A healthy Summer

With admissions, stress and the blazing sun, you tend to forget all about your fitness regime and over all health. Mc Chickens and Zingers seem to rule most student food chains. While drinking aerated drinks and inane amounts of coffee seems to come more naturally than drinking a cold refreshing glass of water. And soon you’re plummeting down the rabbit hole that reeks of bad health. But good health really isn’t as tough as it seems. In fact when you’re working out, everything else seems to work out, too. You feel better about yourself and stress takes a back burner or completely vanishes. So here are a few tips to help you make the most of the extra hours of summer sunshine to burn off some of those extra kilos.

Walk

In the evenings when the sun isn’t at it’s brightest self, soak up some vitamin D. Find a walking trail or park close to where you live or you can try Sirifort Sports Complex, Lodhi Garden and Deer Park. If possible, pick a spot with some hills for incline, or even try a little rock climbing if you’re feeling adventurous. But remember to carry lots of water or cold numbu paani.

Swim

The summer fitness must: swimming. Even if you’re not a lap swimmer, treading water for an hour can burn anywhere from 400-600 calories for the average person.

Eat lots of fruit

So many yummy fruits are in season, why not indulge yourself on some fresh fruit salads? Fresh fruits are not only good for you, they’re low in calories and the water in them can help you stay hydrated for longer. Watermelon, cherries, strawberries, melons, and kiwis are just a few of the great fruits in season that can make a great treat in between meals.

Drink extra water

This season makes it easier than ever to drink more water. Flush out toxins, refresh yourself, and keep hydrated by drinking a recommended ballpark range of about 88 ounces of water per day. The extra water will also keep your metabolism running smoothly, clear your skin, keep your food cravings to a minimum, and help you get healthier hair and nails.

Eat outside

Some studies have shown that eating in places with dim light can cause you to linger over your plate more, and in result eat more food and move around less. To mix it up, eat outside while the long summer days make it possible to eat in the light during meal times. Absorbing some natural vitamin D is another perk of outdoor dining.

THAT TIME OF THE YEAR

With temperatures reaching unbelievable highs you will without a doubt hear “it feels like an oven or a sauna outside” and then you will also hear people give their two cents, or in this case, two paisa (I’d like to think that’s the equivalent) on Global warming, “summers are getting hotter glaciers are melting, we are going to die… etc etc.”

In the summer time, people are angrier, traffic is even more impatient, and no one smiles as beads of sweat form on upper lips and other uncomfortable places. Thanks yous are replaced with snarls and snarls are replaced with growls that belong deep inside the jungle. It is an unhappy time, this Indian summer.

For a few of us lucky folk, we find solace in front of our coolers and ACS while ceiling fans gather dirt and muck. No one wants hot air blown on them in circular motions.

And you might as well forget about cold showers to wash away the heat that has entered each and every one of your pores because your shower will play funny tricks on you in the summer. Warm water will flow out of the hot water tap and boiling hot water will flow out of the one marked with a C for cold.

But while we talk of global warming and Mother Nature, heat waves and have heated arguments, children are out enjoying their summer day.

Scorching temperatures are defeated by water bottles carrying thanda paani or nimbu paani. A still day is tackled by running around in the parks and hosing each other with the maalis pipe. Hide and seek and Oonch neech ka papra don’t discriminate against the summer. In fact, children love the garmi more since it stays light out longer and they don’t need to layer up in multi-coloured hand me downs from the 80’s, pokey new turtle necks or daadi’s latest creation.

The truth is we should be more child-like. Let’s not allow sweaty armpits and BO get the better of us. Let’s try to focus on all the beautiful things that come with summer. The wind meandering through leaves, the extra hours of sunshine, happy bird (not trying to do a cool Angry Bird reverse) calls, the nimbu paani, the brimming – with- juice mangoes, the sweeter than sweet litchis and perfectly chilled watermelons. (Oh and in case you OD on summer fruit you can always turn to Cola bar and Limchu that are just as refreshing if you can excuse the artificial colouring dripping onto your khaki pants or cotton skirt.).

So instead of constantly complaining of “ uffff this bloooody heat” go refill your bowl with vanilla ice-cream and top it up with a cut up Langda and then between mouthfuls, I guarantee that you’ll stop bitching about Mother Nature’s time of the year.

And then there were four

College is an experience that carries over to the rest of your life. And our four students Manav, Antariksh, Vidya and Rachna have perfectly captured what life after school is all about. Conceptualised, scripted, performed and produced by the students, ‘www.mericollegelife.com’ is an interactive video website that not only lets you watch our students in action, but lets you make decisions for them.

But who are these four students that we speak of?

First we’d like to introduce Manav or Mr. Cool. The question is will his cool boy avatar work in college, too? Or will he have to start all over and learn new tricks of the cool trade? Or perhaps he’ll realize that there is more to life than flexing his muscles and flashing his perfect-celebrity-white smile at every girl that crosses his path.

Maybe he’ll spend less time looking in the mirror, squeezing dollops of sticky hair-gel on his head and start to see himself in a whole new light. 

And what about ‘Mr. Sports is my passion?’ At Manav Rachna he is our very own Antariksh. He like to makes jokes about being a ‘player’ but sport is the only game he wants to play. He has an air of confidence that could be mistaken for arrogance. So will our ‘player’ make it to every team and win every medal? Or will he be subjected to some serious competition for the first time in his life? Maybe he’ll learn that besides competition and training there is room for some fun.

As for our Ms. Book Worm aka Vidya life seems pretty set. Her future plans are neatly written on crisp sheets of white paper and boys, parties, fashion are the least of her interests. Her grades matter most and of course the next book she is going to bury herself in while her classmates are celebrating the end of another hardworking week. But something has to give, right? This is college, the best years of ones life. How can someone spend most of their time alone with stacks of books and, well, more books? There is a lot to learn from people as well, Vidya.

Now lastly we’d like to introduce, Rachna, or Little Ms. Sunshine. Her zest for life amazes pretty much everyone. She wants to be a journalist and explore the big (dare we say bad) world of media. So while she is in college she plans to focus on journalism and making as many friends as she can. Her life goals are pretty clear and our little Ms. Sunshine really isn’t afraid to go with the flow. She believes that the most exciting thing about life is discovering things when you least expect to discover them.

But the year has only just begun and our four freshers have many years ahead of them. So will they continue to be who they were before they walked through our gates? Or will they grow into new people, shedding old habits and trying on new dreams and goals?

We’ll have to wait and see but in the meantime you can visit www.mericollegelife.com to meet Manav, Antariksh, Vidya and Rachna and become a part of their stories. Literally.

20 Delhi must-dos by Lonely Planet

Many of our students (old and new) come from all over India and sometimes from different parts of the world. So if this is your first time in Delhi, it is imperative that you do everything on this list so you can kick-start the love affair you will most definitely have with this city. This also applies to some dilliwalas that don’t wander far from their comfort zones and haven’t really seen the beautiful parts of the city that are carefully hidden like treasure.  We promise you, there’s a lot more to this city than what meets the eye.

1. Try Dilli-ki-Chaat – Delhi’s tangy local street food, such as chaat papdi (fried wafers loaded with potatoes, chickpeas, yoghurt and chilli) or golgappas (fried hollow dough filled with chickpeas and spicy potatoes), in Old Delhi

2. Visit the great sandstone carcass of the Red Fort, and imagine the last days of the Mughal empire and the British era.

3.  Humayun’s Tomb combines Persian style with local craftsmanship, and is surrounded by the fiercely symmetrical Mughal gardens: take a stroll here at dusk.

4. Hear qawwalis (devotional music) sung at dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya; religious songs resounding at around sunset at one of Islam’s holiest tombs.

5. A trip through the doors of the Imperial hotel is like a voyage back into the days of the Raj, with polished hallways hung with chandeliers and works of art. Drink a G&T in its 1911 bar.

6. Lose yourself to shopping, in the temples to Indian craft that are Delhi’s government emporiums on Janpath, close to Connaught Place.

7. Get lost and confused in the narrow bazaars of Old Delhi, and feel like you’ve wandered somewhere medieval.

8. Ride on the Delhi metro: so cheap, so clean, so democratic, unlike the other world upstairs.

9. Get a suit made in Khan Market – take one to copy and get made-to-measure at a fraction of the cost of Savile Row.

10. Visit the former home of Indira Gandhi, Indira Gandhi Smriti, where she was shot dead by one of her bodyguards in 1984, and learn about India’s most powerful dynasty.

11. Wander around Lodhi Gardens on a Sunday afternoon, the perfect place for people watching.

12. Discover the district of Hauz Khas, with its crumbling Mughal tombs and tempting art, antique and fashion boutiques.

13. Chow down on scrumptious masala dosas at the Janpath branch of Saravana Bhavan, and finish your meal with a deliciously gritty south Indian coffee.

14. Use the map from William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns for a different way to explore the city.

15. Eat a great Gujarati thali at pristine Rajdhani, opposite Rivoli cinema, just off Connaught Place.

16. Shop middle-class Delhiite-style at laid-back Khan Market, browsing its bookshops and hanging out for a chat at Café Turtle, fuelled by coffee and gooey cake.

17. Take a trip out to peaceful Qutb Minar, with its towering minaret resembling an ornate factory chimney.

18. Wind up at the Jama Masjid, climb the mosque’s minaret, then enjoy a classic non-veg meal at nearby culinary institutions Karim’s or Al-Jawahar, famous for their roasted meat kebabs.

19. Get flabbergasted by the wealth of Indian art at the National Museum.

20. Visit Gandhi’s simple tomb in its tranquil gardens, and drink in the atmosphere – nowhere else in Delhi is as peaceful as this.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/delhi/travel-tips-and-articles

When dream meets job

At Manav Rachna we believe that college is where dreams of doing something big are longer just dreams. It’s where you start believing in yourself and are able to recognize and identify your strengths. You start to banish fears, uncertainties and the-what-if-I-don’t succeed anxieties. So you can start preparing yourself and moving in the direction of the career you have fantasized about since the beginning of time.

And that’s why at Manav Rachna, we arm our students with enough ammunition to battle against millions of other graduates who are also vying for their dream job.

And today we are proud to announce that despite the uncertain global macroeconomic scenario, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI) and Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) continue to remain one of the most preferred destinations for campus hiring by top brand recruiters across diverse sectors.

We have been able to attract major corporate houses for the 2012 batch.

Even before they graduated, 471 of our students have already been placed. The highlights of the season have been hiring of 192 students by TCS, 64 students by HCL Technologies, 17 students by NIIT Technologies and 28 students by Ceasefire. The other esteemed recruiters include Aon Hewitt, Benelexus Software, Fenesta Building, Hilti, Imperial Life Science, India Bulls, Info Edge, Info gain, Jamboree, JBM, Maruti Suzuki, Motherson Sumi, Omax Auto, Oracle, Sushee Infra, Theme Engineering, Vishwa Infra, Wipro and many more.

The employers look for students with sound domain knowledge, polished soft skills and immaculate business etiquettes and values. Our graduates fit right in. They harbour skills that go beyond their years, a great attitude and an air of confidence with great results to back it up.

So when you apply to Manav Rachna, you have already applied to your first job.

I used to know Monday Mornings

Graduating from school is probably one of the toughest phases of ones life. A place that has been your entire world for over ten years will suddenly cease to exist. You know every nook, corner and crevice of your school building. You can identify old cracks and spot new ones. Your corridors belong to you and your friends. It’s your domain and no one can take that away from you, up until now that is. You pack your bags, empty your desk, bid goodbye to those who helped shape more than just your future, but helped you grow into an individual.

Things are going to change. Life is going to take many unexpected turns. Best friends will grow apart and new friends will grow close. New hobbies will replace old ones and you will suddenly be forced to grow up. You’ll have to make choices that will affect the rest of your life. Questions like, ‘should I study abroad? What if I don’t get into my top 5 colleges, what will I do? Should I concentrate on college or pursue my dream of acting or, take a gap year and backpack around the world?’ will take over your very existence.

You will be at constant battle with yourself. You will turn into your worst enemy. You’re biggest fear will stem from what comes next? Because for the first time in all your seventeen years, you’ll have no idea what tomorrow is going to be about. You’ll no longer recognize Monday, or any other day that follows. Everyday will be replaced with uncertainty mixed with excitement and topped with fear.  And as the time to send in your applications nears, your heart beat will be louder than the your ‘drum phase’

But just like your drum phase, this too, is a phase. Soon things will become clearer and the unexpected turns will take you in a whole new direction.  You’ll go down a path of self -discovery all over again. College is like an introduction to real life without the harsh realities that accompany real life. You are still protected yet you’re on your own.

You’ll finally be able to focus on the things you love most and excel. You will learn things about yourself that even you didn’t think were possible. Everyday will bring with it new surprises, expectations, goals, and laughter.

There is a lot to look forward to. Even though you feel the life you have always known is coming to an end, the truth is, the rest of your life has only just begun. 

MacBook Versus Ultrabook

With every new gadget being introduced in the market, a new dilemma is born. Suddenly our phones, laptops and other gadgets that constantly find a way to invade our lives, seem ancient. Blackberry users start rooting for team Apple over night and BBM is replaced with Whatsapp. PC users dump their sturdy machines for a Mac and inform the world about their new buy by updating their status messages to things like, ‘once you go Mac, you don’t go back.’ Tsk. There really is no loyalty when it comes to technology. The once faithful user decides to cheat the minute something shinier with built- in apps comes along.

Of course there are some who know technology better than they know themselves. They don’t fall for marketing gimmicks or an app that talks back to them. They want to know, plain and simple, how the machine can serve them better. They make mental checklists and will only invest energy and precious money once every box is neatly ticked.

So with a little help from our technology gurus, we’d like to answer the question that is on the tip of every almost- college- going- student’s tongue.  Should I buy the MacBook or an Ultrabook?

Now you can finally decide.

http://blog.laptopmag.com/ultrabooks-vs-macbook-air-what-should-you-buy