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Team N.O.W. Abhinav Jerath “Kaam kaun karega?”
Ridhi Rajpal Editor-in-Chief “Strawberry Doll”
Arihant Gupta “Kirk Hammett is the reason I play”
Sanjhi Agarwal “Nobly Savage” Kriti Sharma Associate Editor “Attracts Bugness”
Ayushman Jain “Someone blow the horn for me… I’m too horny”
Vindhya Malik “Anything but Anything”
Charnita Arora “Stay Khush”
Aastha Tyagi Associate Editor “The Sky if Falling, Charlie Brown!” Antara Anand Art Director “I go crazy, not stupid”
Other people who conspire to bring you this issue: Samarth Chandola Creative Head “If you don’t like it, I didn’t do it!” Cover Model: Charnita Arora Contact: nmi@nowmagazineindia.com Photograph: FOTOGRAVITA, Benita Suchodrev
Vibhuti Dhingra Sagar Siddhanti Rajul Jain Govind Chaturvedi Ameya Ghag Venika Wadhwa
Burnt Fries Gossip about Team N.O.W. Our hot-shot photographer Abhinav Jerath has recently reunited with the team after a long break of 2 months. His excuse is that his exams were going on, but we obviously suspect something else. (Who keeps the cell phone off and avoids Facebooking during exams?) We are sure he was off on some romantic honeymoon(s) with his girlfriend(s). Nevertheless, the girls on the team got a visual treat by seeing him again in our last meeting! Next, one of our oldest (as in working-with-us-for-long and not as in 60-somethingold) team member Kriti Sharma is back on-board after a gap of around 8 months. While the team members hope that she sticks for a longer duration this time, Kriti hopes that you will like her sections, ranging from 'Iconic Trends' to (from the next issue) 'Kampus Konnection'. And you guys better like them, or else she will punch you in the nose! She's good at such stuff! Our forgetful, unable-to-take-more-than-3-instructions-in-a-go writer Antara Anand has now been promoted to the post of the Art Director after a great display of creativity. Currently, she is looking at raising funds (since we do not pay her) for curing her assumed Carpal Tunnel (whatever that is!), and managing expenses of her increasing number of outings. The music section from the next issue will be handled by the new up-coming, Tokyoreturn-drummer-in-town, Sagar Siddhanti. For some reason, he likes to collect phone numbers! Those interested in networking may please contact him. Girls, beware. He might just embarrass you, as he does in the 'Mars Attacks, Venus Vomits' section this time. Aastha Tyagi failed yet again at being a vegetarian and the Editor spotted her eating huge chunks of chicken on a night-stay at her place. Animal lovers and vegetarians, please don't be judgmental about her. She will compensate by starting a section called 'Heal the World' from next time. The rest of the people are all doing the usual (unmentionable) stuff... In case you want to know minute-by-minute updates about them (which we know you want to), please catch them at the N.O.W. page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nowmagazineindia
And the Winners of the NOW ‘Macro Photography’ Contest Are... First Position: “Life in a Macro” by Abhinav Ananad Abhinav discovered photography as his passion some three years back when he bought a Canon SX100 IS. To explore the photographic needs and features in greater detail, he decided to promote to a Nikon SLR. A software engineer by profession, he loves traveling and exploring new places. Aperture: f/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/160s Camera Model: Nikon D5000 (18-55mm + close-up lens) Second Position: “Web Stuck” by Arya Arora Arya’s transformation from photo hobbyist to full-fledged photographer was not part of a pre-planned career path. Grabbing an array of prizes in photography at various festivals in Delhi University this year, Arya, 22, stepped his first milestone when his work received accolades at the queer festival, where he was chosen by renowned photographer Sunil Gupta for the workshop. Shutter Speed: 1/125s Aperture: f/8 Camera Model: Nikon D90
I can never really understand what to write in this space that nobody even bothers to look at. I bet you people have not even noticed the constant change in Editors that we have had in the last few months. (Oh well... all you smart people got it; I am just bragging about my new post!) However, that does not change our ultimate goal. We still are the evil mad minds who want to spread wit and sarcasm on the entire planet! Wherever we are and however rude and nitty-gritty the Editors of N.O.W. may be (refers only to our founder, firsteditor-now-turned Creative Head - Samarth Chandola), our aim is always to bring something out of the box, funny, naughty and witty for all of you. Knowing that this is the start of a new academic session where the boring nerds usually aim to make their percentage go up from 99.8% to 99.9%, our aim is sort of similar to theirs (and better too) - to give in more time to N.O.W. than what we used to give last year. The bar goes up from 22 hours a day to 23 hours now! (We save 1 hour for reading our fan mails.) The output of our dedication is in your hands right now. A pocket-friendly (yes, we have reduced our size) N.O.W. with more interesting sections (such as Gaming and Burnt Fries) is here to make sure that you will never even have to think of resorting to doing things that annoy your teacher. We provide better entertainment! Apart from that, angelic souls from our team also decided to bless you all with opportunities to show off your talent (refer: Photography, Face of the Month, and the upcoming Contests). Of course, the buzz word in campus for the next couple of months is going to be “Freshers�. For them, and for the others, we bring out the Freshers’ Special. Read on for this special now-sense! Kind retards!
The Editor is always hungry for love! Ridhi Rajpal
Please shower it to her on editor@nowmagazineindia.com
Join the madness on Facebook! www.facebook.com/nowmagazineindia
Contents Freshers’ Special! - The Senior’s Advice Pg 8 - Spot the Fresher Pg 9 - A Fresher’s Guide to College Pg 11 - Life of a Fresher Pg 14
Serious Business - Careers Pg 40 - Interview Pg 42 - Words of Wisdom Pg 44
Extra Regulars What’s Hot, What’s Not - Book Review Pg 29 - Heard it Pg 30 - Scene ‘Em Pg 32 - City Beat Pg 34 - Iconic Trends Pg 36 - Blog Review Pg 38
Campus Talk
- Zoom in Pg 46 - Gaming Pg 50 - Sports Pg 52 - Something New Pg 54
Face of the Month Pg 48
- Kampus Konnection Pg 16 - Apart from the Crowd Pg 18
Stories - My Weird Internship Pg 20 - Adventures of a Wanna-be Vegetarian Pg 22
Heart-to-Heart - Mars Attacks, Venus Vomits Pg 24 - Love and Dating Pg 26 - Counselling Pg 27
Welcome Freshers It's the time of the year when we see new (and funny) faces in campus. We see wannabes trying to wear every possible brand from Prada to Chanel in college (bet they can't pronounce Estee Lauder and Bvlgari properly!), and we see the ishtylish dudes flaunting their fake Ed Hardy t-shirts. We see geeks and vulgar damsels (courtesy: Pyaar Impossible), and don't forget the 'kurta pehne huye, hum desh ko badlenge' desperate for contesting in DUSU elections kind of people. Basically, we see 'fuchchas, little buchchas' in campus! To be honest, we are not really keen on welcoming you all. You make us grow one year older (referring to those who actually manage to pass), and again remind us of the fact that ragging is a crime (we usually forget that after July gets over). You also make us jealous because First Year is more fun as compared to the other two years (that's a clichĂŠd line every nostalgic senior says). And basically, you all create a really irritating atmosphere for us during the first two months of the new academic session when all the professors expect us to set good examples for you. (They just don't understand that it's a way too challenging task for us!) Nevertheless, we can't really do without you. *LOVE* We need people to do errands for us (including bringing coffee, smuggling packets of chips from the canteen, standing for long hours outside the Photostat shops etc.) under the banner of Society Work and ECA. We also need you to carry forward our legacy of breaking blackboards, flunking in internals... wait a min... we can't reveal everything to you right now! What we can tell you right now are some do's and don'ts of campus life. We can tell you ways in which a senior can spot a fresher, so that you don't show those signs and can save yourself from being bathed in muddy water. We can tell you what a senior is most likely to advise you on and expect out of you. We can also tell you how your feeling of being a 'fresher' turns really stale towards the end of six months in college. Check out all of this in the next few pages! Wishing you a safe, happy and prosperous college life. (Diwali with crackers is much safer; take our word on that!)
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The Senior’s Advice - Ridhi Rajpal Fuchchas have this tendency to seek advice and tips from their seniors every now and then. We at N.O.W have compiled a list of top 10 things that a senior is most likely to advise you on. 1. Do not bug me or any other batch-mate of mine for notes if you love your life. Trust me, we don't have them, and you asking for them to us amounts to mockery. 2. If you ever need help in life over something, do not call me. If there is a booze party, send a message and I’ll be there. 3. Make sure you flunk this semester. You need to make sure that you carry the trend forward and live up to our expectations. 4. By the time you leave college, at least two of the professors should have resigned complaining of the pressure you have given them. If three, it will be better. 5. More than 10 odd objects of the college property need to be destroyed. Make sure that the mission is successful. 6. Last year we were all broke. But this year you need to make sure that everyone contributes enough money for the good cause of bribing the watchman and getting the question papers leaked. 7. Please make sure that your class does not take more than five holidays. Sitting at home is serious work, and you cannot afford to take more than five holidays a year for visiting college. 8. Colours on Holi, crackers on Diwali, and booze on daily basis are essential things. Make sure they you get them in college – preferably without permission. 9. Get all assignments photostated. Those working on them have a lot of free time at hand and can afford to complete them, but you have enough responsibilities on your head – parties everyday and late-night campus walks are really important things. 10. Please make sure that you do not take chits to the exam room for cheating. That was our method and is now passé! Come up with other things. Every new batch needs to invent new things and keep the trend going.
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Spot the Fuchcha! (It’s no rocket science!) - Aastha Tyagi The university is under attack by a new species! *RUN* These supposed prototypes of humans attack every year in July, and are called FRESHERS *shudders*. They are among us - just look around and you will find them; standing there, acting all humanlike. Yet, they are different. They might be young but they have the weapons to wipe out our existence, one year after the other! *Run* *Shudders* *Runs faster* So, how to spot the FUCHCHA? We, the mere mortals need to be careful lest we fall prey to them. Here is how you can spot them and save yourself from extinction! Mummy! 1) They might look NORMAL but they are far from it! They look very colourful on account of their fresh zeal to be as far away from the alien jumpsuits [read: school uniforms] as possible. The females look like they are fresh out of the Delhi Times fashion page. So do the males. They buy these so-called apparels just to confuse us. *Run more* 2) They are very happy to be in college. College, remember that place which was your domain few months ago? Yes, that exact same place. Well, it won't be anymore. That is because now everyone will talk about the freshers. All societies will be about the Fuchchas. There will be competitions and events held in their honour. The Jam sessions, the orientations... Everything! We will be forgotten about. *sniffles* So if you overhear people saying repeatedly that they are happy to be in college, you know it's their breed.
Fresher Detected!
run from the fuchcha! 9
3) Fuchchas are prone to roaming around the entire college with a confused expression on their faces. They will look for their lecture rooms, the canteen, the photo copy waala bhaiya, the washroom and every other room in general. Be careful, or else you might have an encounter with them after almost every five steps. 4) They will be excited at/about anything and everything, squealing with delights if they manage to call the waiter in the canteen at first go. Their sugar rush enthusiasm will give you a headache. Don't worry about it; it too, shall pass. Hopefully! *Did I mention we're running?* Other signs and symptoms to watch out for include asking too many questions (on societies, forms, library cards, ID cards and all the other random things that you stop bothering about after six months in college), high attendance and punctuality rates (at least that's the case in the beginning), showing extra interest and participation in college and society events, repeated attempts to flaunt off school achievements (“I was the Head Girl in my school and also the lead singer in my choir!� *Enter the college society, and you will forget the basics of musical notes by seeing the competition!*) etc. Is there a solution? No. But there is a less painful way out. Yes, my ageing friends, we can extend a hand of friendship and love to our Fuchchas. We can take them under our wing and help them fly! (Am I getting too senti here? Maybe. *Editor: Certainly. What happened to the running?*) But this is the only way both communities can coexist to make a cooler and more happening college. So, freshers, we might be scared of you but welcome you to the next, best three years of your lives! [Editor's note to the reader: The hand of friendship was extended because the writer lacks stamina and hence, could not run further.]
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