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Grab me, I’m free!

What’s Up ManipalFeb, 2013

Issue II

www.whatsupmanipal.com

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Giving Wings To Beauty

Like many little girls, it had been a childhood dream for me to wear that glittering crown and the sash reading, ‘Miss

India’. So, to turn that dream into reality, I filled the I Am She- Miss Universe India form and sent some pictures that my junior had clicked. But soon I realised that the auditions were to take place in June when I would be in Serbia for my internship. But as they say, “if you really desire to achieve something, the whole world conspires in helping you achieve it”, and the auditions got postponed to August. I was studying for the first session-als when I suddenly got a call saying that I had been shortlisted and had to go to Mumbai for the audition.

I was in a dilemma, but I chose heart over mind and decided to skip the tests to follow my de-sire! I looked like a hippie after the long bus ride, so I went to a mall and got dressed in the restroom where some amused cleaning la-dies assisted me with the make up and wished me luck for the auditions. Totally new to the city, finding the venue was a daunting task. I couldn’t stop smiling on seeing Sushmita Sen ma’am take my auditions and I recited a small poem I had written during the bus journey.

She was so touched that she stood up to hug me and said, “When I was younger, I was a poet, just like you!”

When I returned to Manipal, I was at the zenith of happiness to read a mail saying, “Get ready for an experience of a lifetime, you have been short-listed as the I AM She Top 20 Contestants.” It became difficult to concentrate in class as I had so many arrangements to make. Amidst all the excitement and humdrum, my family and friends motivat-ed and assisted me a lot. My classmates would ask me random questions to prepare me for the Question-Answer round.

Finally the day arrived when we checked in at Leonia Holistic Destination, Hyderabad for the grooming session. Our days would begin with an early morning intense workout session, followed by breakfast, diction and etiquette classes, choreogra-phy and never ending photo shoots and video bytes. Wherever we went, there was a blinding glare of camera flashes from all directions. I had a taste of how it feels to be a celebrity! Our happiness knew no bounds on being judged by the ravishing Ar-jun Rampal during the ‘I Am Fit’ competition and the awesome photographer, Joy Datta during the ‘I Am Photogenic’ round. Being mentored by the first ever Miss Universe from India, Miss Sushmita Sen, was an experience of a lifetime. I have never seen a woman as mesmerising and humble as herself. She gave us a mantra, “Walk on the ramp as if you are the queen and everyone else is the praja.”

When the finale approached, we were backstage getting our hair and make up done, the butterflies in our tummies had multiplied

and there came Sush ma’am for the final pep talk and said, “Rule the stage, it’s all yours. There’s nothing that

you can do there that would make me or your parents less proud of you!”

After the first performance by all twenty of us, we had to be reduced to half based on our stage presence as well as the

morning interview session we had with the judges includ-ing Bollywood actors Mugda Godse, Harman Baweja, ace boxer Mary Kom, leading cinematographer Santosh Siva, Mr.Dario, Director of Instituto Marangoni and Mr.Richard Hyde from the British Council. It was an overwhelming

moment when our host, Sameer Kochar announced that the girl who won everyone’s heart before winning the pageant

by getting the maximum votes from her fellow contestants is Gurbani Chopra, winner of ‘I Am Congenial’ and hence a Top 10 contestant.

As I took the winning walk, I saw my mom, dad, sister and friends applaud proudly for me. It was one of the happiest moments of my life- my mission of making mom, dad proud of me was accomplished. I don’t be-lieve in superstition but I owe it to the beautiful pair of golden heels I had been gifted by my closest friend as a good luck charm!

After that was the question-answer round where I was asked by Mr.Richard Hyde, “What does education

mean to you, how does it matter?” I answered, “Ed-ucation is the starting point for everything. Educa-tion leads to better employment and employment

leads to a good standard of living. Be it a child or an old woman, anyone can start at any time and be educated.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the Top 5 and three of my loveliest friends I made there won the titles of Miss Universe India, Miss Globe International and Miss Asia Pacific.

After the finale, Sushmita ma’am gave mom-dad a big hug and praised me like I was her own daughter. She said never ever has a girl won Miss Congenial-

ity with such a large margin of votes! She had a long conversation with my parents and they are still in touch with her through e-mail and phone. I got a lot of offers right after the pag-eant but couldn’t accept them then since I had college to finish.

Now that I am done with college, I would be interning in Mum-bai and simultaneously work on the assignments offered to me. I was in ‘Burning Ice’ since my second year of college and it has taught me a lot and removed all the stage fear I had. It’s my dream to open my own event management agenc y with my team mates that employs deserving models, photographers, designers and the like.

There’s only one message I would like to give my fellow college mates, If you believe in the power of your dreams, no can will dare stop you from achieving them!

- Gurbani Chopra

Our very own Miss Congeniality recounts her experiences at ‘I Am She’ - Miss Universe

“As I took the winning walk, I saw my mom, dad, sister and friends applaud proudly for me. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. ”

India

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Manipal has witnessed the mushrooming of many eater-ies over the years. The trends though, have mostly remained stagnant, i.e. locations in the commercial parts of the town, a la carte menus, brightly painted walls, waiter annas, an old boss and blaring filmy music. Howev-er, a cozy little restaurant tucked away next to MIC, has slowly been shattering these stereotypes with its crazy ideas, rockstar owners and ap-petite for innovation. Within 3 months of its inception, The StoneHouse has already become a hot favourite among students. Who would have expected such huge queues at a restaurant located between a brick kiln and a garment factory? The StoneHouse is the brainchild of Roshan, Mehtab and Shobhit who met in Manipal in 2009 and shared an interest in business. They saw an opportunity and wanted to bring a one stop destination for students to eat, shop, game and relax. Hence the tagline “Dash to The StoneHouse for a PitStop”, where Dash is the boutique and PitStop the gaming parlor with pool and consoles. True to its name, the walls were chipped off and laterite stone carved to give an intricate stony look. The dull coloured walls, red oxide flooring and wooden roof were all designed to aug-ment the rustic ambience. How often have you eaten a meal with a gaudy bicycle and ran-dom tshirts on the wall behind you? According to the owners, its uniqueness touches people

and makes them go “Stone House? That’s the place with the bicycle, right?” The music played at the ven-ue is generally soft rock, retro and alternative, and has truly impressed all. “The music has to set a tone for the meal” says Roshan. The Stone House has

also introduced a karaoke and live music in the evenings where Roshan leads from the front. encouraging

everyone to do the same.

The menu features many exotic and unique dishes. The chefs try to invent something everyday on the specials menu. They also get a limited number of lobsters and squids from Malpe early in the morning, which sell out really fast! The succulent steaks are among the best in town. Some of their finest dishes include Chicken Pati-ala - Tandoori chicken wrapped in an egg and layered with butter chicken, Tangdi Mumtaz - legs of chicken stuffed with minced chicken and Chicken Masala Sau-

sages, which is Roshan’s own in-vention. One of the best aspects of The StoneHouse is the pricing that is very light on the wallet. Where else do you get chicken lasagna for 100 bucks? Their future plans include Sun-day brunches, combo meals, buf-fets and candlelight dinners de-pending on what customers are looking for. The area upstairs will be refurbished to expand the dining area. Their long term goal is to start a lounge which will be even more ancient-look-ing and rustic!

- A rocky little tryst

One of the most puzzling aspects of the StoneHouse is that the waiters walk around wearing metalhead t-shirts and shorts! The Stone House has no waiters! The bosses themselves scuttle around clearing tables and taking orders. The owners have grown used to being mistaken for waiters and the funny comments that follow it. Mehthab was clearing the tables when a girl came up to him and asked for a table for two. The boy accompany-ing her exclaimed “Why are you asking the cleaner boy? Ask the waiter”!

Roshan : “I was partying at Blues the other day. This random girl saw me and told her friend “Look! Stone house waiter is partying here!”

The manager once took out his phone while taking an order and the customer exclaimed “See! Waiter ke paas Iphone hai! ”. The owners hate being called “Boss” or “Anna” but have now become used to it. Roshan however looks at the sunny side of the pun – he is indeed the boss!

Roshan is a BHM graduate from Christ College, Ban-galore and took to DJing earlier in his career. He has played on the console with the likes of DJ Rohit Barker and VJ Nikhil Chinappa. He is a music fanatic and loves performing with his guitar. He first came to Manipal while DJing an event at Paradise Isle, Malpe. Mehthab had been working with General Automotives in Saudi Arabia before coming to this. He is the man behind the extensive repertoire of Indian dishes. He is planning to take the Stone House concept to Saudi. He is a local and graduated from MGM college. Shobhit Shetty is an ex-MITian who has done his MBA in UK. He initially headed a company called Kivisansho in Manipal Industrial area. The manager, Azarudddin(Ajju) graduated with Mehtab and worked in Dubai earlier. For any party reservations and queries, contact

- The People behind The StoneHouse

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Most of you might have only dreamt of landing up in top notch universities like MIT, Stanford or Harvard one day.

Well, not anymore! There are various online courses offered by these universities where you can enroll and complete the course. There is only one condition though- you need to be thoroughly disciplined and attend their online lectures regularly. It’s difficult to crack these courses. But with some commitment, you’ll soon be looking at a certificate attested by world famous professors from Havard and Stamford. There is a continuous dose of assignments, which a student has to complete well in time if he needs to continue any further. At the end of it, there may be a final exam after which you get an official certificate from the University stating that you have successfully completed X course from our University. Sounds exciting right? Students might complain of lack of time, but you need to make compromises and set your priority order. If you have passion for it, then there’s no stopping you. “I had immense interest in CS, so I enrolled in one of their Python courses last semester. Soon I found it very exciting and took it as a challenge to complete it. By the end of it, when I received

their online certificate, I felt that all that hard work has finally reaped me some fruit. Such things add a lot of

weight to your CV”, says Vamshi Reddy, 2nd Year Computer Science Student. There are a variety of courses offered, catering to all the major branches. EDX is a massive online course platform that was founded by MIT to give an open platform for the academic battle of the Titans. Even coursera.org can be used to enroll in these courses. They are 100% free! Those who complete the course will get a certificate of completion, but no official credit. However there will be penalities if you do not solve the assign-ments on time! The edX project will include not only engineering courses, in which computer grading is relatively simple, but also hu-manities courses, in which essays might be graded through crowd-sourcing, or assessed with natural-language software. Coursera will also offer free humanities courses in which grad-ing will be done by peers. Online education is here to stay, and it’s only going to get better. So what are you waiting for? It just couldn’t get better for engineers! Surf these sites, who knows you might as well discover a course that turns out to be a stepping stone in your academic career!

E-Learning :Virtually Real - Anubhav Shrivastava

To twist a popular saying, “We can’t choose our relatives, but we can choose our roommates!” Or so is the case most of the time. I’ve had the curious experience of staying with four different roommates in four semesters and each one makes for an intriguing case study. Let’s have a look at the various types roommates can be classified under. 1. The Cleanliness Freak: Suffering from a mild version of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, this breed wants everything in order. While that may work fine for a while, the loss of priva-cy stings you, even as your possessions keep switching places mysteriously. 2. The Rambler: This chatterbox jumps at the slightest op-

portunity to ramble on and on about his life’s miseries. While the occasional philosophical gem comes your way, most of it is unadulterated jabber. 3. The Headphone Addict: The music fanatic, and the sole solution to the above mentioned rambler, this one has to be screamed at for even

a single word to be heard, let alone a coherent sentence. You keep hoping he will be left with an enormous hole in place of his ears. Meanwhile you lose your voice and energy, along with what remains of your mind. 4. The Nefarious Nerd: Being extraordinarily studious, this roomie makes you feel guilty for half your waking hours. Just when you start banging your head on the nearest wall in frustration at not being able to focus and study, he calmly orders you to maintain silence.

5. The Librarian’s Son: He only sleeps in the room because the library remains closed at night. You suspect he hates you deeply. The truth is darker: the doting librarian has adopted

him as his son, a natural heir to his post three years down the line. 6. The Mangalorean: Residing in Mangalore half the time, he lets the empty room haunt you with its eerie silence. You get his darshan a few times a week, so consider yourself blessed. Besides, you accrue most of the benefits of having a large single room. 7. The Junkyard Jack: Despite your wholehearted efforts to maintain a semblance of tidiness, he ensures the room looks like an earthquake-hit land subsequently ravaged by a war. A substantial portion of his bed is filled with the ramshackle rem-nants of his trysts with Domino’s and the like. The floor isn’t spared either. The room cleaner refuses to clean your room for fear of being afflicted with a disease or two. 8. The Foodie: With a fawning mother perennially sending him savouries, you’re left salivating in solemn silence, waiting for a titbit or two to fly your way on account of his illusory benevo-lence. He also knows all Manipal restaurants inside out and is a strident food critic. 9. The silent onlooker: All your attempts to engage him in conversation are thwarted by one-word answers. The only times in the day he talks to you is when he requests you to lower the speed of the fan or to switch off the tube lights. That must be

delightful. 10. The Good Samaritan: He brings back your laundry, gently coaxes you to complete your assignments, works as an efficient alarm clock, and helps you deal with emotional

crises. In short, he’s the ideal roommate!

RoomMate Roles - Suri Shiva

Remember your first month as a student of Manipal Universi-ty? The excitement of finding yourself in a new place? The

anxious butterflies in your stomach as you sat in your lecture hall for the first time? But do you remember your first encounter with the local lingo?

The “Boss” Way to Do It.

I am sure most of you remember the awkward-

ness when you heard the term “boss” being flung around with ease. It took some time for the phrase

to catch on, but catch on it did. And before we knew it, we were using “boss” left, right and centre.

All of Them Were Anna and Akka.

Slowly as we got more accustomed to our life here at Manipal we learnt a few more choice Kannada words. “Anna” (elder brother) and its counterpart “Akka” (elder sister) were for most of us the first Kannada words learnt.

It began small with us using the words when addressing the room cleaning ladies or the MSFM men but before we knew it we were calling practically every soul “Anna” and “Akka”. And boy, does it make the localites mad!

I still remember the irritated look I got from a woman working in a clothing store when I called her “Akka” without a second thought. It seems we students have dragged the essence out of these words and have left it with a new meaning – one that is not so respectful to the more well-off localites. Just a passing tip – call them “uncle” and “auntie” if you don’t wish to receive a rebuke.

Chill Madi!

Now here’s one word that took our fancy pretty fast. From “chill madi” to “chal madi” (whether it makes sense or not) ,“madi” had established itself as the ultimate suffix! The word’s meaning gets clear if you just replace “madi” with “maar”. Try it – “chill maar”, I am sure the meaning is abundantly clear now.

The Shop Lingo.

It is universally acknowledged that where there are students, there are a large number of shops and places to eat. After all we have been known to have tremendous appetites. And so to cope up with the shopkeepers, we learnt a few more words, or in this case, num-bers.

“Ondu”, “Yerudu” were ingested and spit out early enough. And although my own numerical vocabulary in Kannada ends short of five, there are people who seem to know practically all the num-bers (it helps if you have a South Indian mother tongue, since all these languages are similar in many ways).

These are but a few instances of the Manipal lingo. I am sure you can add quite a bit more. But if you can’t and are caught mid-road by a lost localite who rolls off Kannada so fast that the words jumble up and snarl at you then always remember the cop out answer: Kannada Gottilla!,

Talking like a Manipalite - Ria Majumdar

Where: Maravanthe – 50 kms. from Udupi.How to Reach: Take a bus from Tiger Circle to Udupi. Ex-press Buses ply from Udupi service bus stand to Kundapu-ra. From the Kundapura bus stand, take another city bus to Maravanthe region. Nearby Attractions: Turtle Bay and Water sportsPlace Description: Maravanthe Beach is one of the most picturesque locations near Kundapura. NH-66 runs right next to the beach and the Sowparnika River flows on the other side of the road, creating spectacular scenery and is considered one of its kind in India. It is a small village which you will find as you drive up north along coastal road, around 50 kms. from Udupi, where a surprise awaits you. The Maravanthe seaside is often like a picnic area with its angelic beauty. It is a beautiful beach along the Arabian coast. The Maravanthe sea side is sandwiched between the Arabian sea and the Sowparnika River, which has a back-drop of the Kodachadri Hills, innumerable grains of golden sand, swaying palm trees, clean sky and soothing sea of Maravanthe. Post monsoon season is ideal for swimming, sunbathing and general tourism as during the monsoon, both the Sowparni-ka River and the Arabian Sea swell and merge, making the road almost inaccessible. Sunset casts a breathtaking glow on the surrounding waterscape. Water sports at Maravanthe Beach are famous. You can go scuba diving and snorkelling and get a glimpse of the coral reefs and marine life that is abounded with deep-sea creatures.

The Traveller’s Journal

This article is compiled by ‘RightsPoyi.in’, an upcoming website to promote coastal Karnataka tourism.

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The Hottest Games This Fall:

He was once an MITian, back in 1981-1985, when he formed a hard rock band in college, stayed outside cam-pus and went to Bangalore for gigs. Meet Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who began his career working for a few start-ups, after which he pursued his studies at Illinois Institute of Technology. He was handpicked by Vi-nod Dham (The Father of Pentium) to work at Intel , under Intel co-founder and CEO Andrew Grove. Mr. Rajeev was one of the architects of the Intel 486 Microproces-sor chip, and later the Pentium chip. In 1994, he founded BPL Mobile which became India’s largest cellular operator in 2001. The company was sold to Hutch (now Vodafone) later in 2005. Mr Rajeev is considered the pioneer of the telecom revolution in the country, having arrived on the scene much before the likes of Sunil Mittal.

He then founded a venture capital investment firm, Jupiter Capital in 2005 and took up a role of investing and strategis-

ing for undertakings in various sectors including infrastruc-ture, aviation, entertainment and technology. Mr Rajeev is also an MP from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, a Member of Parliamentary Standing Commit-

tee on Telecom & IT and also Member of Consultative Commit-tee on Urban development. From having his initials on every 486 Microprocessor ever built to heralding the mobile insurgence in India to politics and venture capitalism, he has seen it all. His story is an inspiration for all of us to dare to dream big and seize the opportunities that come our way.

Alumni Peek : Rajeev Chandrasekhar

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Manipal - An Employment HubWe boast of being part of one of the finest institutes in India, having the most serene setting any college could, and being able to enjoy life to the brim. All this became possible only because Dr. T.M.A. Pai changed the dynamics of this town with his determination to turn it into an educational hub.Today, Manipal feeds skilled and unskilled labour to various industries across India and abroad, along with providing employment opportunities to the entire townsfolk.

Everywhere we look, we get a glimpse of the variety of job contingencies Manipal provides to the local people – be it the professors or the management staff. Being an educational town, Manipal has hostels to accommodate students and messes. Thus, quite a few localites are employed to work in the Food Court and the other messes as staff, while others help keeping the campus and the rooms clean. Besides this, we have garden-ers who work hard to keep our campus green and serene and even caretakers who are parents away from home. What many of us do not know, is that Manipal has its own diary plant from which all the milk is supplied to the various messes. Cool, isn’t it? Many of the workers there definitely feel so.

That’s not all, folks. Where would we do if there weren’t any ‘dhobis’ to wash our clothes? Or cobblers to mend our worn out soles? We would be banging our heads on the wall if “Kamath”

didn’t tell us which books to study from and if “Om Xerox” didn’t have the solutions to the assignments. The autowaalas too thrive on students, who in turn depend on them a lot for transport. So there we go – so many people around us whom we see every day, yet hardly realise their importance in our daily lives. There is an elegant balance in the way the locals and students depend on and complement each other, an enriching symbiotic relationship.

Imagine Manipal without any of those people who make our lives happy. Wouldn’t be much fun, would it? Manipal provides job opportunities to innumerable people to make our lives com-fortable. Starting from the professors to the person selling lime juice, Manipal has everything in place. Even the school which provides education to the children of the local people provides employment to many.

Economically, Manipal is a source of income and employment for thousands of families. We should be able to appreciate and respect the efforts local townspeople. For, no matter how cool we consider ourselves, they still have the upper hand and are quite amused by us. To quote the maid who cleans my room, “mujhe bahut hansi ati hain tum jaise chote chote bachcho ko dekhkar”.

- Rohini Banerjee

Evolution is a fact of life and evolved species are usually better than their ancestors. And so is MAP. Torn apart and built from scratch, the new Museum of Anatomy and Pathology has been completely revamped. With a humongous board announcing its presence and a new-age metal artwork outside that somehow reminds one of the neural pathways criss-crossing our body, MAP is nothing short of an amusement park/science city. As you walk through its spartan doors, you will be greeted by a lady who cuts you a ticket. The entry fee is a nominal Rs.5 for children and Rs.10 for adults. But if you are an MU student, all you have to do is flash your Combo card and you are good to go.

A few steps down the counter you will find yourself in an AV room with a flat screen TV and a wall that is dedicated to the great Dr. T.M.A. Pai, founder of Manipal University. But it is beyond the AV room that the museum truly begins… The first section houses animal specimens and shelves full of bones of various mammals lined up for comparative studies. Al-though I was surprised to find the animal parts first, the surprise quickly faded when a colourful “Facts” board on a nearby wall explained how the study of anatomy began on dead animals and then progressed from there. Once you move out of the animal hub, the rest of the museum simply turns human. Partitioned into sections, each organ sys-tem has been assigned its very own hub, complete with “Fact Boards” and brilliantly dissected specimens in formalin jars. In fact the theme in each hub is the same – it begins with the normal and then proceeds to the abnormal.

But the section that truly amazes the brain is the one dedicated to Embryology, or in lay-man’s terms, study of the fetal life. One look at the hydrocephalus specimens and the Sacrococcygeal tumours bursting out of fetal butts, not to mention the terrible anomalies associated with the conjoined condition, you will be thanking your stars that you just have ordinary troubles like homework and a mad boyfriend. In true story-telling fashion, the Embryology section and its morbid but miniature corpses leads on to the Pathology Muse-um, which holds more horrors for the intellect.

As you walk through the glass doors, you are greeted by a huge fact board that pictorially depicts harmful lifestyles. And turn-ing away from the board will only land your eyes on rows and rows of lungs and livers and kidneys and hearts that are pock-marked and edematous, and of course clogged up to the seventh circle of hell.

The climax of this journey turns up shortly before the exit – the section dedicated to cancer. It is impossible not to feel a chill pass through your bones as you stare at the metastasized and utterly disfigured organs ravaged by the oldest disease known to mankind. All in all, the newly renovated Museum of Anatomy and Pathology is indeed the place to be if you are a biology en-thusiast. Believe me, it is one journey through the human body you won’t forget for a long time.

The All New MAP: Better than ever - Ria Majumdar

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4:30 pm: A slow buzz emanates.5:30 pm: Girls hopping everywhere, great chaos.6:30 pm: Hell unleashed!

Yes, my dear friends, that is precisely how the girls’ hostel is like before a bash. As

soon as you step into its premises, you get a gust of perfume ranging from Yardley to Dior to Chanel, yes Chanel! Occasionally one can hear a piercing scream stating “I look hideous in this” or the more common “I have nothing to wear…” Believe me when I state that this particular girl will possess more clothes than 10 guys put together! If by some fortunate chance you decide not to go, you automat-ically obtain the glorified post of “review officer”, answering questions like “How do I look?” with usual answers like “Hot!” or “Aww...you look adorable”. Take it from someone who has experience, it is extremely exhausting! “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, it is said. True story. Cat fights, loud snarls and rarely even brutal scars - name it and you can see it an hour

before the party! Oh the melodrama never comes to a standstill!

Half an hour before the party,

tempers stand far from amiable, lost is the graceful maj-esty a woman is believed to be endowed with. Nails are yet to be painted, hair to be curled and facials to be done.(Yeah! Not all of us are blessed with beautiful pale white porcelain skin you know!) If you happen to be a keen ob-server, you will find that more than 85% of the merchan-dise thrown around is fake! Did you really believe that

only Lakme ensures luscious big red lips? The promising Gucci watch astonishingly has a “c” missing and titan some-

how is always mis-spelt Tintin!!! It is times like these when we woman begin to lose our com-mon sense. Some of us even believe that if the ring does not match the foot wear then it is crucial that we change our attire altogether! Nevertheless, no matter how taxing dressing up could be, every woman loves captivating the look of every man, the watchman included! Inspite of all the arguments in the hostel we step out together with dignity and equipoise. Setting all our egos aside we walk arm in arm giggling as always towards the fun filled night.

Girls’ Hostel Before a Party

- Ritika Santhosh

Billboard Top 101. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 2. Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars3. Scream & Shout - will.i.am & Britney Spears 4. Ho Hey – The Lumineers5. I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift6. Don’t You Worry Child – Swedish house Mafia feat. John Martin7. Beauty and a Beat – Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj8. F***** Problems - A$AP Rocky feat. Drake 9. Try – P!nk10. Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch

The smartphone market is buzzing with activity worldwide, and particularly in India. But why should it concern you?

Well, in all possibility your next phone would be a smartphone But with hundreds (if not thousands) of devices in the market, how do you choose the best one that serves your purposes while fitting into your budget? Here are three of the best phones all set to hit stores!

Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft’s most recent mobile OS, and it’s making a name for itself especially with the capable Lumia series made by Nokia. The most recent addition is the budget Nokia Lumia 620. With a 3.8 inch display, the Lumia 620 is a trendy looking phone for today’s teens who want

a smooth networking (messaging and facebooking) experience with their next phone. The 620 is no slouch, with a 1 GHz dual core processor under its hood. Microsoft’s Metro UI is beau-tiful, and for those who really like it, it’s heavenly. The phone has only 512 MB of RAM, which might cause an issue some-time later with some apps or games. It will be priced at around Rs. 16000 to target the mid-range market. Blackberry lovers rejoice. RIM (now Blackberry) have released their newest smartphone based on their brand new Blackberry 10 OS, the Blackberry Z10. Having a sweet 4.2 inch HD display, coupled with 2 GB of RAM and a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, the Z10 is a powerhouse yearning to be unleashed. Initial reviews are extremely positive for the new BB in town. The new OS has a slight learning curve as

well, with its gesture based UI, but it will definitely be much easier than any upcoming exam you’ve got. Would you pick the phone with the best touch screen keyboard (as per Engadget), up for about Rs. 35,000, when it launches in India? On the Android front, Sony is leading the charge with its stun-ning new Xperia Z smartphone.Packing a 5 inch Full HD (that’s 1080p there, folks!) display, a 1.5 GHz quad core pro-cessor, 2 GB of RAM, 13 MP camera and Google’s Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS, the Xperia Z is a powerhouse. Apart from that, the phone is covered by a shatter-proof glass 6 times stronger than Gorilla Glass on the front and back as well. Waterproof (up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes) and dust-resistant, the Xperia Z is a state of the art smartphone, and it has an elegant design too. The phone will arrive at the end of Feb. for Rs. 36,000.

Tech-Savvy : (0011)2 Phones to Watch Out For- Preetam Nath

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The Oscars season is back, bringing with it the usual frenzy and excitement. Dark horses

like ‘The Artist’, ‘Million Dollar Baby’, and ‘American Beauty’ have been emerging on top, trouncing their much hyped counterparts. The commercial biggies such as Lord of the Rings and Titanic have had their share of success too, with movies like The Hobbit and Skyfall receiving a fair amount of nominations this time. Here’s a sneak peek into the movies that have scorched this year’s nominations. 1. Argo(7 nominations)It follows the story of how a CIA agent sets up a phony scheme to rescue a group of embassy officials who are hiding from revolutionaries in militant-controlled Tehran. He tries to portray them as film-makers and gives them fake identities and passports. Do the militants unravel these puz-zles? Do the escapees finally have the last laugh? Watch the film to find out! 2. Les Miserables(8 nominations)Based on an 1862 book of the same name, this musical stars an ensemble cast that includes Russel Crowe and Anne Hathaway. It is set in 19th century France, and follows the story of a prisoner who tries to turn a new leaf. He eventually becomes a factory owner and seeks to help the illegitimate daughter of one of his workers, only to end up in a political cat and mouse game where his enemies from the past catch up. The film ends with the Paris Uprising of 1832. 3. Zero Dark Thirty(5 nominations)The last time round, Katheryn Bigelow stunned the world when her film about Iraq, ‘ The Hurt Locker’ drubbed her husband’s ‘Avatar’ and won 6 Oscars. This plot depicts the timeline from 9/11 up till Osama Bin Laden’s capture in Abbottabad. The picturization of Al-Qaeda bosses and actual events like the Mariott Hotel bombing and the Camp Chapman suicide bomber attack lends much originality to the story. With a racy and engaging screenplay, the movie gives impeccable attention to detail and characterization. Go ahead, watch it for the last scene! 4. Life of Pi(11 nominations)Its desi flavour gave it a huge outreach in India and is still running strong in theatres. Although the starting of the movie seemed to thrive on Indian stereotypes, the latter half mesmerizes the audience with its technical brilliance, exotic locations, parallelism to life’s challenges and most impor-tantly, simplicity. It is a story a young boy who is ship-wrecked and has to survive on the same boat as a ferocious tiger. The meercat island, flying fish and the tiger, Richard Parker are streaks of the visual eye candy on offer. 5. Lincoln(7 nominations)It is a historical drama film produced by Stephen Sphilberg. Set in the period of American Civil War, it describes the American president’s attempts to pass an amendment that abolishes slavery. The film outlines the valiant battles he fought against various insurgents and enemies.

What’s Up At Oscars! Every New Year, we look forward to

certain movies with bated breath. These movies are generally engulfed with mammoth expectations and hoopla, from critics and audience alike. The year 2013 seems to be no different- lots of promising sequels and films with extrav-agant budgets have already started pounding the box office doors. We present you a small list of the ones bound to hit a home run at Tinsel town! 1) Bhaag Milkha Bhaag: Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (of Rang De Basanti fame), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag promises to be an enthralling cinematic experience depicting the life of Milkha Singh. The trailer has already gone viral on YouTube with the audi-ence going gaga over Farhan Akhtar’s masculine transformation. Expected release date: 12 July 2) Dhoom 3: 2004- John Abraham conquered in the first install-ment. 2006- Hrithik Roshan redefined the term ‘sexy’ in Dhoom 2. Come 2013 and Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan will be itching to

leave his mark in Dhoom 3. With Katrina adding the oomph factor and Jaggu Dada playing a cameo, expect a lot more larger than life bike chases and some edge of the seat action. Expected release date: Christmas Weekend 3) Krrish 3: Maverick filmmaker/producer Rakesh Roshan’s next installment of the Krrish saga is expected to give a fresh lease of life to action and VFX technology in Indian Cinema. While Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra reprise their previous roles, Vivek Oberoi will act as the gruesome villain and Kangana Ranaut gets to kick some butt as the luscious Catwoman. Expected release date: Diwali 4) Once Upon A Time In Mumbai 2: Once Upon A Time In Mumbai 2 continues from where its prequel ended. The story moves to the late 1990s era when Dawood Ibrahim rose to power, in the backdrop of the Bombay blasts. Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan pair up for this capricious crime cum drama caper. Expected Release date: 17 August 5) Ghanchakkar: After the hard hitting No One Killed Jessica, the supremely talented Rajkumar Gupta dons the director’s hat again in Ghanchakkar. Vidya Balan’s first release after her mar-riage, the movie narrates the misadventures of a lock picking thief and his gaudy Punjabi wife. With eminently bankable stars at the helm, this one promises to be a complete laugh riot!Expected Release date: 21 June

Bollywood 2013 - Anubhav Shrivastava

- Girish Kumar

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Most of you wouldn’t even believe there is a surfing club near Manipal let alone that it was started by 2 ex-Manipalites, Tushar and Ishita. Do visit their page at www.facebook.com/TheShakaSurfClub.

1. How was life at Manipal? What are your best memories here?Life is manipal was awesome! We grew up in the city of Mumbai and so coming to Manipal was like a breath of fresh air! I stud-ied Architecture and Ishita studied Journalism! We decided to pursue something a little bit different from that though! My best memories of Manipal would definitely be the days Ishita and I would go surfing every Sunday and those days we’d bunk college just because there was a good swell coming in(which means there would be good waves for a few days because of some storm that occurred in the middle of the ocean)! 2. Surfing is a way of life in countries like USA and France. But in India, it is almost unheard and is a foreign concept. What do you think is the reason for this?India is surrounded by ocean on three sides, nearly 7000km of coast-line and people still think you can’t surf in India! Surfing is so new to India because we lack a beach culture. Most Indians go to the beach and they do not know what to do there! They end up drinking on the beach (which is a bad idea, especially when they are not good swimmers). There is no connection between them and the beach. Surfing to me was that missing link, that connection. Once more In-dians realize this missing link between them and the ocean, surfing will no longer be unheard of in our country! 3. What have been some of your most exquisite moments while surfing? Any amazing experiences?I have had so many amazing experiences while surfing that I would not be able to just put it down in one paragraph. Surfing and gen-erally being in the ocean has taught me a lot about myself and changed the way I perceive my life! One thing is for sure, is that while I’m surfing I am no longer in pursuit of happiness, I am truly happy! 5. How are your customers like? Are they mostly students from Manipal and Udupi or adults? As of now most of our students that come to us are through word of mouth. We have done little to no advertising. This has been

good for us because it attracts a right type of crowd! People who are in-terested in the sport and want to live a more active lifestyle. Most of our students are from the big cities, like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Manga-lore, Chennai etc and quite a few travelling foreigners. Surprisingly not as many from Manipal as we would like! We get students of all ages, our youngest would be 6 and our oldest student so far would be 60! 6. The Arabian Sea is known for its tantrums. How do you ensure safety? Safety is our main priority at the Surf School! We only take out a max-imum students to teacher ratio of 4:1. All our instructors are certified in First Aid and CPR. We DO NOT give lessons to NON-SWIMMERS. We

Surfing With the DolphinsAn exciting rendezvouz with The founders of Shaka Surf Club...

Missed our first issue? Check out the e-version at whatsupmanipal.com

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also provide life jackets to our younger customers, if needed! With every surf lesson we brief our students on basic water safety knowledge that is lacking in our educational system. 7. “Ride with the dolphins” sounds almost fairytale! Is it for real?There are so many dolphins at our surf spot or rather the entire Udupi coastline. They swim right next to us while we’re out wait-ing on our boards for some waves. If you are lucky, you even get to see them play and do incredible jumps! 8. In your opinion, is surfing something that is affordable and accessible to our country’s middle class majority?Surfing is a lifestyle more than a sport! It requires commitment and even more so in a country like India where surfing is still not common. The surfers that are surfing now, really put in a lot of effort to make surfing part of their lives! It is not only limited to the country’s middle class but every level of society can surf. When you are out in the water, it doesn’t matter if you are a fisherman or a CEO of a multinational company, you are a surfer and that’s all that counts! All you need is a board and the desire! With more surf schools coming up in India, it is becoming easier to live this surf lifestyle in India! 9. How have the surrounding fishing villages reacted to this new trend of surfing?Our surf school is based in the fishing village of Kodi Bengre (Delta Beach). We found the spot around three years ago and have been surfing there since. At first the villagers were very concerned about us getting into the ocean. We had the village kids watch-ing us from the beach and cheer when we catch a wave. Finally, last year Ishita and I decided to take a couple of kids from the village surfing. The day we took these two kids in the water, it felt like the whole village came to watch! Its been a year since that day and now we have 5 kids in the village who surf with us whenever they can! Our school also focuses on teaching the village kids about the ocean and getting them stoked on surfing! We will also have a volunteer program in place soon and hope more stu-dents in Manipal be a part of it! 10. Ishita was recently featured in Vogue. Could you tell us more?Ishita is the First Female Surfer in India! She has inspired other girls to start surfing but very few are able to stick to it and pursue it with the intensity that she has. She is now also the first Indian woman to become a Roxy girl. Roxy is a mutltinational female surf clothing company (sister company of Quiksilver). As a Roxy model, she got to travel to Ibiza for the Spring-summer collec-tion photo shoot. She has been featured in many fashion magazines since, such as Vogue, Grazia etc. We are always amazed and humbled by the opportunities that have presented themselves to us through surfing.

Contd.

The What’s Up Manipal Online Quiz winners are Manas and Beverly .

ACROSS3 The candle making factory of this industry situated near Mangalore caught fire recently.8 In which local language does mannu-palla means Manipal?9 An office located on a corner where two major pizza joints have resided which deals with legal matters.10 In which month of 1997 was Udupi district formed?

DOWN1 The two fang like structures protruding from IC is generally called the IC_____.2 TAPMI is located at a place called __________.4 Name of the RJ featured in our first Issue.5 Our university saw the visit of a Nobel laureate last year. From which university did he complete his Ph.D?6 The place where everything ends.7 If you travel from Mangalore to Manipal which direction do you move in?

Unwind:

Submit your solutions to whatsupmanipal@gmail.com and win exciting prizes.

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Photography

- Amruta Yawalkar

Shelton Lobo Raoul Fernandes

Girish KumarNishant Sharma

Ankit SinhaSuri Shiva

Ashlesh BhatRishabh GuptaNayan Shankar

Yash SarkangoSwagata AshwaniDheeraj Pavithran

Ritika SantoshRia Majumdar

Rohini BanerjeeSonya D’CruzVishal Kabre

Anubhav Shrivastava

Team What’s Up Manipal

- Ankur Sengupta

- Ashish Mohanka

Want your work to be featured on our next issue? Send it to whatsupmanipal@gmail.com!

We would like to thank our faculty advisor Dr. B. Gopalkrishna for his guidance