Moving On

I have ultimately realised that, if people  have the will to maintain more than one blog, then they can be successful and will regularly post in all of them. But, I just can’t belong to that league. Though I have been blogging for more than a year or two, I have created more than three blogs and it’s only in two of them that I properly post.

I have posted this before I think. One blog exclusively for Tech stuffs (Novice Investigator) that amuse me and another blog for all the amusing things that happen to me in my life (The Daily Stumbler). But then, the number of posts in individual blogs drop. There are greater number of visitors to tech, as there are far greater number of people who search for tech stuffs while very few hunt for anectodes and jokes in my life in Google.

I figured out that, if I blog at a single domain rather than two, then people who reach my blog via search results, will be benifitted out of my post. Also if they explore around my blog, then I will be having an opportunity to share the lighter side of my life with them. If they like it and strike a chord then I have a fair chance of converting casual visitors to regular visitors!

Whatever I said about might look possible only in theory and not in practice. But my heart says that it is possible. I go where my heart takes me.

Thanks to the Budding Bloggers Program, I now have my own domain (Open Thoughts). I got a very matching name for my blog in the nick of time, and I surely love it! From now on I shall be blogging over there and that shall include everything shareable from the phases of my life.

Games We Play – Mafia

I am not very sure how and when this game invaded our hostel. But suddenly one day, I find friends forming groups and playing mafia. With serious fun. For the ones not initiated let me give a detailed introduction about this game, which is based sometimes on logic and sometimes not. (In the beginning applying logic is ridiculous, but as the heat gets on the players are expected to play logically).

The game is played among a group of 10 or more. Using cards, the players are designated as a mafia or a villager. Two of the players are designated as a cop, and as a doctor. There is also a moderator who distributes the cards. The players are expected not to reveal what role they play. In the beginning everyone poses as a villager. The aim of the villagers is to eliminate the mafia, while that of the mafia is to attain supremacy by killing the villagers. The mafia have to pose like a villager so that the other villagers do not take him to trial.

There are two modes in the game – the light mode and the dark mode. These two modes form a round. There can be several rounds during a game. The dark mode is the mode that opens the game. During this mode, all the players are asked to close their eyes by the moderator. The moderator then asks all the players posing as mafia to open their eyes and unanimously point at someone. The mafia do not have any idea of who is the cop, the doctor and who are the villagers and can point at anyone. The one at whom they point is in danger and could be killed at the end of the round if not saved by the doctor. After the mafia has pointed at someone (they have to make sure they don’t make any noise so that their identity is not revealed. All decisions are taken by sign) the moderator asks them to close their eyes and then asks the cop to open his eye and point at someone. Now the cop has the permission to point at someone and hence know from the moderator if the person whom he pointed at is a mafia or a villager (thumbs up for mafia). But the cop can point at only one person during every round. Hence the moderator is expected to know the roles played by each player, at least who are the mafia.

Next after the cop closes his eyes, the doctor is asked to open his eyes and point at someone. The purpose of the doctor is to save a villager whom the mafia might have pointed at during that round. It might look that it is illogical in the beginning of the game. Mostly the doctor saves himself so that he isn’t killed during that round. If the doctor doesn’t point at the same person whom the mafia have pointed at (of course it can be possible by sheer coincidence only in the beginning, but as the game proceeds, the doctor can know who could be the next victim.) then that villager is declared dead when the dark mode completes.

So, after the dark mode, everyone open their eyes and if a man is killed is announced. He now can’t play any role in the game. He is dead and can’t speak anymore but can only watch the game. Now comes the light mode. Here the players speak and make accusations against some player or the other. The aim of the players playing mafia is to mislead the villagers into eliminating other villagers, falsely accusing them as mafia. The cop on the other hand has to identify the mafia during the dark mode and is expected to convince the villagers and eliminate the mafia during the light mode. It is expected to make accusations on the basis of some logic or other. It can be based on body language, silence, actions, eye movements etc.

We found a golden rule. Every new player is bound to be a mafia 😀 . Well, at least that was what happened during my first game of mafia. As we advance through the rounds the game becomes more gripping and interesting, if every player plays his role good enough.

Try playing the game with your own groups of friends. It’s a fun way to make a good evening great!

When miracles happen

How would it be when something you never expected to happen in your favor, happens?

You would be in eternal bliss. At least I was. It was like I couldn’t believe if whatever was happening was in a dream or reality.

That was how I felt when Delta induction results came out. I was confident of not getting past the three levels of induction, but the final list of selected members had my name. I was awestruck and had that unusual feeling of happiness, something vibrating through my torso.

Delta is the Webteam force in National Institute of Technology, Trichy, a club that takes care of the websites http://www.nitt.edu and also http://www.pragyan.org. There are several clubs, both active and inactive in the campus. Getting inducted into clubs like Delta, Dance Troupe, Music Troupe and Spider are considered a luck and a challenge. There are other clubs also like Writer’s Circle.

Let’s come back to my story.

Faith and Trust

I felt struck with awe when I saw through early time movies that, people then had enough security to keep the doors of their houses open during the day. It seemed to me that cases of daylight robbery was never heard of then. With time, there has been a significant change, that every one of you must be aware of unless, you are someone from the past.

Today, we fear to trust and have faith on acquaintance and friends. The reason is insecurity and the fear of being tricked into dangerous waters. It has become essential to doubt every action of anyone around you, calculating if it could in any way cause havoc to you.

In such a world, I am surprised to see the milkman who supplies milk to our house. Never have I seen him brawling over the cash given to him every month and never has he given as the opportunity to complaint about the quantity and quality of milk provided. Every month he just pockets the money we give and leaves, not even waiting to stay and count how much was given! He has immence faith on his customers and he expects it in return of course!

How nice if it would have been if it was so simple that no one liked to cheat and anyone could believe anyone. Crime will reduce, complaints will reduce, job for the cops and the lawyers will reduce. The jurisdiction and the judge can take a day off.

Well guess that’s just not possible. Why not? Next post, where I try to explain what I feel is needed for the balance of the system we survive.

Of Bookworms and Kill Joys

Bookworm, Nerd, Kill-Joy are some of the names my friends refer me with. My question is am I indeed all this? In my perspective, I shall call someone a bookworm, if the person finds solace only in books and neglects every other necessary and essential aspect of life, like sports, exercise, friends and socializing. I don’t know what my friend’s perspective is on me and what character of mine makes them nicked as bookworm and nerd.

During my first year at college, I faced a problem when spending time with books. I reside at a hostel and as soon as I pick up some book, whatever it is, academic related or not, someone or the other passing by would stop and ask, “Hey Jithin! Started studying so soon?” Well I do have the habit of reading something or the other a bit everyday, be it academics related or otherwise, but my practice was seen as something bad and I was mocked upon. I indeed felt unhappy that the people around me were not realizing what enjoyment is and when it is ripe to enjoy. Many I met spent their time lavishly in some activity or the other neglecting academics. I didn’t want to make that a habit as I did not want to take the burden at the end.

I don’t believe I spent the whole of my time on books. I do take time off to relax, enjoy and spend time with friends, chatting and joking. But, what I could not tolerate was when friends teased me telling that ‘I spend all my time in front of books and I could not even spend a minute without them’, when I was not what they told I was. But I am happy I have learned to live through embarrassment and ridicule, and continue what I wanted to do. It is will power that enables you to survive when your interests are not entertained by people around you.

Enjoyment depends on how we look at it. I know many who tell, they find books boring and reading a burden. They neglect something essential, education. It is the mind that controls us. Mind is a charioteer of our body. How our mind controls us, depends on how the spiritual ‘you’ control your own mind. Rather it should be that the mind feels free to get you what you want, without the need to enslave it.

The physical existence of the mind is unknown; at least I am unaware of it. That is what, which makes you realize the life in you, making meaning to your existence. Books are a beautiful medium that enlightens us about life; it’s materialistic and spiritual faces. Life is an ever rotating wheel, with joy and sorrow occurring periodically, the one who survives the sorrow is the one who realizes the joy in sorrow and the sorrow in joy. So enjoy when you really have to, “Cause Too Much of Anything Isn’t Good.”

Pimple Problem

It’s summer and it spells trouble for dry and oily skins. More trouble awaiting if you are in your teens. So how do you fight the painful and ugly looking pimples, that swell, and remain on your face for weeks, before wearing off, leaving black marks? Don’t break them by pressing, cause it leads to ‘pits’ on your face, that enlarge when you grow up. And I also feel odd, when the blood oozes.

Remedies? Anybody?

There are several creams and lotions in the market, for you to try out. And there are also the bathroom soaps, that claim to say good bye to pimples and acne marks as soon as you buy their products! Neither do I have the time, money or patience to try the umpteen products in market and make a review on them. Instead I have a better remedy. Trust me, I have been benefitted by this remedy. The solution I found to pimples and acne marks is ‘mint’ leaves.

Also called as ‘Pudina’ in south India, the mint leaves form a very good medicine that can be applied on the pimples. They soothe and cool, and form an easy way to get rid of the pimple menace.

How It Works?

I am not sure of the possible scientific explanation, yet I have an explanation on how mint leaves are a successful remedy to acne marks. (This explanation has not been justified by any scientific experiments as of my knowledge.) Mint leaves are crushed and applied on the face. The water content within the leaves, makes the paste stick to the face. Due to osmosis, water from the mint leaves enter the pimple through the skin pores. These pimples are due to dust particles acumulated on the face. As the water from the mint leaves evaporate, the osmosis direction reverses and now water from the pimple tries to evaporate out because of the mint leaves, The dust and dirt also move out, but stay with the now dry mint leaves. When this happens, you will feel itchy at that spot and feel like removing the crushed leaves from there. “Please don’t do that.”

After some time, when the leaves have dried up, you can break the leaves off your face to find the pimple reduces in size. The pain also subsides. Applying the leaves in intervals can result in the complete removal of the pimple and without any scar or black marks.

Try it out today and feel the difference!