Do the Puranas have an angry, young man?

Curated by Jane Borges Sucheta Chakraborty and Anju MaskeriThe lsquoangry young manrsquo has fired up our cinema screens for years But what exactly does he have in common with our mythological heroes Is he a mythological hero himself These were some of the questions raised in a recent session of CineMythic an ongoing series of discussions on the intersection of cinema and mythology These are conducted by The Mythology Project an online platform for the study of myths legends folktales and ancient belief systems and BreakfastCinema a team that deals with cinema as a tool for teaching and developmentShibangi Das and Abhinav KandarpldquoWe were always sure that mythology has a far larger arc of influence than what we usually associate it with It is not just stories of the past or religious tales Mythology is a huge influencer of popular culture and cinema is popular culture Hence there were a lot of common themes that emerged in our discussionsrdquo say Utkarsh Patel and Arundhuti Dasgupta Singhal of The Mythology ProjectAlso Read Meet the OG desi superheroesUtkarsh Patel and Arundhuti Dasgupta SinghalThe opening series of talks are on the archetypes that figure both in our myths and cinema their first session focusing on the angry young man exploring his presence and function and looking critically at anger in our legends and films and their second on the figure of the trickster ldquoWe realised that cinema and especially Hindi cinema utilises not just stories of mythology directly and indirectly but also explores tropes emotions themes opinions and ideas universal to both media since they are essential to human existencerdquo say the BreakfastCinema team Shibangi Das and Abhinav Kandarp Popular cinemarsquos own mythic status in India only adds to the relevance of these discussionsAlso Read Mythology of Bengali PirsthemythologyprojectcombreakfastatcinemacomTo the Monica Geller in youSeeing your home neat gives a high of a different kind And we mean the Friendsrsquo selfproclaimed neat freak Monica Geller standard of clean To cater to your OCD tic entrepreneur Gaurav Agarwal has launched Tidy Up a venture that offers a range of innovative products to help declutter The brand is centred around organisation cleanliness and sanitationSparkle Ultra Sonic Cleaner helps clean your jewellery and spectacles It uses ultrasonic waves to break down the dirt particles on and under the surface of your jewellery right Wire Bin with snug fit 4socket power strip to keep the wires hiddenWhile wire bins can help hide wires the smart bin is an autoclose sensor dustbin which doesnrsquot require touching the dirty lid Even the trash bag is hidden from sight ldquoWith two sizes 9L and 30L we cover the rooms from the bedroom and office to your kitchen and hallways We have a new version now coming out this month which also opens if you simply kick it along with the hand gesturerdquo says Agarwal who started the venture with the goal of managing messy wiresGaurav AgarwalldquoI realised that there has to be a way to hide those spike busters that make my otherwise goodlooking desk really ugly Moreover I noticed that India lacks quality products that solve everyday problemsrdquoAdd to your cartTissue box Dispenses facial tissues and has a compartment to hold your phone remote reading glasses and pensWire bin jumbo Just like the original Wire Bin but much bigger to hold more kinds of plugsSide kick The desk and bedside organiser that ends all clutterSmart bins line in 14L and 50L sizes They are planning a more premium version of it in the future made of stainless steelWhat Tidy UpWhere tidyupcomPrice Rs 599 onwardsTales from historyItrsquos always heartwarming to see youth come forward to make a difference in how we understand our history Samyak Raj Nema 18 started thehistorynama on Instagram ldquoto curb all kinds of hatred that was floating around about the historical characters and their storiesrdquo What began with posts analysing Kalidasarsquos Shakuntala has since then taken a life of its ownIn a series of posts we learn about the 1125kg Peacock throne commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1628 that took seven years to make an amusing anecdote about Mirza Ghalib and the expansive history of the Deccan among others ldquoPeople who never lived in our age will always be different from us Their ideas will differ their world will differ their stories will differ and no matter how much you try to make them relatable they will always retain their otherworldly appearance I want people to understand history and mythology metaphorically rather than figurativelyrdquo says NemathehistorynamaAlso Read Listen to a timeless tale