Deeply insightful journey down memory lane

Krithika Karthikeyan, IIK Young Reporter
Sunday, April 24, 2022

Hello, and welcome back to my articles after what has been an excruciatingly long period of time! This will also be my last article in IIK as I am permanently relocating to my homeland, Tamil Nadu, land of good food and better movies.

I’ve been thinking recently about how lucky I am to have this platform in IIK. My interest would’ve probably fizzled away and died out if it was not for the perfectly-timed WhatsApp message I got from my sixth grade class teacher. Now, assuming I don’t disastrously fail Science and Math, I will be going to the ninth grade!
Can you believe it?

I’ve also been thinking about the articles I wrote here. It was my first time trying full-fledged articles, so my writing was all over the place.

This time, we got 3 whole days of prep leave for the S.St exam. I was ready beforehand. I studied for all my revisions. I even went to painstaking lengths to read through the assignment questions. Who does that?

And yet, the day before the exam, I was a nervous wreck. I could barely recite a question without fibbing through it. I’m usually never anxious before exams, but the portion did a number on me. Then, with a sudden burst of insight, I remembered an article I wrote here- my first article, actually- about S.St, and how it was misunderstood to be difficult when it was the easiest subject out there.

Sixth-grade me is lucky time traveling isn’t invented yet.

So I decided to walk down memory lane. How drastic have the changes been from 2019 to present day? Do I agree with what I’ve written? How has my writing style changed in the four years I’ve been a Young Reporter?

No, this is not a conspiracy to get you to read my old articles (I will be skipping some of them, though.) I’m genuinely curious.

I’m opening at the close; it’s coming full circle. This is all very Inception-y of me. Let’s begin!

1. S.St and Students- An old rivalry (June 11, 2019)
We have a lot to unpack here.
I wrote this article when the people in my bus made fun of me for scoring a full in my S.St exam. To be fair, I love history. I’m afraid it’s a personality trait. But this article is…….
Firstly, I’ve dragged high schoolers through absolute FILTH, which is bad since I’m entering high school in about a month. I cannot fathom how my brother read this and didn’t take personal offense to every statement written.
Secondly, while everything I’ve written actually happened, I have written this article with the aura of somebody going to war. It’s like I’m Katniss and I’m single-handedly running a rebellion against the school authorities for not enforcing S.St as part of life routine or something.
I’m very satisfied with my writing style, especially for a first time, but I’m going to have to rate this:
3/5
“Calm down, Greg, it’s soccer”

2. The Dual SIM-Card Phones (October 28, 2019)
Ok, this article is very sentimental to me, for a number of reasons.
I wrote half of this article when I was sobbing. The Bus Bully gang from the S.St article struck again (honestly, guys, if you’re reading this, thanks for all that material!). I noticed one of my closest friends take their side. And if there’s something worse than the Percy Jackson movies, it’s betrayal.
Secondly, I got an award from IIK for this! That honor meant so much to me, and it fueled me with so much motivation-juice I was writing fifteen different pieces by the end of the week. I was on Cloud 299.
This article is about people who pretend to be something they’re not, and as we grow older and older it’s becoming more relatable. I have, however, dragged swearing and e-books, both of which I indulge in now. I have become the very thing I swore to destroy. Sorry, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Rating: 4/5

3. Home Sweet Home (January 22, 2020)
Listen, I included this because this is probably my mom’s favorite piece of writing I’ve done. But when I re-read it, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it stood the test of time! It’s about a young child who resents India and meets Dr. Ambedkar on Republic Day, and I truly think if someone has the number to the Netflix exec this could prove to be a promising project-
I’m kidding! Or am I.
Point is, I really like this. 4/5.

4. Shukran Lakum (Thanks a lot) (February 19, 2020)
Confession: I teared up when I re-read this now. This story is about our relationship with Kuwait, and now that I’m leaving for good it would be unfair to not add it here.
It’s a story about a guy named Troy (who did not, in fact, have his head in the game) and his life with his foster mother. If India is our homeland, our Bharat Mata, doesn’t that technically make Kuwait our own adoptive mother? God, I’m going to miss this place.
I thought this was a sweet story. 3.5/5
“My mother is Kuwait. She birthed me in the harbor. My father is profit-” This is the FIRST THING that came to my mind and I’m not sorry.

And finally,
5. Through the years (September 15, 2020)
I truly cannot emphasize how much I love this article. I just re-read it a few days ago for Women’s Day, and wow. Feminism is amazing, huh?
“Feminism before flying cars” is the last line of this article, and from the future, I can report that we have flying cars, but still no equal pay. I would say the worst thing about this fact is the resistance to this movement.
People still say we don’t need feminism. That we’re losing our identity, our self-respect and dignity fighting for…..ourselves? I don’t know man, the misogynistic mind works in mysterious ways.
This article is about different cases of violence against women throughout the centuries, and we need to lead and scream and fight until this article is irrelevant. 4/5

Of course I would end writing about feminism, you might think. Or, “I really wasn’t paying enough attention to determine your pattern of writing.” That’s okay. I’ve talked too much about myself anyways.
A humongous thank-you to IIK, and an even bigger one to you for reading this. For reading all of them, I guess. Writing is probably the best thing I have the fortune to indulge in, and to get my stupid crazy ideas onto somewhere you can read them is truly magical.
All the very best for the new academic year, people! Hoping to see so many more thoughts on this page. This is Krithika signing off to five countries away.




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Krithika Karthikeyan
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Read this article at www.indiansinkuwait.com