Destination Infinity's Blog, page 10

Best Wishes to Team India @ Tokyo Olympics 2021

Here is a video we made to wish Team India all the very best, at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics – 2021.

India has won 3, 6, and 2 medals respectively in the last three editions of the Olympic Games. This year we’ve sent our largest contingent yet, and already won one silver medal. Let’s hope for more.

You can also join me in wishing our players, in the comments section below

Destination Infinity

My India (Jim Corbett): Book Review

I listened to the audiobook a few months ago, but you can also read the Kindle version. I still remember most of the stories narrated by this skillful author quite vividly.

This non-fiction book is set in the early 20th century in the Uttarakhand region of British India where Col. Jim Corbett lived. He worked in the railways and loved the hills (where he lived with his sister and his dog), and the plains (where he worked). Actually, he loved the people and animals of the land and it comes through in his writing.

It contains many true stories, the major life encounters remembered by the author, and I am sure, cherished by the readers. If you want to know what life was like during the early 1900s, this is a must-read/listen.

I will narrate one story briefly.

There was a young family with two little kids. They lived just below the hills where the author lived. They both had to work in the forest in order to fend for the family. Hence they left their kids at home during that time.

One day both the kids were missing, when the parents returned from work. They searched all around the area but to no avail. The forest was nearby and there was also a rumor that small kids were being kidnapped, so they were really worried.

They searched all around the place, but couldn’t find the kids. So they went and registered a complaint at the nearest police station. The officials there felt that if the parents could offer a monetary reward, the kids may be found sooner. But they didn’t have any money to give.

On the same day, a rich merchant from the author’s village who was passing by came to know about the incident and offered 50 rupees (big money back then) as a reward to the finders. The police then went about announcing this news to the neighboring areas.

Meanwhile, inside the forest, a herdsman was walking with his sheep. At a particular place, the sheep stopped one by one and looked towards a bush, before continuing. Curious, the herdsman went to the bushy area to find the two kids behind it who had (by then) fainted due to exhaustion. They were not harmed by any wild animal despite being trapped in the forest for two days!

He carried them on his shoulders and enquired about the kids in the nearest village. Since they had heard the police announcement earlier that day, they directed him to the parents. So finally the kids were rescued and reunited with their family.

The police came to the house and offered the prize money to the rescuer – the herdsman. He refused to take it saying he was alone and he wouldn’t find any use for so much money. He suggested they give the money to the parents instead.

The parents too refused to take it as it was a huge sum. Now the police were in a dilemma. What to do with all that money? The donor did not even leave his address with them! But they knew the name of his village. So they went, enquired, and at last found the donor, and returned his money.

I know, you are thinking, can such a thing ever happen in India today? Hmm… it’s a difficult question to answer but we can take solace from the fact that it did happen a hundred years or so, ago.

Here is the link to ‘My India’ by Jim Corbett if you want to read/listen to the rest of the stories.

Don’t you?

Destination Infinity

Bikerz .?.

I have been driving bikes for twenty years now. I just love driving a bike. I am Bikerz.

As late as January (this year) I made some enhancements to my bike, which you can see in the above pic.

But sometimes, you’ll have to let go of things that are dear to you because life doesn’t give you any other option!

I have been diagnosed with back pain (sciatica) and I have been taking physiotherapy treatment for it. While this in itself is nothing serious, the doctor has warned me to be careful and not let things go out of hand, in the future.

He says I should not sit before the laptop for more than 30 minutes, I should not sit on my easy chair to work, not travel long-distance, and of course, not drive my bike. He added, “as far as possible” but it’s better to avoid them.

In short, I should not do things that I considered routine – even a month ago.

While we are all busy living life, we forget to cherish the privileges that have been bestowed upon us. Things that we take for granted, but realize their value only after we lose them.

It’s OK, such is life. I better learn to cherish what is still available to me!

Here is a short 14-sec video I made with visual effects, with the only video of me driving a bike I had. Thankfully we decided to record at least this during January when we finished the bike remodeling project.

BTW, I am making my first animated short film (very short – around two minutes) which I’ll post in this blog soon. Keep a watch

Destination Infinity

5 Online Games to Beat Stress For Adults [FREE]

A Clinical Counselor says that playing online video games for 30-minutes a day can help alleviate depression and anxiety, and it almost rivals the effectiveness of medication for that purpose! (Source)

I have noticed that playing simple games (not the ultra-competitive adrenaline-pumping team games) has helped me relax more, especially before or after I do some important work.

Plays.org is a website I came across recently that offers 100+ simple (mostly retro-themed) online games that help you to beat stress. You can play all these games on your computer browser – no downloads, no apps to install, and they are free-of-cost to play.

Here are five games that we liked the most on that website. Actually, I chose three and my wife chose two. But first, have a look at the below video with short screen recordings from each of these five games and see if you can recognize them…

My impressions on these five online games to beat stress:

(The individual games are linked to their respective titles, below)

#1. Pinball

About a decade ago, I was using CDMA wireless technology to connect to the Internet. The issue was, the CDMA adapter was not made for the Linux Mint OS I was using at that time, mainly to escape Vista. But I somehow managed to make it work.

There was another glitch – it used to take up to 10 minutes to connect to the Internet. What to do for such a long time? So I downloaded one of the few games available for my OS and that was – PINBALL

What started as an initial ten-minute playing session sometimes extended well beyond 30-minutes! To say I loved this game is an understatement.

So when I saw the same game, with a few small changes, on plays.org, I played this one first. Needless to say, I liked it the most. All you need to do is flip the left or right arrows, that too occasionally. The ball will keep bouncing and collecting points for you almost on auto-pilot. Perfect game for lazy ppl

#2. Christmas Chain

There is an old adage that goes,

“Education is what you remember after you finish your exams.“

This Christmas Chain is the only game my wife keeps playing continuously – almost daily. That says a lot about this game and how relaxing it should be. Frankly, I didn’t find this game so exciting. This just goes to show that different people have their own unique tastes, and there should be something for everyone if you just care to explore!

#3. Take Off (Car Game)

I hated this game initially. All one needs to do is keep the car on the road, but I kept crashing it every few seconds. I should’ve moved on to another game, but something told me to hold on.

I am glad I did persist. Ond once I got hold of the car controls, I loved this game. This is not a racing game – I don’t like such games anyway. See the above promo video to get an idea.

#4. Wording Word Spelling Puzzle Game

This is another game that I didn’t have a great impression about, but my wife liked it very much. If you are into solving word puzzles, check it out. And yeah, this will also improve your vocabulary!

#5. Snake

If you’ve ever owned a Nokia phone (who hasn’t?) chances are good that you’ve played this game on a tiny black-and-white screen. Don’t you remember the snake that got bigger every time it eats the food, and finally dies because it finds its own size unmanageable?

In a way, that’s the metaphor of life itself.

Well, philosophies aside, if you play this game, I am sure you’ll be bitten by the nostalgic Nokia bug and will want to keep playing – just like me

Of course, you could play online games to beat stress, but remember one thing – don’t overdo it. Play it for a short time, and maybe return to it after a couple of hours. Also, don’t forget to work OK? Happy Playing

Destination Infinity

How to make Large Bubbles?

To make LARGE bubbles, you need a LARGE stick/wand. It’s that simple!

When we were kids, we all remember buying small bubble maker kit and blowing many bubbles out of it. I guess you still get them, but the issue is – they’re SMALL.

Recently, when we went out, we found a seller making these large bubbles (which you can see in the below embedded video). Instinctively we bought the bubble maker kit and… made large bubbles at home!

Here is the beautiful video of bubbles we made –

Recently we found a similar large bubble-making kit in a fancy store near our house too. But even those were smaller than the stick/wand we used in the video. If you are in Chennai, and you want to know where to buy that large bubble creation kit, see the video fully.

You can also see the first 30-seconds to get an idea of the kind of bubbles I am talking about

Destination Infinity

Enjoy Enjaami Song: What’s the Message?

With 32M views now, the currently trending ‘Enjoy Enjaami‘ song has gained a lot of fans among the Tamil and neighboring communities. Premiering for AR Rahman’s Maajja initiative to amplify the voice of South Indian independent artists globally, this song exceeds in multiple aspects including music, voices, art direction, makeup, cinematography, etc. It’s simply a treat to listen and watch

But one aspect that got me thinking is, whether there is a sublime message imbibed in the lyrics? It’s easy to miss the message if you listen to it casually, but when you pay close attention, it looks like there is a deep message conveyed through this song. I think they have deliberately hidden the depth of the message.

Below, I have mentioned only those parts of the song where I think there is a social message, and I have tried to analyze it. These are my views only – the makers and other listeners may differ.

“நல்லபடி வாழச்சொல்லி இந்த மண்ணை கொடுத்தானே பூர்வ குடி”

I think this line means, in spite of our ancestors wanting us to live a good/proper life, we may have not lived up to their expectations.

“நாயி நரி பூனைக்கும் தான் இந்த ஏரி கோளம் கூட சொந்தமடி”

This line probably means that all living organisms deserve to live on this earth, but we have been selfishly consuming (and destroying) resources that are meant to be shared.

“நான் அஞ்சு மரம் வளர்த்தேன், அழகான தோட்டம் வெச்சேன், தோட்டம் செழிச்சாலும் என் தொண்ட நனையலையே”

This line, I think, makes a reference to farmers who grow our food but are still deprived, themselves.

“பாட்டன் பூட்டன் காத்த பூமி; ஆட்டம் போட்டு காட்டும் சாமி”

When we indiscriminately destroy a cherished ancestral land (that ought to be handed over properly to upcoming generations), the Gods will obviously dance with anger and punish us. OK, this conclusion is probably exaggerated, but I see it this way!

“சேவல் குவிச்சு, அது போட்டு வெச்ச எச்சம் தானே காடா மாறிச்சி”

When we let other living things live, they will recycle back to support even more life. But, with our short-sighted attitude, we are destroying even their habitat.

“என்ன கொர என்ன கொர என் சீனி கரும்புக்கு என்ன கொர”

Is it not possible for us to control our indiscriminate (and often destructive) desires? (When compared to our ancestors) what are we deprived of? Don’t we already have too much of everything?

Destination Infinity

Lockdown: I Lost Weight while Most Gained! You Can do it too.

The main reason why I lost weight while most gained it during the lockdown is that I have been working from home for more than 10 years now.

So, I had already made the typical mistakes like lack of exercise, unhealthy snacking, etc. that most people made during the sudden COVID-19 induced lockdown/work-from-home situation.

More importantly, over the years, I took corrective measures to avoid those mistakes and created systems that helped me avoid the negative effects of staying at home for longer periods of time.

One advantage I had during the COVID-19 lockdown is the lack of access to fast foods and eateries. Even after the fast-food joints opened, I made sure to eat out only when required, and not as frequently as I did during the pre-lockdown period.

I used to walk for an hour around our house daily before, and even now I do – just the venue has changed. I now walk for an hour on our home terrace! I sure miss those vacations and events that I frequented over the weekends, but I also miss all the unhealthy food I ate when I went out.

While I have been lucky, over 40% of the adults in the U.S. have said that they have gained more weight than they intended during the pandemic lockdown. The main reasons for the weight gain seem to have been indiscriminate snacking, increased alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, and stress/anxiety.

Are you over-weight?

Before I give you a few effective weight loss tips, you should determine whether you are actually over-weight. You can do that using the ideal height/weight calculator available here. If you mention your height and weight, it will tell you your ideal body weight. You would be considered obese if you weigh 30% more than your ideal body weight.

Is over-weight an Issue?

Yes. Excessive weight increases the likelihood of illness, esp. stroke, heart disease, type 2 diabetics, etc. More your age, the more the risk of ailments due to over-weight. Besides, your agility, response, and ease of doing even simple things become more difficult.

Medical bills cost about $1,429 more expensive for obese patients compared to people with normal weight (annually).

(Source)

How I Lost Weight and How You can do it tooExercise: I used to walk for one-hour (minimum) each day, and I continue to walk during the pandemic too. You could also jog, run, cycle or swim. All these activities help your heart pump faster, which helps with weight loss. Alcohol: I’ve never had alcohol, so that’s not been an issue for me. If you do, it’s time to reduce your alcohol consumption. And yes, alcohol increases your weight. Fast/Junk Foods: Fast food addiction is something I’ve battled with (and mostly lost) for many years. I can’t resist having sweet and spicy foods. But since I go buy most of these snacks from nearby fast-food joints and restaurants, the pandemic came as a blessing to me because all those joints closed. Even after they reopened, I am able to limit my food consumption outside home to only when necessary. Let’s hope this continues. Sugar & Salt: Avoiding this is even more difficult than fast food. As sugar and salt are available in plenty in all those packaged foods & snacks available in supermarkets, and the supermarkets never closed, I am still struggling. If you too are not able to avoid tasty snacks, at least try to reduce them. Besides these also contain preservatives, which are harmful. Fresh Vegetables & Fruits: While I always ate cooked vegetables, we cooked fresh veggies at home. Earlier, I was drinking fruit juices topped with a plentiful amount of sugar but I later came to know that eating fruits is healthier than drinking juices. Packed fruit juices available in supermarkets contain mostly sugar. Nowadays I am eating bananas, papayas, apples & oranges. One fruit per day. Try it, these are tasty as well

I am also eating less per meal (almost 50% of what I used to), but instead of three meals a day, I eat four. In my case I think it helps. But if you cannot control the quantity during each meal, you might end up eating more – so be careful. If I fall sick, I stop eating altogether. I drink some milk or oral rehydration salts, but I don’t eat anything solid until I get well. This is again my own experiment – you might want to check with a medical practitioner or a dietitian.

A Weight Loss Calculator?

If you are serious about your weight loss ambition and want to be methodical about establishing a system that’ll enable you to lose just the amount of weight you want to, have a look at this weight loss calculator. Over there, if you enter parameters like your height, weight, activity level, etc. you’ll get the number of calories you will need to intake per day to achieve your goal. You’ll also find many more tips to reduce your weight the right way on that page.

Photoshoot Places in Chennai: Semmozhi Poonga

Semmozhi Poonga is one of the best photoshoot places in Chennai as it is located right in the heart of the city near Gemini Flyover/Mount Road. (Google Maps Location link) Below you’ll find the park timings, charges, etc. as of March 2021.

Park Timing: Walkers – 6 A.M. to 9 A.M.; Public – 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

Entry ticket for the Park: Adults – Rs. 20; Children (5 – 12 years) – Rs. 10.

Camera: Rs. 50 per day.

Baby Stroller: Rs. 20 per hour.

Professional Photo Shoot: Rs. 2000 per day. (Modeling, Birthday, Wedding, College Projects, TV Interviews, etc.)

TV Serial/Film Shooting: Rs. 12,000 per day.

Parking: Bike – Rs. 15; Car – Rs. 40.

Below is a short video made by me with photos and videos I shot at the Semmozhi Poonga, Chennai. Of course, you could go to the botanical park and garden casually for a picnic or weekend outing too

Destination Infinity

Anusual: The Memoir of Thiruda Thiruda’s Chandralekha!

Do you remember Chandralekha of Mani Rathnam’s Thiruda Thiruda? If not see this song,

This song is a perfect example of all-round brilliance in a Tamil movie, quite unbelievable that it was made in the early 90s! Anyway, the lead artist of the song is Anu Aggarwal, who is also a supermodel, Bollywood sensation right in her debut movie (Mahesh Bhatt’s Aashiqui), and… a Yogini and a Sanyasi!

Before you release your breath, I should also tell you that she chose to send flowers to a doctor who accidentally cut a nerve on her right hand during a crucial surgery which made her to almost lose an entire hand.

Wait, there is more – that surgery was neccaciated to cure the infinite injuries caused due to a car crash which she survived after being in a coma for 29 days, and injuring almost every part of her body.

Anusual – Memoir of a Girl Who Came Back from the Dead

This book is Anu Aggarwal’s autobiography where she narrates it all – her brush with superstardom, her exploration of relationships and sensuality, her spiritual experiences (good and otherwise) and later on, healing, at a Yoga Ashram, and more.

My suggestion, if you choose to read Anusual is – don’t give up on it halfway. I almost stopped reading the book twice. But I am glad that I got myself to listen to the audiobook fully.

If you have come across difficult times, and have felt why go through all that pain, read this book. You will realize that you never even came close to either pleasure or pain as the author. Kudos to her bravery and choosing to live such an adventurous, and need I say – the unconventional life!

I wish I had half, no 5% of her guts and spirit. Wait, there is still time and hope

Destination Infinity

Largest Mural in India? Indira Nagar MRTS Wall Art

The Indira Nagar MRTS railway station has a new attraction on its walls outside – a large mural/wall art that may well be over 250m in length and 25m in height! This is probably the single largest continuous artwork across India.

Chennai Corporation has commissioned this artwork on the theme of equality for AIDS survivors. More details about this art work can be found here (link).

Do you remember St+Art Foundation who did the large artworks on the apartment walls at Kannagi Nagar? The same organization is behind this project as well.

If greenery gives life, art makes us enjoy it

Here is a video I created with photos and videos from the Indira Nagar MRTS Mural –

Hope you like the painting, and my video

Destination Infinity