Gaurav Live - Where Tech meets Life

NZXT Gamma PC Cabinet Review

gaurav — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:10:34 +0000

Cabinet is an integral part of your rig. Not only it houses all the components but also helps in safeguarding them. Most of the folks don’t think much when it comes to buying a cabinet. Often the cabinet is purchased from the amount left after spending on hardwares. While getting a new rig, I spent considerable thought in getting a decent cabinet. A search in local shop revealed that most of the good cabinets fell in the price bracket of Rs.4000 INR plus. I was willing to spend Rs.2500 at the most. I decided to rule out cabinets from iBall, Circle and other cheap brands as they are nothing more than a pile of plastic. Their construction is very poor and don’t look pleasing either.

Eventually, I narrowed down on three cabinets – Zebronics Bijli, Cooler Master 310 and NZXT Gamma. Zebronics though not a good brand but still their Bijli cabinet had roared to success owing to being decent case at just a touch above Rs.1000(without SMPS). The Zebronics Bijli is an all black perforated cabinet with a blue LED fan on the front. The side panel houses two fans to aid in cooling. The innards are roomy enough for most of the hardwares. This is a good cabinet for someone on a tight budget but I decided to rule it out as the recent lot had a thinner metal which is not good as it bends with even a slight pressure. I even felt the two fans on side panel did absolutely nothing to help air circulation. They were just added for the sake of it. Another factor was the cabinet had began to bore me as it has became really popular. Coming on to Cooler Master 310, is a cabinet which has somewhat debateable aestethics. Some may like the smooth plastic work while others will find it cheap(including me). The cabinet is better than Zebronics Bijli but falls short on features. It doesn’t has ability to add fans on top or side panel neither it has anything which could pursuade users to purchase it. The price of Rs.1700 doesn’t does helps either. Finally comes the NZXT Gamma Cabinet. Haven’t heard much about the brand, I headed over to their site & got to know these folks make gamer cabinets. The NZXT Gamma is an all black cabinet with a weird front design(again debateable). There is even an unofficial transparent side-panel version in NZXT Gamma which retails for around Rs.2400 which is Rs.400 more than the original non transparent version. I got the original one without the side tranparent panel. I wasn’t impressed by the looks but the specifications floored me down.

The NZXT Gamma comes with,

# Ability to add upto six fans(One rear fan included).

# Ability to mount water radiator if you plan on using water cooling kits.

# 4 External 5.25″ Drive Bays.

# 6 Internal 3.25″ HDD Bays.

# 7 Expansion Slots.

# Screwless Hard-Disk Bays.

# ATX & Micro ATX Support.

# All Black Interiors.

# Cable Management.

# E-Sata Port on Front Panel.

Unboxing:

The NZXT Gamma comes in a fairly huge brown carton. Upon opening the box, you can see the cabinet sandwiched between two styrofoam supports to prevent it from bumping up. The main cabinet comes wrapped in a plastic bag while the accessories like HDD mount plates,thumb screws, user manual are neatly tucked in a small brown box which is further cleverly kept inside the cabinet.

Construction:

The Cabinet feels sturdy as it is made up of steel. It weighs six kilograms which testifies the good quality of materials used. The side panels do not bend upon inserting pressure neither the inner shells. There are four small legs which keep ground clearance to aid in air circulation from the bottom mounted SMPS. Finally the all black interiors & exteriors lend a superb feel to the cabinet. This makes it apt for a gaming rig or for those who like to show off.

Functionality:

Being a fairly big cabinet, there were no space issues inside once I installed all the components. Since the cables were routed from bottom of the motherboard, cable clutter inside the cabinet was much less. It could be further tucked up with the use of some ties & stick-ups. Overclockers will be delighted with the ability to add upto six fans & even a water cooling kit as the NZXT Gamma comes with pre-drilled holes for water pipes. The thumb screws & HDD mount plates make for easy installation of hardware as the need of screwdriver is kept to minimum. As I said before the black interiors lend it a rich feel to the cabinet. I was surprised to see it as most of the budget cabinets don’t come with any finish. Even the mid end, Cooler Master 690 lacks the internal black finish. The bottom of the cabinet has a dust filter(removable & washable) beneath the SMPS mount. There is also another dust filter beneath the front panel. Its great to know that the manufacturers have put thought to every slightest details.

Coming to the front panel, the cabinet has a horizontal blue LED light which looks cool when you power on. The power and reset switch are rested on the outline on front which are difficult to spot. The HDD activity LED rests below the two switches & blinks yellow instead of the usual red. The yellow LED used here is so dim that it will go unnoticed(as it did for me) for the most. I wonder what was the manufacturer thinking. Besides the switches are the Audio & Headphone jacks, two USB ports alongwith an E-Sata port(again not found in budget cabinets).

The bottom front is grilled so as to allow air circulation upon installation of fan. Though the USB ports appear to be located closely but I found no problems in connecting to fat pendrives. I only wish if it had four USB ports as most connect multiple devices simultaneously. Offcourse the ports were USB 2.0 certified as can be seen from the performance. I think mounting an LED fan under the front grill would boost the ‘WOW’ factor of this already killer looking cabinet.

Conclusion:

No surprises here. The NZXT Gamma has it all plus few bonuses to beat its competitors. Actually nothing comes close to the NZXT Gamma at its price range or even at a notch above. NZXT has build an awesome product & I’m sure it will bag huge profits in the coming times with the Gamma. If you’re buying a cabinet under Rs.3,000 then I think the NZXT Gamma is the best bet. Throw in some fans or mod the side panel to a transparent one & you have one hell of a case. Highly Recommended!

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My New Rig!

gaurav — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:16:55 +0000

Eventually I parted ways with my first love. No, I’m not talking about love for any girl but that of my computer. My old Pentium 4 rig which just celebrated its sixth anniversary now lies box packed into a corner of my home making way for my new rig. Six years is too long especially in computer technology where new stuff is announced every week perhaps even every other alternate day. The old rig though was working fine but still with the advent of resource hungry softwares it use to fell way behind in crunching numbers. This demanded for a good rig within a modest budget.

I researched day in & day out, paid uncountable trips to Lamington road, spent considerable time waiting for funds to get accumulated & eventually got my new rig just a week ago. I got the whole rig for Rs.36,400. The specifications are as follows.

# AMD Phenom II X4 955 B.E
# Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H
# G-Skill 2*2GB 1600MHZ DDR3 CL9
# Palit GTS 250 1GB
# Western Digital 500GB Hard Disk
# Corsair VX450W Power Supply
# NZXT Gamma Cabinet

It feels nice to jump from into an era of multi-core processors, super fast memories & turbo charged graphic processing units. The whole week has fled past with friends & colleagues paying a visit to my home to watch my new rig. Apart from this I’m enjoying to my heart’s content playing HD videos, HD games & using Linux on my new system. After using my P4 rig, suddenly it feels as if I’m flying as most of the apps launch in a jiffy & that too without making any fuss. A big chunk of thanks goes to CHIP forum members who guided me correctly in the quest of getting the perfect rig. I’m elated!

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Dell S2409W LCD Monitor Review

gaurav — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:09:29 +0000

My old CRT monitor had started to show signs of ageing & so purchasing a new monitor was on cards. Today, the heavy CRT monitor’s have become extinct due the cheap manufacturing costs involved in LCD technologies. One can today easily get an LCD monitor as big as 22inch comfortably under Rs.10,000. This means going for smaller models is useless unless one is on a tight budget.

I had some pre-requisites already thought in my mind for the new LCD monitor. First was, it should be big enough but not smaller than 22 inches. Next was, it had to be a Full HD(1980*1080 pixels) ready. Finally, it should have good color reproduction capabilities along with excellent contrast ratio. With the above criteria & a budget of Rs.10,000, I began my hunt for the LCD monitor.

After researching on online forums, I found that Samsung 2233SW & BenQ 2200HD were only two options within my budget. I had seen the Samsung 2233SW perform at a friend’s place. Not that I could term it mind blowing but neither it was too mediocre. The BenQ on the other hand was routed out as it had poor performance in comparison to Samsung 2233SW. I had no problems in getting the Samsung but then I wanted to go for a bigger monitor preferably an 24 inch one. After some more research, I found out none of the manufacturers to have an 24 inch LCD monitor under Rs.10,000. Samsung P2350(available for around Rs.13,000), a 23.5 inch stylish monitor but it wasn’t Full HD ready. This monitor is better than the Samsung 2233SW but I don’t understand why on Earth did Samsung left out Full HD resolution. Another choice was the Dell S2409W. This is an 24 inch Full HD LCD monitor with HDMI input in addition to the standard VGA & DVI. The monitor had excellent colour reproduction & contrast ratio which has been a signature of Dell’s LCD monitors. The Dell S2409W seemed to fit well but then it was priced at Rs.14,500 well above my budget. I was thrown in a crunch situation & I had two options – 1) Get the Samsung 2233SW like many others and stay happy or 2)Increase my budget to accommodate the Dell S2409W and be future proof. After some convincing to my parents they agreed to increase the budget & I purchased the Dell S2409W at Rs.14,400. I had to shell out more as I needed the monitor right away & ordering from Dell would have taken time. Further I wanted to inspect the monitor with my eyes before purchasing.

Unboxing:

The Dell S2409W came in a huge box. Upon opening the box, the LCD panel was sandwiched between two thermocol supports to prevent damage during transit. The upper thermocol held the stand of the monitor along with VGA, DVI & power cable. I removed them all & found the Installation leaflet and CD at the bottom of the box.

Putting together:

I have gone through the pains of putting the stand on Samsung monitors. Once fixed, I wouldn’t think of dis-assembling them ever. To my delight, installing the stand of Dell S2409W was a child’s play. One just needs to put the stand & wind the screw at the bottom with hands, that’s all. The provided manual will help if you still are so dumb as to not get the assembly right. The stand is sturdy enough for such a huge monitor but the monitor stills wobbles a bit upon imparting shocks to the computer table.

Connectivity:

The Dell S2409W offers input in form of VGA, DVI & even HDMI. It comes bundled with VGA and DVI cable. Such flexible connectivity options are not only convenient but even future-proof. The Dell S2409W even includes audio ports so you can hook up with your speakers. I found this arrangement better than including tiny speakers on LCD panel which sound like cheap Chinese radios.

Onscreen Menu, Auto Correction & Power Saving:

The onscreen menu is well categorized and has much better aesthetics than those on other brands. The ‘Auto Correction’ works perfectly & it correctly set the POST characters in place which were running out of the screen. The monitor incorporates power saving feature which will help you in keeping your electricity bills down. If the monitor fails to detect any input or after a brief spell of inactivity, the Dell S2409W automatically goes in power saving mode.

Performance:

Having paid a higher price, I just hoped that the Dell S2409W doesn’t perform like any average monitor. To my delight, it didn’t. The visual experience was best I have experienced till now on computer monitors. This LCD panel showed rich contrast along with accurate color. There were no signs of over-saturation. The huge 24 inch panel made me feels as if I’m sitting in front of my T.V. In comparison with the LCD panel on my Dell Inspiron 15 laptop, the S2409W beated it with ease. I played 720p videos & they were a treat to watch on such a monstrous screen. Single CD rips look fine but still tearing is highly evident. The two CD rips looked far better & enjoyable. Gaming on this monitor was an absolute delight but I could not try the beasts like Crysis or Grid owing to a weak system. The best out of this monitor will come once I get my new rig. To sum up, the Dell S2409W performs wonderfully at default factory settings. I’m yet to calibrate this monitor which will mean further improvement in visual quality.

General Office Work:

Office work generally includes working with spreadsheets, word processors, browsers etc. The default setting backed by superb contrast ratio made each & every alphabet perfectly legible. But this came with a side effect – My eyes began to water after sometime(Maybe they are too sensitive). Due to this I pulled down the contrast & brightness sliders till I was comfortable. Browsing websites was a treat due to the large screen area. Even the desktop looked far less cluttered due to the huge size of Dell S2409W. I particularly enjoyed using ‘Tile’ effect in Compiz Fusion on Linux which tiles all the open apps. I don’t now feel the need for ‘workspaces’ as I have enough space to work with many applications, docks, toolbars etc.

Conclusion:

The Dell S2409W performs superbly. Accurate colors and very good contrast ratio make it a perfect choice for your HTPC/Gaming rig. Only gripe is the steep price but still it does justify the stellar performance of this wonderful monitor. Anyone who is in search for a big LCD monitor with multiple connectivity options should take a serious look at Dell S2409W. Highly Recommended!

Pros:

# Superb Performer

# Multiple Connectivity Options

Cons:

# Somewhat Expensive

# Stand could have been better

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My Computing Voyage – From Windows to Linux!

gaurav — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:02:20 +0000

Exactly six years ago, a young boy was introduced to the world of computers. Back then he was very excited & celebrated the night when the brand new computer arrived at his doorstep. The whole family was jubiliant & so was he. The computer was loaded with Windows 98 & that’s how the little boy entered into this computer arena. For the first two years or so, the boy new nothing other than playing games on the computer. At that time, he felt like becoming a diehard gamer as his friend was a factory of games. He played on for two years but then lost interest in them. This was due to the realisation of the fact that computer is not a gaming device but an educational device.

As two years passed on in cops pursuits & bullet banging, the third year introduced the whole new world which we call ‘Internet’ to this little fellow. He convinced his mom to get a dialup modem so that he could surf as per his wish. Unaware of downloading charges, he went out of bounds & surfed to his heart content in the beginning but later on he started to keep a tab on his surfing habits. Primarily, he was attracted to downloading new version of softwares on the Internet. As time progressed, he came to know about online forums & blogs. He registered on one such forum which led to a chain which is still growing long. He enjoyed helping others over forums & also reading reviews of computer hardware. In the meanwhile, he also learnt other things like chatting, torrents, blogging etc. Gradually, he developed a passion for ‘Computers’ & its related technology & thus he decided to plunge into this field whole heartedly. He started blogging about computers & even before he could realise, his knowledge of Computers had reached an astounding level. His friends & colleagues, started calling him ‘Tech Geek’ & even consulting him before purchasing any computer component become a routine chore. The knowledge was increasing rapidly but still this little boy choose not to brag about it & helped only when asked upon.

One day his computer went kaput & so he called a computer technician to check the problem. As the computer technician went to do his job, this little boy failed to keep mum & started muttering about the computer innards. The computer guy was impressed by his computer knowledge at such a ripe age & so he advised, “You can troubleshoot the computer all by yourself. You have the knowledge. There is no need to call me the next time your computer goes kaput”. These words struck the boy hard & he then realised that he indeed was capable of troubleshooting on his own. He began to read technology magazines, tech blogs, tech articles in newspapers to be updated. Then arrived a stage where he felt the need to up the ante & thus he pledged to become a ‘Windows Master’. Slowly he reached the stage where he could be called ‘Windows Intermediate’. As he was just about to drown in the windows sea, he came to know about a niche project which we call the ‘Open Source’. His curiosity tempted him to digg further up & thus he started to like it. As time passed on, his interest in the windows field started to decline. This decline wasn’t because of concentration on Linux but because he started to think that “Mastering windows should be left out as I would never be able to purchase original windows softwares.” This guilt of using pirated windows & the subordinate software rose as he read further more articles about the Open Source Project. Then came the time which was expected – He wiped off the pirated Windows off his computer & installed Fedora Core 4 in its place. He registered on forums & started to use them so to increase his grip over Linux. Soon he began to try various Linux distros & finally decided to settle on Fedora. After devoting so much time to the Open Source, he felt that he should contribute in someway to this global phenomenon. But lack of programming skills made his journey difficult. So for time being he decided to open a Linux blog where he can share his knowledge with the world.

Time flew & now after six years, he has devoted himself fully to the world of Linux. Its not that he hates windows as some of his friends think. He does uses windows to get his dose of gaming & to satisfy his passion of designing Symbian themes. Now he wishes to be a “Linux Master”. Though far off from being called a master still he knows in his mind that one day he will surely reach this position. His funda(idea) now is to “Unlearn Windows & Learn Linux”. It’s a tough journey ahead & it would be interesting to see how I go through it. As I type this on my six year old computer, I’m feeling nostalgic to part away with this computer as it is the one which led me to Linux. The joy of getting a new fast computer sure is pleasurable but still I would definitely not forget these six years which have shaped my thinking. I hope you felt as great as I felt writing this piece of article & going back to those old computing memories. Hoping to have a good computing experience in the coming years.

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Punjab National Bank Phishing Email – Beware

gaurav — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:56:57 +0000

Online Phishing has graduated a lot in the recent years. The huge rise in such online exploits has become possible due to increase in online transactions. Now-a-days one can purchase anything or make transactions with their bank over the internet. Taking the advantage of this a group of exploiters has designed an email to steal bank credentials of people. An example of such recent attacks is attached below.

Even though I don’t have any account with Punjab National Bank, I received the above letter as a mail. The trick here is to panic the victim/tempt with a reward & make him click a hyperlink in the email to login to his bank account. Upon clicking the link, the user is taken to a forged site of the bank which forwards the user credentials to attackers mail as & when the victim enters them. The site though make look legitimate but it is not & you can find out as the browser won’t show it as a secure one(Padlock Icon).

Even if you have an account with Punjab National Bank do note click on any link in the email. Promptly delete any such mails or mark them as SPAM. Kindly convey this message across your friends & relatives for their safety.

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Mani’s Lunch Home – South Indian Delight in Mumbai

gaurav — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:43:30 +0000

Do you crave for steam idlis & crisy dosas with tangy sambhar? Are you the one of the kind who loves the South Indian cuisine like me? If yes then I can understand your plight of not finding an authentic South Indian food joint here in Mumbai. The South Indian dishes served in most of the city hotels don’t have the zing of a pure South Indian cook. But there is good news for all of us.

Located amidst a lonely lane near Ruia college exists a South Indian joint – Mani’s Lunch Home. You can reach there by getting down the Tilak bridge or by taking a left after getting down at Dadar(East). The place is small with only six tables but the ambience is really good. The staff is friendly so is the owner. Being primarily a South Indian eatery, Mani’s dishes out hot steamed idlis, fresh dosas & vadas right from 7′o clock in the morning. Unlimited Sambhar & Chutney is provided at no extra cost.

Mani’s Lunch Home is a perfect place to hit early in the morning. The pleasure of having steamed idlis with hot sambhar early in morning is out of this world. Though the menu doesn’t list a huge variety but you’re sure to get the essentials. Once again the highly affordable price means no budget worries. If you’re a South Indian food junkie then Mani’s is highly recommended. I think it’s far the best place where one can have lip smacking food & that too at a reasonable price.

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How to take a perfect Moon shot

gaurav — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:05:05 +0000

Moon is a beautiful body in our solar system. Its various phases are so picturesque that one often feels to capture its beauty with a camera. Capturing moon is not easy at it sounds & more often you will get nothing but a white orb if you don’t know the right technique to capture the moon. In this guide I’ll explain intricately to get a perfect moon shot which will elicit ‘wows’ from your friends & colleagues.

Zoom – As most of us own a simple, point & shoot camera we are limited with the amount of zoom. Don’t expect to see the craters of moon in your shots as seen on shots from the hubble telescope. You’ll most probably use the entire optical zoom offered by your camera unless you want to include surrounding objects too.

Focus – The moon being a small bright object will most likely confuse the auto focusing system of camera. In this case I advise to set the focus to manual & then set it to focus on infinity. If your camera doesn’t offers manual focus then you will have a hard time locking focus on the moon. Try refocusing till auto focus locks on.

Shutter Speed/Exposure – Shutter speed required in case of moon is generally a stop or two down over perfect exposure. This is since the moon is so far away & bright setting perfect exposure will blow it away i.e. Overexpose. So it is recommended to underexpose the moon to bring out the minutest details of the moon surface.

Aperture – Aperture doesn’t plays far too significant role in our example of moon shot. I have experimented and found mid values to be generally good over the extremes. My camera has maximum aperture of F 2.8 & minimum aperture of F 8.0. Here I use aperture value of F 4.0.

ISO – The ISO should be set to lowest possible. Since your frame will include a lot of dark night sky then bumping up the ISO levels will bring in more noise. So find a perfect balance of ISO based on Shutter Speed & Aperture.

Metering Mode – Since our subject, the moon is a small distant object surrounded by dark sky we need to use ‘Spot Metering’. Spot metering will ensure that our dark sky is well exposed keeping in consideration our small bright moon.

Apart from the above, I recommend using a tripod with camera set on self-timer to prevent camera shake. Now release the shutter & you should have a breath-taking shot of Moon.

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Welcome 2010!

gaurav — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:48:50 +0000

A few hours from now & we’ll step into a New Year altogether. A new year full of new opportunities, new dreams, new success stories all waiting to kiss us. The year 2009 is fading fast & soon it will be history.

What happened so far in this year has been a mixed bag. We must forget all the unfortunate & sad events & simply move on with renewed hopes & enthusiasm. Lets dream to fulfill what we could not accomplish this year. Lets try to be happier than the previous year. Let’s live & let live in harmony. Its easier said than done but it can be accomplished with a strong determination & will to succeed. Lets leave personal egos aside & shake hands with our stubborn enemies. Life is a journey which needs companionship during the course & one can definitely not survive the endurance journey without them. Together we can share our sorrows & happiness which will lead to a healty co-existence. Lets keep aside wealth & strive to help the needful in the coming year. Only after we do all the above can we say we have lived a fruitful year. Let’s begin!

Wish you all a Happy New Year 2010 filled with Joy, Happiness, Success & offcourse Gaurav Live

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Gambhir & Kohli dual tons seals the Karbonn Cup for India

gaurav — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:43:43 +0000

Indian team pulled off a comfortable win today at Eden Gardens, Kolkata after having made to chase a mammoth target of 316. India missing the services of Yuvraj Singh(Finger Injury) & captain cool M.S Dhoni(Fined) won the fourth ODI to take an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the Karbonn Cup.

After winning the toss, the Srilankan captain decided to bat. The decision was easy considering the openers going through the best phase of their careers. Tillekaratne Dilshan, the man who clobbered Indian bowlers all over the park was once again expected to deliver in the deciding game for the srilankans. Virender Sehwag, Indian captain added in a pre-match interview that to win the match we need to keep a check on Dilshan. Much to his delight his fellow bowlers obliged with a tight length keeping Dilshan in check. This made him to take a chance & thus he was caught when pulling one in the third man region. Virat Kohli took a superb forward diving catch to dismiss Tillekaratne Dilshan. Sanath Jayasuriya return to the side was smooth as he guided the very first ball he faced to the fence. He played fine shots but succumbed to Zaheer Khan outswinger. Sachin Tendulkar positioned cleverly in the first slip took a superb low catch. Upul Tharanga made the most of a dropped chance by Ashish Nehra & went ahead to score a ton. Some run-a-ball cameos by the middle order & poor bowling by the Indians saw Srilanka crossing the 300 mark inspite of a slow start.

To conquer the mammoth target of 316 runs, India needed a brisk start from Virender Sehwag & Sachin Tendulkar. Ironically both the openers failed to make any mark leaving fears of another embarrassing defeat. Enter, Gautam Gambhir & Virat Kohli. The duo worked in tandem to repair the innings with a 224 run partnership. Virat Kohli scored his first maiden century & that too when his country needed it. The srilankans bowlers tried best but none of them could do anything & in the end failed to defend such a big target. The credit goes to Gautam Gambhir & Virat Kohli who kept cool after coming at a sensitive stage. Their 200+ run stand comprised of 100 singles which signify risk free cricket. Owing to this the run-rate never grew beyond 7 R.P.O. Virat Kohli failed after getting to his ton but by that time India were already sniffing victory. The rest of the runs were knocked off by Dinesh Karthik & Gautam Gambhir. Gautam Gambhir reached 150 with a boundary which also sealed the match for India. India reached the target with 7 wickets in hand & with 11 balls to spare.

The win was special as it was achieved without their two star players – Yuvraj Singh & M.S Dhoni. Virender Sehwag would be a happy man as he marshalled his troops very well in two games & improving his stats as a captain by winning 4 out of 7 games played. Man-of-Match went to Gautam Gambhir who requested it to be awarded to Virat Kohli for getting his first maiden ton. Best bowler was awarded to Zaheer Khan who picked up two wickets in his 10 overs at an economy of 4.90. Now the last match in this 5 match ODI series is to be played on 27^th Decemeber on Sunday wherein India will look to keep their winning streak while Srilanka will play for pride.

Also with this post, I complete one hundred posts on my blog. A moment of joy & satisfaction for me. Looking forward to feeding you with more posts in coming times. Thanks for your support & co-operation. Wish you all a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year 2010.

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A Day Full of Surprises – Celebrating my 20th Birthday

gaurav — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:52:23 +0000

Who doesn’t like surprises? Today was a day which was full of surprises for me. It was my 20^th birthday today (5/12/2009) & this time it was thought to be a quiet affair but the way things turned out today have left me speechless.

As the clock struck midnight, calls & SMS’s started pouring from my dear friends. It wasn’t the thing I didn’t expect but this time the frequency was much higher than any of the earlier years. After the calls were finished, a close friend just like last year arrived down my building & gifted me a shirt. At that time the streets lights were not functioning & so the whole atmosphere was dark & I could barely see the face of my friend. Being December, it was a chilly night which I enjoyed to the hilt. We chatted for a while & then left for our respective homes.

The next day after getting up in the morning, I paid a visit to the Sitladevi mandir with my family. Upon returning home, I carried on with my usual ritual of sitting on my computer. The day felt just like any other day, only today I was working on my computer in shiny new clothes. My phone didn’t breathe a sigh of relief & was constantly made to work. Sadly my Loop network started acting up & I had to face a lot of call drops & cross-connections throughout the day. Each year in the evening, I spend time with my friends & we make sure the day goes great. This year though due to exams, most of my friends were busy with their studies & had notified me forehand that they won’t join me. I understood their plight & allowed them the much needed freedom.

Due to this I was prepared to spend the entire evening at my home in front of my computer. I tried out Fedora 12 LXDE in the afternoon & was reading up over the net about other linux distros. I checked up my Orkut, Facebook etc accounts & allover people were giving me their good wishes. It always feels nice to know that people wish you even they haven’t met you in real life. The whole afternoon passed in front of the computer & by the time I got up it was 6PM in the clock. Soon I got a knock on my door & I was surprised to see Kaustubh who had came to wish me again. We had a brief chat after which he left. I felt good to see him coming but wished he could have stayed for some more time. After Kaustubh left, I settled down on my chair to watch T.V. After a while my phone rang & hence I got up to pick it up. It was my friend Pragnesh. I received the call but even before I could say hello, Pragnesh disconnected the call. I thought it to be another disconnection & so with the thought of calling him back I proceeded to walk into my gallery. To my delight, I could see Pragnesh standing right out my door & smiling alongwith my close friends behind him. I welcomed them with a huge grin on my face & made them comfortable.

Since my friends arrived without any prior intimation, I had to make the needed arrangements as soon as possible. Gladly my family obliged and everbody lended a helping hand. Cake arrangement was made by my friends themselves so I had to take care of other refreshments. My dad pitched in with a huge bottle of Coca-Cola alongwith hot samosas & crunchy wafers. Then my mother prepared the aarti for me & put a tilak on my forehead. The cake was cut as my friends & family sang the birthday jingle. All the while my sister, took the camera & was seen snapping away. It was nice to have some pics of myself since as a photographer you rarely get a chance to come in the frame Later we settled down with refreshments chatting away. We had a good talk of about 30 minutes which even included opening the gifts, taking candid snaps, pulling each other legs & other things. The fun continued & then it was time for my friends to leave. I took out my camera & snapped some group photos outside my home & then thanked everybody for coming & making my birthday so special for me.

For those interested in the gifts I received – A handmade greeting card specially made for me by my dear sister. She even gifted me Better Photography magazine – December Issue. Sarvesh, Rahul, Vrushal, Saurabh & Pragnesh collectively gifted me a Monginis cake alongwith a wrist-watch & a cool sunglasses. Kaustubh gifted me a shirt. I loved them all & once again I never thought the gifts would turn out so interesting. Later I received yet another cake from my family – a lovely Blackforest. I didn’t expect this but then again it was so good on their part. I think I’m really blessed to have such a caring family.

It was a day which I turned out to be beyond my expectations. I would like to thank all my friends for coming inspite of their exams. You don’t get such good friends easily. I’m really lucky to get them. They have shown me today how much they care for me. The gifts aside it’s their Love for me which has touched my heart. I have had many rocking birthdays but I’ll keep this one at the top of them all since it was a lovely surprise & it showed how long can my friends & family go in the pursuit of my happiness. Hope the new year goes well for me with the blessings you have showered upon me. Love You guys

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