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Chandu Champions ft. Paralympians: Paris 2024 Edition

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Who doesn’t love an underdog story? If you’ve seen Kartik Aryan’s Chandu Champion , you know what I mean. If not, here’s the gist: it’s about Murlikant Petkar, who dreamed of representing India at the Olympics and winning a gold medal ever since he was a child. He began training in boxing, but fate had other plans. After sustaining a spinal injury during the war that left him paralyzed from the waist down, he refused to let his dream die. He pivoted to swimming, trained like a man possessed, and brought home the gold at the Paralympics. It’s a story of unwavering determination and resilience. This instantly reminded me of someone whose journey I’ve witnessed firsthand— Pranav Soorma , who, my dear readers, has now won—*drumroll, please*— the silver medal at the Paralympics Paris 2024 as I write this.  Now that the games have concluded, I can finally shout it from the rooftops: Pranav participated in the Paralympics this year, smashed it, and brought home the silver in the Club Throw .
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The 100-Gram Heartbreak: Vinesh Phogat’s Olympic Story

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Imagine a world where the difference between glory and defeat is about the weight of a bar of soap. Now, imagine that world is the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the protagonist is none other than Vinesh Phogat, India’s wrestling champion. This isn’t a fictional plot; it’s the story of a woman who had to battle not only her opponents but also the weighing scales, and in a cruel twist of fate, lost to the latter. She had already conquered World No. 1 Yui Susaki in a nail-biting bout, marking a historic moment as the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic wrestling final. You could almost hear the collective cheer of a billion voices back home, fueled by the hope that a gold medal was definitely coming. But then, like a Shakespearean tragedy, came the twist—Vinesh was disqualified for weighing in 100 grams over the limit on the day of the final. Let’s put this into perspective. One hundred grams is about the weight of a bar of soap or two eggs. That’s all it took to shatter her Olympic dream.
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Penguin Pebbles & Memes

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Remember the days when we didn’t know anything about love languages? Some of you might still be in the dark, so let me enlighten you! Think back to when you had a crush in school. Remember giving them a missed call on their landline? Or sharing your lunch even though it meant you'd be hungry all day? Or saving them the window seat on the bus and feeling like you’d just won a gold medal? Then in high school, trying to figure out if your crush liked Dairy Milk chocolate or an Archie’s card more on Valentine’s Day? Channeling your inner Sherlock Holmes, you were practically decoding their love language. According to experts, there are five main love languages: Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Physical Touch, and Receiving Gifts. But it seems Gen Z is determined to add a sixth—Memes. I always thought originality never fades, and Gen Z just tweaks things a bit to make them their own. But recently, I discovered “Pebbling” —a concept I hadn’t heard of. The hopeless rom
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From Mind Full to Mindful!

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Ever held one arm out in front of you with your palm facing up, like someone is about to hand you a slice of pizza, and with your other hand, grabbed your fingertips and pulled them down? Or maybe you've twisted your wrist and stretched a little after sitting for long hours in front of your laptop? Surprise! You just did some yoga in the middle of your day. Yep, yoga isn’t just about bending over and touching your toes or the complicated asanas you see influencers doing on Instagram. It's also that simple stretch after a shower or on your quick walk to get coffee. Flashback to November 2019 : Like many girls with a little extra weight here and there, I started yoga to lose a few kilograms. What I didn't expect was the magic that unfolded over the next 3 to 4 months. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t just successfully shedding some kilograms. I had never been the workout type, and for 25 years of my existence, the thought of exercising had never crossed my mind. Enter my mom’s friend
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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In January 2022, I started my first job as a brand strategist. I vividly remember being asked a case study question in the interview about what I would do for a brand's social media named "Recircle." I had never heard of it before, and upon researching, I discovered it is a Mumbai-based plastic recycling company. Little did I know that I would be managing the brand's social media end-to-end for the next eight months. From learning to make designs on Canva to writing content daily, I was fully immersed in the world of sustainability. Every day, I wrote captions and content focused on plastic recycling and its impact on our planet. This was before the era of ChatGPT, so every single word I wrote (about 100 words each day) was based purely on my knowledge acquisition and community-building efforts, after reading countless articles and Wikipedia pages. It remains my favourite brand to have worked on, thanks to an amazing and proactive team at Recircle and their extr
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Sip by Sip: Coffee epiphanies

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Coffee and I have had a love-hate affair for about a couple of years now.  Back in school, coffee was my late-night exam buddy, brewed lovingly by Mom. In college, it became my secret weapon for surviving morning lectures and my go-to cure for post-exam headaches. I vividly remember rushing to the cafeteria as soon as an exam was over for a ₹10 Nescafe coffee cutting. It was also a beloved ritual that bonded me with my best friend as we snuck out to cafes, spilling secrets over endless cups of coffee.  From PMS companions to vacation buddies, coffee was my constant in every situation. But about two years ago, coffee and I had a falling out. My body suddenly rebelled, and what once brought comfort now caused chaos. I had to break up with coffee and found solace in tea.  Slowly, tea became my new love, my comfort drink, and I moved on completely. It's like life. People and things you once couldn't live without might start causing chaos. Moving on to something new can bring peace
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Love, Trolls, and Acceptance : Set On You Review

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As someone who prefers reading and watching extremely light content like rom-coms and chick flicks, I was thrilled to discover Amy Lea’s latest addition to her influencer series a couple of months ago. This cute rom-com: Set On You , initially seemed like the perfect choice for my next Kindle binge. It featured a classic enemies-to-lovers setup with plenty of gym banter and steamy encounters between the protagonists, Crystal Chen and Scott. Crystal Chen, a curvy fitness influencer who built her career by shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls, is the star of the story. The plot revolves around her rivalry with the extremely good-looking Scott as they battle for gym domination and, predictably, fall in love amidst all the banter. For the first 70% of the book, it felt like a typical rom-com—light, entertaining, and perfect for my taste. However, just when I was eagerly anticipating their happy ending, the story took a surprising turn. Crystal decides to make her relat
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