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THE PLANNING FORUM ORIENTATION The Planning Forum’s orientation on August 24, 2023, inaugurated a new year of events for the society by acquainting individuals passionate about Public Policy and Policy-making with the core essence of the society. It started with the introduction of the various events that the Forum holds, like the Alumni Talks, Policy Conclave, Policy Arena, SMUN, Chatrashala, and the like, to familiarise them with the society and its events. They were introduced to the Stephanian Forum, a Planning Forum initiative that offers a creative space and platform for individuals who are eager to express their thoughts and find a voice. Finally, the entertaining trivia round at the end heightened the overall enjoyment as the first years answered questions about the college for a chance to win the chocolate sticks. LECTURE SESSION BY SHRUTI LAKHTAKIA In the digital realm, within the virtual auditorium of the internet, an online lecture emerged as a beacon of knowledge and inspiration. The speaker, Shruti Lakhtakia, an economist at the World Bank and a DPhil in Public policy candidate at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford, materialised on screens like a digital sage, ready to embark on a journey of enlightenment. The event aptly themed Academia and Policy: a two-way exchange transported attendees into a fairy tale. As the lecture began, the pixels on the screen danced in harmony with the speaker’s words, casting a spell that transcended the boundaries of physical space. The event commenced with a keynote address of invitee by Yakov George, a member of the Economics Society of St.Stephen’s College. The lecture talk by the speaker emphasised the crucial role of academia in providing evidence-based research to inform policy decisions. She also discussed how academia plays a pivotal role in offering comprehensive research, data and expert opinions to guide effective policy-making. Examples were shared of successful collaborations where academic research influenced policy decisions at local, national and international levels. Collaborations with IDB and IMF were presented. The speaker’s voice, a river of wisdom, flowed with the cadence of a seasoned storyteller, drawing in the virtual audience. With each word, she painted vivid mental landscapes, forging connections across the digital expense. Numerous questions were asked on the diversity of academia and the equitability of crime research in academia. As the lecture reached its zenith, the screen seemed to expand, enveloping the audience in a digital crescendo of inspiration. The knowledge imparted was not confined to the virtual world; it ignited a spark within each participant. The lecture ended with a thank you note by Drishty of the Economics Society who described the lecture as enriching and thought-provoking. And as the lecture concluded, the digital sage bid farewell leaving a trail of luminous insights in their wake. The online lecture, a digital symphony of intellect and imagination, had transformed the screens into gateways to enlightenment, a testament to the boundless power of human curiosity in the digital age THE INAUGURAL LECTURE To raise the bar of excellence of a country even higher the economy contributes a major role and what connects them all strongly is Globalisation. The global economy is innately tied to trade; it allows countries around the world to obtain any resource they may want, whether or not it is produced on the home front. This availability of resources is facilitated through trade. During times of peace, it is beneficial in a global economy, to see other nations succeed. On the other hand, during times of unrest, dependence on outside nations, in a global economy, may seem scary. Due to globalisation and other factors, it is impossible for large industrialised nations to exit the global economy unscathed. Addressing these major issues, the Planning forum at St Stephen's College hosted an interactive session on the 13th of October, 2023 with Mr Auguste Tano kouamé who briefed the audience on the topic "Navigating troubled waters: The Global Economy and India" and gave invaluable insights through his achievements and experiences. He is the World Bank’s Country Director for India and a national of Côte d’Ivoire. He most recently served as the World Bank’s Country Director for the Republic of Türkiye and a Director in the World Bank Group’s Independent Evaluation Group. He also held positions as a Practice Manager in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Practice of the World Bank, first in Latin America and Caribbean countries and then in the Middle East and North Africa regions. Mr Kouame talked about the substantial decrease in growth of economies in the world and drew a clear picture of the global economy and how it was affected by the pandemic but despite the headwind, India sailed its ship rather smoothly and persevered in the run of development and growth. These enriching thoughts and ideas made the audience more cognizant about the contributions they need to put into making India reach heights unimaginable THE TREASURE HUNT On the sunny afternoon of September 21ST, 2023,  Planning Forum Treasure Hunt unfolded on the sprawling SCR lawns. This unique event combined the thrill of a treasure hunt with exploring policy-related themes. Participants eagerly embraced the challenge, demonstrating their enthusiasm for learning and community engagement. Treasure hunts have a timeless appeal, fostering creativity, teamwork, and an innate sense of adventure. The Planning Forum Treasure Hunt sought to channel this spirit, offering participants a day of fun. Through this Treasure Hunt, we aimed to challenge participants with a series of mind-bending puzzles and riddles and to create a memorable and enjoyable experience for all attendees. The college grounds offered a perfect setting for exploration and adventure, with various nooks and crannies waiting to be discovered. The Treasure Hunt saw participation from students across courses. This diversity added a rich layer to the event, fostering interdisciplinary interactions and creating lasting memories for all involved. The Hunt was a resounding success, achieving its objectives and leaving a lasting impact on the college community. Participants bonded over shared challenges, fostering a sense of camaraderie and belonging, which is what matters at the end of the day. CHATRASHALA Held on Sunday, the 3rd of December, Chatrashala proved to be an exceptionally heartwarming occasion. The Planning Forum warmly welcomed children onto the campus to spend a day engaging with and educating them. During self-introductions, we encountered young individuals like Abhinav, expressing the desire to become a chef as they grow older. Abhinav shared tales of crafting chai for grandparents and revealed a steadfast refusal to cook for sisters deemed too mean. This blend of passion in the kitchen and resilience against injustice promises to shape dynamic personalities during their early educational years. Encountering young girls aspiring to become sportspersons underscored the evolving dynamics of youth education, irrespective of gender. The ability of children to dream diversely and ambitiously, unencumbered by limitations, marks a positive shift in youth education. Among the myriad ambitions expressed, from engineers to teachers to doctors, a notable enthusiasm for cricket emerged among many, boys and girls alike. This was attributed to the formation of a cricket team inspiring pride in its multiple victories. Engaging in various games with the children revealed the spirited and energetic nature inherent to kids. Laughter echoed as we participated in activities such as barf aur panni, football, and the hanky game, turning into a nostalgic journey through our own childhood memories. The drawing session, where children and volunteers gathered enthusiastically to depict everything from Doraemon to grape vines and amusing incidents from the event, was a heartwarming reminder of our childhood artistic endeavours. The drawings, each reflecting the unique and vibrant aspects of the children's personalities, contributed to an innocent and heartening atmosphere. As everyone immersed themselves in the art, the session became a showcase of creativity eagerly shared to please.At the end, all children received certificates and chocolates, expressing gratitude for the delightful time they provided and acknowledging their endearing qualities. We remain appreciative of their lively presence, offering a welcome distraction from impending exams and creating one of our most memorable days.

Disclaimer: All views and opinions expressed are those of the author/authors’ and are not indicative of views held by The Stephanian Forum and its team. What if we told you that any student election contested anywhere makes for a very interesting case study in democracy and psephology? But before we go on to talk about how, let’s take a trip down the corridors of history and look at another watershed moment. Imagine yourself standing at the turn of an era. India is independent. You have a nearly blank slate. You are the leader of a newly independent India, and the first general elections are around the corner. You have an important decision to make, a decision that will be significant in so many ways, a decision that will decide the trajectory that this new nation will take, a decision that will put down the values and principles that will shape its future: the simple decision of who should have the right to vote. Today, it may strike you as a pretty straightforward question - why, shouldn’t every adult citizen have the right to vote – Universal Adult Franchise – yada yada! It fits so naturally in our vision of democracy that anything otherwise seems unthinkable, even counterintuitive. But seventy-five years ago, this answer was not as clear as it is today. Although it comprised only a small group, there were people who doubted the merit of granting everyone the right to vote. “A future and more enlightened age will view with astonishment the absurd farce of recording the votes of millions of illiterate people.” These words were said by Penderel Moon on the occasion of India’s first general elections. Moon was an ex-Indian Civil Service official and a scholar from Oxford. Another editor from Madras, C.R. Srinivasan, around the same time, called these elections “the biggest gamble in the history of democracy”. Unsurprisingly, there were resonating voices along the same lines coming from the west too. These concerns were but natural, since only 16% of India’s adult population was literate back then. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since. Today, the literacy rate stands at 68% and 84% in rural and urban areas respectively. A pertinent question at the heart of this debate is this - how much of a difference, and what kind of difference, does education make when it comes to voting patterns?. The question at the heart of this article is an even more radical one - does education even make a difference to voting patterns at all? You may ask: what does this academic debate of political science have to do with an “apolitical” college such as St. Stephen’s? Well, we would say - everything in this world! This is a good time to brood over this thought-provoking question since only last month the college ran its annual Student Union elections. SUS elections or any other student body elections hold important lessons to answer this question. College elections are one space where we find a 100% literacy rate. Everybody who attends college has a high school education or equivalent. Everybody is educated in subjects like civics, history, political science and sociology, not to mention basic literacy and numeracy. Everyone is deemed to be a rational agent, capable of making their own pragmatic choices by virtue of their education. Especially when it comes to a college like Stephen’s, the so-called “chosen ones” are supposedly “the brightest minds” in the country. Therefore, rationally speaking, it would be fair to expect that the quality of student elections in educational institutions should be much, much better than the quality of, say, India’s general elections. Well, first, what does “quality” of elections mean? Let’s try to define that in concrete terms. It seems the idea of quality boils down, broadly, to four factors. 1. Quality of issues on which elections are fought 2. The way campaigning is done 3. The way the electorate votes 4. Voter turnout Mind you, these factors are not exhaustive in any sense, but seek to give a wide picture. An easy example would be the common assumption that an electorate consisting of more illiterate voters will be more likely to get divided on issues of identity: religious, geographical, caste, gender, etc; whereas, a literate electorate should vote regardless of allegiances made on these lines. Representation, of course, is always a yes-yes, but voting simply because somebody comes from your identity group, or vote-bank politics for that matter, is presumably e a tendency of voters who are turning a blind eye to other more important factors, such as the promises and policies the candidates are proposing, their motivations to contest, their political choices, etc. Well, does that ring a bell? Isn’t that what happens year after year in our student elections? Students’ choices stemming from personal biases, allegiances to identity, stereotypes, and falling for lofty promises - it visibly keeps happening. It seems educated voters get as conveniently polarized as uneducated voters. There seems to be unsaid rules of contesting student elections, whether SUS or DUSU. It’s as if the cards are laid, and one has to play one’s best hand with them. What are these cards? One can make some intelligent guesses. Regionalism is one. Caste is another. Ideology is yet another. A lot of times, the candidates do not want to play on the lines of these easy routes, but they (have to) end up doing so because of reasons beyond their control. Oh, that seems too much food for thought to chew, doesn’t it? Let’s get some fresh air and move out of the Rudra gate. The road leads to Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station. It’s the month of August and September. You are stuck in a traffic jam. It seems the jam extends from the inner depths of Kamla Nagar all the way to Vishwavidyala and GTB metro stations. Desperate, uncomfortable, sweaty and stinky, biting your lips in a traffic jam in an e-rickshaw, looking at your watch time and again, you cannot miss the road having been turned white with the pamphlets and cards of DUSU contestants. The sky is hidden behind the banners and hoardings with the same blue or red text on white backgrounds. The blandness of these pamphlets and hoardings is conspicuous - they do not carry anything, anything, but the name of the candidate, bordered by the repeating name of the party they belong to. No slogan, no promises, no agenda - not even a photo - just the name printed in a font as large as possible. Come on, you wonder, at least they could have someone even the least bit Canva-savvy to edit this banner. A little more colour would have done no harm. Yet, one cannot forget these names that leave an indelible imprint in one’s mind for a long time. Even blank text, when presented with loudness, has such an impressionable effect, it seems! You cannot help but compare these sights with any Indian election you must have witnessed - local to state to national. There lie stark differences as well as similarities. While both employ large crowds to display power, use money (read: big budgets) and muscle (read: Fortuners, Audis and Thars), and make hefty promises, there are marked differences in the way the campaigns work - the way messages are put across, agenda are set and, well, placards are designed. These thought-trails leave you disappointed. One expects more from student elections. It’s difficult to define what the “more” is, but it should at least be some rungs higher than the quality of elections we see today. Disappointed, as you return to college where there is a conspicuous lack of such cards and pamphlets, you are left with unsettling questions to deal with. Ooh, back at Stephen’s too, you sense election fever in the air. The stage of the college hall is set for the Open court! The Student Union Society is electing its President! This year, 813 junior members cast their vote in the election for the college President. The voter turnout - at about 60% - was not very different from last year. Interestingly, the voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 stood at 67%. In the first elections of 1952, when literacy stood at 18%, the turnout was a whopping 55%. Voter turnout is a good indicator of people’s faith in the election system, interest in democratic practices, and a will to participate. It comes as a surprise that, at least in this case study, literacy has no impact on the voter turnout. If anything, the turnout of literate people is less than that of the turnout of a less educated general population. One can come up with several explanations for educated people ending up not voting: 1. Students, even though educated in science, math and languages, find phenomena like elections complex, and therefore stay at a distance; or 2. Students, even though literate, do not understand the value of public participation in democratic processes; or 3. Students, although literate and valuing participation, still choose not to vote because of a lack of faith in the election system or its outcomes. What we won’t attempt to do here is try to analyse which of these possible explanations hold more or less water. A fun task for you, the reader, could be to discuss among yourselves the possible reasons for the non-relation between education and turnout. Another noticeable pattern is the drop in the number of votes from the first year to third year. While the high vote share by first years is understandable since this is often their first serious voting out of school (before they go on to get their Voter ID cards), the fervour and enthusiasm in general reduces as one enters the second and subsequently the third year. Not to forget - 58 invalid votes! That is a surprisingly high number. We checked with the student volunteers who witnessed vote-counting, and we found that most of the invalid votes were deemed so because of silly errors - putting tick marks instead of preferences, writing preferences in a way that makes it ambiguous, etc. In the past, there have been instances wherein students used the ballot to register their protests in unique ways. Some write stuff, some write other names, and the like. While a NOTA option on the ballot would be one way to officially allow such a space to protest, the twin problems of a) students not showing up on the D-day, and b) students not knowing how to vote, leaves room for thought. We close this discussion where we began it: Do we not expect more from student politics? Shouldn’t educated voters behave differently? A bunch of educated youngsters are expected to do a much better job when it comes to elections of their own bodies. When there is a rise up on the literacy ladder, it seems contradictory to drop low on the ladder of electoral quality. Our observations so far show a picture which is not just inconsistent with this rationale, but rather the opposite. It is important to keep asking whether there are visible differences that mark a distinction between student elections and their real-world counterparts, and whether said paradox exists. When all is said and done, an institution and its systems are only as strong as the values of their practitioners. Democracy, more than an electoral system, is a system of values. Any institution crafted from democratic principles will hold strong as long as the spirit remains intact. That spirit may and may not come from the electorate’s education - which then becomes secondary. The spirit is more important. And that spirit draws from you, reader. What you believe. What you value. And what you uphold.

Mr. N.K. Singh, a distinguished Indian politician, renowned economist, and former IAS officer, presently serving as the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission of India, engaged in an insightful conversation with the council members of The Planning Forum in the year 2021. This exclusive interview delves into his multifaceted career, spanning diplomacy, public service, politics, and economic policy, offering profound perspectives on various aspects of his journey. In this interview, Mr. N.K. Singh reflected on the changes in college over the years. He noted that while certain aspects like the identity of college buildings and hostels remain constant, admission cutoff marks have risen significantly due to increased competition. Furthermore, he highlighted the change in preferred academic disciplines, with economics now being highly sought after compared to his time when history and political science were favourites. Regarding the philosophy prevalent in campus, he mentioned that during his time, informality and congeniality between faculty and students were valued, fostering a unique atmosphere at St. Stephen's College. Shifting to his role as President of the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), Mr. Singh discussed the need to address contemporary challenges such as global warming and climate change. He emphasised the importance of embracing technology and integrating various disciplines into one common format, as well as being adaptable. In particular, he pointed out how the pandemic had served to highlight the need for improved health infrastructure, and also how agricultural practices require continuous adaptation to changing consumer preferences and environmental concerns. When asked about criticisms of international organisations favouring developed countries, Mr. N.K. Singh acknowledged the historical biases in these organisations and stressed the need to restructure them to better reflect current global economic dynamics. Mr. N.K. Singh then mentioned that he joined the Indian Civil Service in 1964 after teaching at St. Stephen's College. He started his career in this field in the Indian Foreign Service, but switched to the Indian Administrative Service later. His decision to enter politics stemmed from his desire to gain an alternate perspective on India's governance. He noted the distinct views from the executive and legislative ends and felt it was an alluring and challenging experience. His role in the Rajya Sabha also provided him with firsthand insight into parliamentary proceedings, going beyond merely observing them. He mentioned that seeing policy changes from the inside was a valuable experience. He expressed gratitude for being offered a seat in the Rajya Sabha by the then-Chief Minister. When asked how his bureaucratic experience contributed to his political career, Mr. N.K. Singh stated that it provided a holistic view of policy-making. His role as Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission showed him the legislative processes required for policy implementation. His parliamentary experience allowed him to understand the implications of policy changes that might necessitate legislation. He highlighted the significance of parliamentary committees like the Public Accounts Committee and how, as Revenue Secretary, he had testified before such committees, creating a full-circle experience when he became a member of the Public Accounts Committee. During the interview, when asked if he sees himself standing for election in the future, Mr. N.K. Singh categorically denied any such possibility. He explained that he has had a diverse range of experiences in diplomatic assignments, state and central government roles, the Prime Minister's office, and his position as the Chairman of the Finance Commission. He deemed these experiences sufficient for one lifetime. Additionally, he revealed his current plans, which include writing two books—one compiling his recent lectures and the other focusing on federalism and fiscal federalism, subjects that have always intrigued him. Regarding his role as Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, Mr. N.K. Singh acknowledged that they faced several significant challenges. He highlighted the complexity of implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the associated issues such as determining state revenues under the new taxation system. He also mentioned the challenge of using the 2011 census data for resource allocation, which led to a controversy, particularly related to states with differing demographic management performance. He explained how they balanced considerations of equity, efficiency, and performance in their decision-making, emphasising that the Finance Commission's role involves a delicate balancing act. In response to our interviewers' questions about his experience as a member of the Planning Commission and his views on its dissolution and the unification of planned and unplanned expenditure, Mr. N.K. Singh explained that he believed the distinction between planned and unplanned expenditure had outlived its purpose since the Planning Commission's inception. He discussed how the Planning Commission was created shortly after India's independence, focusing on the model of socialism and the importance of public sector-led development due to the nascent state of private capital and entrepreneurial skills. Despite calls for restructuring the Planning Commission, this did not happen. He continued to discuss the non-statutory nature of the Planning Commission and its function as an extra-constitutional authority, taking on roles that overlapped with the Finance Commission. Successive finance commissions raised concerns about this overlap, and the decision to abolish the Planning Commission in 2014 was welcomed as long overdue. He mentioned the possibility of a different transition model, such as a restructured Niti Aayog or an entity like the Centre State Council. In response to the interviewers' question about his college days and the impact of St. Stephen's College on his life, he expressed his sadness at the current generation's inability to fully experience their college due to the pandemic. He acknowledged the importance of prioritising lives and public health over such experiences and highlighted that similar situations were affecting students worldwide. He emphasised the value of friendships, informal interactions, and unique experiences that college life brings, and expressed hope that the current students would soon get a taste of this for themselves. He felt confident that they would make up for the lost experiences as soon as the pandemic subsides. He also shared his own involvement in the college's activities, such as his membership in the Criterion and Shakespeare Society, and encouraged students to acquaint themselves with both the institutional and experiential aspects of St. Stephen's. The interviewers expressed their gratitude to Mr. N.K. Singh for his time, and he reciprocated by expressing his appreciation for the thoughtful questions, thereby marking the end of an enriching and illumination dialogue with one of Stephen's finest.

Throughout our lives, the Middle East has been a region synonymous with warfare and instability. Regardless of our age, we’ve heard of a conflict raging here almost every year of our lives, because conflicts have been raging here for the best part of the last century. Ever since the turn of the century, wars have consumed over a million lives in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and the rest. These conflicts have attracted the involvement of regional powers like Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Egypt and Turkey; moreover, from beyond, like the US and Russia. The Middle East is probably the most complex geopolitical chessboard in the world and its issues seem to be at a point of no end. But why? In order to understand the root cause of the Middle East’s many problems, we only have to roll back the clock to a little more than a hundred years ago, to when the region's borders were drawn up, and how they have guaranteed misery and forever-wars for the world ever since. By the 19th century, to safeguard trade, the imperious British Empire had started acquiring mandates over territories of the Ottoman Empire which stood between it and its crown-jewel colony in India. This gave them control over the world’s biggest trade chokepoint: the Suez Canal. Alarmed by the situation, the Ottomans fought and lost the First World War, which brought about their end. The British and French picked up the broken pieces of the Empire and reorganised the region with the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. The artificial lines drawn as part of the agreement cut across the religious, ethnic and linguistic realities of the region. In addition, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Iraq, a deeply divided and hurriedly-formed state, gained its independence from the British in 1932. Its major constituent provinces, Mosul, Baghdad and Basra, each had different ethno-religious groups with different priorities in the majority. What would later become Kuwait had earlier been part of the Basra province, and contained around half the country’s oil reserves. This shaky historical claim became the basis of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of the country in 1990. The French mandate over Syria was not much better managed. The borders again included various groups like the Alawites, Sunnis, Shias, and Druze among others. With its independence in 1946, the new state emerged with territorial disputes of its own: with Turkey over the Hatay province, and with Lebanon over the whole of its territory, both having been a part of the French mandate of Syria earlier. Finally, there was the question of oil. Oil was starting to be discovered within the territories of all these infant countries. This may seem like a golden opportunity to finally escape the shackles of imperialism and form independent economies as we see in the cases of modern UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others. But Iraq and Syria suffered from what is described as the ‘Resource Curse’. The reason behind this was the locations where oil discoveries were made within these nations. Very often, one province enjoyed the vast majority of discoveries, cases in point being Basra in Iraq, and neighbouring Khuzestan in Iran. All in all, the oil found across the Middle East’s complicated mosaic of ethnicities accounted for nearly half of the world’s supply, meaning global powers had started to play a greater role in influencing the region permanently. This just added to the number of stakeholders and competing claimants to resources in the region. Then, in 1948, the British dropped another bombshell by granting independence to Mandatory Palestine and creating the State of Israel. In the wake of the Holocaust, hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees poured into Israel, majorly changing the demographics of the region, and complicating things further. The newly-formed United Nations partitioned Palestine into unequal Jewish and Arab zones, granting the Jews land which was beyond justification given they had numbered less than half of what the Arabs did. This was rejected by each Arab country and not one of them recognised Israel as a legitimate state at first. Thus the never-ending Arab-Israel conflict began. Out of these foundational issues pre-1950, the Middle East consequently suffered from setback upon setback, and every single one of these can be traced back to the gluttonous interests of the imperial powers. For a century, the bitter reaction to the Sykes-Picot process has been reflected in the most politically powerful ideologies to emerge - Nasserism, in Egypt, and Baathism, in Iraq and Syria - based on a single nationalism covering the entire Arab world. Even the Islamic State sought to undo the old borders. After sweeping across Syria and Iraq in 2014, Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced, “This blessed advance will not stop until we hit the last nail in the coffin of the Sykes-Picot conspiracy.” Yet the premise of every other outside power today - in stabilising fractious Iraq, and ending Syria’s gruesome civil war - is to preserve the borders associated with Sykes-Picot. The region has now peered nervously beyond both the political chaos and the challenge from ISIS, but the well-rooted fear that both Iraq and Syria, an area stretching from the Mediterranean to the Gulf have become so frail that they will never be sustainable is ever-likely to come true. References: 1. Yakoubi, M. (2022). "The French, the British and their Middle Eastern mandates (1918-1939): Two political strategies." Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique, XXVII(1). https://doi.org/10.4000/rfcb.8787 2. Barr, J. (2020, January 6). How Britain created the Middle East crisis. UnHerd. https://unherd.com/2020/01/how-britain-created-the-middle-east-crisis/ 3. A century on: Why Arabs resent Sykes-Picot. (n.d.). https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2016/sykes-picot-100-years-middle-east-map/index.html 4. Elzas, S. (2016, May 17). Sykes-Picot: Franco-British secret deal still divides Middle East. RFI. https://www.rfi.fr/en/europe/20160516-sykes-picot-franco-british-division-middle-east-felt-100-years-later 5. Osman, T. (2013, December 14). Why border lines drawn with a ruler in WW1 still rock the Middle East. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25299553 6. Wright, R. (2016, April 30). How the curse of Sykes-Picot still haunts the Middle East. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-curse-of-sykes-picot-still-haunts-the-middle-east

In the hustle and bustle of life, one rarely pays attention to the myriad of treasures that one passes by regularly. The St. Stephen’s college campus is a treasure trove with many such unexplored places that await the attention of the junior members of the college. Here are six of these precious places that you should definitely visit and spend some time at: 1. Chair Circle This aesthetic sitting area on the chapel walkway provides students with a peaceful retreat from the hubbub of academic life. The presence of greenery, comfortable seating, and aesthetically pleasant surroundings contribute to a positive mental state and encourage students to think outside the box, brainstorm, and engage in artistic pursuits. They add character and charm to the college grounds, making the campus an attractive place to study and spend time. 2. ANGA Tree Tent Nestled in front of the Allnutt North Gentlemen Association residence block, you'll discover this picturesque photo spot ( some call it a tent house, others call it a manger). It's a place of peace and tranquility, where you can escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The creeping vines contribute to its enigmatic allure. As for the structure itself, it's a canvas for diverse interpretations. Some may perceive it as a woman, others as a ghostly presence, and still, there are those who see it as a mountain. The beauty lies in the multitude of perspectives it inspires. So don't miss out on visiting this enchanting spot and becoming enveloped in the sheer beauty of nature. 3. Hiking Wall The hiking wall or the Eshwaran Bharatan Memorial Wall is unique to St Stephen’s and something every Stephanian is proud of. Located outside the college gymnasium and located between some tall and green trees the hiking wall provides for an adventure within college. Home to the St Stephen’s Hiking Club, this intimidating-looking structure has provided many fun and adventurous evenings within the college. It has been the destination for new bonds to form and old ones to flourish. With climbs organized everyday at this venue, the college hiking wall provides for a platform to cultivate a sense of competition along with that of thrill. In partnership with the college hiking club, there is an assurance of safety as well as enjoyment at this gem of the college. 4. Corona Wall What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when one says Science Dhaba? The food? The gazebo? Not the Corona Wall, right? One of the walls of the Science Dhaba is aptly called the ‘Corona Wall’. During the lockdown, a group of students were stuck on campus with no means to go back home and so, they decided to paint this wall. The wall aesthetically covers the various aspects of college life, from the dogs and monkeys on campus to the various sports played. The students, along with the teachers on campus, have signed their names. Do give this wall a visit! 5. Art Gallery Wait. Do we have an art gallery on our campus? Sadly, the Art Gallery beside Room AS3 goes unnoticed by most people due to its location, locked behind the red and blue chambers away from easy sight. But one can go inside through the doorway in the AS3 room. This newly constructed area is different from the usual architecture of the buildings in college and may not be filled with drawings and paintings all the time but the calmness and serenity of the space which is also built in a way that the old huge tree is preserved enhances its tranquility. A perfect picture spot with its natural essence and white aesthetics! 6. Founder’s Grave St. Stephens College goes back decades and started with a college of three teachers and five students and its principal, Sir Allnut who also taught Logic and Literature. Interestingly Sir Allnutt rode about Delhi on a tricycle whilst assuming other important roles such as the Head of the Cambridge Mission from 1899-1917 and the Canon of Lahore from 1910. Some of his most cherished roles were the revival of Sanskrit in the College and being behind the first and impactful batch of the college with BA and postgraduate students. Sir Allnutt died on 7th December, 1917 and his death anniversary is still commemorated as the Founder’s Day of the college. He was buried at the Thompson Road Cemetery (now the Delhi Railway Station marshaling yard) and his remains were subsequently reinterred in the College Chapel on 1 May 1979. Today, that Founder's Stone behind the most central and important location in College, which is the College Chapel represents the foundation of St. Stephen’s college and his prominent legacy which will be carried on for generations to come. So as you navigate your life in college, do not forget to explore this wonderful space which has multiple secrets to unveil and many stories to tell.

In a 2020 BBC survey conducted in India, 42% of respondents felt that women’s sports were not as ‘entertaining’ as men’s. This notion, which has been around since the advent of female participation in sports, has often come to be perceived as an indisputable truth. Perceptions of this nature rely heavily on normative beliefs regarding femininity and gender stereotypes, helped along in no small part by stakeholders such as the media and sports regulatory authorities. The most pressing issue with the media’s treatment of female athletes is insubstantial and differential coverage, which has impeded their visibility and potential popularity. In the US, the coverage of women’s sports did not manage to supersede coverage of dogs and horses until 1992. The argument typically put forth to explain the gap in coverage is circular - the media showcases women’s sports rarely and infrequently compared to their male equivalents, which leads to them having fewer viewers and generating lesser interest, and this lack of popular interest is then touted as the reason for their lack of coverage. Even when female athletes do receive media attention, their portrayal in the news is often significantly different from that of their male counterparts. Their athleticism, instead of being the sole focus, is frequently framed as tangential. Instead, their image, physical appearance, sexuality and private lives are given considerably more attention. In an interview with tennis star Sania Mirza, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai asked her about her plans for motherhood and ‘settling down’. When Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu broke a world record and won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the NBC broadcast coverage panned to her husband and coach, and a commentator said, “And there’s the man responsible”. In a report on the media coverage of women’s sports, Dr Murray Phillips notes that “Women were often photographed in inactive shots, in relationship caricatures or as models; men were more often shown in active poses, less in relationships and never as models. Similarly, the writing that described women’s and men’s sports reinforced a gender dichotomy. Women were stereotyped by their physical traits, their clothes, their emotions and their relationships; men by courage, aggression and toughness…” Women were stereotyped by their physical traits, their clothes, their emotions and their relationships; men by courage, aggression and toughness… Media portrayals of female athletes are regularly linked to their alignment with conventional standards of beauty and the performance of femininity. Their outfits and body shapes are subject to undue scrutiny, often at the expense of reporting on their athletic accomplishments. The objectification of these athletes by reducing them to their desirability denigrates them both as women and as athletes. This issue is exacerbated by the dress codes enforced for various sports by their respective overseeing administrative bodies. The regulations that female outfits are subject to have drawn considerable scrutiny in recent years for their active and conscious contribution to the sexualisation of these athletes. Dress codes in sports have historically been dictated by commercial interests and devised almost entirely by men, many of whom seem to subscribe to the adage that “sex sells” when it comes to the promotion of women’s sports. While regulated form-fitting or lightweight outfits serve technological and functional purposes in sports such as gymnastics or swimming, the same cannot be said for others such as women’s beach volleyball and handball. Beach handball requires women to wear bikini bottoms when they compete, while men are permitted to wear shorts. The International Handball Federation rules even include specifications on the nature and style of this apparel, stating that the bottoms must be “a close fit”, be “cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg” and have a side width of no more than 10 centimetres. Despite claims that these stipulations “increase athlete performance”, there is scarce evidence to prove it. The regulations go on to state that these rules are necessary for coherence with the “sportive and attractive image of the sport”. In 2021, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined 150 euros for switching out their bikini bottoms for shorts. The Federation drew global criticism for its unfair dress code and soon amended its rules to allow women to wear shorts. However, parity between the sexes has not yet been achieved in beach handball - women’s shorts are required to be of a “close fit” while men’s shorts simply are not allowed to be “too baggy”. Television angles of female athletes lean into the existent focus on aesthetics over athleticism. Female athletes are subject to objectifying camera angles ten times more often than their male counterparts. For example, camera angles tend to linger on the backsides of female athletes during coverage of beach volleyball, ostensibly to capture the strategic hand signals they pass to each other. During the 2012 London Olympics, tabloids ran photo spreads covering the women’s beach volleyball event that had scarcely a set or spike in sight. Then-mayor of London and later Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, described these players to have been glistening “like wet otters.” Unsurprisingly, most of the reasons as to why this belief is so easily internalised can be traced back to good old-fashioned sexism (as it almost always can be). Simply put, women athletes are made to be viewed as women first and athletes second. People feel as though women’s sports are intrinsically not entertaining as they are never seen simply as sports - the prefix of ‘women’s’ is inseparable from their judgement of them, which is subsequently clouded by the same. Unsurprisingly, most of the reasons as to why this belief is so easily internalised can be traced back to good old-fashioned sexism (as it almost always can be). The significance of the role of the media and regulatory authorities when it comes to moulding public perception of these sports cannot be overstated and deserves far greater critique and critical attention than it currently receives.

We are all chasing our dreams, or maybe are on the journey of finding them. Although not necessary, it does require moving out of our comfort zones. Sometimes, this could mean changing the primary basis of our identity - our home. The truth is, this could happen at any point of life - school, college, or work. Change is probably something that disrupts most of our routines, flow of thought or even our behaviour in some scenarios. Let's say one starts using a different pen than usual or takes a seat different from their so-called 'spot'. Now, this wouldn't necessarily be something that increases your anxiety level. For some, it does, and it feels like their productivity compromised. A fear might even begin to creep in that something bad might happen to them that day. Moving away from one's home or hometown - the place where they made their most cherished memories and spent good moments with their loved ones - is more or less like a domino effect in this regard for many people. This is because when most of us crave stability in all spheres, this shift is a tricky one to tackle. To be honest, it can feel like the whole world around you is falling apart. When one spends many sleepless nights on whether to take this decision or not, or even after one takes it, the realisation that this is a make or break situations sets in at some point or another. For example, it wouldn't be wrong to admit that many tasks that we consider to be 'trivial' can start eating time off our schedule. This could be washing one's own clothes or trying to be an experimental chef turned miracle worker, whipping up dishes in a jiffy with just a handful of ingredients and little to no equipment. We end up bumping into memories of home from something as simple as a cup of tea , a whiff of curry from someone's tiffin, or maybe just the drizzling raindrops that you see from your window. All these occasional happenings are often very intimidating at first. Nevertheless, let's make an effort here to see the brighter side of all the changes we undergo in our lifestyle. On this journey, we end up learning what we are capable of and discovering the undiscovered realms within ourselves. Being responsible for ourselves and our decisions (to a certain extent) sheds a lot of light on the potential we possess. Above all, the change brings a lot of independence into our lives, which helps us be more creative and adventurous. Even so, at the end of the day, it is on us to channel this energy in order to influence our long term goals for the better. Long story short, this is probably just one of the bumpy rides you will take in your life, where you meet new people, forge lifelong bonds with some and end up breaking away from others, learn new lessons and forgo some others. Ultimately, it is YOUR journey. The circumstances around you might have changed. Still, I believe that there will be a part of that abode or people you call 'home' deep in your soul, and also a part of you which identifies with what Benjamin Button said in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: "It's a funny about coming home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realise what's changed is you." The shining beams in the night sky are no longer the stars that my mom pointed out when I was little; It's the trail of that bird that I long to hop on soon, that engineering marvel which takes me back now, at least in dreams. Maybe I am getting used to finding meaning in this noise, or adjusting to the surprises that the weather presents everyday. Now, maybe, the brick and mortar of my blood, sweat and tears might create that heavenly place right here, but then, would I ever really be here? Because I just keep coming back, never really knowing if I miss that abode, the lives in it or just the breeze that swayed back there. Or maybe not, 'cause, people and problems are really just the same. They may look different from the outside, but all they want is, me understanding them, their purpose and that I can do, wherever I am as long as I am myself: not trying to be you or anyone else, just me, as I am or maybe a better ME that I try to be everyday.

My first month in college residence introduced me to the phenomena of college elections. If there is something in the college close to the SUS (Students Union Society) elections, it is perhaps the JCR (Junior Combination Room) elections. In a single week, I had witnessed JCR as well as Block Representative elections. In this swift period, I got to see politics unfolding first hand and got to hear opinions from candidates, campaigners and observers about events and outcomes. It may sound like an oxymoron, but despite being a student of Political Science, I stay at a distance from real politics. Nevertheless, I never miss a chance – as a voter – to exercise my right and responsibility, and – as a student – to analyze the events, their results and the reasons and factors at play. Here I share three conclusions I have arrived at from my experiences in the past week. 1. Showing up is important Each residential block has two block reps – one each from the second and third year. My block ran into these elections days before the JCR. Dr Mahesh Gopalan, our block tutor, came and instructed each one of us to put down names of two candidates – one from each year – on a ballot. Each of us was told to go to our rooms and do so in secrecy. Long story short – one of the candidates I voted for won, and one of them lost. The one who won managed to do so by a margin of just two votes. Back in my room once the whole business was over, the realization struck me: the candidate won by two votes, and I had voted in his favor. It meant that if I had voted for the other candidate, the final count of ballots would have ended up being equal for the two candidates. That would have resulted in a clearly different situation. This deciding vote need not be my vote – it could have been anyone’s. But just one vote on a different side, and the outcome would be different – like the final hair turning the scale! Two days later, I would find myself sitting in the mess during breakfast and listening to discussions about JCR among other mess-mates. Someone quipped, “There are so many of us! How much does my vote count?” I was quick to jump in, “Everything in this world!” Especially when there is no sweeping majority, our vote is really a deciding factor. Even otherwise. 2. When things get political, nothing remains isolated Discussions are not the only things that happen in the mess. I came to hear of some hushed argument that erupted in the mess a couple of days before the JCR elections. It led to certain differences between two groups. The argument in itself had nothing to do with the elections. The matter snowballed however, and seeped into elections. It ended up being a determinant issue, and the results that came were reflective of these differences. This has many parallels with the larger elections. An accident, a military misfire, a crime, a foreign visit, an unexpected calamity – whenever these and other such incidents happen during an election period, even though they could have otherwise been isolated events, end up being decisive for the elections. This is rooted in human weakness: we tend to remember and prioritize things on the basis of their recency, and end up ignoring both the larger picture and the past experiences. When things get political, there are no isolated events. 3. Zoon politikon: No exceptions? From February till a month ago, I was pretty much impressed by the coexistence of various groups in the college. I saw an almost absence of ‘political’ ambitions at the cost of someone else, and a mutual respect among members of all communities and geographies towards each other. JCR and Block Rep elections, sadly, did not conform to this incomplete ideal that I had cradled for two semesters. Elections brought out all forms of the politicisation of identities along with conscious discussions about who we are and where ought we to belong. As Prof Ayde reiterates Aristotle in his classes, man is zoon politikon. Unlike what I had wrongfully imagined, it is as true here at the melting pot that St. Stephen’s is, as anywhere else.

In a scenario, where safe menstruation for every female is imperative, the amount of steadily growing menstrual waste is an equally acute environmental issue, and it is this double issue that we’ll have to deal with while looking into ‘issue of menstrual waste in India’ and to ensure a ‘Greener Menstruation’. Menstruation, the normal biological process that is experienced by menstruators in their menstruating years (12-45 years approx.) is no longer a taboo, at least in the educated circles. But is it the case everywhere ? The clear cut answer is a big ‘NO’. The sad reality is that in a country where Goddesses are worshipped which includes the menstruating Goddesses such as in the Kamakhya temple , there still exists a social stigma, taboo and a notion of ‘impurity’ to what is termed as ‘periods’. Arunachalam Murugantham, better known as ‘Pad-Man’ after Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar’s blockbuster film, brought about a revolutionary invention that made the use of sanitary napkins in rural India possible. With low-cost options of sanitary napkins being developed to promote hygiene and women’s safety in rural areas. It seems there is one part of the problem that has still not been addressed either by the eloquent Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan, that is; the part that comes after the use of these sanitary napkins: menstrual waste disposal. It is this dichotomy of inaccessibility of safe menstruation products and the unsustainability of the menstrual products that the nation has to deal with to strive towards ensuring a greener menstruation. While a large part of the menstruators are struggling to deal with their menstruation, due to the inaccessibility of the menstrual hygiene products, the other chunks of the menstruators have access to quality menstrual hygiene products that help them deal with it better. While the availability of the menstrual hygiene products like sanitary pad, tampon, menstrual cup etc, that improvise substantially over time is of great advantage to the menstruators, the amount of damage that these products and its increased consumption produces is often neglected or not given adequate attention by anyone. Infact, India produces approximately 9000 tonnes of Sanitary waste every year, almost equivalent to weighing the Statue of Unity Four times. However, this particular waste disposal issue still largely remains a ‘silent problem’ in India. Have you ever given a thought to what happens to your menstrual waste after you dispose of it? When a used menstrual hygiene product is thrown away in the bin one out of two things is going to happen it either ends up sitting in landfilled sites taking up space and contaminating the soil (Since it is the non-biodegradable waste, this stays up in landfills for up to 500 years. The end result – overflowing landfills causing endless harm to the environment) or just going to end up incinerated releasing toxic chemicals like dioxin and furan into the air that it also damages the plants, animals and the humans and it is to be noted that these are the two methods recommended in the guidelines issued by the Government of India for the promotion of menstrual hygiene. The inadequacy of proper disposal mechanisms further worsens this. According to Menstrual Health Alliance of India (MHAI), the number of menstruating women in India who use disposable sanitary napkins stands at a staggering 121 million. Disposable sanitary napkins are made of 90% plastic and keeping in mind the adhesives, packing, etc., each pad is equivalent to around 4 plastic bags. If we estimate the number of pads used per cycle to a modest 8, it equates to roughly 12 billion pads disposed per year. According to a report, each of these pads can roughly take 400 to 500 years to decompose due to their largely plastic ingredients. Despite the massive waste generated in the country, India does not have separate laws governing the disposal of sanitary waste. Only two cities – Bengaluru and Pune – have laws on segregation of sanitary waste wherein the sanitary waste must be separately handed over along with the dry and wet waste of the household. Next on the line, disposable tampons can be up to 90% plastic and amount to the equivalent of four plastic shopping bags in one single-use product that means people who menstruate are using 20 or more tampons over the course of every period, amounting to the equivalent of 80 plastic bags per cycle. When tampons and applicators are flushed down the toilet, they can end up in the ocean when sewer systems fail and harm ecosystems. Tampons can take up to 20 years to break down in marine environments and can cause health complications or death when ingested by animals. Canada and Mexico City have included tampons in their single-use plastics bans for this reason. When the chemicals used in tampons, such as dioxin chlorine and rayon, end up in landfills, they also end up getting soaked up by the earth and are released as pollution into groundwater and the air. However, Menstrual Cups unlike tampons and menstrual pads, which absorb the fluid, collect it and thus can be reused. If compared with using 12 pads per period, use of a menstrual cup would comprise only 0.4% of the plastic waste generated. Thus,on comparing the considerable amount of pollution, and the years taken for decomposition, the reusable menstrual cups seem to be a more feasible option than the plastic made sanitary pads and tampons. On the other hand, more sustainable is the cloth pad, which however can’t be generalised as a convenient option for all. It is here that the need of adopting and improvising on the various methods implemented to ensure safer and greener menstruation comes into picture. It might be the small steps and initiatives that were started among the very few people in their locality which may sprang into being the onus of structural change all across India. For example, the Papna Mau village has got a low cost common incinerator to decompose the used sanitary pad, then there are projects such as Baala, Eco femme,and Goonj- My Pad initiative that uses various eco-friendly materials to manufacture menstrual pads and hygiene products, while the example of Kerala’s little village of Kumbalangi stands on the pedestal by raising awareness as well as providing all the menstruators of the locality with menstrual cups that would help to reduce the menstrual waste to a large extent. However, the First and foremost thing to be done is to raise social awareness to do away with the taboos associated with menstruation that even prevents the use of menstrual cups in several parts of the country. And proper guidelines and mechanisms have to be ensured for the safer disposal of the sanitary products. No doubt, that while ensuring safer and comfortable menstrual products to the menstruators is necessary it is also equally the need of the hour to provide them with more eco-friendly alternatives, that could help India tackle its issue of mounting Menstrual waste and thereby ensuring and moving into a safer and greener menstruation.

Unveiling our connection with the divine, the curtain of nature-nurture. How we are connected with not just each other but the cosmos. Structures of the universe reflected within our very being. Witnessing the beauty not just from within but actively being influenced by the world outside of us. A universe so beautiful and precisely defined with infinite variables living and breathing within it. Maybe the beauty lies in knowing the unknown, discovering the unknown. But have we even looked properly? The personality of each and every individual we meet has been influenced by a web of factors. Personality is nothing but the true nature that characterizes the moral right and wrong of the individual in question. This web is broadly defined into two - nature and nurture and thus we argue that the creation of the universe and the personality of, each and every growing individual within the universe stands at the juncture of nature-nurture at every stage of life. Every stage in the developmental cycle of humans with its respective developmental goals is influenced by these factors and mold us into the individuals of today. Nature is the geometrically defined gene code that we all inherit that influences our physical appearances, and nurture is the very existence of our environment in this universe in space and time including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture. The gene code is defined as a limiting factor within which the environment influences change. This change can be quantified on either side – positive or negative. Both are interdependent and independent with the aim of defining us and forming our traits. The interplay of nature-nurture sets variability and diversity into motion. The interplay of nature-nurture sets variability and diversity into motion. Not just in humans, even nature has its set of specified ‘gene’ codes often adapted in the form of sacred symbols which explain the creation of the universe. Sacred Geometry studies these existing hidden symbols to decode the creation and continuation of our species which otherwise get ignored by the common eye. For example, the flower of life explains the 6-day genesis and the Metatron’s cube encompasses the platonic solids which define the basic elements of the earth. Our DNA which follows the golden ratio, the infinite fractals that are seen on leaves, seashells, and pinecones are not only inherited in their truest forms but also open doors for change as the world around us changes.

An unlikely comparison between wars and garlands, a heart-breaking state of affairs and the complete breakdown of a system. The war widow cried herself to sleep last night, but not for reasons you might think. Her protector was tortured for information he didn't have, in a faraway land, of sunny mornings and pleasant evenings, not for the widow though, she hates the time difference, and rightly so. Her lover was taken away, but she doesn't sleep alone. She sleeps with nightmares of birthing penniless teenagers, of hunger-stricken parents, of the cancer, caused by rotting memories. Thoughts of hanging herself are too expensive for her. So, she gets seduced by the nightmares, every night, every day. But this story is not about her. Let's start from the start. I'm a war widow too. Except, I was in the war. I, too, was tortured, stabbed, undressed, felt and humiliated, the Sun fell that day. It was not very long ago, my mother had told me about the tale of a naked young girl, found on the streets, raped, depraved and disposed of. I was the naked girl, and the naked girl was me. The war widow’s lover fought for his home, so, a garland was put around the widow’s neck. She choked, but at least, the flowers were easy on the eyes. Do you know what is not easy on the eyes? Monsters. I’ve heard it's not a bad word, I've heard it's Latin for the messenger of catastrophe. But I have questions! What happens? When the catastrophe turns you inside out. When your mind is incinerated, your body, eviscerated. When the uninvited fall, claims to have been enticed by the natural exercises of your being, of your mundane acts of laying, walking, covering and uncovering. I’d say, this monster is a bad word. Meanwhile, the war widow is tormented by the realities of hollowness. An empty bedside, and regretful salutes, of trunks of baby pictures, and of a fingerless wedding ring. So, when I told her about my war. She was numb, a little less than I was left that night. I tell her of the horrors of sleepless nights, suicidal thoughts, murderous wonderments, bloody scars, still numb. Then, she asked me about my monsters. “Did they meet their fate?” She monotonously asked me about my insaaf. But I don't like talking about my monsters. I see them everywhere, on high teas, and at birthday parties. I see them in mirrors, for they are omnipresent, and the opening of their dimension is at every nook and corner. But I decide to speak to her, For hollowness and blood connects us. The numb widow and I have something more in common. You must remember The easy-on-the-eyes flowers. She frowns at me in ambiguity. I tell her “I saw my monsters wearing garlands on TV last night.” She was no longer numb, and cried herself to sleep that night.

The words Climate Change and Global Warming are often bandied about. Phenomena, deadly enough to wipe out our entire species and yet, in popular perception, far enough into the future to not warrant any immediate remedial action. If our planet’s long history of 4.5 billion years could be condensed into a single 24 hr day, the modern human has been a part of that history for less than 3 seconds and yet, our impact has been one of the most influential. But in order to understand why, we need to take a quick dive into the past; into our extensive and yet, relatively short history as inhabitants of this planet. For even though the past cannot change, the knowledge we have about it and the way we look at it, is constantly changing. Our journey into the history of our species begins with a relatively recent discovery, that of the fossil Sahelanthropus in Chad, Africa. The fossil, discovered at the start of the 21st Century, dates back almost 7 million years and is believed to be our oldest ancestor. It’s discovery has helped scientists better understand the long evolutionary journey that led to the creation of the modern human. It is believed that our story begins in Africa, where diverse groups of early humans, driven by changes in the Earth’s climate, interacted to generate the unique genetic make up of modern humans. The modern human, i.e homo sapiens evolved only around 200,000 years ago, in what we now call the Middle Stone Age. This era saw great advancements in the types and ways stone tools were manufactured and used, which significantly altered the nature of our interaction with the surrounding environment since we were now more lethal hunters and thereby, acted as a catalysing agent in the process of our evolution. The period that followed witnessed the first great human migration. Drastic changes in the Earth’s climate and landscape, specifically lower sea levels, enabled the passage of early humans out of Africa through the middle east and into the rest of Eurasia. These climatic changes were characteristic of the Pleistocene Epoch, a period during which a succession of glacial and interglacial climatic cycles took place, ultimately ending in the Holocene Interglacial or Holocene era. This period, which followed the Pleistocene, was characterised by warmer and more stable conditions. It was during this period, beginning close to 12,000 years ago, that mankind’s activities grew into a sizeable geological and morphological force, allowing the development of modern civilisations as we know it. Now, as our period of relative stability begins to waiver due to rising temperatures, we are witnessing the end of the Holocene and the start of a new epoch- the Age of Anthropocene. Over the past 250 years, since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the world has enjoyed an era of prosperity and development. Due to great technological and medical advancements, mankind’s impact on the Earth has increased manifold, outweighing even the impact of many natural processes. This means that human beings have now become the most significant geological force on the planet- a frightening thought! In the past, the biggest threat to the survival of a species were drastic changes to the Earth’s climate as a result of natural, unavoidable disasters such as asteroids and volcanic eruptions. For the first time in history, this is no longer true. The climate change we refer to today is unlike that of the past. It is purely man made. Unnatural. A result of greed. Humans have such power to impact the natural world, that we find ourselves at the hinge of history. Our actions have a lasting, likely irreversible impact on the Earth’s systems and processes. What we do in our lifetime will determine the future of mankind.