Articles by Ritvik Mandyam

Last February, Marvel destroyed all their carefully set precedents by making a movie that the fans actually wanted to see: Deadpool. Deadpool was one of those movies that you had to be 18 to watch but 16 to fully appreciate. It features, to quote the makers, "God's perfect idiot, A hot chick, A British villain, The comic relief, A moody teen, A CGI character, A gratuitous cameo," and, if I might add, absolutely zero reverence for anything at all, ever. Deadpool is one of those quintessential teenage flicks - those movies where the theaters are packed with 16-year-olds with popcorn…

Last February, Marvel destroyed all their carefully set precedents by making a movie that the fans actually wanted to see: Deadpool. Deadpool was one of those movies that you had to be 18 to watch but 16 to fully appreciate. It features, to quote the makers, "God's perfect idiot, A hot chick, A British villain, The comic relief, A moody teen, A CGI character, A gratuitous cameo," and, if I might add, absolutely zero reverence for anything at all, ever. Deadpool is one of those quintessential teenage flicks - those movies where the theaters are packed with 16-year-olds with popcorn…

I've been writing code for a while now. I first learned to program at age nine, and can now write an entire app on my own. The thing I've noticed, though, is that a lot of my friends seem to have a bit of a phobia of writing code.  The US may be pushing code in a big way, but in India, computer science still seems to be the realm of precious few. I take computer science in school, and there are only 7 others taking it out of a class of 40. There isn't a single girl in our…

I've been writing code for a while now. I first learned to program at age nine, and can now write an entire app on my own. The thing I've noticed, though, is that a lot of my friends seem to have a bit of a phobia of writing code.  The US may be pushing code in a big way, but in India, computer science still seems to be the realm of precious few. I take computer science in school, and there are only 7 others taking it out of a class of 40. There isn't a single girl in our…

Around five months ago, I started working out in an attempt to look less like a non-green version of Shrek from the movies. I stopped eating cheese, butter, sugar, chips, fries and everything else that makes life worth living, gastronomically speaking. I went out running every day, and grew obsessive about hydration, as everyone on their first moderately serious health kick becomes. I turned my life from a dietician's nightmare into a cow's dream - I cut processed foods almost in entirety, I abandoned my favourite, but unfortunately fattening, misti doi in favour of the less flavourful but 90-calories-a-pack Greek…

Around five months ago, I started working out in an attempt to look less like a non-green version of Shrek from the movies. I stopped eating cheese, butter, sugar, chips, fries and everything else that makes life worth living, gastronomically speaking. I went out running every day, and grew obsessive about hydration, as everyone on their first moderately serious health kick becomes. I turned my life from a dietician's nightmare into a cow's dream - I cut processed foods almost in entirety, I abandoned my favourite, but unfortunately fattening, misti doi in favour of the less flavourful but 90-calories-a-pack Greek…

I've been thinking about our education system a lot (again) lately. Mainly, I've been trying to figure out what it is, exactly, that I dislike about it. After much introspection (read: "Ten minutes of trying to come up with something to write about"), I decided that it was, mainly, the fact that we have subjects. While subjects are great for breaking everything down into bite-sized pieces and allowing you to pass your exams, they don't really give you an appreciation for what you're learning. For instance, if I were to learn in Physics about Young's Double Slit Experiment, I'll be…

I've been thinking about our education system a lot (again) lately. Mainly, I've been trying to figure out what it is, exactly, that I dislike about it. After much introspection (read: "Ten minutes of trying to come up with something to write about"), I decided that it was, mainly, the fact that we have subjects. While subjects are great for breaking everything down into bite-sized pieces and allowing you to pass your exams, they don't really give you an appreciation for what you're learning. For instance, if I were to learn in Physics about Young's Double Slit Experiment, I'll be…

On Friday evening, I went with my parents to watch Dangal, the new Aamir Khan movie. There have been a lot of videos floating around Facebook lately of Aamir Khan's "transformation" for the movie - how he gained weight and body fat and then lost all of it (Raging Bull-style). The movie isn't really about him, though - it's about his daughters, Geeta and Babita. It's a biographical movie about Mahavir Singh Phogat, a Haryanvi ex-wrestler, now... ah... heavyweight? I mean, Aamir Khan was over 30% body fat when he played him in the movie, so he's certainly no featherweight,…

On Friday evening, I went with my parents to watch Dangal, the new Aamir Khan movie. There have been a lot of videos floating around Facebook lately of Aamir Khan's "transformation" for the movie - how he gained weight and body fat and then lost all of it (Raging Bull-style). The movie isn't really about him, though - it's about his daughters, Geeta and Babita. It's a biographical movie about Mahavir Singh Phogat, a Haryanvi ex-wrestler, now... ah... heavyweight? I mean, Aamir Khan was over 30% body fat when he played him in the movie, so he's certainly no featherweight,…