u/No_Rub_6403

Hey, so I’m 18F and feeling pretty stuck about my next steps, so I’d really appreciate some guidance from people in the industry or anyone who has been through something similar.

I just finished 12th with PCB and Psychology. I wrote NEET because of parental pressure, but medicine was never what I actually wanted to do, and the results reflected that. What I actually enjoy is a mix of coding and art. On the art side, I do 3D painting and digital sculpting. On the tech side, I self-taught myself calculus up to multivariable and stochastic calc. I know Java, Python, and Lua (built a few things in Love2D), plus some basic Assembly, and I really love tinkering with mini game engines.

Because of all this, gamedev feels like the most natural career path for me. The big roadblock is that most traditional B Tech CS programs in India that I know off strictly require Math in 11th and 12th, which I don’t have. I also do not want to give another entrance like JEE, am ok with giving a school specific exam. Also idk, but also the industry is extremely men dominated so I am not so sure how my future might look like. and how game dev especially in areas like combat design might be perceived by people. idc much about society but there is also a thing about mobility within the career itself that I was kinda wondering.

so...far I’m currently looking at alternative routes, like doing a diploma in creative design or game design through institutes like IICT (Indian Institute of Creative Technologies) or similar places. But I’m not sure if a diploma actually holds weight in the Indian gaming industry, or if studios care more about a solid portfolio and GitHub repo over a formal degree? Idk if I should do a BTech or a BSc in CS? maybe?

Is a design diploma a good path for someone with my mix of art and programming interests, or should I look into NIOS math / private CS degrees? How do Indian game studios view applicants without a traditional CS degree? Any advice on what direction to take would mean a lot.

You: "Hey, unemployment is spiking, inflation is eating through savings, and air quality is literally dissolving our lungs."

Them: "AH BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THAT IN 1242 AD OUR ANCESTORS DISCOVERED THE CONCEPT OF MOLECULAR ASTROPHYSICS WHILE WEAVING COTTON?"

Brother, it is 2026. My landlord does not accept payment in Chola dynasty maritime trade glory points.

Every single debate follows the exact same script. You bring up a structural crisis happening today, and within three minutes they start crying about what some king did six hundred years ago. "Oh, you want better public healthcare? Well, what about the medieval period? Do you know who destroyed which temple in 1350? Checkmate, leftist."

It is absolute brain rot. Yes, history is neat. Read a book, visit a museum, learn from it so we do not repeat the worst parts. But making ancient history your entire personality because your present offers nothing to brag about is wild. You cannot run a country on "We used to be Vishwaguru." Great! We were great! Now can we please figure out why the roads wash away after twenty minutes of mild drizzle?

Imagine applying this logic anywhere else in life:

Boss: "You are three hours late for work and you haven’t submitted the report." You: "Okay but in 2018 I was employee of the month, so why are you attacking my glorious heritage?"

Stop using the Middle Ages as a shield against basic accountability. History is a reference guide, not a substitute for a functional economy.

TRIGGER WARNING Do not read if you are extremely religious or easily offended. I mean no offense to any one faith; this is purely about my own absurd family experience.

This happened a few years back, when I was like 15 and living with my parents. For context, my mom is a hardcore devout and extremely right wing, and my dad acts mostly agnostic.

Naturally, as a teenage girl, I somehow became the family’s resident radioactive hazard.

It was the day of Krishna Janma at home. My mom had been up since 5 AM cleaning everything in sight. She had washed every wooden floorboard, strung up yellow marigold garlands, set up the brass brassware for the midnight abhishekam, and spent hours preparing the bhog panchamrit with precise amounts of local cow milk, curd, and ghee like a sergeant prepping for war. Everything had to be 100% pristine before Lord Krishna's birth at midnight.

Then yk what I had my period.

If you grew up in a traditional Indian household, you already know how this goes. The moment your body starts shedding endometrial tissue and blood, you turn into an absolute biohazard. You can't touch the prasad, you can't step anywhere near the mandir, and God forbid your shadow touches the idol, because apparently divine energy instantly short-circuits.

My mom panicked. She gave me the look, the classic one that says you just personally ruined seven generations of karma. She started ushering me out of the living room like I was holding an unexploded bomb.

I had been sitting through these rituals for years, watching adults run around in absolute panic thinking normal bodily functions would somehow defeat the creator of the universe. The sheer stupidity of it finally broke me.

I looked at my mom, dead serious, and said: "Arey Mummy, listen to me for two seconds. You tell me God created the entire universe, right? Galaxy, stars, planets, people, animals, everything?"

She paused, suspiciously eyeing me. "Yes, obviously."

"And God created human biology too, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. So if the supreme, all-powerful creator of the universe, who birthed galaxies and controls life and death, suddenly loses their power or becomes 'corrupted' the moment my period blood exists in the same room... doesn't that mean I am stronger than God?"

My dad immediately choked on his tea in the corner.

I leaned in, fully committing to the villain arc: "Mummy, if my 5ml of uterine lining can completely neutralize an omnipotent deity’s sanctity from ten feet away, I am literally a Kryptonite. You guys shouldn't be isolating me. You should be worshipping ME. I am the ultimate cosmic threat."

The silence in the living room was so loud lol. My mom looked at me with a mix of absolute horror, existential confusion, and pure disbelief. She didn't even yell. She just slowly backed away, grabbed the ghee, and never brought up period purity rules to me ever again. she just became more passive aggressive

I don't live with my parents anymore, but given recent debates online about 'trad values' and ritualistic purity, I thought I'd drop this here.

So was wanting to ask if anyone else used total, unhinged logic to shut down purity rules at home, or did your parents actually manage to come up with a counter argument? curious do share

Trigger Warning: Do not read if you are extremely religious or easily offended by logical applications of religious lore. I mean no offense to any one faith; this is purely about my own family experience.

This happened a few years back, when I was like 15, and I was still living with my parents. For context, my household was a masterclass in domestic ideological warfare: my mom is a hardcore right-wing devout Hindu, and my dad is an agnostic who mostly likes to stay away from all these, and just participate not to anger mom. his background is non hindu though.

Naturally, as a teenage girl, I somehow became the family’s resident Kryptonite.

It was the day of a massive, high-stakes puja at our house. My mom had been scrubbing the floorboards with sacred fervor since 5:00 AM, organizing the marigold garlands, alignment of brass diyas, and precise quantities of ghee like a drill sergeant prepping for invasion. Everything had to be pristine nah.

Then yk what I had my period.

If you grew up in a traditional household, you know the drill. Suddenly, you become an biohazard. You cannot touch the prasad, you cannot sit on the carpet near the mandir, and God forbid your shadow falls upon the idol, lest the deity's cosmic energy instantly short-circuit.

My mom panicked. She gave me the look, the one that says you have single-handedly ruined the spiritual purity of seven generations. She started ushering me away from the living room like I was carrying an airborne weapon.

I had been sitting through these rituals for years, watching adults scramble around worrying that human biology would somehow overpower the creator of the cosmos. And idk what I was thinking but (prolly should not have said it, but no regrets)

I looked at my mom, dead serious, and said: "Arey Mummy, listen to me for two seconds. You tell me God created the entire universe, right? Galaxy, stars, planets, people, animals, everything?"

She paused, suspiciously eyeing me. "Yes, obviously."

"And God created human biology too, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. So if the supreme, all-powerful creator of the universe, who birthed galaxies and controls life and death, suddenly loses their power or becomes 'corrupted' the moment my period blood exists in the same room... doesn't that mean I am stronger than God?"

My dad immediately choked on his tea in the corner.

I leaned in, fully committing to the villain arc: "Mummy, if my 5ml of uterine lining can completely neutralize an omnipotent deity’s sanctity from ten feet away, I am literally a Kryptonite. You guys shouldn't be isolating me. You should be worshipping ME. I am the ultimate cosmic threat."

The silence in the living room was so loud you could hear the marigold flowers wilting. My mom looked at me with a mix of absolute horror, existential confusion, and pure disbelief. She didn't even yell. She just slowly backed away, grabbed the ghee, and never brought up period purity rules to me ever again. Complete radio silence on the topic until the day I moved out. she just became more passive aggressive

I don't live with my parents anymore, but given recent debates online about 'trad values' and ritualistic purity, I thought I'd drop this here. Next time someone tells you you're impure, just remind them that by their own logic, you hold ultimate veto power over the universe.

I personally couldn't care less about ethnic differences, but my relatives definitely do, which makes this whole situation kind of hilarious and stupidly tense.

Back when I was a kid, one of my closest friends was Zomi. I used to hear a lot of Zomi songs through him, mostly gospel and worship music. Also, lowkey confessing this here, but I used to kinda like him back then, so there's probably that nostalgic memory attached to it too. For some reason, those exact tracks have been living rent-free in my head lately, and I’ve been blasting them on repeat.

The funniest part? Main bilkul bhi religious nahi hoon. Like, zero percent devout. Par lyrics ki vibe, nostalgia, aur vocal arrangements itne amazing hain ki addiction ho gaya hai.

Agar mere ghar waale ya relatives meri playlist dekh le, to pakka dimaag kharab ho jayega unka. I just needed to confess this somewhere because it is such a random crossover in my life right now. Like bruhhh, why do these songs slap so hard?

We have all heard this peak uncle wisdom at family gatherings: "Girls biologically mature 5 years earlier than boys, that is why the husband must always be older!" Wow, brilliant science. Absolute groundbreaking research. I mean our country is the vishwaguru and we all know where the whole budget is spent in the name of science (don't wanna take names, and don't wanna digress, so excuse me)

Except well it is completely fake. What we call "female maturity" in Indian households is not genetics at all. It is literally just child labor disguised as good manners and sanskar.

By the time a girl hits age seven or eight, she has already been drafted into the family domestic army. She is out here rolling rotis, learning to speak quietly diffusing generational in-law trauma, and predicting her father's mood like a human weather satellite. Meanwhile, her sixteen-year-old brother is screaming slurs into his gaming headset while his mom hand-feeds him cut fruits like he is an endangered species. If you ask this guy where his own socks are, he will stare at you with the blank, empty eyes of a goldfish trying to understand quantum mechanics. Raja beta syndrome is a national health crisis, guys.

Society loves to label this as "natural female emotional intelligence," but let us be real for a second tho it is pure survival mode. When a girl grows up under 24/7 CCTV surveillance where her outfit, her laughter, and her breathing volume are strictly audited, she learns to read the room real fast. She becomes an expert project manager before she even writes her 10th board exams. Meanwhile, her male peers grow up believing dirty dishes naturally evaporate in the sink and muddy clothes teleport into the washing machine through dark magic.

The funniest part is watching these guys enter adulthood. A girl goes to college, manages her budget, cooks her meals, and handles her life smoothly. The guy moves into a hostel and suddenly faces an existential crisis because nobody is there to tell him that underwear needs to be washed regularly. He will call his mother at 11 PM crying because he cannot find the salt in his own kitchen.

So when aunties say girls naturally mature faster, what they actually mean is: "We gave our daughter a full-time hotel management job in primary school, and we raised our son like a permanently pampered resort guest."

If Indian families actually forced boys to pick up their own trash, boil an egg, and exist without a full-time personal assistant, maybe we would not have grown men panicking over a simple grocery run. Stop calling it biology. It is just extreme pampering wrapped in a fake scientific label!

PS: Just to be clear, this post is not about my own brother. I got super lucky with a sweet younger brother who ALWAYS steps up and helps out without being asked. In fact, he is 4 years younger than me but insanely mature, sometimes even more than I am! But that is precisely my point: he grew up like that because he actually took ownership of his own life, did his own chores, sometimes even mine without asking and was never treated like a helpless prince. My post comes purely from observing extended relatives, neighbors, and society at large. When you actually expect boys to take accountability, they mature just fine!

I know I will get a lot of hate for this but I am saying it out loud. People need to stop romanticizing Northeast India as some perfect egalitarian utopia for women. I see so many claimed feminists constantly saying we need to "learn from the Northeast" about gender equality. But when I actually share my definition of equality, those same people get triggered almost everytime. It is best to just ignore the noise and look at the actual facts.

On my mom's side I am Meitei and on my dad's side I am North Indian. The irony is that I have actually enjoyed far more freedom and faced way less suffocating control from my North Indian dad's side of the family. The reality of how women are treated behind closed doors in the Northeast is vastly different from the aesthetic, girl-boss narrative pushed on social media.

What do people even mean by equality? For me, equality is not just about statistics or visibility. A woman can run a market stall, run a country, lead a company, or hold a reserved political seat. But if she still cannot inherit family land, make her own life choices without permission, or feel fully safe and autonomous in her own home, that is not real equality. Representation gets you in the room, but equality means having equal power once you are inside.

Let us look at the actual laws and customary practices. In states like Mizoram, if a woman marries someone from outside the state, she loses her legal right to be Mizo. She loses her ancestral rights and privileges. You see similar restrictive customary laws in Arunachal, Manipur, Nagaland etc, a state constantly praised as progressive. Yet people blindly call these Northeast states a land where women enjoy equal rights? Lol. If a man from these communities marries an outsider, he keeps his land, his status, and his rights. Why cannot similar rules apply to men?

The control over women's choices is absolute. If a woman marries outside her specific community or tribe, she gets kicked out, disowned, or excommunicated. The same simply does not apply to men. We conveniently ignore the rising cases of polygamy protected under archaic customary laws. Just take arunachal for instance. There are so many widespread polygamy cases, and a while back a guy killed his pregnant wife for his side chick. In these states there are also cases of child exploitation where young girls will be taken in as house helps... and sexually assaulted and abused. This is literally done by Northeast Politicians. Many of these state's top leaders keep kids who they buy from their parents to exploit. And wow Northeast greatt saar.

We also ignore the intense community policing that strips women of their autonomy. We even ignore the severe community violence and honor killings disguised as protecting tribal purity when a woman dares to choose a partner from another community? Leave non northeast partners, even being friends with a rival tribe can get a women's modesty questioned. My best friend growing up was Zomi and what did my meitei mom do? Yea she slut shamed me for talking to an impure vagabound of a boy, who are less than human. But if I was a guy, I would have been praised to have brought these "savages" into the meitei fold. Its not just about meitei or that, its true for every single Northeastern community. They have the same mindset.

You can celebrate the visibility of women in public spaces all you want. But ignoring the deeply entrenched, legally protected patriarchy in the Northeast does not help women. It just protects the men who benefit from those unequal laws.

I know I will get a lot of hate for this but I am saying it out loud. People need to stop romanticizing Northeast India as some perfect egalitarian utopia for women. I see so many claimed feminists constantly saying we need to "learn from the Northeast" about gender equality. But when I actually share my definition of equality, those same people get triggered almost everytime. It is best to just ignore the noise and look at the actual facts.

On my mom's side I am Meitei and on my dad's side I am North Indian. The irony is that I have actually enjoyed far more freedom and faced way less suffocating control from my North Indian dad's side of the family. The reality of how women are treated behind closed doors in the Northeast is vastly different from the aesthetic, girl-boss narrative pushed on social media.

What do people even mean by equality? For me, equality is not just about statistics or visibility. A woman can run a market stall, run a country, lead a company, or hold a reserved political seat. But if she still cannot inherit family land, make her own life choices without permission, or feel fully safe and autonomous in her own home, that is not real equality. Representation gets you in the room, but equality means having equal power once you are inside.

Let us look at the actual laws and customary practices. In states like Mizoram, if a woman marries someone from outside the state, she loses her legal right to be Mizo. She loses her ancestral rights and privileges. You see similar restrictive customary laws in Arunachal, Manipur, Nagaland etc, a state constantly praised as progressive. Yet people blindly call these Northeast states a land where women enjoy equal rights? Lol. If a man from these communities marries an outsider, he keeps his land, his status, and his rights. Why cannot similar rules apply to men?

The control over women's choices is absolute. If a woman marries outside her specific community or tribe, she gets kicked out, disowned, or excommunicated. The same simply does not apply to men. We conveniently ignore the rising cases of polygamy protected under archaic customary laws. Just take arunachal for instance. There are so many widespread polygamy cases, and a while back a guy killed his pregnant wife for his side chick. In these states there are also cases of child exploitation where young girls will be taken in as house helps... and sexually assaulted and abused. This is literally done by Northeast Politicians. Many of these state's top leaders keep kids who they buy from their parents to exploit. And wow Northeast greatt saar.

We also ignore the intense community policing that strips women of their autonomy. We even ignore the severe community violence and honor killings disguised as protecting tribal purity when a woman dares to choose a partner from another community? Leave non northeast partners, even being friends with a rival tribe can get a women's modesty questioned. My best friend growing up was Zomi and what did my meitei mom do? Yea she slut shamed me for talking to an impure vagabound of a boy, who are less than human. But if I was a guy, I would have been praised to have brought these "savages" into the meitei fold. Its not just about meitei or that, its true for every single Northeastern community. They have the same mindset.

You can celebrate the visibility of women in public spaces all you want. But ignoring the deeply entrenched, legally protected patriarchy in the Northeast does not help women. It just protects the men who benefit from those unequal laws.

Hi,

I am not Zo myself, but I had a very close friend growing up. I used to visit his home all the time, and I remember this one song always playing when I was there. It brings back a lot of great memories, but I never actually asked him what the lyrics meant! I could not find any paite or zomi subs so thought of posting it here. sorry about it

I believe it might be a religious or worship song, but I could be mistaken. The song is called "Vasa Te'n Zong Toupa Phat," and I found a version of it on YouTube here: youtube.com/watch?v=DMz08nzSMG0

Could someone please help me translate the lyrics, or at least give me a general summary of what the song is about? I've always been interested in getting to know the meaning behind it.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it a lot!

Hi,

I am not Zo myself, but I had a very close friend growing up. I used to visit his home all the time, and I remember this one song always playing when I was there. It brings back a lot of great memories, but I never actually asked him what the lyrics meant! I could not find any paite or zomi subs so thought of posting it here. sorry about it

I believe it might be a religious or worship song, but I could be mistaken. The song is called "Vasa Te'n Zong Toupa Phat," and I found a version of it on YouTube here: youtube.com/watch?v=DMz08nzSMG0

Could someone please help me translate the lyrics, or at least give me a general summary of what the song is about? I've always been interested in getting to know the meaning behind it.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it a lot!

Please do not get me wrong, I love my brothers. But the entire premise of Raksha Bandhan is built on this exhausting assumption that girls are inherently fragile and always need a male savior. When you look at how real sibling dynamics actually work, that logic completely falls apart.

I am the middle child, and I have spent my entire life protecting my younger brother. I was literally the one standing between him and his bullies at school and fighting them off. I am always the one looking out for him. So why on earth am I expected to tie a thread on his wrist asking him to protect me? If the festival is genuinely about honoring the person who has your back, he should be tying that thread on my wrist.

Honestly, my detachment from these rituals started a long time ago. Growing up, I was constantly told to stay away from pujas whenever I had my period. But then my mom would force me to participate in all the rituals on normal days. The hypocrisy of being shut out for basic biology and then forced to play the dutiful sister is what made me an atheist in the first place.

Even when a brother actually fits the traditional protector role, this one-sided ritual still feels really off. I recently went through a bad situation at home and eventually had to leave. My older brother and his fiancée were amazing and took me in. I am deeply grateful for his support, but even he told me not to waste my time with the ritual. He thinks the whole concept is outdated anyway, and he gets it.

Protection is not an exclusively male trait. Sisters protect their brothers emotionally, financially, and physically every single day. Why can't siblings just tie rakhis on each other regardless of gender?

It makes zero sense to keep treating sibling love like a transaction where only women are supposed to ask for safety. If we are going to celebrate having each other's backs, it needs to be mutual.

and why are every single festival always about the men? like seriously ??? this puja that Puan for him etc etc?

https://preview.redd.it/uiwc4ad3ogih1.png?width=670&format=png&auto=webp&s=ec62e9570564658fa826925e299a3dce5d39d989

• He was a factory reject: Doraemon wasn't some top-of-the-line robot from the 22nd century. He was actually a factory-rejected toy. Nobita's great-great-grandson, Sewashi, only bought him because he was super cheap and it was all his meager allowance could afford.
• The tragic reason he is blue: Doraemon was originally painted yellow and had ears (just like his sister, Dorami). After robotic mice chewed his ears off (which is where his intense phobia of mice comes from), he fell into a deep depression. He accidentally drank a potion labeled "sadness," and he cried so much that his yellow paint literally washed off, revealing the blue undercoat we know today.
• His sister is vastly superior: Because he was a defective model, Doraemon can only produce 129.3 horsepower. Meanwhile, his little sister Dorami is a premium model who can produce a staggering 10,000 horsepower.