THE PLUS ISSUE NO. 02 | JAN 2020 hello 2introduction Dear Readers, Welcome on board to the second edition of ‘The Plus’. Through this avant-garde monthly, we hope to cover all aspects that appeal to teenagers, ranging from interesting articles on food, music, education, and the latest buzz- words to introspective testimonials. This is meant to be a fun and engaging read. The articles have been sliced and diced to suit the flitting attention span of GenZ. In this edition, we are looking at gap year as an emerging trend and acceptable norm. Gone are the days where jumping from one phase to the next was proscribed and looked down upon. With higher aspirations and greater expectations, the new generation is prepared for reaching for the stars! And our system is not prepared for “settling” for the obvious. We are a generation of risk-takers who want to do want they strongly believe in. We are a generation that is hungry and constantly craving for what we want. We are the trailblazers, we again. are the change! The magazine is an effort by IGenPlus to reach out to teenagers as their comfort food and go-to. We are within your arm’s reach and we want to be more than your friends. In the pages that follow you will discover the kind of programs we offer, a review of the work we do and some quirky articles to get your brain cells working! We also invite contributions to our magazine from students (13-19 years) from all over the globe on practically anything that they are willing to share. (It can be a review of Frozen 2 or even an opinion on whether you think the CAA is an issue at all!) We are here for you and we are listening. Also, wishing you a very Happy New Year! May 2020 be your year! introduction 2 good food 35 rooted and free 5 movie review 38 1 from the CEO 6 35 book review 39 gap year 9 what’s next? 41 9 testimonials 15 41 teenspiration 43 dance 23 heritage 25 Contributors: music 27 Content 23 Ananya Filbert [email protected] Pankhuri Mittal [email protected] Design this day, that year 32 Munmun Aggarwal letters from past 34 [email protected] CONTENTS 32 5 rooted and free from the CEO 6 Now, new innovations are giving birth Namaste, to unexplored opportunities. Exponential Plus will equip the teens with the skills to There is a different tingling feeling to write to all the young utilize them and will prepare for the needs kids who are reading this magazine today. If you have read this of the future. much, congratulations! because your attention span is IGenPlus creates opportunities for young appreciable. students to be aware, informed and We are fusing the universal principles and evolved to make their own decisions. It is values from our ancient wisdom with IGP has been a fun journey for me since its inception. It's like about developing leadership skills in contemporary insights by mixing the having a baby to take care of all the young kids out there. Under- teenagers by promoting nouveau ways of benefits of the practices from the past to standing your concerns from which subject to choose, to the thinking by mixing Yogic Thinking, Design face the challenges of the present. The fights with the family or relationship issues, IGenPlus opens its Thinking, and Exponential Thinking. We idea is simple - to inculcate the values, arms to be your best friends. want to be harbingers of change and want practices, ethos, and spirituality in them to be the plus to the normal ways of life. with a clear explanation about the benefits We are not here to counsel you or guide you, we are here to Through YogiPlus, we help the students to in their day-to-day living. Teenagers today know you. Be with you. unearth the fullest potential of the mind, need scientific explanations and answers body, and spirit. This will develop their to all their ‘why’s. We will provide those. In the past 7 months, through our multiple programs, we have personality while focusing on character attempted to touch base your lives through sustainability, development, emotional growth, and This festive season we are excited to present creativity and heritage. We wish to continue the same. For your mindfulness. With us, students will not to you a compendium of all things crazy. better lives, we want each one of you to support us and be a part only define the purpose of life but also Our capsule sized articles are meant for of this movement. develop a sense of service, a sustainable the new-age reader. We are here for an lifestyle, and become culturally sensitive aurora, much in line with what IGenPlus This magazine talks about the relevance of GAP year. You may and inclusive. stands for. We believe in changing for the choose to take or not take a GAP Year. But rest be assured, this better. We believe in creating a generation magazine will give you a very different insight to the concept. Design thinking is the new buzz word of compassionate and creative leaders. but it is an inherent ability that can be While the school system is instrumental in The magazine is not an opinion, it is not a research paper either. nurtured. Through our curriculum in doing that, we recognize that it falls short It is the compilation of thoughts, feelings and expressions brought Creative Plus, students will go beyond in more ways than one and we are that together by the young dynamic team of IGenPlus. memorizing facts and will learn “plus”. We believe in the rootedness of meta-skills that amplify the mind power one’s personality and in freedom of Congratulations again! you definitely have a bright future for and make them more creative. This will thought and expression. We believe in the being able to read it through. help them think like an entrepreneur and constancy of change and the need to design ideas that can solve social upgrade ourselves, without putting our Hope you have a colorful year ahead. problems rather than cribbing about them. values at stake. Our values are the beacons Including areas like intuition and creativity, that guide us and through our existence, With love, conscious leadership, entrepreneurial we hope to bring more people on board Soumya skills, goal setting and more. with our ambitious undertaking. CEO & Co-Founder +91 98175 00105 www.IGENPLUS.com keep https://www.twitter.com/IGENPLUS https://www.facebook.com/IGENPLUS https://www.instagram.com/I_GEN_PLUS a https://www.linkedin.com/company/IGENPLUS https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC03F_2B6ge_W7R_sujhb2yQ tab Asif dreams of getting admission into one What’s the brouhaha about? of the top-most colleges for engineering Gap year in India continues to be a taboo in the country. When he had written the topic and is considered to be the last entrance exam last year, he had narrowly resort among students unable to cope missed the cut-off marks. That made him with the system. There is a perception of really upset and he felt he needed more ‘failure’ associated with the word itself. time for better preparation which he felt However, studies have shown that this was inadequate because of the academic needn’t be the case and that gap years pressure of securing very high marks. He can have a positive impact. For instance, 9 decided to take one year off more time to studies by Elisa Birch and Paul Miller prepare. He has enrolled for better (2007) have found that students who coaching classes to stay focussed and defer university are found to have higher maintain a schedule. marks than students who commence university directly after completing high CONCEPT NOTE Construed to be a fashionable practice in school. This mark advantage was found the UK about thirty years ago among to be more pronounced among students who had completed high school low-performing students, particularly GAP YEAR and who were awaiting their admission to male students, who are in the lower half college, the gap year has emerged as a of the university marks distribution. Thus lucrative option among students before the gap year provides a unique opportunity they take on the next phase of life. The for students to rejuvenate and work on gap year is a voluntary (or incidental) themselves. Also, the gap year gives the stepping out of formal education or students a chance to build on their CVs. employment for honing one’s prospects. Greater opportunities for millennials and a I TOOK The word ‘year’ is a misnomer and can growing need for ‘self-realization’ in their refer to any period of time that is ‘taken respective careers, gap years are A GAP Miriam loves to read and she wants to off’ for improving one’s prospects in life. emerging as a trend that can be read all the award-winning books by the welcomed for more reasons than one. time she turns 21. But usual school life YEAR! doesn’t leave her with much time especially Yeah, but who started it? Cool, I’m lovin’ it! since she has to focus on her class XIIth This trend of taking gap years has been exams. She has to fare well in the exams increasingly gaining popularity in the In this competitive world, good academic so that she could get admission into her US (especially after the announcement credentials are not enough to gain dream college. She began planning her by Malia Obama two years back to defer admission to reputed institutions.