It is no coincidence that in three consecutive Olympics till now, the first medal for India has come from its women. In Rio, it was Sakshi Malik, while in Tokyo, it was Mirabai Chanu, and now in Paris, it has been Manu Bhaker. This is a testimony to the rising power of women in today’s India.

Born on 18th February 2002 at Jhajjar in Haryana, pistol-firing was not on young Manu’s list of sports. Haryana is better known for churning out boxers and wrestlers, and so without a doubt, boxing was one of the sports on Manu’s list along with tennis and skating. In fact, seeing the Manu Bhaker of today with her infectious sweet smile, one would scarcely believe that at one time she won a medal at the national level in a particular form of martial art. However, once she tried her hand at shooting at the age of 14 years, and much to India’s good fortune, shooting became teenager Manu’s first love and it has continued till date.

Shooting is among the oldest events that were included in the Olympics as it was introduced at the very first modern Summer Olympics at Athens in 1896. Since then, shooting events have been contested in three categories – the pistol, rifle and shotgun. The U.S. has the history of being the most successful country in shooting so far, with more than 100 Olympic medals, while India, before the Paris 2024 version, had just four. Major Rajvardhan Rathore opened the account with a silver in the Men’s Double Trap at Athens in 2004. In 2008, at Bejing, Abhinav Bindra excelled in the 10 metre rifle event with a gold and then four years later, at London, Gagan Narang won a bronze in the 10 metre rifle event, while Vijay Kumar achieved the same in the 25 metre rapid air pistol event.

Get the digital edition of the September 2024 issue to read the full article.

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By the end of June 2024, two wonderful things happened in Indian cricket. While most of us rejoiced at our men’s team winning the ICC T20 World Cup, the achievement eclipsed the achievements of our women’s cricket team which was simultaneously making the South African team bite the dust.

Let it be ‘ladies first’ for this article, and more so because many of us may not have followed the remarkable performances of Harmanpreet Kaur and company. Smriti Mandhana was undoubtedly the player of the One Day International three-match series. She scored back to back centuries in the first two ODIs and missed the same by just ten runs in the third outing. While the second ODI finished as a close one despite the Indian team having set up a mountain target of 326 runs for a South African victory, the first and third ODIs failed to see any South African challenge worth the name.

Moving from white ball to white dress cricket, the Indian team was once again on top with the opening pair of Shefali Varma and Smriti putting up a record 292 runs for the opening stand. In the process, the Indian team declared the innings at 603 for 6 wicket; the highest ever total accumulated in any women’s Test match. While Shefali scored a double hundred, Smriti scored a century, once again. However, when the Indian team won the Test by 10 wickets, it was spin bowler, Sneh Rana, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match for bagging 10 wickets. She is only the second Indian player after Jhulam Goswami to have bagged 10 wickets in a Test match.

In men’s cricket the scene was very different. It seemed more than once that the Indian team would lose its T20 encounter. The first such occasion seemed to be against Pakistan but some immaculate bowling by our bowlers coupled with some rash attitude of the Pakistani batters end up with an Indian victory. The danger appeared to be the same even in the title contest against South Africa when the opponents required just 30 runs off 30 deliveries, but just one over from Jasprit Bumrah, a great catch by Suryakumar Yadav despite being under tremendous pressure, followed by a miserly penultimate over of just four runs by Arshdeep, turned the probable result of the match upside down in India’s favour.

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There are some people who manage to pack a lot in a twenty-four hour day. They are trailblazers who inspire us with their achievements. One such person is sixteen-year-old, now world-famous mountaineer Kaamya Karthikeyan.

Kaamya is the daughter of Western Navy Cdr. S. Karthikeyan and his wife Lavanya, an educator. Her father has a passion for mountaineering which he inculcated in Kaamya from an early age. This standard 12 girl has a lot of firsts to her credit. On 20 May 2024, she conquered Mount Everest (height: 8,849 metres) with her father, making her the youngest Indian and the world’s second youngest person to climb the formidable mountain. The Indian Navy congratulated her on her “immense courage and fortitude”.

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Anyone would be rendered speechless in the presence of global icon singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who at 5’10” towers over many singers in the music industry.

Riding high with the launch of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, her eleventh studio album, Taylor is at the pinnacle of stardom, raking in success once again.

Her Look

Taylor radiates large doses of charm, grace and sexiness. After all she is one of the highest-paid singers in the world today. When she smiles, her luminous blue eyes, with that tint of black, sparkle. Her figure stands out, but with neatly tucked in outfits that don’t reveal her true statistics. The same cannot be said of other female music stars who are known more for what they reveal than their singing. With Taylor, it’s the other way round. It was for this reason that I wrote about her and decided she was our cover girl and cover story in The Teenager, September 2009 issue. The Teenager Today always looks at the inner beauty of a person, rather than outside appearances. Taylor fitted the profile perfectly then and even now, 15 years later.

What really makes her the eye candy of social media, newspapers and magazines around the world that serenade her all the time?

Her Lyrics

As America’s sweetheart, Taylor could not be missed on the country circuit that she began with, moving on to a more pop-rock edge as the albums rolled out. She’s been around for some time, and has carved a niche for herself after her self-titled debut album skyrocketed her to superstardom. Since the age of fourteen she has had a full songwriter’s publishing deal, most often in collaboration with many others who helped her music grow.

Now as a 34-year-old, Taylor has been praised for her maturity, right from her second album onwards, in which she sang about boys and heartbreak, fun, sneaking out of windows at night to meet boys, while gently playing the guitar and self-penning all 16 songs on her album, giving her clear leeway to speak her heart out.

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Vacations are the sweetest part of a person’s life. Every student waits for these joyful moments. These days, when youngsters are stressed out, a vacation has become an essential part of his/her healthy growth. Parents who have been toiling along with their children throughout the year heave a sigh of relief.

This valuable time should not be idled away, but turned into a valuable investment in the growth of the youngster. A judicious spending of the vacation can help in rejuvenation, strengthening family bonds and enhancement of social relations. This time can be utilized for acquiring new skills and improving knowledge.

Here’s how you can make your summer vacation a fruitful one.

1. Indulge in physical exercise. Play your favourite game. Enrol in summer camps. This will enhance physical agility as well as mental alertness. Yoga camps are held in different places. The physical director of your school or college can help you to take assistance from the District Sports Authority.

2. Time spent with your grandparents becomes a sweet memory both for you and you grandparents. They will joyfully share with you their stories of the good old days and their life experiences.

3. Go an excursion or a pilgrimage with your family. This will refresh your mind, strengthen family bonds and improve social relations.

4. Visit an orphanage or a home for the destitute to inculcate compassion for the poor and the needy. You will realize how lucky you are and how you should be grateful to God and your parents.

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By nature, humans are friendly, pleasure-seeking, compassionate, kind, giving and forgiving creatures. Our “nature” or personality really comprises of unique inclinations that we cultivate in our thinking, feeling, and behaving to serve ourselves as well as connect with the larger world around us. Yet, from infancy and childhood, as we advance into teenage and adulthood, seeds of negativism begin to sprout. And some of them blossom into large spanning trees that colour our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours negatively. This unconstructive thinking clouds rational judgement and interferes with personal, academic, and interpersonal advancement.

You don’t feel good when you’re angry, sad, frustrated, upset, jealous or aggressive, right? By repeatedly feeling these negative emotions you could develop a thinking error that is commonly called a negativity bias. Like an anchor that locks the ship at sea, this makes you focus on that one bad thing even if there is a mountain of good things right in front of you. Think about the following situations:

• When your teacher (who always loves your work) told you once that your assignment wasn’t good enough, you can’t stop thinking about how bad you are.
• When your best friend’s invitation to a party does not reach you due to a technical glitch, you think that your friendship has ended.
• When you were asked to speak in front of the class, and your mind went blank, and you could not think of what to say, you felt like you were stupid.
• You said something about a friend in front of everyone that embarrassed him, and now you feel you cannot face your friends anymore, ever again.
• Your parents did not acknowledge your dance performance and you thought that nobody ever appreciates you or notices that you’re good at what you do.

All of them may have made you feel like you are not good enough or others are insufficient and that the world is an unfair place. You could become cynical and passive-aggressive too. You might change your outlook towards yourself and others and become pessimistic or negative. However, with deliberate effort and practice, you can learn to let go of negative thoughts and create a more optimistic outlook towards your life, irrespective of the bad that happens to or around you.

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It’s that time of the year when students start biting their fingernails! With the examination season upon us, it is natural to get stressed as there is an unprecedented pressure that is created by social media due to an information overflow and even a toxic mixture of unrealistic peer and parental pressure.

In today’s fast-paced world, information is readily available at the click of a button. This hardly gives time or space for reflection and assimilation of knowledge. In addition, constant comparisons between offline and online also creates a pressure cooker kind of situation for teenagers.

Panic attacks, tantrums, and dark circles around the eyes are some tell-tale signs you may have noticed. You probably remember your exam dates better than your birthday! Parents say “STUDY!”, but even spelling it is a stress!

Unfortunately, such stress can lead to a stage where you may think yourself to be worthless. It is like a vicious cycle that can negatively impact your performance and score. 

So how does one cope in such a situation? First and foremost, sit back, think, and ask yourself:

• Are you alienating yourself from your support peer group and parents?
• Are you questioning your self-worth?
• Is sleep your worst enemy?
• Has your mealtime become a chore?
• Do you feel that you may not meet the expectations of your parents or social group?
• Do you have difficulty in focusing? 
• Are you a time bomb waiting to explode?

You might have other symptoms of stress that are not listed here and that’s okay. No two people are born alike. We are all different and cope with stress in different ways. 

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The year 2008 brought about a big change in my life when I moved from the Indian Air Force to the corporate world. It was a planned move in my career, but something else happened to my lifestyle which I had never planned or anticipated. I had always been notorious for being an early-to-bed person and 10 p.m. had always been the latest cut-off time for my studies even during the most crucial examination times.

The only exception was the period of study at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, where the curriculum and mode of imparting knowledge have to be experienced to be believed; it just does not permit any physical or mental laxity, laziness or luxury. Needless to add, the professors are exceptional as are the case studies that one has to prepare by burning the midnight oil.

Out from the clutches of IIMA, as the General Manager of Forbes & Company Limited, I had every opportunity to revert to my old habits, which they say die hard, but one thing ensured that it was not to be: the start of the Indian Premier League. With the exception of a few matches, almost all matches continued to be decided in the last two overs of the match and starting at 8 p.m. it was not unusual for most of the matches going beyond 11.15 p.m.

Thanks to the organising skill of Lalit Modi, the IPL not only impacted my personal lifestyle but converted not only cricket but the whole sports world into a huge commercial venture which before 2008 was unforeseeable by any stretch of the imagination. Undoubtedly, Indian cricket and Indian cricketers have been the biggest gainers and the gain has not been limited to just commercial gains.

Foreign players and Boards that at one time did not refrain from misbehaving with their Indian counterparts are now judicious enough not to annoy their adversaries lest they are boycotted from participating in cricket’s most lucrative competition. At the same time, the Board of Control for Cricket in India now has a big reservoir to exhume cricketing talent in this country.

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As the calendar page turns, and 2024 dawns, the hopes and the goals of today’s youngsters for the coming year illuminate a road of personal growth, perseverance, and self-discovery. In the spirit of Youth Day on 12 January, this special segment shares young voices from across the country and their hopes and dreams for 2024. From self-improvement journeys to facing the hurdles of new beginnings, these stories provide a vivid picture of youthful optimism and tenacity, revealing the diverse goals that will shape the fabric of the coming year.

“In the upcoming year, my aspirations as a student are oriented towards personal and academic development. Beyond academic development, my main dream is to better myself, for myself, doing things that will benefit me, and no one else. With the New Year approaching fast, I am dedicated to enjoying the remaining few days by prioritizing myself and my close ones. And instead of setting New Year goals, I will go with the flow, taking the pressure off of me. My only aim for the New Year is making most of the days, and enjoying it.”
BAVANA VINOD THALATHOTI (21) / Maharashtra

“Winter is the time when old leaves fall out making room for the new ones; it’s the time when animals hibernate, preparing themselves for a new summer. The New Year falls in this season, bidding farewell to the past and celebrating what’s yet to come with hope and laughter. This year has been a rollercoaster ride for me — new city, new faces, taking a small step towards my big dreams. I faltered at times, my instinctive fear holding me back from putting myself out there in the world. Setting resolutions have never worked out for me, so this year I am going to go with the flow, keeping my eyes wide open for the opportunities coming my way and letting go of the things that are holding me back. This year I will focus on gracefully letting go of the things that are holding me back and working towards my betterment.”
SHARANYA SUNIL NAIR (20) / Gujarat

“My hopes and dreams for 2024 would be to improve and explore new opportunities for myself. Since I’m a student and a freelancer, I would like to improve my camera and directional skills to showcase and improve my content. I would like to improve on my priorities so that I can create an environment where I have a work-life balance to ensure that I don’t feel burnt out and miss out on important experiences and events which could help me personally and professionally. Lastly, my only dream and goal is to give back to my parents and relate with their goals and dreams as they have given me the opportunity to explore and take my dream profession and career.”
NIHAL KONDUR (21) / Kerala

“A New Year is forever; it keeps coming year after year, and so do my new dreams. There have been so many dreams for me to fulfil, and I take resolution and fail to meet them. But this time, I am not the same anymore. My goal for 2024 is not about getting a good job or being productive. It’s about making myself healthy and confident. 2023 has been a hell of a ride. So many changes in my life have happened, wherein I failed to look after my physical and mental health, which has put me down in many ways. This time, I am not going to give up. I am going to prioritise my mental and physical health, and I am not going to compromise on my health anymore. Eating clean food and exercising for at least an hour will be my compulsory activity here on. Hopefully, this year will be a kickstart for my activeness to control and grow my body and health.”
VINISHAA N. D. (21) / Tamil Nadu

Approaching the New Year, I stand at the crossroads of reflection and anticipation. My heart echoes with the whispers of hopes, and dreams unfold like a story waiting to be written. In the tapestry of the coming 365 days, I see a journey of growth and resilience. Resolutions become the guiding compass, pointing me towards the uncharted territories of self-discovery. As the clock ticks down, each second resonates with the promise of a fresh start. With open arms, I welcome the unknown, ready to embrace the challenges and triumphs that will follow. Here’s to a new chapter, a canvas yet untouched, and the adventures that lie ahead.
RITIKA MITRA (20) / Kolkata

Excitement fills my heart as the New Year approaches. Hopes and dreams bloom in the garden of possibilities. Standing at the threshold of 365 days, I see a canvas for resilience, joy, and growth. Embracing the unknown, I envision a personal metamorphosis. Challenges may come, but my spirit remains undaunted. With each tick of the clock, aspirations harmonize with the universe. The forthcoming year is a blank chapter, and I am the author, penning a saga of purpose and new beginnings.
BHAVYA GIRISH (21) / Karnataka

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It’s that time of the year again! A time full of joy, anticipation and excitement for the upcoming festivities and holidays. It’s the Christmas season — a time when the world adorns itself in twinkling lights, festive cheer fills the air, and hearts are aglow with the spirit of giving and celebration. The hustle and bustle creates an ambience of merriment, yet within this joyful chaos lies a more profound significance that goes beyond the glitz and glamour of the season. It’s a time that prompts reflection, a reminder of the core values of love, compassion, and the promise of unity in a world that often feels fragmented and divided.

The Christmas spirit often signifies a beacon of hope and light in a bleak world. Its origins can be traced back to when ancient traditions and stories resounded with hope and generosity. The story of Jesus Christ’s birth is at the heart of the origins of Christmas. The story of Jesus communicates a powerful message of love, empathy, and compassion. It’s about the resonance of harmony and the warmth of solidarity rather than mere presents and jingling bells.

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