
I like a combination of PowerPoints and demo
or experimentation.
But having said that, there are many topics which are purely theoretical. You have a
branch of physics called theoretical physics.
In it, of course, theres not much you can do as
far as experimentation is concerned but basically its a combination of demo, experimentation, PowerPoints. PowerPoints help me because Im able to present lots of points in the
limited time that I have. And since Im giving
[the PowerPoint Presentation] to you, when
youre in class, I have your full attention. Its
not like you have to write it down. Sometimes
what happens when writing down, is that you
tend to miss out on some of the things the
teacher says. But when I have your full attention, you get the concepts. Then when you go
home and revise the material (once is more
than enough), and then you solve those questions that is more or less making sure youre
getting the concepts. Because at the end of
these going home, learning, doing the worksheets either you get it, or you do not get it.
And then, if you dont get it, you have enough
time to get back to the teacher to clarify it.

How long have you been teaching at TISB?

Yes, I do believe that. The reason I believe that

students of different abilities can still achieve
a higher grade is simply because - in my very
first batch, there was one student of mine who
was - who was thought of as a student whos
not going to achieve a [IB] 6 or a 7.
But he worked so hard that he got a 7, whereas a person who started off with getting a 7
straight away eventually ended up not getting
a 7. So if you believe in yourself, and work hard,
you will get there. And it is not easy- youll have
your problems, but thats the reason the teacher is here.

achieve the highest, who will believe in them?

I start my entire sessions (whichever batch)
in believing theyre all capable of getting the
highest grade.

have those two qualities you can work around

any problems that may occur.
How do you de-stress?
Who said Im stressed?
The IB is very stressful!
You put all the stress on the students and you
relax (laughs) Just kidding.

Why physics?
I cant tell you the truth (laugh) because my
friends took Physics for graduation. Seriously,
thats the reason. Point is I wanted to become
a doctor. Having said that, teaching and medicine were on par with each other.
But in the second year when we were learning
about electricity and magnetism, I really really
started liking physics. From then onwards it
has always been physics.
You end up becoming passionate about
something after learning about it.
Exactly. Even now, I love to teach electricity
and magnetism concepts. I do. I really like
electricity more than other topics.

My de-stressing happens spending time with

my family, when I go home during the holidays.
They are my greatest de-stressor. Especially
last two months, which I spent with them, have
really helped me bring down the stress levels.
And watching all those episodes of different
series! Greys Anatomy Sherlock is my favourite right now. The Big Bang Theory, Castle, How
to Get Away with Murder
Getting back to serious matters what advice
would you have for students?

Be focused, work hard, put in that 200% effort.

To be honest, I teach for that look of enlighten- What do you look for in a student?
You cannot get the highest grade without this.
ment on a students face.
Honesty and willingness to work hard. If you If I dont believe that each student is able to

What have you learnt personally about teaching?

I have learnt a lot while teaching because
without learning, I cant teach. So basically
teaching is just like - Im learning new things
every day. Consider a topic I have taught for
10 years - I will see it in a different light when I
teach it for the eleventh year. So every single
day, I can never say that I know everything
about a particular concept. Ill learn new
things every year, in every class of mine, with
every batch.
They say explaining it to others helps you see
it from a different perspective.

Explaining to the others, yes; but the more

important factor is the student questioning
some of those age-old concepts. Because
what happens while teaching, is that there are
so many constraints concerning finishing the
syllabus on time. So the problem that occurs
is that when you prepare for a class, you think
of getting these points of view in the syllabus
across.
But when a student questions a concept, that
is when you think more about it, and you learn
something. So its not only about preparing,
its about the students making the teacher
think. So the students questions are very, very
important. But then again it should not be
let me stop now! (laughs)

Swim
Meet

What do you think of the IB syllabus?

The IB syllabus is fantastic. I love teaching the
IB syllabus.
More than other syllabi?
Actually, no. the IB syllabus is quite different
from the other syllabi in the sense that for
example in CBSE or ICSE, you learn a topic,
you learn the derivation, you are guaranteed
at least 10 marks. Maybe you wont be able
to solve a numerical problem in that, but the
derivation will be asked. For example, when I
was teaching in CBSE, I could say youre going
to get a question from this particular concept,
and you probably will get this derivation, and
usually, I was right in guessing that that will
come in the examination.
Whereas in IB, I cant say anything of that
nature. From a given topic, even if Im going
to make you do 100 or 200 questions, I cant
guess that youre going to get one of those
200 questions. So in IB, you do have to learn
the concept, but that alone will not help you
because you need to know how to apply the
concept. So IB requires lots of hard work compared to the other syllabus - but at the same
time, the syllabus depth is much less.
Out of 70 marks in CBSE, if you just learn
everything from the textbook, youre bound
to get at least 35 - half the marks - if not more.
You can easily get that. But that is not the
case in IB. The only question I was able to
predict in IB, during the year before last, is
that you were going to have to define electric
force. But that is a one - mark question; so out
of ninety-five I was able to predict only one.
Looks like the bell just rang! Thanks so much
for your time.
Youre welcome!
Interviewed by Aditi Shenoy of Grade 12; special thanks to Athmika Senthilkumar and
Girish Vishwa.

Goggles? Check. Cap? Check. Sunscreen?

Check.
The TISB Inter-School Swim Meet was held
on a scorching day on the 21st of September
2015. The pool manifested itself as extremely inviting; it glimmered in the rays of the
sunlight, as if asking the participants to dive
in. And indeed they did! Though the tension
in the air was almost palpable, the amount
of school spirit and support displayed in the
stands was enough to abate worries and
heighten the excitement.
The event kicked off at 9:30am with an oath
taken by the captain of the Girls Team,
Shanaya Sheth, and from there onwards the
team made the pool their domain. Throughout the tournament, TISB did not disappoint, despite the strenuous and demanding
events- notably the 50m butterfly and the
100m Individual Medley. They were evidently
undeterred, and managed to conquer all the
events without hesitation.
The A Team ended up being the overall
champions in both the Boys and the Girls
categories, and the B Team were runners
up, not far behind. The team bagged 5 out
of 6 of the individual champion trophies,
and shattered numerous records- a huge
achievement by a multitude of the skilled
swimmers.
The tournament was truly an exhilarating
one and undoubtedly a huge success for
the TISB Swim Team- all the rigorous training sessions after school definitely paid off.
The event has proven that the swimmers are
extremely adroit and talented, and undoubtedly ones to keep an eye out for during other
inter-school tournaments.
Reported by Ria Ranadive, Grade XI

Bloodrush
Krishnas Fitness Column

is possible.
Remember : HALF THE WORKOUT IS IN THE
DIET.

Next Issue: Part 2 Gearing your workout.

-Krishna Ramalingam, Grade 12
Send questions for Krishna at theinquisitor@tisb.ac.in !

when referring to people.

That guys the bomb at dancing.
Killed it To do well at something.
I killed that college interview Im definitely
getting in!
Easy money Used to refer to anything thats
easy.
That Spanish test was some easy money Im
getting a great grade!
Bobbert A universal nickname for a person.
Ship To transport or pass something across
long distances.
(when in the shower) : Ship me that shampoo

TISB Boys Dorm

Jargon
Photo of Krishna

Gaining muscle mass from fuel

You

I feel - Used before a sentence to denote sarcasm.

Topper: Ravi, Im going to fail English!
Ravi: I feel youre going to fail English.
Did we miss or misinterpret something? Inform
us at theinquisitor@tisb.ac.in !

You pasted him, my main man, said a se-

nior outside the BIH last week. Curious onlookers struggle to understand the meanings of
the strange lingo the residents of TISBs boys
dorm use to communicate. We at the Newspaper Club were pretty intrigued by this unusual
linguistic phenomenon, and have attempted to
provide a comprehensive list of translations to
aid newcomers to the school.

dont always see people making gains

from just normal food, and natural diets. People get lazy this way. If you want to make gains,
and be healthy, you need to be active, not just
physically, but mentally, with respect to your
diet.
Disclaimer: Interpretations of these expressions vary. Weve tried to include the most
Yes, supplements will give you explosive mass common meanings.
gains, but thats not the only way. Besides, its
not even healthy for vital organs which your My main man Used to refer to a friend or
immune system depends on. Youve got to eat bro. May also be used to express thanks to
normal food right. At the right time, with right someone who does one a favour.
amount of food, and for the right day. High Fats Thanks for those noodles, my main man!
Low Carbohydrates (HFLC diet), surprisingly, is
not appropriate for overall health. Eat normal Chiller A carefree or unconcerned person.
healthy diets.
That guys a chiller. He never studies.

A New Boarders
Perspective at
TISB

Its hard leaving behind old school friends,

teachers and familiarity and entering new
gates; that said, its even harder leaving behind
the warmth of home and family and living elsewhere. Being a boarder at a new school, we had
an additional challengenot only being good
friends, but also good roommates. None of us
would know each other, and yet we would be
expected to share a compact room; we would
Contrary to popular beliefs, diets are not eat- Pasted Can be used to replace most verbs. have to share a space that had previously been
ing certain food groups and excluding others. Is also used more widely in Bangalore as a re- ours at homeunlimited and solely ours. We
It is the system in which you arrange what you placement for beat or defeated. Often used would have to go from home-cooked meals to
eat for that day to allow your body to extract in the context of grades as a replacement for cafeteria food for every meal of almost every
the most nutrients as possible.
day, and adapt to a scheduled lifestyle so difscored.
ferent from the unplanned days at home.
I pasted him at chess yesterday!
Down to what you should be doing: eat a big
breakfast (which is a must). Try including as Origin: We hypothesise this term comes from These were the thoughts that stalked us in the
much carbohydrates as possible in this meal the time when marksheets were literally past- days and weeks leading up to the first day at
of the day. Towards the end of the day you ed on bulletin boards.
TISB.
should be increasing your protein intake. Your
food proportions should then gradually de- Smoked Similar to pasted, it seems to be After about a week, we realized that we had
crease. Always have a light dinner. Why? This most commonly used in the context of grades only anticipated half of the experience correctis because, when you sleep, your metabolism as a replacement for scored.
lythe routine, the food, the studies but not
should shoot up, eating a heavy dinner would
our reaction to this new life. Certainly, mornsimply prevent this from happening. Once your Land, Lift Used in the same contexts as ing activity and waking up to the sharp, shrill
metabolism is high, the cells in your body will smoked.
ringing of bells was not particularly enjoyable,
become receptive to nutrients, so in the mornnor were adjusting to the novelty of an entireing, when you eat that big nutritious breakfast, Hot Used as an adjective for anything thats ly structured atmosphere, and of course, the
you will gain more.
rush to get showers in the morning; and yet, we
good.
found ourselves shaping our habits and emoHowever it is also important to plan your diet He smoked a hot 7 in Physics, and landed a 6 tions to fit the new boarding experience. And
with respect to your workout time. If your in Maths!
the overall experience of boarding is so differworkout in the morning, then try to eat more
ent, so unique, that its easy to get past these
proteins AFTER you workout, and gradually de- Huller Someone who acts like theyre from minor inconveniences and look at the big piccrease the protein intake while increasing the a village in rural South India. Comes from hal- ture. Life at TISB is so busy that there isnt any
other food groups.
li. (Note: We at the Newspaper Club do not time to feel homesick, but rather to engage
in whatever we enjoy the mostwhether it is
condone the use of classist language).
This could be the most efficient way to be
sports, music or drama.
healthy and build yourself, only if youre men- The bomb Awesome or great. Used mainly

become more disciplinedthanks to

the bell that wakes
us up at what seems
like the crack of
dawn, for morning
activity. The structured school life has
allowed us to value
each moment of our
day, efficiently making use of every minute, by balancing academics, sports and
social life.
Weve also learnt
that its essential to
make new friends,
because theyre the
people who will culminate your whole boarding experience into
something fantastic. At the end of the day,
youre going to remember them and the crazy
things youve done together. All the pre-exam
panicking, post-exam celebrating, the trivial
arguments and squabbles thats whatll be
engraved in our minds forever.

However, we do experience that little tinge of

homesickness and the pining to go home, but
at the end of the day, its all part of the boarding
package. The strange sensation that lingers
in our stomachs evaporates quickly though,
courtesy of the constant reassurance from
our peers, who are with us 24/7. The fact that
they not only sympathise, but also empathise
with us on the same level makes boarding life a Ria Ranadive and Richa Gupta, Grade XI
whole lot easier, and everyone is there to help!

Nevertheless, boarding definitely has a lot of

disadvantages. The tightly restricted internet
accessibility is one of our greatest qualms
when it comes to boarding; not only is it limited to certain hours (it turns on at 3:00 pm and
switches off at exactly 10 in the night), but numerous websites are also blocked. Three eleventh grade boarders from the GIH commented
on thisAlthough Facebook and other social networking sites being blocked does help
us focus, the fact that educational sites and
videos, such as Khan Academy, are blocked,
makes learning and understanding new conWeve all heard of Free-to-Play games. Theyre
cepts a hassle.
those pocket games that cost nothing to downAnd of course, lights out is too early. For six- load and play, but charge you for in-game exteen and seventeen year olds, going to bed tras. Popular games of this genre include the
at 10 pm sharp is just not what were used to; well-known Jetpack Joyride and Candy Crush.
also, were told to actually start getting ready Weve also heard of people whove spent too
for bed 15 minutes prior to lights out. As our much money on a game that was supposedly
workload keeps increasing, it becomes harder free to play.
and harder to stay on top of everything, since
nighttime is always a good time to do some last Free-to-Play games became popular due to the
advent of smartphones. They started off as baminute studying.
sically time-killers for entertainment while sitFurthermore, the painful wake up call at ting in the bus or train or in the doctors office
5:30am for our routinely morning activity is - but then people started getting addicted to
irksome, especially after enduring your room- them because of their simplicity. Mobile game
developers noticed this and used it to their admates ceaseless babbling late into the night.
vantage. They started designing their games
Whats more is that the distance between the on this principle - easy to understand and play,
GIH and the rest of the school is absurd. Whilst can be played for short intervals of time, is
the cafeteria is a stones throw from both the easy in the beginning but gets harder after you
JBIH and BIH, we girls have to walk an extra five are already addicted, victory always just out of
minutes for our meals, often finding ourselves reach, and life can be made much easier if you
soaked to the bone, if weve forgotten our um- spend a small amount of money.
brella (something that weve learnt from!). Similarly, the highly anticipated food at the Street Free-to-play games are incredibly profitable
Caf in the evenings is something that we miss for those who make them. In fact, the main
out on- most of the food is over by the time we goal for mobile game-making companies is to
extort money out of their consumers by danreach!
gling the keys to victory right in front of their
All the same, boarding so far has evidently faces and telling them you can have it if you
taught us a lotweve learnt to adjust to the pay us money.
quirks and oddities of various people; weve
become far less selfish, and weve definitely Furthermore, the production budget and time

The Dangers of
Free-To-Play
Games

required to produce Mobile Free-to-Play is far

lower than AAA Games (AAA is a classification
term used for games with the highest development budgets and levels of promotion i.e. Battlefield, Halo, Need for Speed, FIFA etc.) and
the return on investment is much higher. Popular Video Game publisher Konami (Contra
series, Metal Gear series, and Silent Hill series)
is stopping production on AAA titles and moving to Mobile free-to-play titles as they provide
a constant stream of revenue which the Board
of Directors of a company might prefer over a
large influx of revenue once every two quarters.
Most big Video Game publishers who release
more than 3-4 games a year realize that it is
more profitable to continue making AAA titles,
but that hasnt stopped them experimenting
with mobile Free-to-Play titles, the most recent popular example being Fallout Shelter.
Fallout Shelter was released in June 2015 by
popular Video Game publisher Bethesda (The
Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series, and Dishonored series) as a Free-to-Play mobile title to
build hype for their upcoming game Fallout 4
and within two weeks it beat Candy Crush Saga
and became the most popular game on the Apple App store as well as earning $5 million in
the process. In comparison, The Elder Scrolls 5:
Skyrim, Bethesda most recent AAA title made
$450 million in its first week. The executive director and producer at Bethesda Todd Howard said that due to the overwhelming success
of Fallout Shelter, Bethesda will continue experimenting with Free-to-Play titles, but their
main focus still will be AAA games.
For now, Free-to-Play titles are not a threat to
the success of AAA games as the total amount
of profit generated by AAA titles is still much
more and both of them of very different experiences so there can easily be an overlap of the
player bases, but as the popularity of smartphones keep growing Free-to-Play games
may eventually become more profitable than
AAA titles and when that happens it will be
the death of AAA titles as the Board of Directors of Video Game publishing companies will
start forcing the company to make more and
more cheap mobile Free-to-Play games over
well-crafted creative experiences that are AAA
games.

Games and Activities

Puzzles to Puzzle you!!

1) Using the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in order, along with any mathematical operator, can
you form the number 100?
One of the solutions is this:

Sudoku

To solve a Sudoku, you need to put the numbers 1 To 9 in every

row and column of the grid. Try the one below.

(((1+2)^3)4+5-6-7)(-(8-9)) = 100
Please remember that there are several ways to solve this puzzle. See how many solutions you can
find!
2) A little girl I know sells oranges from door to door.
One day while on her rounds she sold half an orange more than half her oranges to the first customer. To the second customer she sold half an orange more than half of the remainder and to the
third and the last customer she sold half an orange more than half she now had, leaving her none.
Can you tell the number of oranges she originally had? Oh, by the way, she never had to cut an
orange.

Triangles
How many triangles are there in the following figure?

Word Search
In the following grid, words are hidden horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, forwards or backwards. Can you find all the

Answers

Sudoku:

Word Search:

Triangles: 20 triangles
Lastly if three oranges only represent half the original number, plus half an orange,
then she must have started with [ (3x2)+1] or 7 oranges.
2) In order that the little girl should have disposed of the oranges she had remaining
after her second sale, she must have had at least one whole orange remaining so that
she could deduct from it 'half of her oranges plus half an orange', for the third and the
final sale. Therefore, if 1 orange represents half of the remaining after the second sale,
then she must have sold two oranges in her second sale, leaving the 3 oranges after
the first sale.
1 + 2 + 3 - 4 + 5 + 6 +78 + 9

C)

123 + 4 - 5 + 67 - 89

B)

-(12+34-56) * (-7+8+9)

A)

1) some possible answers are:

Puzzles to puzzle you: