Most Bengali girls love to take a quiet stroll by a garden or a park, away from the busy city streets, where they can walk hand-in-hand and discuss about all things under the sky. The Rabindra Sarovar lake is a great spot in Kolkata for a romantic walk in the evenings.

This is also a great place to get those sunset-lit selfies as the lake is surrounded by lush spreads of greenery, bejewelled with vibrant blossoms DJ-ed by the chirping of numerous birds.

If you want a walk to remember, then the Rabindra Sarovar Lake in Kolkata is a must-visit romantic spot in the City of Joy.

You may also choose to talk over some delicious munchies or over the sultry smoke of hookah at the two notable cafes cum lounges in Kolkata – Bistro by the Park and at Caafe 360. If you visit the Bistro, then it is highly recommended to take a seat on the over-sized, almost bed-like couches on their mezzanine floor to get the best view of this adorably decorated place. Just like Caafe 360 degree, this place also serves hookah along with an assortment of grubs and beverages. However, alcohol is available at the Bistro by the Park, which is not available at the Caafe 360.

There are a few romantic stops you can make in Kolkata to impress your special date when in college and who knows, maybe this could make a story worth telling your children later!

Click here to read the whole story, which has a special surprise for young couples in college to make their date extra special...

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offers on Hookah Parlour for College Students

With all the debate about hookah being the bad kind of good or the good kind of bad for students in Kolkata, everybody still agrees that it is undoubtedly a lot of fun. The sensuous ambience of dim lit, smoky interiors, chilled air-conditioned lounges with comfy couches as big as beds, an assortment of finger foods and array of beverages to accompany your smooth hookah and the loud but pleasant music with the silenced highlights of last night’s match on a giant LCD screen! What more could a happy-go-lucky college student in Kolkata ask for?

Hope the opening paragraph above has already made you hungry for some fluffy smoke of sweet nothingness packed inside the elite bowl of a hookah. If not then these few magic words will definitely make you crave for some smooth hookahs and a good hang with your weird friends, and they are – Student offers on Hookah Parlour in Kolkata.

Are you curious to know more? Then read on to make a great day with hookah and friends.

If you are a college student in Kolkata, then chances are that you have already prowled all the hookah parlours around the city, be it big or small. And then have selected your chosen haunt which checks all the criteria for you and your hookah-friends. To bag wallet-fattening student offers on hookah parlours, check out the list of hookah lounges below where a YUP card holder can get unlimited discounts with each visit. (Note offers cannot be clubbed)

List of hookah parlours where you can get special student offers:

• The Biker’s cafe offers: 7% off on entire bill
• The Dugout offers: 10% off on total bill
• One Sport’s Lounge discounts: 15% off on total bill other than alcoholic beverages
• Urban desi deals: 15% off on total billing amount
• Caafe 360 Degree deals: 10% off on total bill
• Nosh cafe deals: 10% off on total billing amount, Ballygunge and Alipore outlets
• The Firefly discount: 12% off on total bill
• Mocha deals: Hookah at 199+ taxes
  
  

Now that you know where to go to have some smooth hookahs with pocket-friendly student offers, here are some fun hookah games you can play when there:

Game #1: Hangman Hookah:

This is classic hangman with a twist, the game will begin with one player who does some trick with a hookah such as blowing out an ‘o’ or making a ring of smoke. Then the next player and hookah-smoker has to imitate the trick and also perform a new trick for the next player to copy. If in case the next person cannot copy the trick then he/she will get a letter, which would start off with H for HOOKAH like in Hangman. The loser of the game is given a task that the group chooses for them. This could be anything from a general funny dare or buying the next round of shisha for friends.

Game #2: Smoke Comp:

Comp here is short for competition and is a variation of two types of games that are both parallel entertaining. The first part of the game will focus at assessing which person in the group has the maximum lung capacity, which would be done by – deep puffs of the hookah to see who can blow out the maximum amount of smoke. The one who exhales the least amount of smoke will be the loser. And to make the game more fun, you can also choose to include a slap bet. The slap bet dictates that the loser gets slapped at the end of the round for exhaling the least amount of smoke.

Then the next round may follow with a different challenge where the players compete to hold the smoke for the longest time. You inhale and keep it in as long as all the players in that round are done inhaling, then you get to pass it once your turn to smoke comes. Those who cannot keep the smoke in would be deemed as the loser and the group can decide appropriate penalty for them.

Game #3: Hookah-lympics:

Aptly named, as this involves a series of games that each player would have to participate in. The winner will be determined by combining the results of all games. There may be teams of players and points may be awarded to the teams.

The first round is the thick cloud competition wherein the players are required to blow out the thickest clouds of smoke possible. The second game is the bubbly relay race, wherein the participants must blow a balloon with hookah smoke filled inside, and then fan this balloon to a certain destination without directly touching the same. And the third and final round would be to hang upside down (with the help of others) and smoke the hookah, the first person to give up would be the loser of the round.

Have fun with your friends at the hookah parlour with these fun games along with convenient student discounts on hookah parlours. But make sure you maintain proper safety precautions and in case of any discomfort when smoking we recommend you to stop immediately and move out for some fresh air.

​​SML

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This story might sound all too familiar to you, a fine day with sparse isolated drizzles around the city, the usual humdrum of Kolkata traffic, the regular voices of loud debating neighbours, and the smell of tea from a neighbouring stall whiffed into the room. 

A picturesque sight similar to that of an artsy movie credit scene... when all of a sudden you feel the lusty craving for hot, steaming, soft, and chunky momos! You immediately call your friend and put on proper pants to rush out to the nearby momo-wala and although it’s 42 degrees outside, you gorge on to steaming hot momos with its staple clear soup companion, while standing in the busy road surrounded by other fellow momo-fanatics. 

Big droplets of sweat trickle down from your rushed forehead and form an embarrassing sweat moustache above your lips. But you hardly have the time to care; you took this journey by choice and you mustn’t stop unless you have your shirt tightened by the turgidity of your momo-filled stomach. 

While this may be the tale of your occasional journey to the momo stall, but have you ever imagined how far this soft, plump smoky dumpling has travelled for you?! 

You may feel that the momo looks quite at home in this dusty, Kolkata street-side stall in the torturous humid weather being pushed further into its own inferno while patiently seated in those stacked hotpots. But the truth is that momos are probably one of those foods that have travelled the farthest distance. They have also evolved a great deal over the years, from its usual pork stuffing to customized chicken recipes to the vegetarians’ choice of assorted greens or cottage cheese. But India is not even the place of its origin yet has gone on to adopt it as its own, obviously with its own set of tasty twists. 

Long ago, Indians from regions apart from Sikkim and the Northeast would consider momos an exotic delight. It was not a part of their traditional cuisine and a recent addition to their adventurous. But now the story is different. Food entrepreneurs prepare momos in bulk and serve to local kiosks and food stalls to be steamed and served hot with a strange chilli sauce that burns the tongue yet people cannot get enough of it.

In reality the momo has its residence in multiple states of the Northeast in India, each with their own twists added to it. Shilong is a state where momo can be obtained very easily and it does feel right at home. The state offers delicious dumplings which you can expect to be full of meaty fillings, with light shells and goes with spicy chutney. But do not confuse yourself imagining it is a part of the local khasi cuisine. Instead credit must be given to the Chinese community who reside in Shilong and have made it their home, thereby introducing Chinese delicacies like momo which is traditionally Tibetan. 

But traditionally it is among the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh like Monpa and Sherduka who share a border with Tibet and momos are a staple in their diet. Instead of our vegetarian versions, their versions usually house consist of stuffed minced pork coupled with green veggies and a bite of mustard leaves. Like our momo servings they also accompany these dumplings with chilli sauce. 

The closest cousin of a Tibetan momo can however be obtained in Sikkim. The native communities of Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese have it on the daily menu as a comfort food. It is very much a part of their diet and the aluminium momo steamer present in every native Sikkimese home is constantly in use. So, much so that this immigrant momo has pushed the traditional state dish of hyontoen off the plate. In fancy restaurants of Sikkim the momo is served with some radish or cucumber salad. The usual stuffing in them is either pork or beef, but slowly vegetables, cottage cheese and chicken momos are gaining grounds. 

The Tibet of the 1960s seems to have scattered their cuisine across India where most of their authentic counterparts took home in Sikkim, Meghalaya, and the hill towns of Darjeeling and Kalimpong with other planar cities like Kolkata and Delhi joining in the food parade. 

So, here was the tale of momos of their travel from the hilly terrain of Tibet to on your very plain plate in Kolkata. But the bottom line remains that wherever momos may come from, they will forever be the food for satiating souls. 

If you are a momo-lover as well, then the words Momo I Am discount offers will be music to your ears. And that is exactly what you can expect to hear from your YUP Card subscription. For more details on other discount offers subscribe to YUP Card and enjoy the best foods around Kolkata at pocket-friendly prices.

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Desserts are our answer to life’s lemons! Whether we have a broken heart, a blocked brain, a burnt pocket or blown self-esteem, we turn for sweet consolation towards mushy, gooey, steamy, melting, warm and fuzzy deliciousness which come in a variety of shapes, colours and sizes and leave our mouths satiated with an after taste of comfort, support and sweetness. 

So, we thought you could prepare to further sweeten the deal at dessert with these few totally useless dessert facts:

An 11-year old discovered the Popsicle!

Popsicle as we know it was first invented by Frank W. Epperson when he was only 11-years old. He had left a glass container that had soda powder, water and a mixing stick at his back porch overnight once, by accident. The next morning he woke up to find the whole thing frozen into an amazingly fun Popsicle. Then he went on to patent that idea in 1924.

The word origin for strudel comes from a German that means whirlpool!

The oldest recipe for strudel comes from 1696 from Vienna city. However, it is not known who invented strudel, but it has been discovered that the recipe for strudel was invented from an older recipe of a different dessert. Baklava is a popular dessert from the Ottoman Empire, it is believed by most people that it came from Germany. 

There is a piece written about the cheesecake written by a 5^th century, Greek Physician!

The Greek Physical Egemus wrote a great piece describing the art of cheesecake. He also wrote a treatus about pulses, which was a first as well.  

Bear claws were invented in Western USA:

The first printed reference to this delicious American dessert was made by a newspaper in San Francisco. 

Two towns fought over the discovery of the banana split:

The first being Latrobe, Pennsylvania and the other being Wilmington, Ohio. And the most interesting fact about this incident is that both towns suggested this recipe was first popularised by college students. 

The world’s most expensive desserts costs USD 25,000

This dessert is the most expensive dessert in the world called as frozen hot chocolate ice cream sundae, which is available at Serendipity 3 in New York City. The reason it costs 25,000 dollars is because it contains 28 different varieties of cocoa topped with edible gold. Additionally to further regal up the dessert affair, people can eat this dessert with a golden spoon that is studded with diamonds and people are allowed to take this spoon home!

The biggest gingerbread house was INR 2520 square feet!

This gingerbread house was built in Texas. The total amount of calories contained in this gingerbread is 35.8 million. But thankfully no one decided to eat this dessert, it was only meant for bragging!

Here were some amusing facts about desserts. If these did not have you completely bowled over, then there is another sweet fact about desserts that definitely will – with a YUP Card subscription you can enjoy fat Students discounts on Food& Beverages at a whole range of dessert shops in Kolkata. All you need to do is get a silly selfies face ready and pay 499/- for subscribing to this only plastic card that saves money instead of spending them. The card is valid for 12 months and can be used unlimited number of times without any minimum billing preconditions!

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A team of totally rad researchers in the Queen University in London have discovered that playing video games that involve strategy games such as Star Craft may actually boost the players’ cognitive abilities in multiple arenas. The study was conducted by gathering 72 participants to play such strategic video games for 40 hours over a period of 6 to 8 weeks.

Out of all the participants, half the people played Star Craft and the rest half were asked to play The Sims. The results showcased that those who played Star Craft performed better in psychological tests as well as their accuracy, speeds and cognitive flexibility tests showed their abilities to have improved significantly.

Such a groundbreaking revelation has proved to be highly beneficial for young video game lovers (this gave them some extra opportunity to snipe saying the most enjoyable “I told you so” ever) who had their moms always behind them, about video games having associations with violence.

Moreover, the research states that video does not only make you smarter in fact it makes you a better person all in all.

Here is some insight on what the research had to say: (caution avid video gamers this might lead to euphoric to brink of having video gaming overdose)

Mario can also be called as brain steroid in the language of science!

To get deeper into the matter how video games help to improve cognition of players, a team of German researchers conducted a study. They interviewed 23 adults within the median age range of 25 to play the game Super Mario 64 for a period of 30 minutes every day for 2 months straight. A separate control group was created who did not play any video games at all.


Then examining the brains of the people in each group using an MRI machine it was discovered those who belonged to the gaming group had an increase in the gray matter at their right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex and their cerebellum as well. These are the main areas of the brain that are responsible for spatial navigation, strategic planning and memory formation and motor skills of hands.


There have been previous studies which showcased the differences in the brain structure of video gamers but the latest study has demonstrated that there is a direct casual link between video gaming and volumetric increase in brain sizes. Thus, this proves that there are certain areas in our brains that can be trained using video games.


This gave the scientists another probable application for video games where they can be used as a therapy for patients with mental disorders that cause brain regions to be compressed or even altered. Diseases like schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) can be treated.

How Star Craft makes you smarter?

A team of British researchers found in August that certain video games especially strategic games like Star Craft can make you smarter by increasing your brain’s flexibility; this phenomenon is called as “a cornerstone of human intelligence” by the scientists.

Video gaming is the antidote to slow down ageing process:

Another study revealed that playing special “brain teasing” video games for just two hours a week can help slow down the degree of mental decay that is associated with the natural ageing process. This was found by the University of Iowa.


The study included 681 healthy individuals between the ages of 50 and older that revealed that playing 10 hours of a specially designed video game can actually stall the natural process of cognitive decline in several skills by up to seven years or more.


So, as can be seen from the above studies, video games are not just great for recreational purposes, but are also helpful for cognitive developments along with improvement in motor skills for those suffering from stroke or other such disruptive conditions.


So, if you want to try your hands on some competitive gaming in your city of Kolkata, head on to the Gamers Den in Baisakhi Mall or at the Dugout to try your hands on FIFA’15 with your weapon of choice as a PS4 gaming console. The prizes up for grabs are worth in total of INR 10,000 with the first prize for the winner of tournament being INR 5,000 and other goodies up for grabs for the runner-ups. 


Entry fee for the interested participants is of INR 100 until the 15th of September (this window is already closed), for those who are applying after 15th will need to pay INR 150 as entry fee. But for those with a YUP Card subscription, this entry is completely free. There are limited seats available only, of 256 people in total. For further details on the event or to register for a YUP Card which is the only operative student discount card in Kolkata, the interested candidates can head over to YUP Card’s official website. As for the gaming even they have a short online form that must be filled and submitted to book seats for the event.


When people plan their moves deliberately in a virtual environment with foresight to achieve a goal, it is understandable that such a practice will impact the neuroplasticity of the person in a positive manner, and since video games are engaging and enjoyable, people can fully commit to the rehabilitation for betterment of their medical problems.

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