When the global health crisis forced everyone into social isolation, many around the world found succour in creative expression. A team of Presidency University students turned the long period of physical distancing into a productive spell by launching an online magazine in October 2020.
The Parapraxis Project, the magazine, is the brainchild of a bunch of second-year undergraduate students of the English department of Presidency University. The young editorial team comprises Sainaz Farzana Kazi, Soham Adhikari, Ishan Purkait, Ditsa Mandal, Abhista Goswami, Samidh Sadhu, Disha Chakraborty, Dhritimay Sarkar, Ranjana Sarkar and Sparsha Barman.
What the e-magazine is about
Sporting the look and feel of a literary magazine, The Parapraxis Project features poetry, lyrics, micro-tales, monologues, critical pieces and illustrations.
The content is a mix of themes and genres, a blend of the creative and the critical. Besides publishing articles on various socio-political issues and literary works, Parapraxis attempts to spotlight disciplines like anime, manga and Ludology.
“As the name suggests, The Parapraxis Project is aimed at capturing the parapraxis, a spontaneous slip of creative ideas and thoughts, and encouraging them to be put out there for the world to see and appreciate,” said Soham Adhikari, the co-editor of the Bengali section of the magazine.
A platform for artistic expression
The aim behind the magazine has been to offer a platform to students to express their thoughts on a wide range of subjects, including social issues.
“Our motive was to create and experiment with ways of interacting with the student community, thus helping them bring out their critical-creative prowess,” said Sparsha Barman, the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
“Back when we first conceptualised Parapraxis, we did not have any active departmental magazine. We wanted to bring forth a student-driven magazine that would fill this void,” added Soham.
Priyanka Das, professor of English at Presidency University and a member of the magazine’s advisory board, feels this kind of an initiative would help sharpen the minds of youngsters.
“In this infodemic age, students of Generation Z who are imprisoned within the constraints of rigorous syllabi forget to think and imagine. Parapraxis endeavours to engage these digital natives to think critically and yet come up with something creative. This project is an amalgamation of imagination and rationality,” said Das.
Become a contributor
While the website is a collaboration of the creative efforts of its founding members from Presidency University, students from across institutes can channel their inner artist, poet or thinker on The Parapraxis Project. The e-magazine welcomes entries at www.theparapraxisproject.com.
(Ankita Sen is a final-year undergraduate student of English at Presidency University)