20 LINES

Look, we are defeated again
We that were anarchy's children
Stand hand-tied before our times
Mastering new tunes in old rhymes

We escaped the mirrors in pain
A slice of reflection still remains
Yours in mine, mine in yours
All the afters of our before

So fond of the night, we stayed
Awake until it was too late
And when the Sun greeted the sky
Warm blankets nurtured our lies

When sleep departed we found
Just that listless, mundane sound
That crawls between two friends
And awkwardly finds an end

Now we must rest, I suppose
Our paradise has found a close
If heaven is full, give me hell
I just hope that you're doing well

-K.G.

DECEMBER FRIENDS

Let me make you a poem
So if we may part, I’ll remember
You, like I have known you
Since that long lost December

As I am so good at forgetting,
I’ll remember you as a few lines
Some ink upon an old page,
A collective of some rhymes

Some things about your anger
A few occasions of laughter
Youthful plans that failed too soon
Some wonderful ever-afters

I will pause you wherever I like
And several times begin you again
Addressing matters that affect us
I’ll remind myself why we’re friends

-Karan Ghosh

FOR ABSENT FRIENDS

Friendship is a funny thing
And funnier than fun indeed
Found in uncanny places
Absent where there be a need

A fish hence found a friend
In a bird with blackened feathers
And found itself engaged
Through the passage of several weathers

Two comrades divided by a line
Where the sea meets the sky
Two worlds that only greet
But never form an ally

Bewitched by flapping freedom
The fish decides to try
The taste of carbon laced oxygen
So she leaps onto the other side

But alas, she fell back into water
Where life had clutched her tight
Falling short of the aerodynamics
That the world across required

Her flight had failed but she did not
Friendships grow without greed
Two worlds met, two lives touched
And that is all a friendship needs

-K.G.

DAY FOUR

Three days down a new subject

I realise that I do not get

Any part of what’s on the board

Yet still I hope, there must be more

More knowledge in the college choir

Where no homework they require

But Math calls for homework I’m sure 

My notebook’s empty, this is day four

Five days of buffet now remain 

On the sixth, students puke with pens

I’m still not hungry, have never been

Especially around examinations

I do have answers but no details

How do parents feel when children fail

Everyone knows but some can ignore

Ten chapters undone, this is day four

Seven thousand in cash a month

For this rented flat after the hunt

How about hunger, what about greed

There’s more money that you need

To survive until another pay cheque

And fix damages of this monthly wreck

So I trade sleep for extra chores 

All my dreams await, this is day four

For two meals a day my belly calls 

I guess this is where positivity falls
So I keep my head high and forget
All the success that I have met
And melt the walls of ego and pride
There's nowhere to go, nothing to hide
Just another ship far from the shore
I'll get there soon, it's just day four

Blockchain Technology: Yet Another STAR TREK Rip Off

Although comments have already been made on how Blockchain technology could have been inspired from Science fictions of the past, we bring to you a collective of serious observations that will make you reconsider the matter. We’ll need all the Star Trek fans to raise their hand now! Don’t sweat if you’re not into the whole Sci-fi series, we’ll break it down for you.

Remember the Borg civilisation in the Star Trek series? Of course you do, if you have followed the series. But in case the Borg reference is French and Greek to you, the Borg civilisation is a fictional alien race that function as a collection of drones, linked as a collective hive mind. They came to life by the amalgamation of knowledge and technology, that they attained from all the species which they encountered on their interstellar journey. Borgs make all their decisions unanimously and aim for sever precision and perfection. This civilisation has featured as a main threat in several Star Trek episodes and movies, owing to their ingenious background story.

How can Blockchain be considered the think-tank of The Borgs? We picked out some stark possibilities that make the Borgs seem to be the originators of the Blockchain. Here are some points that might make you take our observations more seriously:

• The Hive Mind Concept

The Borgs function as a collective, linked to a hive mind. Blockchain is a decentralised ledger that is developed using smart contracts, building a definite network. This network is made up of fragments of codes that require simultaneous execution across all nodes to derive the same outcome. Basically, it cannot function without a unison in decision. The one difference between Borgs and Blockchain tech is that the Borgs had a certain consciousness of their own due to the assimilation of several species which had a conscious mind. However, with the rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence, we don’t see how that is too farfetched. Brace yourself!

• The Genesis Of Borgs

As the story goes, the Borgs established their race by combining borrowed technology and knowledge from various species. Similarly, the blockchain is basically a combination of a lot of preexisting technologies like:

1. Distributed Knowledge 

2. Consensus Algorithm

3. Cryptography

4. Databases

So people may feel that the Blockchain is a lot more than just this, and is undergoing extensive research individually. But think again, would blockchain exist if these aforementioned technologies were not brought together.

• The Disruptive Nature

Due to their obsession with perfection and unison, the Borgs have been highlighted as the main threat on many Star Trek storylines. Much the same way, decentralisation and disruptive tendencies of the Blockchain technology have also been perceived as a threat by several governments across the globe. The fear here is that the technology might reform and overhauls how governments, businesses and financial institutions have been functioning so far. Despite the resistance, an array of blockchain developers and organisations are pushing limits even as we live and breathe.

• The Inevitability Factor

Remember that creepy tagline that symbolises the Borgs; ‘Resistance is futile’? For the less informed, this is the one claim which the Borg civilisation takes pride in. Meaning that it is inevitable and is all-encompassing. Blockchain works under a similar hypothesis. Although cryptocurrency was its first feat, but gradually blockchain technology has been able to integrate itself in several innovative use cases that make it seem like an ultimate solution. So if you thought that blockchain technology is a soda-water-fizz affair, we wish that you live long and prosper, because blockchain ain’t going anywhere.

ALL THE BEST

I see with my two stupid eyes
How you like to look into mine
And I know you're seeing desires
The mountains we couldn't climb

Dried leaves still rustling on the roads
In the wake of a new daylight
Where did we find darkness?
When did we lose track of the night?

Come here, where I lay silent
Conversations need little reprise
We're foolish people together
Gliding between birth and demise

Let me be that simple sailor
Who guides your ship back home
Sailing you back from seas afar
To then leave you alone

Why half the courtesy, you ask?
Because I trust you with the rest
I'm slowing down, this is your stop
So here's wishing you all the best

-K.G.