www.readstills.com

FOLLOW US:

/stillsmedia

/stillsmedia

OF

COVER STORY

PROGRAMMING

FUTURE PAGE...5

INSIDE:

Sports 2013 Collage.....& More!!

Dress like you’ve hired a stylist

World’s best trekking locations

Photographer Bhawana Verma’s Interview

DECEMBER 2013

What’s inside ?What’s inside ?

Style.........3How to dress like you’ve hired a stylist.

Tech............5The future of programming

Sports........9Sports 2013 Collage

People.....13Photographer Bhawana Verma’s Interview.

Enhancing creativity, empowering children.

Travel.....17Most amazing trekking locations of the world.

Lifestyle..20Best places to eat around the world for Christmas

A complete information on the current and future world of programming. Also find interesting information on types of programmers and find which one are you!

Learn how to be your own professional stylist with a quick review of common mistakes.

A summary of the important sports events in the year 2013 - A phenomenal year surely in history of sports! Who knows where you would end up

celebrating. We have laid out the best places in the world to eat around during Christmas!

If you want take your adventure spirit to whole new level, get this down in your to-do list!

Amateurs or professionals. Take a bow to this professional. Exclusive Interview by STILLS

A must read for everyone and we hope that it inspires you to volunteer for a social cause..

How to dress

like you’ve hired A

Style

stylist

Don't buy everything from one place. Don't let merchandisers fool you with their impressive

brand name presence and marketing! It is great to

take a gander at store's display to get inspiration, yet

don't download the window showcase of your

favourite store onto your body. What you should do is

that you mix and match and do whatever it takes not

to purchase everything from one store. The chances

are that the window dresser is nowhere near as

stylish as you could be, don't you think? Shops will

dependably orchestrate their clothes on hooks or

presentations to demonstrate to you how all the

pieces they're offering can work together... So if you

catch yourself admiring one skirt at a distance, then

snatching up item after item thinking you're making

some miraculous, Nobel-worthy style-discoveries,

hold onto your shopping basket for a second and

exhale quietly. This capsule outfit you're collating,

comprising pieces conveniently positioned parallel to

each other could be about to render you style victim.

Resembling a walking talking manifestation of H&M

or Zara's spring collection is not going to win you any

style followers. You will look one dimensional. It's so

clear and frustrating when you see a fabulous looking

lady from far off, however when you get up close, you

understand she's essentially beautified herself in

garments gathered singularly from the front

showcase of Zara.

Something about being stylish hinges on upon

mystery. Blend and match your looks from better

places — present the odd surprising item, for

example a family treasure or something you got as a

gift or you singled out your ventures.

AccentsStyle intensifying really identifies with patterns: the

little or minor ways an overwhelming pattern gets

joined into your every day wardrobe... With the rights

stresses brought into your fundamental dress

consolidations, you'll still seem as though you,

however only a little a greater amount existing apart

from everything else.

Never try too hard

Neon: Neon ought to be presented in pieces. It's

exceptionally vital to remember the foundation

sense of taste for your neon execution: for daytime

camel and white tones work preferable with neons

than black. This arrangement keeps the look crisp

without too harsh a difference... Fuschia pinks and

oranges will work flawlessly on Indian skin tones...

By and large, be careful about neon on the lower

hald of your physique. Settle on something like a

harsh corrosive green smaller than expected skirt

with a slack white T-shirt over fuschia stockings or

trousers — these are much harder to force off.

Animal prints: It is not phenomenal that ladies go

gaga for this addictive material so devotedly that

they are unable to quit wearing it. What is the most

effective method to detect this in your friends? Their

world turns into one huge chasing cabin, made from

panther print totes, stilettos, nail craftsmanship,

telephone spreads, and even quilts. Utilize the

animal print in accents and accessories such as a

leopardprint cardigan. Moreover, provided that

you're trying for an ultra striking panther print dress

and you feel a little hesitant, balance the tone with a

dark cardigan instead of a sequined jacket.

Vintage: It flies above second-hand clothes when

the designs are famous of a specific period, without

trading off on the quality or fit of the piece of

clothing... Colour fading is not dependably self-

evident, particularly in shabby shops, so dependably

hold your picked piece up to the light before you

purchase to guarantee nothing has been bleached

or spoilt. In conclusion, check for development

pieces of information as indications of value which

have which have withstood the sands of time: boned

bodices, hand sewing, flat lining, bound buttonholes,

handset zippers, covered buttons, piped seams,

bias-bound edges, bound seam allowances, silk

linings. These are all telltale signs of quality

construction in any era.

FUTURE OF PROGRAMMING

A considerable measure of things that appeared insane

ideas (GUI, Prolog, the Internet, E-mail) came to be

reality and revolutionary, yet we could be still held back

today by the same doubt over some IT advancements.

Programming is changing. The PC era is reaching a

closure, and programming engineers now work with a

blast of mechanisms, work capacities, and issues that

need diverse approaches from the single machine

period. In our period of exploding information, the ability

to do some kind of programming is increasingly

important to every job, and programming is no longer the

sole preserve of an engineering priesthood. Where is

this article headed? The objective is to have the ability to

depict the kind of programmers, key aptitudes that

programmers require for the nearing decade, the spots

they might as well centralize their studying, and

separating between fleeting patterns & long haul shifts

and at last the conclusion portraying the semantics of

programmer mentality.

A standout amongst the most treacherous types of

technical debt is what Sebastian Sylvan, an Employee

of Microsoft, calls future-coding. You may additionally

call it over-engineering, second-system syndrome, and

so forth. Its code is composed in an excessively

expound and general path with a specific end goal to,

what's to come coder explanations, pre-emptively

handle use cases that we will "most likely see in future to

come".

Sylvan finds it a larger number of deceptive than plain

"stupid code" in light of the fact that it transcendently

influences brilliant individuals. It's basically savvy

individuals with restricted experience – once you see the

downsides of prospective coding a couple of times, you

have a tendency to thump it off (despite the fact that

there are influential affirmation predispositions at work)

– however still, these are brilliant individuals you'd need

to contract and keep around in you association in light of

the fact that they'll do extraordinary.

The Two Street Lights Story

Let's say you're making a game where a large portion

of the time the player is navigating an urban

environment. One day the artists ask for a feature to

make it easier to place street lights in a level. They say:

“Can we have a way to click a path through the level

and have the game place lights at an even spacing

along it?” This seems like an easy enough request, so

you start implementing it.

Here's where our story forks into two divergent paths.

First option – the pragmatic coder

The pragmatic coder writes some quick UI in the editor

where the artist clicks on points in the level that gets

stored into an array.

On the runtime side he writes a dozen-line for-loop that

simply walks the path segments at equal spacing and

spawns a street light each time. Job done, the

pragmatic coder moves on to the next task.

Second option – the future-coder

The future-coder writes the same UI as the pragmatic

coder, but for the runtime he decides upon a different

approach. After all, he's read books about design

patterns and large scale software design, and he

knows about the importance of the Single

Responsibility Principle, and keeping code factored

for changes that might occur in the future.

Thus, he decides to abstract over the exact type of

path used. Sure, the artists only asked for a simple

path today, but in the future they might want a B-spline

or some other kind of curve, so he pulls out the logic for

the path into its own Path object that can step along the

curve in some kind of iterator fashion. Of course, that's

not enough, in order to change the behavior of the

curve he puts this Path object behind an interface and

adds a factory to spawn the right kind of path based on

some kind of configuration parameter. He also

updates the UI to allow for future kinds of paths. Maybe

he even implements a B-spline option just so that he

can test this properly with more than one option.

He has added a lot of new classes and glue code, and the

code that actually uses it is a lot more opaque and hard to

read than what the pragmatic programmer came up with.

It will be worth it in the future, however, when this extra

flexibility will pay off. The future-coder goes home late

today, but feels good that he's written an elegant system

that will stand the test of time, rather than just a dumb

one-off implementation.

DIFFERENT PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT

TRENDS:-

Distributed computing

The "typical" environment in which coding happens

today is truly not quite the same as that of a decade back.

Given targets, for example web applications, mobile and

big data, the notion that a program only involves a single

computer has disappeared. For the programmer, that

means we must grapple with problems such as

concurrency, locking, asynchronicity, network

communication and protocols. Indeed, the most

fundamental of web programming will lead you to

commonality with ideas, for example caching.

In light of these weights we see phenomena at diverse

levels in the computing stack. At a large amount, cloud

computing tries to moderate the harass of keeping up

numerous machines and their system; at the application

advancement level, systems attempt to exemplify

recognizable examples and theoretical away tiresome

detail; and at the dialect level, concurrency and systems

administration computing is made more straightforward

by the characteristics offered by dialects, for example Go

or Scala.

Device computing

Look around your home. There are processors and

programming in practically every electronic unit you

have, which surely puts your Pc in a little minority. Not

everyone will be occupied with programming for

embedded apparatuses; however numerous designers

will surely need to study what it is to create for a cell

telephone. What's more in the not so removed future

autos, rambles, glasses and keen dust.

Indeed, inside additional universal computing, the

ascent of the GPU exhibit as a progressed information

crunching coprocessor needs non-customary

programming. Diverse structure components require

distinctive programming methodologies. Hobbyists and

prototypers apparently equivalent are carrying

equipment to existence with Arduino and Processing.

Languages and programmers should react to issues

long ago the realm of authorities, for example low

memory and CPU speeds, force utilization, radio

correspondence, hard and soft real-time requirements.

Data computing

The predominant type of programming today, object

introduction, is for the most part threatening to

information. Its keep tabs on conduct wraps up

information in access methods, and wraps up

accumulations of information more tightly. In the

mathematical world, information simply is, it has no

conduct, yet the rigors of C++ or Java require

developers to stress over how it is entered.

As information and its dissection develop in vitality,

there's a comparing ascent being used and

prominence of languages that treat information as

a top notch native. Clearly, measurable languages,

for example R are climbing on this tide, yet inside

universally useful programming there's an

inclination to languages, for example Python or

Clojure, which make information less demanding

to control.

Democratized computing

More individuals than at any other time are into

programming. These shrewd, uncounted,

coincidental developers wrangle mystery in Excel

macros, create Javascript and paste stuff together

with web administrations, for example IFTTT or

Zapier. Sensibly, they know small about software

advancement, and aren't intrigued by it either.

Then again, a large portion of these cool

programmers will find it simple to create a mess and

cause harm, all while just really needing to finish

things. At the very most, this is pestering, best case

scenario, an obligation for managers. Additionally,

its not the programmer's blame.

In what capacity can suppliers of programmable

environments serve the "unintentional developer"

better? Do we require new languages, better

frameworks in existing languages? Is it true that it is

an instructive concern? It is safe to say that it is even

an issue whatsoever, or just life?

There are insights towards an alternate future from

Bret Victor's work, and activities, for example

Scratch and Light Table.

Unsafe computing

At long last, it is worth looking at the house of cards

we're building with our present approach to software

improvement. The issue is basic: the mind can just fit

such a great amount of inside it. To be a programmer

today, you have to have the capacity to execute the

program you're composing inside your head.

The point when the issue space gets too huge, our

response is to compose a framework that makes the

issue space more diminutive once more.

- Fenil Dedhia(references and sources mentioned at the end)

Along these lines we have working systems that run on

top of Cpus. Libraries and client interfaces that run on

top of working systems. Application frameworks that run

on top of the aforementioned libraries. Web browsers

that run on top of the aforementioned. Javascript that

runs on top of programs. Javascript libraries that run on

top of Javascript. What's more we know it won't stop

there.

We're like goal-oriented waiters stacking one teacup on

top of the other. At this time, it looks pretty unbalanced.

We're making quicker and more powerful CPUs, yet

getting the same sort of subjective application execution

that we did a decade back. Security openings develop in

frameworks that put substantial amounts of systems at

danger.

Why would it be advisable for us to utilize PCs as this,

concurrently building a house of cards and restricting

computing power to that which the programmer can fit in

their mind? Is there an approach to hit reset on this view

of software?

CONCLUSION

“The most dangerous thought that you can have as a

creative person,

is to think that you know what you are doing

because, once you think you know what you are doing

you stop looking around for other ways of doing

things" –Bret Victor.

We presumably all have a spot of the future-coder in us,

however we should oppose him! The end result is that

the future-coder practically never wins. In reality,

anticipating the future is basically inconceivable, so

don't even attempt. It hardly ever pays off. Best case,

you've recently squandered a ton of time, however in

reality reflection has cognitive overhead all around the

task when perusing or debugging code, and can make it

harder to manage unanticipated changes (incidentally),

and also cause execution issues. Also indeed, when it

does pay off it doesn't really purchase every one of you

that much and is really a net negative on the grounds

that it skews your instinct into believing that future-

coding is an exceptional thing.

The human mind didn't advance to think in conceptual

terms. You will likely have recognized this when

attempting to comprehend another numerical thought –

its much simpler assuming that you begin with cement

illustrations instead of the completely general definitions

and verifications! Basic code that simply does one thing

in the stupidest way that is available sits down for a bit for

somebody to comprehend, while assuming that you

need to hop through unique classes and factories it can

take a crazy measure of time to comprehend

something that really isn't all that complicated.

All these extra virtual calls act as barriers to inlining, in

addition to the overhead of the virtual function calls

themselves, which cause performance issues. Yes,

you've been told that you shouldn't worry about

performance for code that isn't in a hotspot, but the

reality is that for many applications there aren't any

real hotspots anymore. It's depressing to look at the

profiler for gameplay code and see that your warmest

“hotspot” takes 5% of your frame time, and has already

been optimized to death. By that time it's often too late

– performance has been siphoned off by tens of

thousands of small inefficiencies added over many

years, all because people didn't want to worry about

minor performance hits for code that wasn't on the

mythical “hot-path”. Simple code tends to be cheaper

to execute, most of the time, in addition to being better

in almost every other way as well.

We should just hack things together in the quickest

way possible, with no regard for future maintainability?

No, of course not. We should focus on doing things in

the simplest way possible, not the quickest way

possible. Often, the simplest way requires removing a

bunch of cruft that has accumulated over time,

deleting stateful flags, pulling logic out into clearly

You may as well enhance for straightforwardness,

coherence and modifiability. Provided that you do, you

will likewise wind up with code that is more maintainable,

simple to change and upgrade in the future. Take the

case above where our heroes required to include

underpin for a B-spline. Wouldn't it be great if we could

accept that there was no library for introducing a B-spline

as of recently with the intention that they needed to

include it. We'd need both sorts of programmers to haul

that code out into its own function. The motivation for

doing this isn't to try to predict the future, though! You pull

it out into its own function because doing so makes the

code easier to read today, by making sure the B-spline

functionality is hidden behind a sensibly named function

instead of cluttering up the “flow” of the main function

with unnecessary details. The minor cognitive cost of the

extra function call is vastly outweighed by the increased

readability of hiding unimportant details. It's not about

predicting the future, it's about increasing readability.

Sensibly named function calls without side effects very

nearly dependably add progressively to coherence then

they require, in the event that they're virtual less thus,

assuming that they have symptoms even less in this way,

provided that they're in a class even less along these

lines, et cetera.

It's all a trade-off and the break-even point for any

given abstraction will change depending on the

specifics of what you're doing. Not many deliberation

strategies have no merit whatsoever, however the

way to programmer hell is cleared with best-

practices, connected too early. You might as well

delay applying these deliberation systems until the

cognitive and different expenses of utilizing them are

unmistakably exceeded by their profits (e.g. when

you have exhibited reusability for a segment). There

are regularly genuine systems even in game

engines where its splendidly sensible to apply a

considerable lot of the reflection systems you've

perused about in books about outline designs and

huge scale software plan and so forth., yet the lion's

share of code is better off assuming that you keep

things straightforward, and abstain from attempting

to predict the future.

References & Source: Sebastian Sylvan & Edd

Dumbill's and Bret Victor's articles and video

respectively on future of programming.

Who are you? I’m a programmer

Sports SPORTS ENDEAVORS 2013AT A GLANCE – (India)

For sports Year 2013 has been the year of major

sporting events. The year was full of achievements as

well as significant turnarounds for Indian sports world.

Let's have a glance at major sports happenings of this

year in India.

India defeated West Indies by 2-0.

To begin with, in cricket, India won test series against

West Indies by 2-0 on West Indies tour to India. Last

match of the series played in Wankhede stadium

Mumbai. In this last match India defeated Indies by an

innings and 126 runs.

Left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was declared as man of

the match for taking 10 wickets while Rohit Sharma as

man of the series for scoring 288 in two innings. Pragyan th Is the 7 Indian left arm spinner who took 10 wickets in

a test match. With this series Sachin Tendulkar declared

retirement from international cricket.

Sachin retires from international cricket.

Legendary cricketer and India's pride Sachin has th

played 200 test at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai

against West Indies and announced his retirement

from international cricket. The moment was an

emotional moment for every cricket fan in India and

world. Along with this an official announcement has

been done from prime minister's office that Sachin

will be awarded with Bharat Ratna award. Many

famous personalities recommended him for this

award. He is the first sportsperson to be given this

honor.

rd3 Asian Champions trophy: India stands fifth:

rdIndian Men's hockey team defeated Oman by 6-1 in 3

Asian Champions trophy at Japan. Pakistan won the title

for the series. Indian women's team finished with silver at

end of series.

It has been announced by FIH recently that India will be

hosting the 2018 Men's hockey world of cup.

TH18 Asian Archery competition: India won gold.

thIndian men team finished with gold in Taipei in 18 Asian

Archery competition with 2086 points. The Trio of

Abhishek Verma, Sandeep Kumar and Ratan Singh won

over Korean0 Men's trio making nation proud and

assured for a bright future of archery.

In a series of seven matches India won by 3-2

against Australia.

India defeated Australia by 3-2 in a series of seven

matches .In the last ODI of series played in

Bangalore Australia is defeated by 57 runs chasing

the target of 383 by India. Rohit Sharma shined in

this match by scoring 209 in 158 balls with the help of

stunning 16 sixes. From Australian side Faulkner

scored the fastest century of ODI in 57 balls. Rohit

Sharma was declared man of the match and man of

the series.

Along with this Virat Kohli is declared as No.1

Batsman in international cricket ranking.He scored

total 344 runs with an average of 114.66.He jumped

by 3 points after the series and secured no.1

position. Shikar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are

under top 20 of this list.

WTA placed Sania in top 10 in world women's

doubles ranking

- Prachi Sharma

In latest WTA ranking declared in October 2013, Sania th th jumped from 11 to 9 position. She won two

consecutive titles of Pan pacific and China open in

month of October and thus consecutively stepped up by

positions in World ranking. Number one ranking is

shared by Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani. Both the ladies

belong to Italy.

IBL- Hyderabad Hotshots became first winner.

The IBL tournament was inaugurated in New Delhi in

August. This tournament offered the highest prize

money ever for any badminton tournament in world. The

Prize money was amount of 1000 US dollar which was

given to Saina Nehwal as winner of the women's

singles.

Hyderabad Hotshots won the first Indian Badminton

League title 2013.Hyderabad Hotshots won over

Awadhe warriors in the final clash.The match was

played in Sardar Patel stadium, Mumbai.

For women's title Saina Nehwal for Hyderabad Hotshots

won over PV Sindhu and for Men's title Gurusai Dutt

deafeted by Ajay Jayaram.

ITF Doubles 2013: Sanam Singh and

Vijayant Malik won the title.

ITF Men's future Tennis doubles tournament had been

organized this October 2013.

The title was won by Sanam Singh and Vijayant Malik

of India .The title winners awarded with an amout of

US dollar 15000 .They won against Evan King of USA

And Costin Paval of Romania by 7-6, 6-4.

PV Sindhu secured bronze in BWF

world championship 2013.

Indian badminton player P V Sindhu secured a Bronze

in BWF Championship 2013.She was defeated by

Ratchanok Inthanon in semifinals. She became the

third Indian Player after Prakash Padukone and

Ashwin Ponnappa to win a medal in BWF world

championship.Ratchanok Intanon of Thiland won

Gold and Le Xuirui of China finished with silver medal.

Junior Women Hockey world cup 2013: India

brought home first bronze medal.

Indian women hockey has a bright future, clear

indications are given by Junior Women Hockey team

when they brought the first bronze medal to India in

junior hockey. India won the match against England in

penalty shootout by 3-2. The tournament was

organized in Monchengladbach, Germany this July

.Netherlands leads the tournament with gold and

Argentina finished with Silver. Indian vice –captain

and forward Rani declared as player of the

tournament.

Archery world cup (Stage 3): thIndians at 4 position.

Archery World cup was organized this year in July in

Colombia. Indians finished fourth by winning one gold

and two bronze. Deepika Kumari won gold and a

bronze for India while she paired with Antanu Das to

win another bronze against Mexico in mixed team.

She managed 4 perfect 10s against China to win gold

for her team.

T-20 international series: Indian women team

won against Bangladesh:

Women Cricket team of India Won the T-20 series with a

fantastic victory of 3-0 against Bangladesh. The last

match of the series was played in Vadodra in which

India won by 10 runs against Bangladesh. Bangladesh

was chasing a target of 129 but finished with 113/7 in

twenty over.

India looses series by 1-2.

India although won the third and final match against

Pakistan in Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi but lost the

series 1-2 against Pakistan. Matches Played at

Chennai and Kolkata were won by Pakistan.The

series was played in early Jan 2013.

Overall the year was satisfactory for Indian athletes

and sportspersons and given the clues that India is

growing as sporting nation accepting new

challenges.

People

Bhawana Verma*Photographer

1.How did photography became your passion and profession?I always had the quest to learn something new and I started photography just for fun. I was fortunate to have met my mentor Ashok Salian under whose guidance I learnt the art of photography which gradually became my passion and now a profession.

2.How do you educate yourself to take better photographs?I like experimenting and exploring something new, be it with lights or creating new looks. In fact, my quest to learn something new got me into doing different kinds of photography be it street, candid, beauty or fashion. So in a way this quest of trying out new things helped me in understanding what kind of photography I enjoy the most. Besides this, I like to keep myself updated about new fashion trends. I also like to take feedback from my mentor whenever possible.

3 . H o w w o u l d y o u describe your style?How long have you been a photographer?My Style is Candid and I enjoy capturing people the most. As I specialize in beauty and fashion photography I like to add this element of candidness to capture the uniqueness of my subject. I started photography 3 years back when my hubby gifted me my first dslr camera. The journey from b e i n g a n a m a t e u r s t r e e t photographer to becoming professional fashion photographer

4.If you had to choose one lens which would it be and why?My favorite lens is 85mm. It is a great lens to capture portraits.

5 .What would you advice to the young photographers?Try everything. Fashion, Photojournalism, portraiture, nudes, whatever. You won't know what kind of photographer you are until you try it. Besides t h i s , u n d e r s t a n d t h a t photography is an art and a creative person first develops passion for his talent then his talent may get him commercial work. So first try to develop the passion for photography before you think of making it your profession.

has been beautiful. I would like to thank my hubby for always encouraging me and my mentor for his guidance and blessings.

/bhawanavermaphotography

bhawanaverma11@gmail.com

Contact:

An ace Photographer with speciality in styles: Fashion, Portrait, Candid, Interior and

Travel.

STILLS exclusive Interview with

Bhawana Verma:

We at STILLS are excited to present to you an exclusive short interview of one of the rising ace photographers of our country - Bhawana Verma. One look at her website or facebook page will impress you; We guarantee!

Photography is all about capturing that perfect slice of time and aesthetics. Why do we take photos? To capture memories, to capture moments, to tell stories and tocommunicate with others. Why do we need photographers? Or why we are debted to them as a society? the answer is they help meet the needs of our community. It’s about giving people a visual reminder of their beauty and dignity. It’s about making individual connections with others who deserve it. It’s about really seeing people – the lens is just a tool to facilitate that connection. Photography is a very challenging and creative field and we at STILLS immensely respect all photographers!

thanks Bhawana Verma to take time out for this Interview! STILLS

www.bhawanaverma.com

With a Master's degree in Computer Application Bhwana Verma could have landed on a job with one of the software giants, but she had art of photography as her muse, in her mind and heart. She chose to create magic with camera and made a profession out of her passion.

Enthusiastic and bubbling with ideas, Bhawana has lent her creative skills to a large number of assignments that include fashion photography, model portfolio, magazines, catalogs for eminent designers and celebrities.

Enhancing Creativity, Nurturing Humanity and Building Lives, such great things are promised at most of the NGOs but very very few of them benefit society and leave an impact. One such organization is the Swapn Organization located in Delhi. Swapn is a marathi word meaning “Dream” and the organizations motto is to fulfil dreams. They work with underprivileged children and women, equipping them to better deal with the future. Swapn as an organization is tirelessly working to live up to its name and promise of making dreams come true. Their contribution and successful events in the society testify their perseverance, honesty and hardwork. If you really want to donate your hard-earned money ensuring it's worthwhile or contribute to the society by participating, you have found the right place.

The two main pillars and essence of the organization's vision are Dr. Rachna Khanna Singh and Khushi Soni who come from very distinct professional fields. As a musician, one understands and appreciates the flourish of creativity and its importance in an individual's life. As a medical and mental health professional, the other brings a perspective and a different life experience to the table. Together, they both acknowledge the cathartic value of music & art and the power it holds in shaping one's life. In an effort to give back to the society, they envision a more constructive social environment and the exigent need to turn this vision & dream into a reality! As we know, the present situation of the under privileged class of India is pitiabler wherein people, especially children and women are reluctant to even dream, let alone trying to fulfil them. Swapn helps them in daring to dream and harness their potential in order to create a bright future for India.

Events conducted by Swapn:*Eye Care Camps

These camps provided people with free of cost eye

check-ups and spectacles. About 4,848 people have

visited the camps where 1,614 spectacles have

been provided to them and 637 cataracts have been

diagnosed by the camp doctors.

*Donation in Kind

Swapn distributed blankets to Earth Servers, NGO,

Blind School and Basti People. Swapn also provided

food to blind children studying in Janta Andh Vidyalaya.

*Crisis Intervention Call

Their counsellors are also currently a part of the

Crisis Intervention Cell of the Delhi Police which

mainly looks at providing help via counselling to the

rape victims as well as their families. In this venture

our counsellors go to the site where the rape has

taken place and counsel the victims there.

*Mentorship

A group of privileged kids from SWAPN go to slums

regularly and mentored the children there for whatever little

our children can teach. Games: underprivileged children

are taught games like SCRABBLE, CHESS; Read Aloud

Stories: privileged kids read out moral stories in english and

hindi to underpriviliged children; Art and Clay Modelling is

also taught. Many reputed schools have been a part of this.

*Uttrakhand Flood Relief Camps

Swapn helped the flood victims in Uttarakhand. So far 5

truck loads full of food, clothes, tents and other

necessities have been sent to Uttrakhand to help the

victims rehabilitate. Two of their team members were

placed in Uttrakhand constantly and were helping the

victims rebuild their homes.

*I LEAD INDIA

The I Lead India Youth Brigade is an activist programme

which is currently active in 27 cities of India & seeks to

mobilize the youth, between 18-24 years of age, to make

them agents of change. In every city 5 members are

selected as Youth Brigade who then brings about a change

under the able guidance of an experienced mentor.

The programs being enforced by the organization are:

*Healthcare: Education, Awareness and

Medical Service?Free health checkups

?Awareness and educational programs on

nutrition, hygiene, substance abuse and

sexual health etc

*Mental Health

?Assessment of mental health needs and

avenues for dealing with it

?Psychological counseling to develop and

strengthen coping strategies aimed at

addressing mental health needs.

?Alternative therapies like Art Therapy/

Music Therapy/ Play therapy

?Developing self expression and creativity

enhancement through various workshops

*Education

?Teaching via interactive means

?Formal education & classroom learning

?Outbound camps for experiential learning

*Personality Development

Encouraging all-round development through

training in

?Arts & Crafts

?Music

?Dance

?Theatre

?Sports

Swapn is always ready to welcome new

volunteers who would like to help them in their

mission by donating their time, energy and

skills. Volunteer opportunities are available in

the areas of Teaching, Project Development

and Management, Fund-raising, Marketing,

Corporate Social Responsibility, Information

Technology, Graphic Design, Counselling and

other various areas.

CONTACT SWAPN:

Dr. Rachna K. Singh: +919810021945

Khushi Soni: +919899151515

Support them in a new project or ongoing

initiative with your:

1.Time – become a volunteer and also

involve your employees

2.Energy & Expertise – teaching, technical

skills, organizing events/campaigns, etc.

3.Funding – they require both monetary

funding as well as supplies/resources (ex:

stationary, computers, building space for

our education centres, etc.)“Sometimes giving a hand to someone could mean the world to them.”

*Flash Mob

As a supporting hand towards the flood victims, SWAPN

organized the FLASH MOB with over 150 privileged and

underprivileged children. It was the First Ever Children's

Equality Flash Mob of the world. Intention was to make

the children aware of the Uttrakhand Floods as well as

make them sensitive by bringing the children together in

support of the victims. Through their endeavour they

hoped to impart a sense of equality, humanity and

cohesiveness among the children.

People Enhancing creativityempowering children

*Public- Police PartnershipAn ongoing project with the Delhi Police in which

workshops are being conducted for Police Officials at

all levels. It has been covered in various media

channels. So far the 20 workshops have been

conducted with over 700 officials.

*Book.art (an art exhibition by the children for the

children)

An exhibition was put up of the canvases painted by kids,

where in the art pieces were displayed and put for sale.

Post the exhibition the money collected was utilized in

bringing stationary kits for 100 underprivileged children.

*Self- Development Workshop in Restaurants

Workshops are being conducted for the personality

development as well as communication skills

enhancement of people from lower strata of the society

and working in the hospitality industry

*Devils circuit

A 5 km race with Mud, freezing water, fire, ropes, concrete

wall that block one's path. The course was designed to test

the participant's endurance, strength and spirit.

*Garba dandiya rass

The event graced by traditional folk garba dancers, who

alongwith performance also took a workshop each day

for teaching people garba. Small stalls were put up

exhibiting handicraft work of the rural women from

Rajasthan. The money collected from the event was

further utilized.

Travel This demanding 15- day (168km, 104mi) slog

through Corsica is legendary for the diversity of

landscapes it traverses. There are forests, granite

moonscapes, windswept craters, glacial lakes,

torrents, peat bogs, maquis, snow-capped peaks,

plains and névés (stretches of ice formed from

snow). But it doesn't come easy: the path is rocky

and sometimes steep, and includes rickety bridges

and slippery rock faces – all part of the fun. Created

in 1972, the GR20 links Calenzana, in the Balagne,

with Conca, north of Porto Vecchio.

GR20, FRANCE:

This 33km (20mi) ancient trail was laid by the

Incas and is currently traversed by thousands

each year. The trail leads from the Sacred

Valley to Machu Picchu winding its way up and

down and around the mountains, taking three

high passes en route. Views of white-tipped

mountains and high cloud forest combine with

the magic of walking from one cliff-hugging

ruin to the next – understandably making this

South America's most famous trail.Inca Trail, Peru

Reaching a height of 5,545m (18,193ft) at Kala

Pattar, this three-week trek is extremely popular with

those who want to be able to say, 'I've been to the

base of the world's highest mountain'. The difficult

trek passes undeniably spectacular scenery and is

trafficked by Sherpa people of the Solu Khumbu. The

heights reached during this trek are literally dizzying

until you acclimatise to the altitude, and the

continuous cutting across valleys certainly has its ups

and downs.

Everest Base Camp, Nepal

Fewer folk trek on the Indian side of the world's

greatest mountain range. So, if isolation's your

thing try trekking in Himachal Pradesh. Hardcore

hikers can try teetering along the mountain tops

for 24 days from Spiti to Ladakh. This extremely

remote and challenging walk follows ancient

trade routes. The bleak high-altitude desert

terrain inspired Rudyard Kipling to exclaim,

'Surely the gods live here; this is no place for

men'.

Indian Himalayas, India

STILLS BESTTrekking locations of

the world!

'The land of the Dogon people' is one of Africa's

most breathtaking regions. A trek here can last

anywhere between two and 10 days, and takes in

the soaring cliffs of the Bandiagara escarpment

inlaid with old abandoned cliff dwellings. Dogon

villages dot the cliffs and are an extraordinary

highlight of the journey. The Dogon are known for

their masked stilt dancers, intricately carved

doors and pueblo-like dwellings built into the side

of the escarpment.

A 26km (16mi) journey through dramatic canyons

carved over centuries by the Virgin River, the Narrows

in Zion National Park is a hike like no other. The route

is the river, with over half of the hike spent wading and

sometimes swimming. The hike can be traversed in a

day, though some choose to take the hanging gardens

and natural springs at a more leisurely pace –

spending a night at one of the park's 12 camp

grounds.

Leading from Chamonix in France through the

southern Valais to Zermatt in Switzerland, the

Haute Route traverses some of the highest and

most scenic country accessible to walkers

anywhere in the Alps. The summer Haute Route

walk (which takes a different course than the

more famous winter skitouring route) takes

around two weeks to complete. It mainly

involves 'pass hopping' and demands a high

level of fitness, with every section containing a

high huff factor.

The Haute Route, France-Switzerland

The Narrows, USA

Pays Dogon, Mali Tasmania's prehistoriclooking wilderness

is most accessible on the 80km (50mi,

five- to six-day) Overland Track. Snaking

its way between Cradle Mountain and

Lake St Clair (Australia's deepest natural

freshwater lake), the well-defined path

(boardwalked in parts) passes craggy

mountains, beautiful lakes and tarns,

extensive forests and moorlands. Those

who want more can take numerous side

walks leading to waterfalls, valleys and

still more summits including Mt Ossa

(1,617m, 5,305ft) – Tassie's highest.

See the stunning subalpine scenery

of New Zealand's South Island

surrounding this medium three-day

(32km, 20mi) track. At the base of

New Zealand's Southern Alps, the

track passes through two national

parks: Fiordland and Mt Aspiring.

Highlights include the views from

Harris Saddle and atop Conical Hill –

from where you can see waves

breaking on the distant beach. The

main challenge for this popular hike

is actually securing a place among

the limited numbers who are allowed

on the track at any time.

This corridor of ice leads to the colossal

peak of K2 (8,611m, 28,251ft), the world's

second-highest peak. This incomparable

trek traverses some of the most humbling

scenery on the planet. What begins

following icy rivers boldly goes to the guts

of the glacier before leading to the granite

pyramidal mountains including Paiju

(6,610m, 21,686ft), Uli Biaho (6,417m,

21,053ft), Great Trango Tower (6,286m,

20,623ft) and ultimately K2. If the 15 days

doesn't floor you, take side trips to more

moraine-covered glaciers.

Overland Track, Australia

Routeburn Track, New Zealand

Baltoro Glacier & K2, Pakistan

Lifestyle Best places to eat

around the world for Christmas

We at are diehard foodie lovers and we

truly comprehend the value of the best dishes in

our lives. Christmas is the opportunity that

permits everyone to eat the best and exotic food

without carrying any guilt. Christmas is the

occasion when people like me spend time with

friends and families, enjoying the togetherness

with festive feasts that include delicious cakes

and best wine…no doubt.

So, for all people who are international foodies,

we are presenting the complete list of best

restaurants from all around the world that serve

tempting, delicious recipes for every Christmas

Eve and New Year.

Here is the list of the best places for your taste

buds during Christmas holidays:

Restaurant name: Duck & Waffle

Place: City of London

Duck & Waffle is famous for its hearty Christmas

meal like Bbq-Spiced Crispy Pig Ears, Smoked

Cow Ricotta salad and Pumpkin Arrancini. Some

more tasty delicacies like Jerusalem Artichoke

Tortelli and Spicy Ox Cheek will guarantee

titillate your taste buds.

Restaurant name: Dishoom

Place: Navi Mumbai, India.

Celebrate your Christmas in purely mumbai

style with palatable and exotic taste. All time

favorite starters such as Pav Bhaji, Vegetable

Samosa and Keema Pav. Mains include some

toothsome dishes like Turkey Naan, Paneer

Tikka and above all the infamous Biryani that will

really give you a glimpse of Indian delicacies. To

experience Christmas fully with a twist, try their

traditional Christmas pudding and the ultimate

Indian sweet Kulfi will tantalize your taste buds

with utmost flavors.

STILLS Restaurant name: Amici Miei

Place: Shoreditch

If you love traditional Italian delicacies such as

Pumpkin Flan with Raschera Founde, Duck Terrine

with Crostini Bread and Caramelized Onion then

you should visit Amici Miei for a delicious feast.

Indulge yourself in divine home made desserts

such as Sicillian Cassata served with Almonds,

Mint and Hot Chocolate sauce.

Restaurant name: Neighborhood

Place: San Diego

Serve excellent appetizers and specializes in

sipping whiskey with great beer selection. It

provides pretty good value for beer and food. The

mood inside is incredibly hip, progressive and

concurrently comfortable.

Restaurant name: Gaylord

Place: Oxford Street, London

Gaylords is the only place in London where you can

find true Indian food in very fine ambiance. Their

paneer tikka and black dal are lip smacking. Soft

butter chicken made in cream and expensive

spices just melts in your mouth. Tamarind mojito

is interesting and out of the world. One thing you

will find very unique that they serve fresh coconut

water, something that is unusual in

restaurants…..so they not only cares for your

craving but your skin as well…(Bonus for girls….)

Restaurant name: Greek on the Green

Place: Brazil

You can enjoy Christmas like never before as they

ready to arm up your day and night with their

finest delectable Greek food. You can enjoy your

meal with the glass of decent wine. The excellent

vibes of the interior will give you a soothing and

relaxing feeling of vacations.

Restaurant name: Meze Meze

Place: North Finchley

They are the best in offering Mediterranean cuisine

delights such as hummus, kisir, tabule and other

dips. Their Lamb Shish, salmon kebab, kofte are

simply appetizing. Try their famous Baklava to end

your year in an earthy, exotic and Mediterranean

way.

Restaurant name: Hunan Gourmet

Restaurant; Place: Columbus

This restaurant has a wide menu selection with

soothing ambiance that appeals to the guests. Hot

and sour was great. Shrimp egg foo young was

excellent. Chicken with string beans, Szechuan

scallops are also yummylecious. Their lo mein type

dishes are terrific and Mongolian beef is great too.

Hunan tofu is very presentable and colorful with

broccoli, red peppers, onions, mushrooms and the

spicy sauce that bring life to a vegetable dish. They

have their traditional dragon dance once a year on

Chinese New Year.

Restaurant name: Hazev

Place: London

Hazev is the staple of life that serves the bestest

Turkish food. Their enormous platter include

grilled meats, minty and fresh salads and

tabbouleh, tempting sausages, tomato based

smoky meat, large bowls of creamy hummous,

plenty of warm fresh bread and always

compulsory to serve the bowl of spicy chilli sauce.

Wait…this is not all….you will also get the finest of

wines that are served in ultra reasonable price.

CAKEAnd now it is time to soothe your sweet tooth. I

know that no festival is complete without sweets

and when we are taking about Christmas how is it

possible to forget the cake..

Bakery: Macrina bakery

Place: Seattle

This bakery is world famous for its Macrina's Red

Velvet Cake. Buttermilk is the secret ingredient to

create this moist red cake. It comes in four tasty

slices adorn by a not-so-sweet white chocolate

cream cheese icing. It will entice your taste buds

and you will forget everything for its super soft

texture.

We are sharing the secret recipe with STILLS

readers for one of the best cakes of the world.

FOR THE CAKE: 6 large eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1

teaspoon, vanilla essence, 4 ounce melted

unsweetened baking chocolate & 1 cup sifted flour.

Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until thick

and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Alternately fold

chocolate and flour into the egg mixture, ending

with flour. Pour the batter into 3 8-inch cake pans

that have been well greased and floured. (Do not

use oil to grease the pans: use butter or Crisco or a

similar solid fat). Bake the layers in a preheated

350 degree F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until a

cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool cakes in pans for 5 minutes; then carefully

turn out on racks and allow to cool completely.

FOR THE SYRUP: ¼ cup sugar, 1/3 cup water & 2

tablespoon Kirsch. Make syrup by mixing together

sugar and water and boiling for 5 minutes. When

syrup has cooled, stir in kirsch. Prick the cake

layers and pour syrup over all 3 layers.

FOR THE FILLING: 1½ cups confectioner's icing

sugar, 1/3 cup unsalted butter, 1 large egg yolk & 2

tablespoon Kirsch. To make the butter-cream

filling, beat together sugar and butter until well

blended. Add egg yolk; beat until light and fluffy,

about 3 to 5 minutes. Fold in Kirsch.

CAKE ASSEMBLY: For toppings, use 2 cups

drained canned sour cherries & whipped cream.To

assemble cake, place 1 layer on a cake plate.

Spread with butter cream filling. Using 3/4 cup of

the cherries, which have been patted dry, drop

cherries evenly over cream. Place second layer on

cake. Repeat. Place third layer on top. Fold 2

tablespoons confectioners' sugar into the whipped

cream. Cover the sides and top of the cake with

whipped cream.

We hope you have a great time making it.

Wishes you all a Merry Christmas!

STILLS

STILLS