What: Get your own didgeridoo from the Didgeridoo Makers, visit their Facebook page here or call Sumit Singh on 09650360539, start at Rs 2,000 for a basic bamboo instrument.

Why: Because the ukulele is so 2012. Score one of these babies (rumored to be the first instruments on the planet, made by aboriginal Australians out of termite-ridden trees) and you’re sure to be crowned the new prince of Hipsterville – or at least Bandra. Sumit and his merry band at Didgeridoo Makers can customise one to your specifications and budget, working with rural families to hue it out of pinewood, bamboo, ash. They also make other hard-to-find instruments like djembe and rain sticks. Don’t miss the note on this one!

When: You want to just didgeridoo it.

Let's face it. You don't get much work done in December. So if you're getting off early or (finally) have Saturdays free, you might want to get behind a cause. New website Volunteer Mumbai urges Bombay folk to help out at after-school programs and at old age homes, and makes this possible by posting volunteer opportunities at NGOs across the city.

Ex consultant and regular do-gooder Saloni Behl started this project when she realised how "decentralised" the volunteer search process was, during a three-month sabbatical in India. Together with her sister Ruchi Behl, who also runs a non-profit called the Sanjeevani Project, she hopes to streamline the search process and connect volunteers instantly with their cause. 

Volunteer Mumbai allows you to search volunteer openings by time frame, NGO or cause, although this seems sort of pointless right now, because the NGO list on their website currently features just nine organisations including Akanksha, Dignity Foundation and Magic Bus. It's probably because they're new and we hope to see the list padded up soon. Even the blog that's supposed to provide news and stories about the non-profit sector, has a 'coming soon' sign on it.

Want to start ASAP? Start by checking their bulletin board that has six opportunities, which will have you teaching 8th and 9th graders after school and volunteering at a sports day for Akanksha kids. 

We'll see you at the finish line!

Getting there: Visit www.volunteermumbai.org, free.

The Store: Bring Monet

With its mad Peggy Guggenheim sunglasses, Bubbles bag pack and Buckyballs puzzle that contains the Earth’s rare magnets, the Guggenheim Museum store has been consistently rated among the best museum shops in the world.

Back home, the lovely Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (Byculla) has a new store too, but it’s far from Buckyballs. They’ve opened with the expected –art and photography books (starting at Rs 250), tote bags (Rs 400 approx), mugs (Rs 225), greeting cards (Rs 60 for a pack of 6) and logo T-shirts. If you’ve been to the more ambitious Prince of Wales Museum shop, this one will appear scantily stocked to you. But the products that are on sale, are prettily displayed like precious artifacts inside a table with a glass top and photo catalog, while the cups, greeting cards and bags are locked away in short, glass-door vintage teak cupboards.

We loved the mugs, especially those with photo prints of the museum's gorgeous stucco ceiling, golden arches, palisade and railings (the same prints are available as greeting cards too). But the market bags with their cheap plastic-y finish and the unimaginative black tees with museum logo made us wish a bigger and better batch of products was currently in production in some artist’s imagination. A  museum collaboration with a new artist every quarter to conceptualise products, would be nice. If you wish to buy, we suggest you bring cash, because using your card means walking all the way to the accountant’s office to swipe it.

The Café: The Last Supper

Right next door to the store is a tiny third-party owned, non-profit cafe that serves simple Indian food like vada and samosa pav, thali and sandwiches, all priced below Rs 200. Our evening snack consisted of the plain jane grilled chicken sandwich (Rs 60) and a tasty chicken kathi roll (Rs 100), mildly spicy and freshly prepared. We didn't mind the plastic furniture setting as much once we saw the cheery tall glass vases with white daises on every table. The café could be a place to get a quick bite during a museum visit, but it still has a long way to go (food and ambience-wise) before it demands a special visit, like Jehangir Art Gallery's Cafe Samovar.

In this weekly column, filmmaker Danish Aslam will be your purveyor of the finest quality random facts, useless trivia and other esoterica from the world wide web. He lives mostly behind a keyboard and may or may not be a wizened old green man who speaks in grammatically incorrect aphorisms. You can find more on his home page http://pictually.me/dontpanic

The Dark Knight Rises - Honest Trailer

This is going to be the last of the Dark Knight posts. I promise. Most definitely. For sure. Untilthenextonecomesalong. So the people over at Screen Junkies did another Honest Trailer and for this one, they nailed the third Nolan installment in his epic take on the caped crusader. Irrespective of whether you're a fan or not, these guys are good at pointing out logic loopholes while making you laugh. And they haven't disappointed this time round either. Have fun.'

Topsy-Turvy Rube Goldberg

I love a good Rube Goldberg machine. And just because you need to Google that to find out what it is doesn't mean you can't enjoy one too. And this one, created by the Canadian company 2D House, is a doozy. Just as you think that this is a fairly standard example of the type, the tables are flipped. Quite literally. For more of their work in this rarefied field, check out the Rube Goldberg section of their website. The fact that they have a Rube Goldberg section to their website makes them entirely deserving of that highest of modern linguistic acknowledgements: 'mad props'.

PS: This Honda ad ‘The Cog’ is another beautiful example of this setup used to drive home a point.

Selfies Through History

Selfies are that questionable subset of photographs inflicted upon us, thanks to the invention of the front-facing camera. While each new one taken mostly seems to further the hypothesis: 'How stupid can someone look while photographing oneself?' South African newspaper The Cape Times has managed to redeem this much-maligned genre somewhat. This series of ads takes famous historical moments and skews the perspective so that it seems that they were all selfies. Seamless work, and another example of a well-made ad.

Tech Porn

Do you have a lot of money to burn? Does the end of the year signify an opportunity to legitimately set ablaze that pile of cash in the pursuit of more material happiness? Does said material happiness translate into gadgets, electronics and other bad-ass tech goodies that make your inner android go 'Hallelujah'? Then this 100+ list curated by TIME of the year's best tech objects may be just what you need. If imminent bankruptcy is a desirable option in the near future. Read at your own risk.

To Russia With Love

Mathias Rust was 19 when he flew his Cessna from his home in West Germany all the way to Moscow to land in the Red Square. This was in 1987 - the height of the cold war - when Russia's air defence (and security paranoia) ranked among the best in the world. The resulting embarrassment for the Soviets led to a over a year in prison for the teenager and 150 people being sacked by Gorbachev, but 25 years later he looks back on the incident with no regrets. This BBC profile of Mathias and the incident that made him famous is a fascinating read.

It's The End Of The World and NASA's Not Happy

So according to the ancient Mayans, and Roland Emmerich, we've got another 11 days to go. We may be approaching the home stretch of jokes about December 21 and the coming apocalypse but NASA doesn't seem to find this funny at all. So much so that they've created a webpage helpfully titled Beyond 2012: Why the World Won't End to answer all your questions. So the next time someone comes to you with yet another "It's-definitely-the-end-of-the-world-dude-and-this-time-it's-true" story, you can point them to this and, hopefully, shut them up forever.

PS: Did you know that according to the same kooks who thought up the Mayan Armageddon, the only place on earth that will be safe is a tiny village in France called Bugarach, thanks to the magical powers of the local mountain, the Pic de Bugarach? I would be really interested in tracking the real estate prices there over the next couple of weeks.

15 Misleading Movie Posters

A good movie poster is a work of art. But what's even better is a movie poster that has absolutely no earthly connection with the movie that it's about. Cracked.com has put together a selection of 15 movie posters from around the world that defy logic, since what they focus on has no connection with the movie at all. Or if it does, it's as if the designers of the poster decided to watch just one scene from the movie and then step out for a walk while discussing the fine art of extrapolation. Either way, the results are hilarious. My personal favourite: The Spaghetti Godfather and the Satan's-Pooping-Into-My-Brain version of The Exorcist.

Remember that time we were right and you were wrong? Well, here’s a cool way to eat dirt.

Sign up for The Mud Rush, a February 2013 mud run, which is essentially a military style obstacle race in Kolad, a two hour drive from Mumbai. This is organised by mud run enthusiast Paras Turakhia - he quit his boring but cushy public sector job in the US - in collaboration with an event management company and an ex Indian army officer. Fall in line!

Paras, Je T’aime

The seven kilometre military-style race course has been designed by Captain Swaminathan of Z-bac Adventure, who conducts corporate training programs. Fraught with peril, it hosts obstacles like 30-foot hay stacks, water bodies, eight-feet barrier walls, 100 feet stretches of tires, 45 degree angled hills, fire, ice, barbed wire, and lots and lots of muck, of course. Hurdle mentality?

“Your stamina, endurance level and mental power will be put to the ultimate test,” says Paras, who has participated in six mud runs in the US. But he also adds that the aim of the race is not completion or competition, but to have a blast. You can register as a solo participant or as a team of maximum 20 people. "We encourage people to run in teams not only for moral support and encouragement, but to make the overall experience more fun!" They also recommend that you run for a cause, so you can wear a T-shirt bearing your company's logo, your favourite NGO or a brown paper bag. You know, because you were wrong and we were right.

And if you do complete the race, you will be given a finisher's shirt, a certificate and a bottle of beer. "We’re planning a sundowner later, with burgers, barbecue and music,” he says.

Paras’ Quick Mud Run Tips

You don’t have to be super athletic to participate, but this race isn’t for the weak-hearted either. A majority of obstacles can be passed, while a few need exceptional physical and mental strength.

Make sure you do an overall training workout, and not just spend one hour on the treadmill. Swimming and cycling are highly recommended.

Warming up is very important. We're planning to bring in a few trainers from Gold’s Gym to guide participants before the race.

The lighter your clothing, the better. The more clothes you have on, the more weighed down you’ll feel, what with the muck and all. We suggest you wear sturdy shoes and a pair of gloves.

Help others finish the race. Mud runs are purely to emphasise the fact that fitness is fun.

Go register. We’ll race you!

Getting there: Mud Rush, near Kundalika River, Kolad (about two hours away from Mumbai by car), 8 am call time, Rs 3,000 per head, register yourself or your team here, for more details visit the website or the Facebook page here.

Remember Batti Bandh – the idea of the whole city turning off their lights during the same hour on a designated day to save power? We found a book version of it.

On December 9 from 8 pm to 9 pm, the National Book Trust of India and Delhi-based cinema think tank Cinedarbaar are organising Book Hour. During these 60 minutes, they ask that you detach yourself from gadgets and attach yourself to a book, and read for 60 minutes with no distractions. The rules – including remember not to put your book down and organise a reading group at a café – allow for Kindles and tablets too. Grudgingly. Need book recommendations? Check out this 100 Notable Books of 2012 list by The New York Times.

This initiative is part of Qitaabe, a month-long literary lab to promote reading as a fun activity among the youth.  "Thanks to social media, internet and a variety of gadgets, kids today consider reading non-academic books to be a chore," says Surpriya Suri, founder and artistic director of Cinedarbaar.

So support her in trying to change this picture by turning on that light in your head this Sunday. It’s about time. The little person who lives up there is tired of the TV. He told us so.

Getting there: Visit the Facebook page here, to share what you'll be reading this Sunday, December 9, from 8 pm to 9 pm; for more details about Qitaabe and the writing contests for kids, visit the website

Fink aka Fin Greenall, the British singer-songwriter, known for songs like ‘Perfect Darkness‘ and ‘Pretty Little Thing‘, and recently featured on this episode of season two of The Dewarists, is set to tour three cities in India this December, including a headlining performance at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Bangalore. Fink will make stops in Mumbai and Bangalore along with his three-piece band, and will be supported by English folk-rock trio The Staves.

After ending a schedule shooting for The Dewarists, Fin surprised his fans in Mumbai with a secret acoustic show plus meet-and-greet at Bonobo, Bandra. The show, played to an audience of about 150 people in a space meant for half as many, was one of the highlights of the 2012 indie music season, and was talked about for days after the show. NH7 interviewed Fin during his stay in the city (for the second time; read the first interview here), and also has aphoto gallery from his acoustic show.

Fink fans who were yearning for a full-on Fink performance will have no reason to complain, as the complete, live, Fink experience is headed to the country. Check out tour dates and venues for Fink below.

Tour Dates
December 14 – Liberty Cinema, Mumbai
December 15 – Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Bangalore
December 16 – Blue Frog, Delhi

English folk-rock trio of sisters, The Staves, will support Fink on this tour, and will be playing The Jack & Jones Other Stage at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Bangalore (lineup here). The Staves recently supported indie biggie Bon Iver on his 2012 tour of the United States and Canada.

Tickets to the show at Liberty Cinema will be available soon on NH7.in; tickets for Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Bangalore are available here; and tickets to the show at Blue Frog, Delhi, will be available shortly through BookmyShow.

For more stories from NH7.in, click here.

In this weekly column, filmmaker Danish Aslam will be your purveyor of the finest quality random facts, useless trivia and other esoterica from the world wide web. He lives mostly behind a keyboard and may or may not be a wizened old green man who speaks in grammatically incorrect aphorisms. You can find more on his home page http://pictually.me/dontpanic 

The Future Is Closer Than You Think

All of us have had sci-fi related fantasises as kids, of the "how cool would it be if this were possible" variety. And I'm fairly sure that for the geekier ones, some of them revolved around shows like Star Trek & their like. If the universal translator Kirk, Picard & their crews used was one of the things that fired your childhood imaginations, then you'll be happy to know that you might just come to see that technology realised within your lifetime. At a conference held on October 25 in China, Microsoft demonstrated a translator that not only renders what you're saying into another language, but does it with a semblance of your voice as well. Beam me up, Scotty!

Hit Me Baby, One More Time

Love her or hate her, Britney Spears was a cultural phenomenon. Brief though her stint at the top was, while she was there, it was quite the trip. Sadly, her meteoric fall has also been equally colourful & equally public. Rolling Stone, in an insightful look into a star at her nadir, charts this graph. And even if you're of the many who think Hit Me Baby One More Time would be an appropriate tool for a Guantanamo interrogation, this piece is worth a read.

How To Commit Internet Suicide

In the nation of Facebook (which, technically, would be the most populated country in the world, if it were a country), to not have an online presence is an anomaly looked upon as symptomatic of serious mental instability. But if you ever were to tire of constant connectivity, here's a handy little guide put up by Lifehacker on how to commit internet suicide and disappear from the web forever. Considering the fact that December 21 is approaching rapidly, it may not be such a bad idea after all.

Everything Is Four Chords

Apparently, everything is a remix. And apart from Kirby Ferguson's theories about how every song has already been made before, this song by Australian musical comedy act The Axis Of Awesome takes this theory even further. Called Four Chords, their song is a medley of around 47 songs which are apparently all based around the same 4 chord progression. It's their way of commenting on the perceived formulaic nature of popular music, but it's just damn good fun to watch as well!

All You Can Eat

Competitive eating - somehow it doesn't sound like something you'd take seriously as a sport outside of a few Discovery TLC shows. But it's not just lifestyle fluff. This sport is serious business in the USA and it's come a long way from its humble beginning at the Coney Island hot-dog eating contest in 1972. GQ's Jon Ronson went on the trail with some of the stars of this world and the resulting article is a fascinating read.

New York In The Movies

One of the joys of walking through a city like New York is turning a corner and suddenly stumbling upon a location that you remember from an iconic movie. Journalist Christopher Moloney made the same observation and decided to recreate these scenes by using the original stills from the movie and juxtaposing it with the place as it looks now. He's done about 250 so far and some of the best ones have been put up on Vanity Fair’s website. If you're a movie buff or a New York fan, this is quite a collection.

This one's no Celebrity Wax Museum in Lonavla, but the prospect of finding a flame at new candle store The Candlelight Company, will still make you smile. Owned by former actress and singer Suchitra Krishnamoorthy, this Juhu store with a bright red door sells aroma candles in different shapes, forms, scents and oil blends.

Now we're not huge fans of the Buddha and bottle-shaped candles - or candles in general for the matter - but if lighting up is your thing, look for the tinned beeswax candles, meant just for aromatherapy. There’s one for insomnia, one to help you concentrate, one to make you lose weight (!) and one to clear your sinuses. There are also fragrance oils available in interesting flavours like orange candy, banana chocolate and baby powder.

If the candle aromas at the store overwhelm you, just browse through The Candlelight Company’s products online. You can order a day in advance and they do free delivery anywhere in the city. 

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

Also hung on the walls here are Suchitra's abstract paintings (price on request) and mirror mosaic work that can be done on your home door or wall on order. It's nice when art is a reflection of you.

Getting there: The Candlelight Company, near Ramee Guestline Hotel, AB Nair Road, Juhu, call 9930211702, aromatherapy candles start at Rs 699, fragrance oils start at Rs 399, mirror mosaic art on request visit http://www.thecandlelightcompany.com/ for more details.

Free monthly listings of super job openings in Mumbai. Know of a cool one? Send us an email on  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  and we'll list it for free!

APB Cook Studio: Rushina Ghildayal’s studio is looking for a cook/kitchen supervisor with at least one to two years of experience in multiple cuisines. Send your resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ARTINFO India: The online art magazine is looking to hire two full-time sub-editors. You can be based in any city, so long as you have access to the Internet. Email your CV to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ave 29: The gallery is looking to hire full-time executive with experience in production management, operations, hospitality and venue management; and full-time PR and marketing executives. Send your resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 23804981.

Babble Fish Productions: The production house is looking for video editors, production, post-production and admin executives. Email your resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Crude Area: The online graphic art store is looking for talented graphic designers with expert knowledge of Photoshop and Corel Draw. Knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is not compulsory but preferable. Applicants with experience are preferred, but they are open to freshers with an enthusiasm for visual communication. Send your resume to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

DeTales Marketing & Communications: The PR agency is looking to hire a senior social media executive with more that one year of experience. Email your resume to Nachiket Desai at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

El Sol: The PR agency is hiring PR professionals with a minimum of one year experience. Email your resume to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ELLE India: The magazine is hiring senior features writers with three to eight years of experience. Send your resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

‘i-am’ mumbai: The international design agency is looking for a senior interior designer, senior graphic designer and senior architect with five or more years of experience for their new office at Raghuvanshi Mills. You'll find more details about each position here. Send your resume to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

KWAN: The entertainment management company is looking to hire professionals in their celebrity management wing. Applicants need not have prior experience in this field, but should be willing to work hard, be enterprising and work well under pressure. Send your resume to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Vogue India: They are looking for a graphic designer with two years of magazine design experience. More details here. Email your resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Web Chutney: The online ad agency is looking for social media writers. Send in your resumes to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it