Designing costumes for plays, writing short stories for literary magazines and vociferously opposing drug addiction. When it comes to interests, nothing is really beyond 19-year-old Ritee Roy. But what really defines her as a person, she claims, is her role as an editor for an online little magazine dedicated to art work by school and college students of the subcontinent.

“It is lovely to discover new things about the youth of our country and beyond. There is so much talent just waiting to be discovered here,” claims the first-year Jadavpur University student.

In January this year, Roy got together with some of her friends to launch Ex Nihilo, a blog magazine exclusively dedicated to the creative expressions of subcontinent students. “This magazine is actually a progression of the little magazine launched by us in December 2006 (it was bilingual). But it had to be discontinued after the first edition because of unavoidable circumstances,” she claims.

Even though the magazine intends to be a platform of expression for youngsters, it plans to steer clear of all kinds of bias. “We make it clear that we have no religious or political afflictions and refrain from publishing material that does. I feel, we can’t afford to mix art and politics when we are dealing with impressionable youngsters,” she says.

The blog magazine, Roy feels, is a step towards positive dialogue between India and Pakistan. “We receive a lot of entries from Pakistan and we were all amazed to find out that youngsters there talk about the same issues and same experiences. Even their concerns are same as ours,” she states.

And how does Ex Nihilo manage to procure articles from Pakistani youngsters? “We have a coordinator there who is in charge of the Pakistani articles. We basically do most of our dealings online. Technology has indeed made the world a smaller place,” she beams.

Her stint as an editor has taught this youngster some valuable lessons of life. “It has broadened my vision. I also feel it has made me more tolerant of other people’s views. I cannot let my personal biases overrule my decisions as a coordinator of a public forum,” she notes.