A Day With Games And Memories

   I am a great fan of sports and games. It’s been a long time since I participated in any of those activities. This week, as a part of our intra-department sports, many events were held. I didn’t participate in any event, but on the day of badminton I went to watch the match. Before and after the match, I got a chance to play badminton with my friends. It was a nice experience. As I played badminton after a long time, the muscles in my hands got stiff. It caused some pain, but the urge to play didn’t stop. We played singles, doubles, and even triples.

That was also the first time I went to the college pavilion. I had been waiting for a chance to get there. As I reached, my honest expression was, “Wowww! Such a big and beautiful ground.” I was taken back to my good old days when I participated in athletics. The minute I entered the indoor stadium, I was reminded of my kabaddi competitions and practice sessions. All of us spent a good time together, and we learned some new tricks and lessons about the game from our friends. The happiest thing was that our class won badminton. Thus, that day gave me an opportunity to enjoy and travel back to the golden days of my life.

 

                                         Back to stage after a long break

It has been almost one and a half years since I joined this college, yet I often found myself detached from many of the activities taking place here. When I look back at my UG days now, I realize that I did not participate in any programs. I still do not know the exact reason for this. However, at times, I began to feel a desire to be part of some programs or activities.

It was during such a moment that one of my classmates asked me to join a play. I thought she was joking, so I casually said I would join. Only later did I realize that she was actually planning to stage a Malayalam play. I then tried to avoid it because I had participated in a play only once before when I was in the fifth standard. I have always admired people involved in theatre, yet something within me held me back from becoming part of it.

But this time, I prepared myself to participate. It was my friend’s encouragement that gave me the confidence to take part. Now we are actively practicing a Malayalam play, which is an adaptation of the famous Malayalam work Parayipetta Panthirukulam. All of us are excited to present this play. We have even included participants who do not know Malayalam well but still wished to be part of the performance.

I feel that this play will provide us with an opportunity to try something new before we leave this place. The practice sessions, with self-corrections and peer feedback, are motivating each one of us to perform more accurately. We are all eagerly waiting for the day of its presentation.

 

                       Pharma: The darker side of the medicine industry

                     

    Last week I was stuck with my project, and because of so much thinking my head felt like it was exploding, which prevented me from writing my blog. Actually, I wanted to write about a series that I watched, so today I thought I could finally do that. The series is titled Pharma, directed by PR Arun, with Nivin Pauly playing the main character. It is streaming on JioHotstar. This series gives us a picture of how an industry works. Here, they present the pharmaceutical industry where medical representatives themselves are shown as their soldiers. They convince doctors to buy a particular company’s medicine by highlighting its features and benefits. Pharma also shows how medicine companies manufacture drugs that cause other health issues as side effects, and for those affected, the same company provides another medicine. In this way, the company continues to grow.

    Later in the series, several health issues are reported among children, and after research, some doctors find that the reason behind these problems is a reputed company's medicinal products. Under the leadership of a doctor named Janaki, along with other doctors and the victims, a movement begins against the company. Later, one medical representative from that reputed company also joins them.

     I’m not giving the whole story here you can watch the series yourself. It’s not an excellent one, but it talks about a very serious issue. I liked the series for that reason. Towards the end, we see that when many people stand together and fight, they successfully erase that medicine company from the field. The series has eight episodes, and while it’s not a must-watch, I think it works as a one-time watch. One thing that bothered me was the death of Dr. Janaki midway through the story. I kept wondering why the woman character had to die. For me, she was the real heroine because she started the fight against the issue. When the struggle finally succeeds, her absence creates a void. How many of you have watched this series? What did you feel after watching it?