Issue Three/Fall

The 45th Parallel

By Kate Bishop

I live in Leland, Michigan. I drive past a little sign on the side of the road indicating the location of the 45th parallel every day on my way to work. Leland is a small town, but its natural beauty attracts a lot of tourists during the summer months. I think it’s important to capture the unseen phenomena of my hometown during the less populated seasons and, by extension, the entirety of the 45th parallel — not just its more well-known locations. The parallel passes more notably through cities in France and Italy, but also through Croatia, Russia, Mongolia, Canada, and other, more obscure cities. This image is the view from my house. Sure, you can see Lake Michigan like anyone in Leland can, but the unique perspective in this photo belongs only to those standing on my porch. There is a lot more to Leland — and the parallel — than just what initially meets the eye.

Kate is a sophomore at The University of Michigan, originally from Leland, MI. She is studying International Studies with a concentration in Comparative Culture and Identity. In her free time, she enjoys photography, poetry, coffee, and bonfires.

The Vision

By Daniel Marquez

The Vision is a piece that details one’s travel into the inner soul. A plethora of the mind’s inner environment may be obscure, bemusing, unsettling, magnificent or incomprehensible when journeying far enough, such is the case with the small bird located in the lower right hand corner of the painting. But when we dig far enough and allow our minds to be vulnerable to new possibilities and opportunities, albeit some uncomfortable findings along the way, a bridge of understanding will form. That is the awakening of an emerging imagination. The painting depicts the obstacles we face when we try to discover what lies underneath until a link carries the mind to open up to the refulgent treasures within. The vision of self.

A native philosopher of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Daniel Marquez is a creative entrepreneur who’s thoughts and ideas carry him throughout the wonders of living wholesomely. A writer, reader and artist, his journey can be followed on demieuj.blogspot.com.

Promise Me

By Kara Peter

The crabapple trees, arthritic spinsters in the winter

have reprised their roles as brides

plump and delicate in ivory/ fuchsia/ coral.

The wind whispers subtleties

and spring considers summer

the way a child leans over the sidewalk’s warm breath

and ponders anthills:

very intensely

and then not at all.

Kara Peter is an 11th grade student who is inspired by thunderstorms, mountains and good books. She lives within her imagination.

Kashmir-Paradise on Earth

By Aarshi Joshi

The photo was taken during my first trip to this disputed valley of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. The place has been in constant turmoil; militarily, politically and economically; with the only respite being its natural beauty and the warm hearted citizens. Kashmir has been termed as ‘Paradise on Earth’ but many people fear to visit this place. When I traveled there, I noticed that the locals welcome everyone with open arms and are excited to show their home to us. It is always hard to comprehend that such a beautiful place, where nature radiates peace is marred by violence. My photos have always been inspired by Nature and I feel that it has the power to make humans realise the futility of power and war, as well as result in creation of their best works. It has been my hope that one day people realise this and give the valley what it deserves, serenity and happiness.

Aarshi Joshi is from Delhi, India. She is currently pursuing History Honours from Delhi University and hopes to go on a backpacking trip around the world, along with her camera. Her interests lie in anthropology, tennis, supporting feminism and children’s rights.

The Psychological Impression of the Hindu devotees towards their god

By Arjun Dahal

God! Definitions can vary from person to person with their own answers inside their range. Those who believe in him, place their complete hopes and beliefs, hoping for their betterment. Humans on the basis of their caste, creed and religion have their own moral way to please their god to receive blessings according to their same hopes during their prayers. All devotees are extremely loyal to their god and are willing to do anything just to please him.

I am by birth a Hindu and by caste a ” Brahmin”, typically considered as a holy man to make prayers and perform rites and norms for the sake of all people irrespective of their caste and creed. Hinduism is considered as the oldest religion on the earth. By my academics, I am a student of physics and mathematics rather a priest by my caste. So, when it comes to the word god, I am bounded within certain limits by my professors, as I am a student who needs to deal with the physical reality rather than fairy tales. Also, by my religion, which does have some accounts, though considered as highly paranormal and supernatural by our modern society, I am obliged to follow them either blindly or consciously. I do fear, if I resist those norms, then the general people may outcaste me or even may throw stones at me, stamping me with an ink of insane.

Recently, my family decided to hold a ” Shreemadha Bhagawata Sapataha Gyana Maha Yagna”. a seven-day long ceremony of divine stories delivered in a form of speeches depicted by my religion. It ended up by teaching the devotees, how to pave their way to heaven at the end of their life.

Well I must confess to my holy gods and ask them to forgive me as I conducted a series of experiments through the second day till the seventh day. It is considered as Immoral to put a question or conduct an Experiment involving the name of god. Also, when it comes to the name of god, Hindus have 3.3*10^8 number of gods and If we consult a highly religious leader the number may even increase. Nevertheless, the limits of my religion, I got success in my experiments allowing me to observe the psychological anomalies of the people regarding their devotion towards god. I may be a bit weird to say, but the people in the ceremony resembled to me as a flock of sheep, where the leader leads and the rest follow the leader, dumb, deaf and blind. This was visualized vividly by the way of their prayers and the mentality they had, during their time of prayers. In the theology of Hinduism, ‘Lord Shiva’ is considered to be the godfather of the gods and his son “Ganesha” needs to be worshipped at first in order to complete the norm with success. All other gods are considered as highly powerful, but the majority of the people pray to them with higher devotion.

It all started on the very first day, when the way of prayers by the devotees caught up my attention and left me as dumb, watching all the incidents that move on every second. During worship and prayers, the people were giving high priority to “Shiva” and “Ganesha” and the offerings made to the god were significantly higher than in comparison to others.

On the second day, as per my experiment, I personally did some mischiefs to know how much I can fool the general people in the name of god and indeed I succeeded. In the place of the same two gods, I personally put some flowers, money, fruits and other offerings and the result came as per my prediction. Except for some, almost all people gave high priority to the same two lords almost neglecting the others.

I thought it was unfair to neglect the other gods, so on the third day; I gave high priority to other gods, neglecting the previous two gods. At the end of the day, I found the offerings were almost fair to all of them. I was amazed by the result, no one forgot to worship the first two lords, but also provided a fair prayer to all of the gods.

On the fourth day, I increased the offerings to all of the lords but by biasing, giving more priority to the same two lords. At the end of day, after prayers and worship, I noticed that the fund and offerings collected were almost five fold greater then the previous day.

In the remaining last three days, I repeated the experiment in the reverse order because I knew, on the last three days; the crowds were going to increase. Despite the number of people attending the ceremony, the results also repeated.

The conclusion was clear to me. Even in the name of god, the holy disciples of the god prioritize to only those lords, where the offerings are at peak. They are not making prayers to their lords for the deeds they (lords) had done, or to obtain blessing from them. Instead the people are worshipping because the rest had done so, as like the flock of sheep, where the sheep imitate the works of their leader.

To be more concrete on my conclusion, I hurried to all nearby temples and the results were the same and in fact much bolder. In generalization, most of the people had no idea on their worshipping and prayers to their gods. A few of them had answers, but not factual and meaningful.

By my knowledge and academics, I know these things are irrational. On the other hand, I have found myself as one of the sheep in the flock. I have no idea on the existence of god, but honestly, I am not an atheist. I have been counted as an educated person by my country census and yet I am stuck in the boundary of religion and science.

Despite my literacy, I am obliged to follow the same centuries old traditions and beliefs, deaf, dumb and blind. The psychological impression printed on our brain by our ancestors gives me the clear meaning upon the attitude of my society towards the gods, but I have no idea how to deal with them either knowingly or unknowingly. I have been following the same things and still, tending to follow as my ancestors did as my mates, friends and families do. Nevertheless, of the limits of my religion, I got success in my experiments allowing me to observe the psychological anomalies of my society towards the god. I must stay inside the limits of my religion, but now-onwards, if I am going to make a prayer, I am going to treat all of the gods fairly.

Arjun Dahal is a twenty- year- old student, studying BSc. in Physics (BSc. 4th year running now) at Tri- Chandra Campus, Tribhuwan University, Nepal. He is highly interested in the fields of Physics, Mathematics, Music, Literature and Philosophy. This is his first publication.

Dying Remembrance

By Archita Mittra

it’s been a year or a yesterday, since i gave you up
and stalked our memories, rewinding, over

and over, the tape recorder of my past
till the faded songs, stutter and hiss

(their or our) words drowning in themselves
like a strange, surreal painting

where ancient rooms metamorphose
into real, liquid nightmares, contorting-

and i wish so desperately
to be worthy (lucky) enough

to remember the details,
the smoky ends of half-finished conversations

that never went the way i imagined
but still magical enough, to tuck away

like a secret special present
from someone never meant to be;

the line from a poem, or song
that could uncover the invisible scars

tattooed across my soul and skin
once soaked in the moonshine of forevers

from the padlocked universe(i was exiled from)
spiralling farther and farther away

each time a song/painting/conversation/poem
dies

and the phantom limb of love
stutters, breathless
in limbo.
Archita Mittra is a wordsmith and visual artist with a love for all things vintage and darkly fantastical. A student of English Literature at Jadavpur University, she is also pursuing a Diploma in Multimedia and Animation from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. She has won several writing contests and her work has appeared in numerous online and print publications including Quail Bell Magazine, eFiction India, Life In 10 Minutes, Teenage Wasteland Review and Tuck Magazine, among others. She occasionally practises as a tarot card reader.

You can read more of her work on https://thepolyphonicphoenix.wordpress.com/