ramadocblog

“He fell down in the pit by mistake 

The pit had spikes with a poisonous snake

He disappeared without a shame 

Luckily t’was just a game!”

One of the best games to play when you are alone and free is the Rubik’s cube! It improves your coordination and skill and also keeps you sharp and focussed! 

The speed is just a bonus though you must be able to do it faster once you get the drift!

The common notion is that games, specially computer games do not require any skill or intelligence but in the modern world they are a skill set! Of course in no way they are better than proper outdoor games and reading! But did you know that there are some games which require your full attention and your brain to work really well?

read on!

One of the most irritating and difficult game to me was the Prince of Persia first version which used to come with the earlier Windows! That Prince had only one skill! Getting killed! There were some levels which were so difficult that you can only count the time it takes for you to make him jump on a hole with spikes!

In fact the older versions of many such games have always been more difficult than the newer version. The Prince of Persia 3d version and Prince 2 and finally the ones which including and following Prince of Persia Sands of time were actually much easier to finish than the first version! There may be some difficult levels but if you do again and again you can still finish the game. 

Some levels and games though can frustrate even the most serious gamer! In between a full time clinical practice you can take a break and play some levels of these games like Prince of Persia or Even Far Cry or my personal favourite Half life 2! But if you are stuck in the same level for a long time you used to have those geeks who used to spend their life playing these games make a guide for people who play them once in a while. These are called Walkthroughs! We will come to them soon!

So many games are simply a computer programme so it can be programmed to act the way you want! These work in couple of ways as I know! One is that you can have cheat codes which are again two types! Now these are my limited knowledge as a non tech guy! The first one is usually given or leaked by the developer himself or a hacker who would have cracked the game file! In this you have to use an app like the notepad which in those days was a really cool app and the most important app in the cd which allowed it to be auto run! So the basic instruction in the game was changed and certain commands and keywords are added which you can access in between the game! These can be things like giving you extra life or making you less amenable to hits!

Another way was that you have another programme which you need to run parallel to the game and when both of them run together, you need to pause the game and use TAB with ALT to access the cheats like God mode or more health!

Now these are basically ways to CHEAT! Which is why I seldom used them as if you win by using them then it is not really winning! But in games such as Serious Sam, I had accidentally accessed the hard mode. Most games had such a selection and once you make this selection you cannot go back! If you select the easier mode then some games like Wolfenstein may even ridicule you! The easy mode in that is something in the lines of “DADDY I AM SCARED!”

So by and large as a good and ethical gamer; I used to use the Walkthroughs! Now these were like the guide or refresher course of the game! They used to tell you the best weapons to use and the best way to complete the game! If you are stuck in a game then they will definitely help you! It is still good because you are do not get any extra lives or easy way out! With all the help and coaching the walkthroughs give you, the game has to be still played and won by you!

Even otherwise, every game levels requires countless calculations and measurements and trials. The amount of research which goes into some games is mind boggling! In a recent study by Psych Daily, they released the average Iqs of the biggest games. The games with the 3 lowest Iqs were Rocket League, assassin’s Creed in GTA, and those Iqs are about average for most humans. The 3 highest IQ games are Minecraft. among us and Rainbow 6!

I have played only rainbow 6 and I can vouch for the list! 

In no way though this post encourages gaming which is still a time pass and bad distraction for kids but (this is the most dangerous word in the world! Whenever there is a BUT which follows anything good then rest assured whatever comes after that BUT will kick your…!); still video games need brains to develop and to play! Not to mention good hand eye coordination and fast reflexes! Which means you need good skills! Skilled also was birthday celebrity Jaidev!

Now turn off those consoles and sleep!

Life is not a game!

Shubh Ratri!

“The temple bells ring with a zing!
The chanting of mantras make you sing!
The lights a little dull and little bright!
The village temple is a delight!”


I am just back from a visit to my father and mother’s vilage and visit to our family goddess called the Chittur Bhagavathy and the constant Kerala rain bought back memories like the flood held weakly by emotions which suddenly gives way…

Now in many ways, the village roads and the Old houses of dad’s village made my kid’s eyes wide open in wonder!

I have actually gone to those places when we were young and stayed a couple of days! That used to be fun!
Not the iPad or tablet fun but real outdoor fun!

Seeing and trying to milk the cow! Or going to the nearby small river stream for a bath with elder cousins! Or the sitting on the courtyard and listening to the temple bells!

How everyone used to switch off the lights and close the doors and gates by 7 or 8!
And now we finish our work by 9 if lucky!
During the days of visit to our village the dinner was done and finished at 7! It was usually what was made for lunch and we all kids were promptly sent to sleep!

I still remember my old uncle who would have his own room and get food there itself! He would not come out much and though young I understood that he was old and unwell. He was the one who taught me how to play patience with a deck of cards!

Now my kids may not have patience for that!
The beauty of the whole setting was that the village was still more or less the same! Of course some roads have got some make up and some new houses are there where previously you used to have open fields but the feel and the nostalgia is there!

With every corner and every street my dad would scream in enthusiasm and delight and a memory association with that place would come!

While visiting some old house or place if he finds an acquaintance then it’s lottery! The whole sequence of nostalgia starts again!

I especially like the Chittur temple since it looks so old! The smell of the oil lamps and a little rain outside is simply amazing to me!
The main centre of the temple is usually in the centre and in most Kerala temple it’s not really visible! That makes its even more challenging and nice!

I actually don’t want the village or the temple to change much! The sanctity which triggers the nostalgia must remain! The sanctity and legacy of birthday celebrity Pingali Venkayya who designed the Indian flag also will remain for a long time!

Shubh Ratri!

“The cars move so fast!

The distance is so vast!

If you wanna drive and put your driving to test! 

Then driving on the highway is da best!”

A quick sketch and blog after a long drive!

One of the things we all do after some time of sitting and not doing anything much for a long time is to make this sound!

Now don’t worry! 

It’s not what you thought before though even that’s normal!

Read on! 

Driving on a highway is fun! Music in full blast and family singing and playing together!

Of course if you are an average Bangalorean most of your time and energy on a big highway journey would actually be spent on reaching the highway! 

It took me close to two hours to just reach the highway on a total journey which was for 8 hours or so!

Of course snacking on the way and having all that junk food is an added advantage or disadvantage!

Make sure your neck is well protected and the back rest is ok! On top of that frequent breaks are part and parcel of Highway driving!

Then after driving for a while when you get down to stretch, one of the first things you do is crack your joints! 

That is the sound I mentioned above!

The felling of a nice crack and sound is really cool! You like it so much! 

There was a myth that if you crack you joints too much then it would lead to arthritis! Of course it’s not true!

So why do they make the sound!?

 The “popping” or “cracking” sound that happens when we crack your knuckles is caused by popping bubbles in your synovial fluid, which is responsible for lubricating your joints. When you pull your bones apart, there is a buildup of negative pressure, causing these bubbles to burst!

Of course do not over do it since there is a limit for everything! Of course birthday celebrity Bhagwan Dada broke many limits with his dance moves!

Now stop cracking your knuckles and sleep!

Shubh Ratri!

“The door was locked from inside
The key was lost as you would dread
The house was huge and far away!
Of course t’was all in your head!”

A personal tragedy leading to a great invention which leads to greater destruction!
Intrigued?
read on!


In this novel the author has a personal loss of a dear and near person which leads him to get bust with his research and his bizarre invention!

The whole premise of this very famous novel can be thought as a call for help of a lonely man child who tries then to find the same or similar company in his invention!

The description can be the screenplay of a soap opera or the storyline of a bollywood movie!

But this is actually the theme of one of the most famous novels! The Frankenstein by Mark Shelley!

In fact in many notions the creation of a zombie like creature who later on starts to hate even his own creator is a common theme! A freudian analysis of the novel would actually yield some classic psychological issues!

Also the most common mistake made by many is that the name of the monster is not Frankenstein! Shelley’s original novel does not give the character a specific name. In the novel, Victor Frankenstein variously refers to his creation as the “creature”, “fiend”, “spectre”, “dæmon”, “wretch”, “devil”, “thing”, “being”, and “ogre”!

In fact it was called the Frankenstein’s Monster in many retelling and depictions but later on the apostrophe ‘s’ was dropped and the name became linked to the Monster!
Then again even if you did have this doubt there have been so many analysis of the plot and many have concluded that in spite of his being a big giant with rage, the actual Monster was Frankenstein! This is because in creating the Monster, Frankenstein made a big error and that makes him evil!

Of course this is just an interpretation and maybe the author was simply bored and wanted to create a memorable character and that is exactly what was done! Another author who had made such complex emotions in his works was birthday celebrity Dhanpat Rai Srivastava! You may know him as Munshi Premchand!

Now pause your imaginations and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“He was just behind me the hand so strong
With dirty nail and fingers so long!
He choked me so hard that I couldn’t even weep!
T’was at that time I woke up from my sleep!”

What is the common link between The theory of relativity, the structure of atom, the song by the The Beatles called Yesterday and this actually has a big list but to end it; the movie terminator!

A simple answer is what you seek with your eyes closed is what you get!

read on!

The above list is complemented by Google! Yes literally!

Even the structure of Benzene and the idea of Frankenstein has this common link!

Now do not lose your sanity! The common link in all these is that these ideas all came to the people who had them in their dreams! They are among the numerous discoveries and inventions that are said to have been inspired through the act of dreaming.

For decades sleep scientists have tried to find out the link between dreaming and creative inspiration. They have long thought these insights came from the rapid eye movement stage of sleep, which is rich with dreams and begins an hour or more into the sleep cycle. But new evidence puts the spotlight on a much earlier sleep phase—the twilight zone that separates sleep and wakefulness—as fertile ground for a creative burst!

Remember how we used to be told that some dreams which come in certain parts of the night may or may not come true!

It apparently may be true! Not in the prediction of future though!
More than one famous thinker has capitalized on the first transitional phase into sleep, called non-rapid eye movement sleep stage 1, or N1, to generate creative insights. The painter Salvador Dalí would deliberately doze while holding a set of keys above a metal plate when mulling over an idea for a painting. As he nodded off, the muscles in his hand would relax. He’d drop the keys, which would hit the plate and wake him up, and he’d hold onto the image from his dream.

Thomas Edison is said to have used a similar technique with metal balls instead of keys to gain insights to be incorporated into his inventions. Now since I am a big Tesla fan, dream or not, Edison is no Tesla!

It has also been suggested that if you get some great ideas in your dreams you must immediately write the dream or the idea lest you forget! Even you would have noticed that you remember some dreams so well just immediately after you get up! So that is the best time to just get up and write the idea or even the dream if you want to get any advantage of the dream!

Forget about the science of it all, a great dream can be the idea of a great movie or storybook and make you famous or even happy or (rarely) both!

Now listen to this narration by a famous director produced verbatim…

“This idea came from a dream that I had while I was sick with a fever in a cheap pension in Rome in 1981. It was the image of a chrome skeleton emerging from a fire. When I woke up, I began sketching on the hotel stationery”

“The first sketch I did showed a metal skeleton cut in half at the waist, crawling over a tile floor, using a large kitchen knife to pull itself forward while reaching out with the other hand. In a second drawing, the character is threatening a crawling woman. Minus the kitchen knife, these images became the finale of The movie almost exactly.”

So did you understand this movie? Metal skeleton?!

Well, it is The terminator!
Sketching the one who inspired many to muscle up and be macho during the 90s on his birthday!

Praying for the poor souls at Wayanad…
God bless…
Shubh Ratri…

“Kick him with the legs or throw em to the floor!

It’s not a good birthday anymore!

Wish em well and make em worth a while!

Birthday is the day to make em smile!”

Birthdays everywhere are traditional and have some traditions!

But did you know that the famous birthday song which everyone knows and sings and is maybe one of the most recognized song in the world had origins and lyrics which was completely different from what you hear now?

read on!

Growing up for us birthday was the day when no one would scold us the whole day and we get sweets! If lucky some nice gifts which was usually new clothes! If very lucky we would eat outside! Mom would bake a nice cake and we would all eat with relish!

If it is a school day then we could wear neat and new color dress which may or may not be new and look better than the uniform!

We would give those small chocolates and there always would be some kid or teacher who will not get it! 

Going to temple was the norm and getting up early in the morning to do that was the rule! In fact the place I did my graduation, if someone had got up early in the morning and gone to temple then you can be sure that he or she has his or her birthday that day!

Now of course birthday has become a mad race of crazy stuff so much so that I am scared of any birthday! I still remember the birthday ‘bumps’ which we used to give to kids who we did not like and give some extra force in the bump! It was crazy and now it has become a violent tradition and must be opposed to the core!

The bumps”, or “the dumps” in Scotland, is a birthday torment common in countries such as the UK, Ireland, Canada, and India! The number of “bumps” given equals the age of the person in years plus one “for luck”.

Sometimes bumps are also referred to as kicks where the person celebrating their birthday is held by their arms and legs and their friends kick them. 

Apparently In French-speaking Canada, the U.S. and Australia, “birthday punches” are given in a similar fashion, with the person whose birthday it is being punched a number of times equal to his/her age, often with one additional punch “for luck”!

In some places, instead of a punch “for luck”, the recipient is pinched “to grow an inch”. In Brazil, Hungary, Argentina, Italy, and other countries, the person has his/her earlobes pulled!

The Hungarian tradition also involves at the same time as pulling the earlobes wishing the person a happy birthday or reciting a rhyme whose English translation is “God bless you, live so long so your ears reach your ankles.”!

Another crazy tradition which I hate is the plastering the cake on the face! It is such a waste of cake and really stupid! Especially seeing horrible videos of people getting injured during these crazy stunt! Or the crazy Hydrogen balloons and the fire show! Birthday has become the day when the danger to your life is the most now!

Finally the song which is so popular now had this as the original lyrics; 

Good morning to you

Good morning to you

Good morning dear teacher,

Good morning to all

The sisters from Kentucky published “Good Morning to All” in 1893 but didn’t copyright numerous alternative versions in subsequent decades. When “Happy Birthday to You” appeared in books and in the Broadway production of As Thousands Cheer, the Mill family went to court and received rights to the song!

In 2015, “Happy Birthday to You” was placed in the public domain. Warner Music appealed, and in 2016, a judge ruled Warner Music had an invalid claim to the song. The company was ordered to pay out $14 million to “thousands of people and entities” charged for using the song. 

While restaurants had long ago developed their own tunes wishing customers “Happy Birthday” and a lot of movies and television shows simply avoided the song entirely, it became possible to hear “Happy Birthday to You” much more often as a result of the decision!

Now of course it is one of the most famous songs sung during birthday all over the world! 

I guess birthday should be a time to celebrate life and happiness so it is better to celebrate it in a way which makes the person who is celebrating one more year of his or her life feel good! Wishing a good wish to the day’s birthday celebrity Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata whose contribution to the development of India is unparalleled! 

“So when we wake up and get invited to a birthday party lets not do this stupid mistakes” This statement typed by my son after we stopped a birthday bump during his birthday celebration today!

Now have a great day! Celebrate life by being wise and safe!

Shubh Ratri!

“Your best helper may even be your foe!

To help you he does not have to lift a toe!

Still he may do cause he has nothing to lose!

Enemies and friends, carefully you must choose!”

You’d think it was an April Fool’s Day prank if someone told you something designed to help the alcohol industry saved lives, wouldn’t you? Or for that matter the history of alcohol and the history of commercial milk are related to each other! 

Intrigued!?

Read on!

Now people who drink milk may not see eye to eye to people who enjoy their glass of beer at least in the morning! But it is understood that milk is a routine morning drink and alcohol a typical night or evening! Unless of course there is a special occasion is what the normal reason is!

Then again people like me like only milk but even a teetotaler like me cannot take milk in its true form! I actually can drink Milk only in the form of coffee or tea or when I was young, Rose milk was my favorite! Even now I don’t mind gulping some rose milk here and there but can’t because of the high sugar level in it and the fact that it really does a number on my throat!

Now of course you have a range of milk which do not even taste or feel like the cow milk we all grew up with! Personally though in spite of the fact that my choice of milk is narrow, I would prefer a black tea to any other ‘Milk’ tea! 

Now imagine you have a group of people who drink only one of these two then you may think that they have little in common! Well, they might and to help them you have the history! 

Back in the nineteenth century, French scientist Louis Pasteur was commissioned by a local alcohol manufacturer to figure out why their beer and wine were turning sour!

He discovered the blame lay with organisms such as bacteria! He decontaminated the alcohol and helped that industry!

Later he used the same process to keep milk safe and fresh for some time! The method which involves heating and rapid cooling!– the same bacteria that could be destroyed by boiling then cooling liquids, a process now known as pasteurisation! The process which is used to this day for preparing and preserving milk! 

All because of alcohol! Now that’s a link which produces great dividends! Thinking of produce reminds me of birthday celebrity Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar! 

A quick sketch during travel!

Now have a glass of warm milk and sleep!

Shubh Ratri!

“Wire wire everywhere not the one that fits!

Do not pull it too much, ’twill break to bits!

Wish there was one wire for all!

Or even a wire free world now that’s an order tall!”

I love bluetooth devices! It has been told before and even by me but the truth remains that tech lovers would buy anything new if it has bluetooth in it!

Another great love for the people who love tech and who have lots of such devices are cables! I get a special joy when I see a special type of cable!

Even my office bag and desk would have an assortment of cables! I am the go to guy for anyone who needs a cable! I have cables with all combinations! 

read on!

Like the Cable guy movie! The craze for cable is insane! But unfortunately Cables always get tangled! 

The Murphy rule is that any two cable can get tangled however far they are from each other! 

All they need is to touch once and then they are tangled for life! Even if it’s a bunch of cables you have put in a box or cover, after sometime you can see how they get fused to each other like long lost cousins meeting at a wedding! 

It is inevitable because different devices need different cables and if one of the device is iOS then DEFINITELY it will be different!

So now the standard would very soon be the USB C but there was a time when the standard was the micro cable! Almost all old devices and all old android phones had this standard combination which was touted to be better than the pin which we used to charge our phones!

The initial days of phone had two separate ports! One was for charging and the other for those few blokes who could connect the phone to the computer like magic!

The micro port changed that! Now the same port was for charging and also for transfer! In fact transfer from the Phone to the computer became a breeze! This was even faster than the Bluetooth transfer which was the norm those days!

Apple of course never went the normal way and there was a time when no two iPhones could exchange the cable! Even the old iPhone cables could not charge the iPads which needed a whole new cable! The most irritating thing was that the first thing to break or get broken in Apple products was the horrible charging cable which used to look so nice and white but the constant bending would break it soon!

In fact there were tutorials and web pages dedicated on how to take care of those delicate cables! Another worse part was that you cannot get adapters or non Apple certified cables or chargers to charge the phone or pad! You were forced to pay a premium for getting the proper cables and charger!

So taking a cable for Apple products without testing it was a big gamble!

Even in micro slot, in spite of the design difference, many times we may not be able to place the cable connector smoothly! Over a period, that will also break! Inadvertently we would put it upside down and scratch the phone! It was the same problem with the USB slots in the computer! The pen drive with the plastic would always be inserted wrongly first!

This itself is a big cause for the local damage to either the device or the ports!

Which is why the USB C is a super invention and with it advantages has replaced almost all the devices!

You can insert any way you want and the speed is amazing! We now even have computers and pen drives with the USB C ports and they are a breeze to use! The late comer Apple actually came to the party earlier than expected! Now all new Apple devices come with the USB C! If your device is not USB C then rest assured it is an old tech! 

Now USB C is one of the best inventions ever! You can insert the cable or now even the pen drives with USB C in any direction and it will do the job! Plus it is supposed to the fast! For now with the fact that even iOS and for that matter even the latest kindle is USB C which means that it’s here to stay for a long time! Another person whose legacy is going to remain for a long time is the legacy of birthday celebrity Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra!

Now charge your phone with the USB C and sleep listening to a soft melody by KS chithra!

Shubh Ratri!

“Fly and stop and then fly again
Taking a layover is a big pain!
If you miss then it’s a mess!
Going direct is best I must confess!”

One fine day I was supposed to return from one country back to India and the direct flight was not available. Then my only choice was layover and I had to take two flights with layover in Abu Dhabi to return!

The surprising thing was that the flight ticket of the whole trip turned out to be cheaper than the whole flight!
This is an open secret which is used and abused by frequent travellers!

read on!

The thrill of going in flights is only for maybe children and first timers! For most who have taken many flights or those who are not in business or first class, flights are now similar to a train or even a bus! Without the cheap tea and great view!

The waiting time and the excess security checks and not to mention the prohibitive cost of anything in the airport makes flights an uncomfortable options for many! Of course elderly and those with wheelchairs are given special priority and options but they have to wait and that is the whole issue!

The whole idea of taking a flight is to save time but domestic flights are now the biggest way to waste time and simply wait! For any journey less than an hour via flight it is always advisable to take a train or a bus or even drive!
Now say it takes around 6 hours for you to reach a place by bus or train or car; you have to go at least two to three hours before the flight departure time to the airport! Then there is a big queue for the check in and then the luggage and then a bigger queue for security!
Finally the flight itself takes it own sweet time and most of the time the airports are very far from the place you need to go either while arriving or departing!

It definitely makes more sense to use the road!

In international trip though, a direct flight is a boon and an express service which is why they are usually more costly than a layover! The first time I had an international layover, my starting flight was so delayed and then when it did start my connecting flight was on time! I had to run from one corner of the airport to another with my bags to cross the security and reach!
The same thing happened in the above flight also! When I reached the layover airport, there was another round of checking and security and my connecting flight was ready to leave!

I really never want to write a blog on how I missed my flight ever!

But this layover and connecting flights tend to be cheap because the flights are concentrated on one important place. Like going to Thailand, many flights from India have a layover in Malaysia! We spent close to six hours roaming that airport!

Some people have now become clever especially if they are alone and they do not have any carry on luggage! They book connecting flights cheap and skip the connection!
It goes like this, and the term is called Skiplagging which involves booking a longer journey with a stopover as the intended destination to save money!

So it is like this


Desired Flight: B (origin) to C (destination)
Cheaper Flight: A (origin) to B (transit) to C (destination)
Skiplagging: B (transit becomes origin) to C (destination)

Attempting skiplagging with checked baggage can lead to significant delays and consequences. Airlines dislike skiplagging due to loss of revenue and potential increase in overbookings!

Several times we have seen that airlines go on calling people to their flight but those people do not show up! They have simply skipped the flight since their intended destination is reached! Of course you cannot do that frequently since then you can be penalised and it is actually illegal.

This got me thinking how people can do the opposite of skiplagging in train! Now when we have trains which stop at several places and since the train fare is calculated on final destination then how about you book a ticket to a stop which is some stops before your final stop and you pay less and then get down at your intended stop! Since am sure the TT would be checking the tickets only in the initial part of the journey! Of course you may not save much but then it is theoretically possible and I am sure someone would have definitely done it! I just wanted to coin a term for it thats all! May be Skiptracking!

Now that’s being innovative! Just like how innovative birthday celebrity
Shanmugasundaram, known by his stage name A.V.M. Rajan was!

Now stop thinking about how to cheat the system and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“Wipe and wipe as much as you may!

You still feel a little dismay!

You need that one thing to clean!

Water is one cool cleaning machine!”

Vacation is a break from work but many times you need a break from vacation! 

Most itineraries of any trip is dotted to the last minute! 

When this happens, you are like a machine who has to eat sleep and get up in a different time zone! 

Even all the diet you work around goes for a six! You eat what you get and when you get it!

I am not even telling about the back pack trips or the trekking to a mountain base! But even the most routine tourist spots nowadays need you to be physically and mentally fit! 

Any tour for more than 4-5 days will make you tired hungry and remind you that you have amazing pain sensitivity!

Plus the fact that the whole ‘bathroom cycle’ will be upside down! 

A big issue which many ‘indians’ may have is the lack of a bidet faucet!

The use of ‘Tissue’ becomes a big ‘Issue’!

In fact without the faucet you simply do not feel clean! That feeling of an incomplete wipe always remains!

The first time I went to a European country was Germany and that is where I had the first experience of no water to wash! I did not even know that you could flush the Tissues! I used to see these signs in many hotels stating that you Must NOT flush the Tissues!

The first couple of days I did not even eat that well to get enough for the tissue! Plus being a vegetarian the options were left only to the sympathy of the chef and bread! Both would not make much to use the tissue if you get my drift! 

The same thing is in Georgia! The Germany experience made it easier to get used to the tissue but kids were still not comfortable! 

Of course after a couple of days we have sorted out the issue of the tissue!

We can’t wait though to rush home soon and wash again!

Sketched the birthday celebrity Master Chief Petty Officer Krishnan Madhavan Nair, better known by his stage name Jayan in a rush!

Have a great night! 

Signing off from Tbilisi Georgia!

Shubh Ratri!