Musings of an Intellectual Omnivore

Archive for the ‘Cool’ Category

It’s October again – The Season of Love begins!!!

In Cool, Love and Relationships on October 9, 2009 at 6:13 pm

It’s October again!

“The night is a bit cold, feels like October doesn’t it?” said my friend while getting ready to serve during one of our midnight tennis sessions. I nodded in agreement. After all, in Delhi, nights getting cold mean just one thing – it’s October.

October is when it’s cold but not uncomfortable. When you could still wear your t-shirts and walk around feeling the breeze, and not worry about getting a frost-bite. When children still flock in their regular uniforms and their mothers – women with frizzy hair wearing shawls, chase them with a cap or a sweater. The leaves are still green and aplenty. The landscape still fresh from caress of monsoon.

Why not then should October be a little different from other months? A little special. Like the cherry on the top of a chocolate cake! One that marks the beginning of the cuddling season. One that says let’s beat the heat! And when you live in India, there are a very few things that can help you do that!

You might ask, if you have not already, that what is the point of all this foreplay with words? Come on! Have I not given enough hints already? It is the season of love. The season of making the lives of those around you a little more special.

Of course, most of you would know that the Hindu festival Diwali (alternatively called Dipawali) is coming up in a few days. Diwali is the festival of light. It is the celebration of all things that are good, that bring us joy, that make us pure, and enlighten our lives. So, even if you know nothing about it, you can light up a diya (lamp or candle will also do!) and pray (to whichever god) for peace, solace, growth, and satisfaction.

But I’m also talking about another important thing. This is the time to make new friends, to enter that relationship you have been keeping off for long, to gift your soul mate memories to cherish. There’s the romantic long walk on a winter night. But there are few things as good as lying next to your partner on a cold night under the quilt and talking softly under dim lights.

So, why are you still reading this? Didn’t you get the idea yet?

That’s all for now,
Ciao,
Arpit

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Another Milestone Reached!

In Cool, General Stuff on September 4, 2009 at 9:52 am

India is home to a fast-growing population of bloggers, something that reflects the growing ‘e-wareness’ of its people. And now that there are quite a few people blogging about anything and everything, how to know if you’re getting a good deal when you visit a new blog? Simple… ASK THE VISITORS!

You don’t have to take my word… The visitors to this blog bear a testimony to the fact that they found it worth their time and energy to read some of the things that I had to offer!

In just one year, a blog that has NO ADS, NO PAY-FOR-WRITING component has become one of the most visited blog in India. It gets 500+ (unique) visitors a day and as you read this post, the total number of visitors in that last ONE year (i.e. since its launch) have reached 90,000+. The blog is called NAAM-TO-BATAO (www.arpitrao.co.nr or naamtobatao.wordpress.com) by ARPIT RAO. In case you’re wondering, this is NtB!

All time popular posts:

NOKIA E71 – THE BOLD, UNBIASED, NO BULL-SH*T REVIEW

GET YOUR OWN WEBSITE FOR AN AMAZINGLY LOW PRICE!

Opera 10 RELEASE CANDIDATE Out Now: Is It the BEST BROWSER EVER?

TOP 10 ZEN QUOTES

No, I don’t write about Technology, Movies or any of the higher-yield (in terms of visitors) topics to get visitors. I don’t distribute illegal music or movies or videos. I don’t show pornography. I just write what I feel must be written about. As simple as that.

So, on this special occasion, I’d like to thank and congratulate everyone who’s backed me up through my first year blogging, in every which way, including just visiting NAAM-TO-BATAO.

Have fun,
ARPIT

YOUR OWN AWESOME SITE FOR JUST $20! Limited Offer!!!

In Cool, General Stuff on July 30, 2009 at 12:58 pm

DO YOU WANT TO BE LEFT OUT IN THIS INTERNET CRAZY WORLD WHILE YOUR FRIENDS GET THEIR OWN WEBSITES?

DO YOU WANT TO BE PERCEIVED AS TECH-ILLITERATE?

OR DO YOU WANT TO BE LEFT JOBLESS IN THIS RECESSION WHILE YOUR COMPETITOR GETS ONE BECAUSE OF HIS/HER OWN WEBSITE?

If the answer to any/all of above is NO, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR YOU AND YOU ONLY!!!!

I’m starting out as a professional site-designer and would love to work for you.

You can now get a brand new site for yourself for just 20 DOLLARS*!!!

In case you want more, I can also do site design for your family, your product, your band or what ever else you choose!

For those who don’t know me or haven’t seen me work, here are two of many sites that I’ve designed:

http://su-aiims.co.in – STUDENTS’ UNION, AIIMS – OFFICIAL SITE

http://arpitrao.xtreemhost.com – AN AWESOME LOOKING PERSONAL SITE

I will ensure that you have a site which looks GOOD (I’d say AWESOME but let’s just go with the bare minimum), does the work and all this at an exceedingly reasonable price.

For any queries, or business enquiries, contact: ARPIT at: arp1t@in.com

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/arp1t

Ciao,

ARPIT

* – Conditions apply.  Contact for further details.

WIMBLEDON 2009 MEN’S FINAL – FULL COMMENTARY!

In Cool, General Stuff on July 5, 2009 at 3:06 pm

After another unbelievable Wimbledon Men’s Final, here’s one more thing for all you fans out there to indulge in. Bringing to you the COMPLETE COMMENTARY of the match in PDF format to download, read, and keep for later.

Here’s the commentary from Wimbledon 2009 final ANDY RODDICK v/s ROGER FEDERER:

WIMBLEDON 2009 (RIGHT CLICK AND CHOOSE ‘SAVE AS’)

[DISCLAIMER: All content in the file is copyright Wimbledon.org. It is only distributed for your personal use and in good intent. Please don't abuse the right to share freely.]

-arpit

Finally confirmed!! My IQ is….

In Cool, General Stuff on June 13, 2009 at 11:07 am

I had a long standing suspicion that I’m too retarded. So, I finally braced myself and took an IQ quiz.
Here’s what the IQ scores mean:

iq-bell-curve

Here’s my result:

150 iq

Free-IQTest.net – Free IQ Test

Take that! (Evil Laugh!)

Opera 10 Out Now: Is It The Best Browser Ever? (UPDATED!)

In Cool, General Stuff on June 4, 2009 at 10:21 am

opera logoUpdate: I’ve just been informed that OPERA 10 FINAL VERSION IS OUT!!! Here’s the excerpt:

Opera 10.0 Stable Version is out and it has clocked 10 million downloads in one week!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to put your hands on the v10 final release and experience web like never before!

For those running Ubuntu, there’s a good news. You can now download (.deb) Opera from its official site. You don’t have to compile your own Opera 10 anymore if you intend to use it!
Here are your download links:
LINUX 32 bitLINUX 64 bit

<– Original Article begins here –>

The endless war of the browsers may now have a clear winner: the OPERA 10 BETA 1. It was released a few days ago as an open public beta but the non-developer Opera-fans like myself couldn’t keep their hands off it because it is just too cool to resist. And the reason why I’m writing this blog post is because I believe you should have a shot at the best browsing experience too!

Ladies n Gents, let me give you a few reasons (read list below) to throw Firefox into the dark corners of your computer. We shall not speak of Internet Explorer because it would be a shame to take its name in a post about the best browsers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Speak now or stay quiet forever!

In Cool, General Stuff on May 17, 2009 at 3:00 am

Have you ever really liked/hated something so much as to get desperate enough to raise your voice? If yes, you got to read this one really carefully!

Here’s your chance to contribute your two cents to the cause. This blog has been around for a while and it would not be a bad idea to ask if you like what I write. I mean, though the stats that I gather are truly heart-warming but it’d be better to hear from my dear readers about things they like and hate about NtB.

Here’s the poll:

Oh and NtB is open to suggestions for a prospective change in the name. Kindly comment if you could while I rack my brain to come up with something useful.

Thanks for all the love,
Cheers,
Arpit

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New in Google Search: Timeline and Wonder Wheel

In Cool, General Stuff on May 12, 2009 at 10:36 pm

Google, one of the best search engines out there, has just gotten better. It now shows an link on your seadays1rch results’ page called SHOW OPTIONS. When you click the link, you get a detailed menu with two cool options named Timeline and Wonder Wheel to help you reach the result you need in a better way than clicking a 100 search pages.

Here’s what Google has to say on the new features:

days2“a new set of tools that allows you to slice and dice results in new ways.” – Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products and User Experience, Google“Wonder Wheel,” a graphical way to explore topics by clicking on related searches that go deeper into the subject of the main query.

days3Timeline is a more obvious and intuitive search assistants. The results are displayed as a histogram with time as the x-axis. What it means is that you can effectively search for results in a given time frame. So, for example, if you are looking for that historical reference, just click towards the left side of timeline and you have more chances of getting lucky.

This is a new feature, so be warned… not all that you expect will happen with Google Search. But hey, atleast they are trying. What’s the hold-up then, go google!

Arpit
(You can follow me at: @arp1t)

DIGG THIS!

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Ghajini ALL SONGS HD… finally!

In Cool, General Stuff on March 29, 2009 at 3:32 pm

ghajiniWe all have different opinions about Ghajini. Some have dismissed it entirely, but a minority does seem to like it. Anyways, the important point is that all the songs in the movie were beautifully cinematographed. The angles, the colors, the usage of props, and scenic locations are all just too cool to miss.

So, I’m going to give you guys a link to this High definition Songs’ torrent that some (good) guy managed to upload. It is around 200mb and has pretty good seed:leech ratio. So, without further ado, just click on more button below to get the download link>>>

Read the rest of this entry »

Last post of 2008.

In AIIMS, Cool, General Stuff, Love and Relationships on December 31, 2008 at 3:09 am

I write this post in the last hours of an amazing year. Elation fills my heart as I recap the events of 2008 and make the joyride through memory lane. A lot has happened, enough to fill pages and pages, with more of good and less of bad times! And I’m glad that it is such. Life could’ve been a hell lot better than it were in the year but I’m very happy to have formed a baseline of sorts to base my future on.

A brief list of what happened:
1. Ru (though it began a lot earlier, the last few pages were written in 2008)
2. Maiden U.S. Trip (Just in time)
3. Preparing for exams…
4. Pre-professional exam (1.5 months!)
5. Professional exam (1 month)
6. Results out… Now a doctor… what??? YES! a DOCTOR.
7. And yes, a lot of parties!!!!
8. Oh! and, the blog reached 10000, 20000, and 30000 visitors marks in 2008.

Hope all of you have an exciting, amazing, hope and fun-filled, and prosperous new year!
Love,
Arpit

Quantum of Solace – Just another Bond movie.

In Cool on November 9, 2008 at 2:37 am

Another eagerly anticipated Bond movie featuring Daniel Craig as the famous 007 Agent. First thing first… how good is this Bond movie? The answer to that is a plain ‘average’!

The movie opens with a chase sequence, similar to but more spectacular and high-octane than that in Casino Royale, with our macho Bond going after yet another bad guy. Nothing new! But the way the whole sequence has been shot blows your mind away. As the movie progresses, one thing that again strikes your mind is the stark paucity of gadgets reminiscent of the times of Pierce Brosnan. Making it worse is the absence of the Bond car (Aston Martin). The charm is a bit lost. I mean, if your average Bond movie was to become something like a Bourne movie, I’d rather watch the latter for the simple fact that at least the idea and the action are original.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hot Play – Main Istanbul Hoon! by NSD

In Cool, General Stuff on October 18, 2008 at 9:22 pm

The NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DRAMA, NEW-DELHI presents ‘MAIN ISTANBUL HOON, a play directed by Mohan Maharishi. Read the rest of this entry »

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Live in Concert – Delhi

In Cool, General Stuff on September 20, 2008 at 9:09 am

As I type this post, the deadly Indian trio will be on their way to perform LIVE in front of a huge audience comprising mostly of the future doctors! Wonder why and where? No, they haven’t hit the gratitude (for doctors) note as yet (hehe… doubt that will ever happen!) but where is a question I’ll gladly answer! Read the rest of this entry »

Hilarious… Facebook Stalker Skit!

In Cool, General Stuff on September 5, 2008 at 2:21 pm

This goes out to all of the semi-frustated, no-other-business types who would make no more use of their lives but to stalk profiles on Social Networking sites…

The Band’s name is PENN MASALA and the video has been watched over 5.5 3 million times.

[P.S. Stalk: [motion] go through (an area) in search of prey]

Top 10 Zen Quotes…

In Cool, General Stuff on September 3, 2008 at 12:38 pm

Here’s my compilation of top 10 Zen quotes from various sources:

  1. A samurai once asked Zen Master Hakuin where he would go after he died. Hakuin answered ‘How am I supposed to know?’
    ‘How do you not know? You’re a Zen master!’ exclaimed the samurai.
    ‘Yes, but not a dead one,’ Hakuin answered.
  2. Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish your opinions.
  3. If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
  4. The tighter you squeeze the less you have.
  5. When you reach the top, keep climbing.
  6. A river too pure, yields no fish.
  7. Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.
  8. From the withered tree, a flower blooms.
  9. The infinite is in the finite of every instant.
  10. When you are deluded and full of doubt, even a thousand books of scripture are not enough. When you have realized understanding, even one word is too much.

DID YOU KNOW: The ‘Top 10 Zen Quotes is just one of the interesting posts on NtB :: Talking Rainbow

Hottest Party in Delhi…

In Cool, General Stuff on August 18, 2008 at 4:12 pm

Get ready to party hard all night long…
If you have been saving up all that cash for a big one, here is your best chance!!
The best party this month in Delhi is coming your way on 22nd August!!

Johnnie Walker and Royale Mirage Present REDHOTNIGHTS featuring one of the best Electronica bands out there, the ELECTRONIC LAB formed by Delhi’s famed Dj-Producer SAN with its well-known Audio-Visual DJ set.

Electronic Lab specializes in Progressive Uplifting, Electro House, Funk Breaks, DnB, and Techno.

At Hotel Crowne Plaza, New Friends Colony, New-Delhi – 25

Gates open at: 9 PM

For reservation contact: 011-2683070/41672222

Visit Dj SAN’s site here!

Right of admission reserved. All Club rules apply.

Awesome Video – Bursting Balloon at 2000 frames/sec!!!

In Cool, General Stuff on August 13, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Bursting a Balloon at 2000 frames per second!!! Seriously awesome!

For those of you who are not aware of the concept of frames in videos, here’s a briefing: Frames are like pictures which are sequentially played to form a video. A normal video contains 25-30 frames per second of play. Human eye can not see the sequence once the frame rate exceeds 25/sec. Hence, the images seem to flow in the form of a video at higher frame rates. High speed cameras can produce videos with frame rates in thousands per second. This video was made using a high-speed camera with frame output of 2000 per second (that is 2000 images in one second!!) Hence you can actually see the material of bubble disintegrating once poked and water maintaining its shape for that one second!!!!

Now you know what speed is eh?

What is your ‘POINT OF VIEW’?

In Cool, General Stuff on August 10, 2008 at 11:01 pm
what is your point of view?

what is your point of view?

Ever felt the dire need to be heard?
The gut-wrenching desire to speak for a cause?
Need to know what world thinks about a topic?
Want to opine?

If this is what you want, in other words, to let the world know your POINT OF VIEW, your wait may soon be over!!!

Soon a brand new site would be launched to let you do just that… what’s more is that it’ll have a far greater number of features than most sites, including multiple polls, shoutboxes, articles which you can write or edit, news headlines from around the world, and to top it off, a collection of jokes and quotes!!!

So, are you ready??? Cuz it’s coming soon!!!!

[For more news, keep checking back... Naam-to-batao]

BUGATTI TARGA – Rs. 10 Crore ($2.25mn) CAR…. God why don’t you just kill me?

In Cool, General Stuff, USA on August 4, 2008 at 6:43 am

Presenting the all new, exclusive, expensive, beautiful, sexy… BUGATTI TARGA (official name: Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport). What’s special about it? For starters, a chic (starting) price tag of Rs. 10 crore (yes you heard it right… the equivalent of 500… read again… FIVE HUNDRED MARUTI 800s!). Also, ONLY EIGHTY (80!!!) will be ever produced!

Why mention something which almost all Indians WILL NOT EVEN SEE once in their entire lifetime? Assuredly, an Indian sitting (NOT OWNING) in this epitome of Luxury on wheels would be as unique as the first man on the moon! But then, as with most other things tagged as ‘luxury’ which invariably continue to elude Indians, the best way to inch closer to their existence is to window-shop!

I’m going to provide two pictures (taken from some site since Bugatti Public Relations declined to let me test drive or atleast see the car itself…) which will give you an idea of how beautiful/sleek/sexy/hot this car looks! Believe me guys, I’m a hard-core Ferrari and Lamborghini fan but this car beats ALL of those beauties hands down and smacks any competition out of the park!

www.bornrich.org - From an article by AJAY

Close that jaw now… oh come on… get over it… I don’t want to be held responsible for your clinical brain damage… :P

Tech Specs: Read the rest of this entry »

Confirmed iPHONE Launch Price Rs. 31,000!!!

In Cool, USA on July 14, 2008 at 11:41 am

UPDATED ON AUGUST 20: The wait is finally over!!! iPHONE 3G is coming to India on August 22 through two operator networks AIRTEL and VODAFONE. An official Vodafone SMS stated the price for the 8GB iPHONE 3G variant as Rs. 31,000. The booking has to be done on August 20 and 21 with a pre-order amount of Rs. 10,000 with the rest being paid at the time of ‘appointment’ (i.e. when you buy the phone).

This is particularly heartbreaking for most Apple fans in India because shelling out Rs. 31K for an iPHONE 3G is a bit hard especially when the nearest competitor, the NOKIA N95 8GB costs around Rs. 22K (Gaffar Market, New Delhi). Mr. Steve Jobs, all that ’sex appeal’ may not be able to pull a million expected buyers to the nearest shops unless something is done to bring down the price.

Original article continues below:

Arguably the sexiest cell phone on the planet, definitely the most-hyped gadget of recent times, iPHONE 3G was unveiled on July 11 across 12 countries. Of course the disadvantage of being in India is that I will have to wait for months before the first one comes in!

Well, the popularity of the gadget can be assessed from the fact that though it is far from being the best in terms of features, no critic could resist the temptation of calling it the future of cell phones! From what I’ve learned in past few years, Apple is one company you can trust blind-folded for dishing out the hottest and most innovative products. This was proven correct once again when, barring one or two cities, there were queues of people waiting for hours to get hold of the latest iPHONE! It fails me if 200-300$ is small enough sum to be given away without second thoughts to this company. But again, there are crazy people and there are the crazier, Apple fans.

So, while some lucky people relish tapping the screens of their brand-new asset, I’ll just sit here cursing and waiting for mine to arrive someday! What a day would that be! Anyways, book your iPHONE with Airtel or Vodafone if you’re an Indian dying to get one!

[P.S.: OMG stands for 'Oh! My God'... just in case you were wondering!]

Learn How-to be a Dj! FREE E-BOOKS!

In Cool on July 10, 2008 at 1:09 pm

Do you want to learn how to be a Dj (Disk Jockey – the guy/babe who plays your music in the club/disc)?

Don’t have enough time??

What if you get an e-book which can teach you all about dj-ing and more in less than 50 pages requiring less than an hour to read???

Do you want it?

Click on THIS to get the download link… Read the rest of this entry »

World’s Smallest Story…

In Cool on July 8, 2008 at 3:24 am

What do you think can be the smallest number of words that one can use to make a story? Well, Hemingway once wrote a story with just SIX WORDS!!!

So, Wired.com asked a few of today’s eminent writers to come up with their six word stories. Well, the whole affair turned out quite brilliantly. Take your wits for a pleasant ride would ya! Have fun!

READ THE ARTICLE

REMEMBER… YOU’ve READ IT ON NTB!

Talk about Milestones Mate?

In Cool, General Stuff on May 23, 2008 at 3:47 pm

There are a few things that get a blogger like me excited… one of them is to know that people are reading what you write! Few others include strangers telling you how they just stumbled upon your blog and found it worth a read or how your friends know you better by reading things that were just contained inside!

But then, once in a while, something special comes along. The counter at the bottom left ticks to a number followed by three zeros… and wallah… your visitor count has reached 2000!

Now, you may ask what’s so special about that? The point is that if just in a few months, and in just 30 posts, if a blogger has 2K readers, it is somewhat special and exciting… Just try writing 20 personal posts concerning your life and you’ll know how hard it is!

I could of course change my contents to more searched things like softwares, music, or popular themes like celeb gossips, free games, love etc. But what’s the fun then? Serious bloggers don’t usually find it a good practice. I write what I feel should be talked or written about. I speak my mind. I would rather take 5000 visitors an year with good content than 15-20K with the things I’ve fore mentioned.

I’d like to thank all you guys for the support. Remember, that one click matters a lot!

Love and take care,
::Cheers::

Kingfisher n RSJ Indian Rock Fest 2008 Kicks off in Style!

In Cool on May 15, 2008 at 11:50 pm

Note of Caution:

  • If you don’t listen to rock, this might seem a hard post to understand.
  • The language is classified: ‘Informal with Slangs‘. Keep your kids away.

As a rock devotee (yeah, fans are a lil’ down in d hierarchy!), you always look for any gig (an art event basically, music, dance, theatre etc) that’s happening in your city. So, when I read about HT City, Kingfisher, and RSJ Indian Rock Fest 2008, I was already jumping up and down, shouting “oh mfkr… it’s back!!!” and my friends had a hard time figuring out what was wrong with me!

The story goes like this – last year, I attended this event and I was left wanting for more since it was the last gig in my city. So, to quench my thirst, I decided not to miss out on any action this time!

For those of you who haven’t got a grip yet, Rock Fest is an annual event consisting of a series of gigs by lesser known rock bands across many clubs, lounges, and pubs in different cities! Sounds gala, believe me, it is!!

Now, the underground scene for rock in India is pretty naive and the mecca can be considered either Bangalore or Mumbai. It’s not your usual Godsmack, Iron Maiden, GNR, LP, Creed like music, it’s lesser known artists who are relatively unexploited in the industry, trying to up their popularity and give the crowd a bang for their buck! Mostly, these artists don’t hesitate to experiment with various genres of music and that’s what is this the fest’s USP! Like just yesterday, I was at this gig where ‘Aurora Jane’ was playing fusion of blues and rock. Must say, it was refreshingly awesome!

Enough said. Few advises though:

  1. If you think you are a rock ‘devotee’ (or above!), DON’T YOU FKIN DARE MISS IT!!!
  2. While you are there, keep you mind open to entirely new music. You might not like some of it, but as a whole, you won’t be disappointed.
  3. The entry is only 100-150 bucks. I don’t think that’s a bad deal for a few hours at a lounge listening to good music!
  4. If you have any concerns or need more info, MAIL ME or LEAVE A COMMENT

Yeah, btw, I was at Opus Lounge (Basant Lok, PVR Priya Complex) last night with my friend Jerome. It was the opening gig of Rock Fest ‘08. Lane 9 and Aurora Jane were performing. Frankly, Opus SUCKED. It was hardly the size of my bathroom (actually, just double… that’s it!), crowded, with no place to sit. LANE 9 should have just better fkin killed ‘emselves. Except for the two good tracks, all they did was to literally THROW shit at us! But all the shit was offset by the awesome music by AURORA JANE (Australian Band of International repute in the scene). They showed these miserable fuckers how to do it! Especially the drummer who was a cute hottie wearing full length skirt and banging those drums in style! Oh what an awesome exp that was! I returned a happy joe after all that!

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for the schedule of Rock Fest 08. Coming soon only on NTB!

Love to all metalheads!

Next Stop: The Times Square!!

In Cool, USA on March 15, 2008 at 5:28 pm

We boarded the train to go the the NY Penn Metro Station on our way to New Jerseypath station, Ankit suggested the idea of going for a walk at the Times Square which is in Manhattan, NY. So, it was decided and we got off the train at the nearest station to Times Square. With two large bags (total 60kgs) and a huge back-pack, we climbed two staircases to reach the ground level. We exited and I found myself standing at the Times Square. It was an amazing sight with XXL Billboards and XXXL Buildings and not to mention the fact that every single THING was lit up with endless no. of bulbs. This was the condition at 2:30 in the night. We walked on the 42nd street. I saw what I had been hearing about for years… Broadway theater, Madam Tussad’s (Wax) Museum (With wax statues of Nicholas Cage and Opera Winfrey in the window displays!!!), Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not!’ building and ofcourse, Mc’Donalds. times squareWe had a snack at Mc’D and then walked to the place where America welcomes its New Year (remember those visuals on your TV from NY showing thousands of people gathered for New Year?). We saw Macy’s and Virgin Store and mind you, we had walked for almost a mile to reach the (end?) of Times Square (this square is biiiiggg!). It was really irritating to walk back all that distance to reach the Metro station to New Jersey. But, so we did! I was tired but nevertheless, it was a great feeling to be sitting at the underground metro station at 4:00 in the night, waiting for the train and with the visuals of Times Square in the head! The train came, we boarded and an hour later, we were in Jersey (the garden state). A quick cab ride brought us to the doorstep of Ankit’s house at Mulock Place in Harrison.

We dragged the luggage to the second floor apartment and all I could possible do at that point was to get a good sleep. And so I did.

More on how my time in Jersey and NY was spent in next post…

Helllooooo New York!

In Cool, USA on March 14, 2008 at 8:04 pm

Finally, the announcement was made. We had been flying over the outskirts of NY whenny city at night01 I woke up. All I could see was an endless array of light bulbs glowing as if a billion lightening bugs were neatly stacked in blocks of varying sizes! The expanse of New York City was something that I had neither seen nor imagined. It was 1145PM on 03/Mar NY time. Our flight landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport 5 mins later. Seeing the JFK made me realize that the Delhi Airport needs another 100 years to even come close to what JFK is today!

JFK02Anyways, we walked through the corridor towards the immigration counter, only to find a line for immigration. As I stood there waiting, I could feel my heart race with excitement about how I was finally here in US, my plans for the next two months and a million other things!! The gentleman at the immigration called out for me, asked why I was here and a few questions later, I was stamped for a max. stay of SIX months in US!!

I had to wait for half an hour for my luggage to arrive, the reason for which, as one could imagine, was that my bags would’ve been placed perhaps at the bottom of the whole stack as I was one of the few people on the flight who were flying from New-Delhi to New York. All that time was utilized in thinking and drafting an emergency backup plan in case my bags didn’t arrive at all!!! (hehe!) Guess what… it takes $3 (Rs. 120) for luggage trolley!! (All I could manage for this was… wtf!!)

I then reached the customs counter, which took away a pre-filled form, JFK01asked if I was carrying any food (No points for guessing the answer) and then, I was finally in the USA. I took an AIRTRAIN to the Howard Beach Station. It was an awesome experience riding in a train (slightly smaller than Delhi Metro) which runs on an elevated track (almost making you feel as if in air and hence the name). My friend (Ankit) had come to pick me up. It was getting late (around 1:30AM) and we decided to take a train to reach his house in New Jersey.

More in the next post!

International Book Fair 2008

In Cool, General Stuff on February 6, 2008 at 4:20 pm

YES!!! After making me wait for sooooo long, the International Book Fair 2008 is finally here. It’s on from 2nd of Feb till 10th of Feb at Pragati Maidan, New-Delhi.

I must say, it keeps getting better and better each year. This time around, there is an increased no. of stalls with an amazing variety of books on display. Of course, the big names are all there.. Penguin, Oxford, Cambridge, Orient-Longman and a lot more.. But what I also liked were stalls from organizations like International Labor Organization (ILO), UNESCO, World Bank etc which can be categorized as unusual yet totally engrossing.

The stalls have a huge collection of the world’s finest literature of authors like Kafka, Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Anita Desai, Kushwant Singh, John Grisham and hundreds of such great names. There also is a myriad of classics by Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway etc and practically a million other books by lesser known writers. Also, there are stalls from several countries like Russia, Canada, Japan, Spain etc featuring their most famous works.

Overall,  I must say, for book lovers there can be no better place to hang-out this week except the book-fair. Believe me, you’ll thank me that you went!  But if you don’t follow my advice, I’m sure you’ll be sorry for missing out on such an awesome event!!!

- Arpit

Ultra Cool Lounge in Delhi – Kuki

In Cool, General Stuff on January 24, 2008 at 7:15 am

Also on the blog: Why is Stag Entry not allowed in Delhi Clubs?

Read about another Night Club in Delhi: ROYAL MIRAGE, CROWNE PLAZA (Five Star)

Kuki is one of those places that simply take your breath away. Awesome ambiance, good food, nice selection of cocktails and all of this at a decent price.

Located in GK-II (Greater Kailash Part II), adjacent to Mainland China, it is easily accessible. Although it is slightly small for a lounge, but the ambiance more than makes up for it.

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Flyway…. Memoirs of a Long Drive..

In Cool, General Stuff on January 24, 2008 at 6:57 am

Just a couple of days back, I received a call from one of my friends. Both of us had been wanting to go on a long drive.. With a temp. dipping to 3 deg a night before, I knew that thermometer would be reading 2 deg or less when we would be out. Awesome… I thought, since for me, it was perfect way to get relaxed. But we did not have sufficient time for a long drive to another city or something. We had to have it all within 45-50 kms.

So, we hit the road… I had Noida Flyway in mind since I had heard a lot about it already from my friends. I had been there in the day time before, but it never at night.

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Awesome Ad…

In Cool, General Stuff on January 16, 2008 at 10:59 am

First I freaked you out with that pic….

Now, check this video out..

 AREY BABBA CHAALIS CHOR

Amazingly hilarious!!!!

Amazing weather in Delhi

In Cool, General Stuff, Love and Relationships on January 12, 2008 at 6:52 pm

Chilly winds throughout the day… temperatures of around 16-20 deg celcius…. Dense fog in the mornings and evenings… That’s Delhi’s weather currently for you!!!

Believe me, if u like winters, there’s hardly something that can beat this! Man… I’m so glad I’m in Delhi rite now!!! Just lovin every bit of it!!!

U guys too n’joy these beautiful dayz!

Cheers!

Emmeline!

In Cool, General Stuff on November 21, 2007 at 3:04 am

Today I stumbled upon this very nice flash video on the net. It’s the story of a little girl called Emmeline. She’s the child of a rich couple who have no time for her. All alone in the world, with no one to talk to, Emmeline wishes for a friend from the stars…. What happens next?

Emmeline!

Storyline – ***/5

Narration – ****/5

Animation – *** (1/2) /5

WATCH VIDEO!

Tell me how did u like it!!

You are reading this article at: NAAMTOBATAO, a blog by ARPIT RAO

totally cool new band…. POETS OF THE FALL

In Cool, General Stuff on November 5, 2007 at 8:45 pm

Guys….

One of these dayz, some stupid asshole named Manik introduced me to aPoets of the Fall… the band band called ‘Poets of the Fall (POTF)’s song titled ‘Carnival of Rust’…. n I swear in god’s name, datz the only benefit his existence that he has done to Planet Earth…

So why am I so psyched up all about POTF?? To put simply, itz one of those things that simply take yor breath away… (and NO… South Park doesn’t do that!!!)

You gotta listen to this band… I would love to provide you with complete discography with the lyrics.

The official site: www.poetsofthefall.com

By the way, those interested in details, feel free to fuck Wikipedia!!!

This band is classified as Alternative Rock band.

Cheers….

RocktoberFest on in Delhi!!!

In Cool, General Stuff, Orkut on October 12, 2007 at 4:19 pm

An invitation for all ya Rock junkies and Metalheads out there…

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Pulse-2007 khatm… PPD kya?

In AIIMS, Cool, General Stuff on September 25, 2007 at 2:58 pm

The 7-day extravaganza called Pulse has come to an end. Finally! Whew!!

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