My Science School

Sartre postulated that past awarded winners did not represent equally all ideologies and nations, and was concerned that his work would be unjustly and undesirably misinterpreted by rightist circles who would criticize “certain past errors.”  Sartre, himself, disagreed with particular laureates of past awards, including, interestingly enough, Boris Pasternak who also refused the Nobel Prize in literature in 1957, though for different reasons.  

But the refusal was not a theatrical or “impulsive gesture,” Sartre wrote in a statement to the Swedish press, which was later published in Le Monde. It was consistent with his longstanding principles. “I have always declined official honors,” he said, and referred to his rejection of the Legion of Honor in 1945 for similar reasons. 

There was another reason as well, an “objective” one, Sartre wrote. In serving the cause of socialism, he hoped to bring about “the peaceful coexistence of the two cultures, that of the East and the West.” (He refers not only to Asia as “the East,” but also to “the Eastern bloc.”)

Boris Pasternak, the Russian author, said to-day that he had "voluntarily" changed his mind about accepting the Nobel Prize and had done so without having consulted even his friends. He told me at his villa ten miles outside Moscow that he had thought over the reaction to the award and decided fully on his own to renounce it.

This morning he wrote in pencil a brief telegram of explanation to the Swedish Academy, carried it himself to the local post office, and so informed the world. The telegram read:

"Considering the meaning this award has been given in the society to which I belong, I must reject this undeserved prize which has been presented to me. Please do not receive my voluntary rejection with displeasure. - Pasternak."

 

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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2020 was awarded to Louise Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

Born in New York City in 1943, Glück grew up on Long Island and from an early age was drawn to reading and writing poetry. Her parents read her classical mythology as bedtime stories, and she was transfixed by the tales of Greek gods and heroes — themes she would later explore in her work. She wrote some of her earliest verses when she was 5, and set her mind to becoming a poet when she was in her early teens. She struggled with anorexia as a teenager, a disease she later attributed to her obsession with purity and achieving control, and almost starved herself to death before eventually recovering through therapy.

She began taking poetry workshops around that time, and attended Sarah Lawrence College and later Columbia University, where she studied with the poet Stanley Kunitz. She supported herself by working as a secretary so that she could write on the side. In 1968, she published her first collection, “Firstborn.” While her debut was well received by critics, she wrestled with writers’ block afterward and took a teaching position at Goddard College in Vermont. Working with students inspired her to start writing again, and she went on to publish a dozen volumes of poetry.

Glück’s verses often reflect her preoccupation with dark themes — isolation, betrayal, fractured family and marital relationships, death. But her spare, distilled language, and her frequent recourse to familiar mythological figures, gives her poetry a universal and timeless feel, said the critic and writer Daniel Mendelsohn, the editor at large for The New York Review of Books.

 

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To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book, who was 41 years old when he was awarded the Literature Prize in 1907.

Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, was an artist and scholar who had considerable influence on his son’s work, became curator of the Lahore Museum, and is described presiding over this “wonder house” in the first chapter of Kim, Rudyard’s most famous novel. His mother was Alice Macdonald, two of whose sisters married the highly successful 19th-century painters Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Edward Poynter, while a third married Alfred Baldwin and became the mother of Stanley Baldwin, later prime minister. These connections were of lifelong importance to Kipling.

Kipling returned to India in 1882 and worked for seven years as a journalist. His parents, although not officially important, belonged to the highest Anglo-Indian society, and Rudyard thus had opportunities for exploring the whole range of that life. All the while he had remained keenly observant of the thronging spectacle of native India, which had engaged his interest and affection from earliest childhood. He was quickly filling the journals he worked for with prose sketches and light verse.

In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Englishman to be so honoured. In South Africa, where he spent much time, he was given a house by Cecil Rhodes, the diamond magnate and South African statesman. This association fostered Kipling’s imperialist persuasions, which were to grow stronger with the years. 

 

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The Nobel Prize in Literature 1909 was awarded to Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings."

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was born in Östra Emterwik, Värmland, Sweden. She was brought up on Mårbacka, the family estate, which she did not leave until 1881, when she went to a teachers’ college at Stockholm. In 1885 she became a teacher at the girls’ secondary school in Landskrona. She had been writing poetry ever since she was a child, but she did not publish anything until 1890, when a Swedish weekly gave her the first prize in a literary competition and published excerpts from the book which was to be her first, best, and most popular work. Gösta Berlings Saga was published in 1891, but went unnoticed until its Danish translation received wide critical acclaim and paved the way for the book’s lasting success in Sweden and elsewhere. In 1895 financial support from the royal family and the Swedish Academy encouraged her to abandon teaching altogether. She travelled in Italy and wrote Antikrists mirakler (1897) [The Miracles of Antichrist], a novel set in Sicily. After several minor works she published Jerusalem (1901-1902) [The Holy City], a novel about Swedish peasants who emigrated to the Holy Land and whom she had visited in 1900. This work was her first immediate success.

 

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The board of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to receive a Nobel Prize, one of the highest honours in the world. He won the prize in the Literature category in 1913 for his poetry collection “Gitanjali”.

Born in 1891 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Tagore was well known for his poetry, songs, stories, dramas, which included portrayals of people’s lives, philosophy and social issues.

Born in a wealthy family, Tagore was home-schooled, but went to England to study further. A few years later, he returned to India without a formal degree. While managing his family’s estates, he got a closer look at the impoverished rural Bengal. A friend of Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore participated in India’s struggle for independence. In fact, the national anthem that we sing today is one of the many stanzas of hymn composed by Tagore.

While he originally wrote in Bengali, Tagore reached out to a wider audience by translating his works into English. “Gitanjali” is a collection of more than 150 poems, which includes Tagore’s own translations of some of his Bengali poems. It was originally published in Bengali in 1910 and in English in 1912, with a preface by English poet W.B. Yeats. Some of Tagore’s acclaimed works include “Ghare Baire” (“The Home and the World”); “Sesher Kabita” (“Farewell My Friends”). “Kabuliwala”, “Gora”, “My Boyhood Days”, “Gitabitan, “and “The Post Office”.

Following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919, Tagore returned his Knighthood for Services to Literature, which g=he was awarded in 1915.

Through his ideas of peace and spiritual harmony, the Nobel Laureate paved a new way of life based on his ideals of Brahmo Samaj. His contribution to education too is unparalleled. He founded the Visva Bharti University in Santiniketan, focusing on developing the child’s imagination and promoting stress-free learning.

Tagore passed away in 1941 at the age of 80.

 

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Did you know that the ominous piece of music that plays whenever a shark approaches the victims in the film "Jaws" was created by simply alternating the pattern of two notes "E" and "F. Forty-five years later, the soundtrack continues to be synonymous with approaching danger. That's the power of sound engineering.

Sound is an integral part of our lives, and over the years, it has become an important part of the movie going experience as well. And its the sound engineers that help filmmakers to use sound to create suspense, stir our emotions and eve get our adrenaline pumping The role of sound engineers is not just restricted to films they work in a variety of fields to record, synchronise, mix or reproduce music voices, or sound effects.

What is sound engineering?

Sound engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with the perception and presentation of sound Sound designing and mixing can be used across disciplines such as filmmaking, television production, theatre. live performance, video game development music recording and radio.

What is the scope?

Sound engineering opens up myriad career options, including as studio sound engineer, audio engineer, live sound engineer, studio designer, mixing engineer, music arranger, mastering engineer, audio post production dialogue and music editor, and location recordist.

Different branches of sound engineering

1. Research and Development The work of an audio engineer in the research and development sector involves enhancing the process of audio engineering by developing new equipment, technologies and techniques.

2. Monitor Sound Engineers: A Monitor Sound Engineer helps live performers by assisting them on audio and sound enhancement

3. Systems Engineers: Systems engineers assist the monitor sound engineers by taking care of AMPS, complex PA systems. speakers and other equipment.

4. Recording Engineers: Recording Engineers are the tune setters of an album. They perform duties of recording, editing and mixing sound using microphones, setting levels and sound manipulation techniques.

Where to study

• Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India. Kolkata: Sound Recording and Sound Design - Three year postgraduate (PG) diploma


• Asian Academy of Film And Television, Noida: Diploma in Music Production


• Ramoji Academy of Film and Television, Hyderabad: Diploma in Sound Recording and Designing


• Annapuma College of Film and Media, Hyderabad: Master of Arts (MA) Sound Design Abroad


• Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden: Master of Science (M.Sc) Engineering in Sound and Vibration


• Georgia Institute of Technology, the U.S.: Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and MS. in Music Technology


• Lawrence institute of Technology, the US.: B.S. in Audio Engineering Technology

 

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From the moment we open our eyes to the time we fall asleep, we are constantly checking or updating information on social media. But there's more to social media than taking selfies and creating snappy posts.

Social media has opened up newer avenues in marketing. It has immense potential because it allows companies to directly connect with their users or potential customers and understand their likes and dislikes.

How it works

Social media managers need to be constantly on their toes. They need to know everything that is happening across platforms, follow trends and news stories from around the world and see how they can tweak them to their client's needs, almost immediately.

Well-versed with different social networking platforms used by their target audience, social media managers come up with strategies designed to suit their brand promotions on these platforms. These strategies differ from platform to platform

For instance, during the lockdown on account of the COMID-19 pandemic many brands held live interviews with celebrities on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

Getting started

• Handle low profile pages: Beginners usually start by handling social media pages for their school or college


• Promote your school/college fest: On different platforms such as Facebook Twitter Instagram, etc. Come up with engaging online contests from time to time and create a campaign that will help you get hits.


• Freelance work: You can start your carter in social media marketing Sites such as Upwork and Freelancer will help you land a freelance project to experiment a little.


• Agencies With some experience under your belt you could choose to work in an agency handling digital marketing for multiple brands or work with a particular brand or business 


• Specialisation: You may choose from areas such as search engine optimisation pay-per dick, web design etc.

What to study

** Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai: PG diploma in Digital Marketing.

Courses in Digital Marketing and Social Media Management are offered by many institutes. It teaches you about platforms, analytics, and essentials of framing campaign strategies.

Where:

India:

** Xavier's Institute of Communication, Mumbai: Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Digital Marketing.

** Indian School of Business, Hyderabad: Diploma in Digital and Social Media Marketing Strategies.

Abroad:

** South New Hampshire University, the US: MBA in Social Media

** Barcelona Graduate school of Management MBA in Marketing in the Digital Era

** Concordia University, the US: MBA with a Certificate in Digital Marketing

** Excelsior College, the US: MBA with specialisation in Social Media Management.

I regularly receive SMS messages from an unknown person. I think he is a good person. But even though he sounds fine, I get disturbed. I asked him not to send any more messages, but still he sends them. I don’t want to tell my parents about this because they would worry. What should I do?

You seem to be torn between what you should do and what you want to do.

My two-word answer: Block him. Today’s smartphones allow us to both block and report any contact that disturbs us.

However, it is important to reflect on why you haven’t blocked him till now, though he is an ‘unknown person’ and you ‘get disturbed’. Is it because you want to continue receiving SMS messages from this ‘unknown person’? Is it because you like the attention you get? At the same time, you ‘get disturbed’ or you feel a bit guilty and afraid? What makes you tell yourself that he is ‘a very good person’, though you don’t know him at all? What kind of a person is he if he does not stop messaging even though you have asked him not to?

You do not even know who he is, nor his age, location, family, friends… For a healthy relationship, you have to interact with persons openly – not just alone, but also in family and social settings. You have taken a huge personal safety risk in interacting with a total stranger… and your parents will not just worry, but will also be angry.

Your actions are accompanied by responsibility and consequences. What you decide to do should bring you safety first. The best thing to do is to block him.

 

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I used to study in an all-boys’ school and now I have moved to a co-ed school. I am very shy in making friends with girls. I like a girl and want to be friends with her. Should I approach her and say that I want to be her friend?

It seems your inexperience in social interaction with girls makes you feel too shy to approach a girl whom you like. While it is perfectly fine to approach someone and say, “I want to be friends with you,” it can make the other person feel uncomfortable because she doesn’t know you enough.

A good way forward would be to first make friends with both guys and girls in a mixed-gender group that you can learn to interact with girls without pressure. If this girl hangs out in a mixed-gender group, you can try to join that group.

When you feel a bit confident, you can make friends with her directly, or find a common friend first. Take one step at a time. Smile at her… and at other girls, too. Work up to a ‘hi’ and then find an opportunity to begin a conversation. Find out what she is interested in and what your common interests are. This way, if you both become good friends, it’s wonderful, if not, you still have learnt how to be comfortable making friends with girls.

 

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I am a 19-year-old girl in a relationship for the past one year. My partner is extremely loving and considerable. But he has a very close friend who dislikes me and constantly tries to control his life. She demands that he ask her permission before he does anything. Her behavior irritates me a lot as she even gets annoyed with him when he meets me. I have talked to him about this; he says he loves me madly but can’t afford lose that friend. I now feel very insecure though I know that I am the only one for him.

Looks like your partner’s “best” friend’s behavior makes you frustrated and insecure, and she has become an irritating thorn in your side.

What matters more is not what she does and how she behaves; but how he handles both her and you. How does he respond when she demands that she asks for her permission before he does anything? Is he able to keep her in her place – that of a friend – while according to you your place is as his partner? If you do not like the way he handles the situation, then this lady will continue to aggravate your relationship.

However, if you choose to stay, then have a positive conversation about setting relationship boundaries. Set aside the time with your partner and share your feelings. Jointly decide what the boundaries are – in which areas this friend is allowed into your lives and where is she not. It is important to sensitize your partner to the fact that this line between love and friendship is strongly needed for a healthy relationship.

 

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I feel like I have no luck at all, if I apply for a scholarship I get rejected while my friends who have applied for various schemes are accepted. Sometimes, I think that people who cheat prosper in life.

Sounds like you are quite discouraged because of your repeated setbacks and think that luck will never smile at you. Perhaps you also feel envious that your friends seem to easily get what they want.

The biggest obstacle to success is one’s attitude! Successful people are very careful about what they say to themselves. They boost themselves with positive self-talk. They are grateful for what goes well and also for the challenges. So when you keep telling yourself that you have “no luck at all,” it becomes an automatic thought, and becomes true for you, and you defeat yourself.

For success, you need to be very clear about what you really want (instead of wanting something because others are doing it) and what steps you will take to achieve it. When you face obstacles, you have to keep trying. If you don’t succeed, you have to find a new way to get what you want without giving up your values. However, if something is truly not meant for you, then you also need to let go with grace and focus on what is meant for you.

Remember: “What we call luck, is simply pluck… and doing things over and over, courage, will, perseverance and skill are the four leaves of luck’s clover.”

 

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With many luxury brands and celebrities launching their own line of exclusive fragrances, perfumes have become a status symbol. The popularity of fragrant essential oils in aroma therapy too has increased the demand for those skilled in the art of perfume-making

Who is a perfumer?

A perfumer is a term used for an expert in creating and bottling fragrances. Due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing these scents, perfumers are also called as a 'Nose. They are employed by perfume-making companies as well as companies manufacturing personal products such as shampoo, soap and anti-perspirant.

What to study?

Till a few years ago, there were limited options to study perfumery in India. With the market for perfumes growing many colleges now offer specialisations in this field.

• Kelkar Education Trust's VG Vaze College. Mumbai Postgraduate Diploma in Perfiunery and Cosmetics Management in partnership with the French Group institute Superior International of Perfumes, Cosmetics and Aromatic Alimentaire (ISIPCA) backed - by the University of Versailles.


• Mumbai University and Institute of Chemical Technology. Mumbai Masters in Perfumery and Flavours Technology


• Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) Kannauj. Uttar Pradesh: Diploma course in Technology Development Programme in Aroma and its Management Postgraduation in Aroma Technology in partnership with the Forest Research Institute. Dehradun.

Abroad:

• ISIPCA University of Versailles: European Fragrance and Cosmetic Master Master of Science (MSC) in Cosmetic Expertise Formulation and Applications M.SCIR Fragrance Expertise Formulation and Applications


• The Grasse institute of Perfumery, France international Technical Degree in Fragrance Creation and Sensor

Evaluation

• Cinquieme Sens, Paris and the U.S: The Technique and Language of Perfumery Programme: The Fragrance Sales Programme and The Fragrance Development Programme.

Capturing the essence

Ascent or a fragrance cannot be seen, but it has a powerful presence. Everything in nature has its own unique scent especially fruits and flowers. A scent is made of different tones and notes. Perfumers have a sharp nose and a unique ability to discern the different tones in a scent and extract it from an object. This requires a lot of skill patience and passion. Through trial and error, perfumers do their best to capture the smell and enhance it further. It can often take 500 trials to find the perfect note for a fragrance.

 

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