medicineacademia

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before i go for a shower, here's a reminder

dark academia isn't just for the rich or skinny or traditionally educated, and it shouldn't be about chasing unhealthy relationships or lifestyles. you can like dark academia and not smoke or drink black coffee. you can like dark academia and not stay up late. you can like dark academia and be fat. liking dark academia also does not make you better or smarter than other people and it doesn't give you the right to put others down. this has been a little reminder bc i saw some classist and body shaming shit

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All musicians relate

[medicineacademia]

M E T A N O I A

[GREEK]

(n.) The journey of changing one's mind, heart, self, or way of life; spiritual conversion.

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Gustave Doré illustrations.

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and this is how you study 40 hours a day...

#ling ling 40 hours #twosetviolin #ling ling wannabe #two set violin #study playlist #lofi

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[medicineacademia]

Part 1/3 of this purple and green aesthetic app icon set! Requested by @danielle101370. DM if you want to request a specific color palette or app!

Part 2 here   Part 3 here

Totally free to use, I just ask that you credit me if you post your home screen anywhere and do a good deed like recycling or opening the door for someone!

[medicineacademia]

Part 3/3 fall aesthetic app icons! Requested by anon. DM if you want to request a specific color palette or app!

Part 1 here   Part 2 here

Totally free to use, I just ask that you credit me if you post your home screen anywhere and do a good deed like recycling or opening the door for someone!

[medicineacademia]

[medicineacademia]

Portrait of Johannes Wtenbogaert (details). By Rembrandt, 1633

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“Though I can digress with the best of them, I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive.”

-The Secret History (1992)

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Indian academia

Recently I have seen a lot of excellent posts in the dark academia tags which call out the euro-centrism of this subculture and also give great recommendations for non-white cultural academia. So I decided to put together works of Indian authors that I read growing up in India as a literature student. Please note this list leans heavily towards works centred on Bengal due to my own heritage, and is by no means comprehensive or meant to represent the entire, varied diaspora of India.

Historical/political fiction:

the lives of others by neel mukherjee: chronicling the rise and fall of a bengali family against historical events like the partition, the 1943 famines, the bengal emergency etc. diverse cast of characters retelling history through multiple povs, lyrical prose, incredible research providing an insight into naxalite bengal. talks about how it feels to be a leftist when you are born and brought up in bourgeois privilege.

the lowland by jhumpa lahiri: everything!! written by jhumpa lahiri!! should be savoured!! but this gorgeous book in particular made me UGLY CRY. to summarise without spoilers, it's a story about two brothers, separated by inches and then by miles, a story about student revolutionaries, bengal burning and boston beaches, and it's a story about a beautiful, brilliant, tormented woman who loves and loathes in equal measure.

the shadow lines by amitav ghosh:** intergenerational trauma, dhaka riots and the entwined histories of two families- one in london and the other in calcutta. sharp, bittersweet and sometimes rather scandalous. if you enjoy ggm's works try this.

a flight of pigeons by ruskin bond**: after her father is killed in the 1857 sepoy mutiny, an anglo-indian girl, her mother, and female relatives are given shelter by the muslim family of one of the chief rebels. set in north india near UP, ruskin bond's writing is powerful and explores found families and the price of imperialism and war. chef's kiss.

train to pakistan by khuswant singh: the horrors of post independence sectarian violence as recounted by a fictional village on the indo-pak border with a population largely comprising muslims and sikhs. a harrowing read but evocative and honest.

shalimar the clown by salman rushdie: allegorical story about the kashmir valley unrest, told through the insane, shakespearean revenge tragedy spun out by kashmiri tightrope walker shalimar who falls in love with boonyi, a beautiful pandit girl, a love that dooms him.

a fine balance by rohinton mistry**: four strangers' lives spill into each other as india crumbles under the 1975 emergency. this one has everything political commentary, social satire, depiction of economic hardships and a whole range of characters from diverse backgrounds. side note: it's a pretty heavy and tragic read, please be careful.

Societal stories

the guide by rk narayan: raju, an impoverished, street smart boy in a fictional south indian town takes to conning people as a tour guide but things spiral out of control when he has an affair with a married classical dancer. allegorical writing, funny and eccentric, and there's a LOT of satire about desi stereotypes: fraud religious leaders, scandalous village affairs, neocolonial mindsets and well, dancing. had a great read of this one. don't watch the film, it's inaacurate and the author himself didn't like it :(

malgudi days by rk narayan: set in the same town as the guide, a collection of short stories about the colourful lives of small town dwellers, from astrologers to doctors to postmen. it's funny and poignant in equal measure. there's not a single mediocre story in here, they're all just......charming.

interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri: stories set in boston and bengal about ordinary indian people and ordinary indian lives which are just so, so MASTERFULLY written and in such crystal bright detail it feels all too real. I recommend a temporary matter, when mr pirzada came to dine, sexy, mrs sen and this blessed house.

em and the big hoom by jerry pinto**: a goan family in late 20th century mumbai + their experience when the mother is diagnosed with bpd. I haven't read this book but it was highly recommended by my friends + authors who are greatly esteemed by me

any and every work by ruskin bond because my man literally GREW up around ayahs and tonga drivers and lonely gardeners and sad kite-makers and friends in small places. I recommend road to the bazaar: a collection of short stories about north indian children involving tigers in train tunnels, beetle races, rooftop gardens and the feeling of being home again.

the white tiger by aravind adiga**: epistolary novel that deals mostly with the class struggle in india as told by a village boy, who travels to delhi for work and his slow rise to success through monumental obstacles. a good read to look into the lives and the plight of underprivileged workers and the persisting class disparity in globalised india.

city of djinns by william dalrymple: travelogue/memoir/anecdotes of the author's time in delhi as he researches for the detritus of history in the country capital. non fiction but every bit as riveting as a well spun story.

Retellings/Biographies

rajkahini (transl: stories of kings) by abanindranath tagore: stories about the rajput rulers of western india and their glorious, semi-mythological histories of battles and heartbreaks and visions. the author was often termed a lyrical artist because his descriptive prose is so good it feels like a painting put into words.

empress: the astonishing reign of nur jahan by ruby lal: a feminist biography of my favourite figure from history, nur jahan, and her deliciously satisfying ascent as the sole female sovereign in the line of the great mughals. but wow, what a woman.

the palace of illusions by chitra banerjee divakaruni: retelling of the great epic mahabharata but from draupadi's point of view. poetic and magical, and her descriptions of female rage and the unfairness of society even in mythical canon is SUPERB.

Poetry!

sarojini naidu: patriotism, society, feminism, romance

nissim ezekiel: postcolonial, satire

ak ramanujan: society, classical retellings, folktale inspired poetry

agha shahid ali: socio-political, ghazal inspired poetry

tishani doshi: feminist, contemporary

eunice d'souza: contemporary, gender politics

Pure self indulgent recs

hayavadana by girish karnad: a ridiculous, criminally hilarious play-within-a-play about a love triangle and accidental body/torso swaps and a goddess who couldn't care less and a man with a horse head. yeah.

devdas by sarat chandra chattopadhyay: pls stop shoving the movie down my throat it's the cringiest depiction of bengali culture ever but yeah the novel is 💗💗 and it's about childhood sweethearts dev and paro, the cost of obsessions and lusts and an enigmatic courtesan chandramukhi who keeps loving the wrong things.

any and every work by rabindranath tagore should be considered academia but in particular his short stories, like the kabuliwalah and the postmaster.

the byomkesh bakshi series by sharadindu bandyopadhyay: written in the vein of poirot but in colonial bengal, follows one (1) sleuthy boy and his sidekick as they unravel psychological crimes and murder mysteries. some stories are just genuinely scary and all have eclectic casts. sharadindu said homoerotic/feral women/immoral genius people rights!

Like I said this list is not comprehensive!!! But I tried my best!!! I think we should really try to decolonize our reading tastes. And yes I purposely left out Arundhati Roy (because she is literally the only Indian author ever recommended in lists) Vikram Seth (because I do not like him) and Roshani Chokshi (because any one of the above)

I hope you guys get some good picks from this list :)

[** has heavy trigger warnings]

[medicineacademia]

The Hogwarts houses as Dark Academia aesthetics 

Gryffindor: ‘Campus’ by Vampire Weekend

sorting through the endless pathways of the library with the walls encrusted in gemstones of new knowledge, imagining the lives of insect people from your turret window, loose cream shirts tucked into check trousers, scribbling your favourite quotes underneath tables 

Slytherin: ‘New Girl’ by FINNEAS

shattered bottles of whiskey creating a fragmented masterpiece on the floor, private meetings under shadowed cover, blowing kisses like darts at un-expecting passersby, finding in triumph in your heirloom riches, gemstoned jewellery heavy with history and moral ambiguity 

Ravenclaw: ‘I Spend Too Much Time in My Room’ by The Band CAMINO

pencil marks on celestial charts, scuffed brogue shoes marked with unspeakable nights, typewriters leaking out poetry under the benevolent guide of the moon, the grains of sand in the hourglass being forgotten as you lose yourself in the library, being adorned with a postmodern version of your school uniform

Hufflepuff: ‘Fancy Shoes’ by The Walters

pressed sprigs of flowers hanging on your wall, handwriting letters in cursive and sending them to the person who you bleed love and admiration for, train journeys on burgundy seats flooded by golden rays, round glasses that are never cleaned, shaking the hands of the ghostly spirits that welcome you

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Ravenclaw - Literature Student 📖✨

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- ravenclaw dark academia aesthetic -

a book filled to the brim with annotated notes so the original words are no longer there • living on coffee and tea and staying up late to work on essays but getting distracted • letting your mind drift off in tangents and day dreams • handing in an assignment late and having the perfect excuse when the professor asks why • maybe you’re not the best student • but you know how to con your way into getting extra time or bonus points • playing the same old record on repeat • long black trench coats • and navy blue blouses • the chill of autumn just before winter and the breath of spring just after it • grainy film photos taped to the wall • sketches of ancient architecture following underneath them • the Colosseum • Greek pillars • statues too of all the great gods and goddesses • being fluent in Greek and a bit of Latin • passing notes around in class • keeping secrets scribbled in a diary • a coded message that no one else can decipher except you and your friends • the promise of great potential from you, but there in truth more important things out there •

- viridis-blooming

01/28/19

p.s. pictures used in moodboard are not mine and all credit goes to original owners.

slytherin hufflepuff gryffindor

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dark academia wallpapers / pls like or reblog if you use!

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#mood #study session #Spotify