For the Planet Earth

A better environment is our need, and not just a requirement of the nature itself. It is our responsibility towards Earth rather than what the planet should do for us – after all, it is the humans who are responsible for the current situation which requires the world to go through some saving. The question remains if what was first needed, about what science should have done for nature, for it is the same field which started finding ways to exploit is in the worst possible ways.

But what people are more concerned now is to go to another planets, but don’t we have a planet here which needs saving? Is it more needed to go to another planet and exploit it too rather than making things better at the place where one was born? Is it more like an escape route for the rich people like in a number of science fiction novels and movies, including the 2013 one which could take it further – like Neill Blomkamp’s Matt Damon starrer Elysium? No, it is never late to save Earth, for nature heals better as long as humans understand the right thing.

Wake me up after saving Earth. I have had enough of you mortals 😀

Let’s do what we can – spend some time to plant some trees along with all those things that we do. We are actually doing the same now, around our house. The space is less, but we manage with what we have, and hope to have something like a wall of green around us. There are different types of trees, from Zapota, Star Fruit, Neem, Guava and Star Apple to Jackfruit and the Alphonso Mango. There are also enough vegetables for half of the week which are produced at home.

The food waste is usually used as the compost working as the fertilizer, along with those which are bought from the outside. There is nothing like having your own materials to use for the growing trees which is regularly cared for. The compost bin is available from the Municipality itself, and you can get it without much difficulties. There is also not much space needed as this can be placed on one of the corners near kitchen.

There are not many trees around our place, except for the back-side of our home which has a nice abandoned house surrounded by a number of the bigger trees around. But we live in a town which is going through a faster pace of development, and the amount of greenery has surely come down. It is up-to us, the common people to make up-to it by planting more and more trees around our houses.

Some of our own tomatoes; something for temporary happiness!

Let’s try to make the area around our home green, and keep it the same. A few trees will only do us good, and we have actually utilized all the available space around our house which are not paved by tiles. Our kitten, Simona loves trees and manages to stay on top of some of those already existing trees, taunting the dog which runs around the neighbourhood. Trees are not just our property, for it belongs to many.

If we grow our own fruits and vegetables, we are going to be a lot more self-sufficient than we are now. It has been shown in a number of movies including the Malayalam movies Ividam Swargamaanu and How Old Are You. We need to have our own green world with enough to sustain ourselves, and if everyone begins to think so, we will end up doing the right thing for our environment.

Let’s help Green Yatra (http://greenyatra.org/) on the same. For people from my area, there are some nice places to buy something for the contribution to your green world when you travel from Perumbavoor to Muvattupuzha, on the left side just when reaching Keezhilam, and another one when you travel from the same place to Kothamangalam, after Pattaal. Let’s try to make this world cleaner and greener, thus making the much needed difference! ***The images used in this blog post are from my home, taken on my Asus Zenfone5 and Samsung Galaxy Duos.

TeNy

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The Effect of Mass Effect

There are times when you remember those lessons from teachers, and among them, there were games, about which I had written earlier. Along with Age of Empires‘ lessons in history, Age of Mythology‘s myth related classes and Tomb Raider‘s attempt to improve my puzzle solving skills to which Prince of Persia also contributed, there was always Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena to teach how to control anger by helping us blow a computer bot’s head off and shout “Head Shot”. But among these games, what Mass Effect taught was more of an endless collection of things. Here are a few.

Spare some time to look at the beautiful world of Mass Effect – gaming can wait 😀

1. It is a big, strange world, and there is the need for tolerance: You take control of SSV Normandy, a powerful spaceship as Commander Shepard, with missions and a chance to meet different species of aliens along with completing the objectives. It is not so different from being in our own world except for the appearances of the aliens and all the shooting that can happen at anytime. We are all aliens on Earth as these people are when travelling through different parts of the galaxy. Every species is different, but we can get along with most of them with some tolerance.

Isn’t this the best time to travel to Mercury? Or should we wait for Santa Claus? 😀

2. Exploration is a must and without it, there is a void: The game’s vast universe is something to be explored. There are some strange planets, and we don’t know what awaits us there. The only thing that we can confirm is about the nature of the elements there. After we get there, there is the chance to get lost in the beauty of the detail there. There are times when creatures come out of nowhere, and the sand serpent kind of things might be common. We face the dangers of the world there as we struggle with the competition in the society in the world outside gaming. It is only then that we get better.

Here is another planet to explore, and a vehicle which suits the terrains of these worlds.

3. Choices make big impact, not just for you, but for many others: There are many choices that we have to make in this game. Not only our actions, but also our words make a difference. It can make a hostile drop his gun, one of our allies turn against us or a friend shoot us. It can lead to the death of one of our soldiers, and there are times when we have to choose a life over the other, or the life of someone over the mission. The game is full of choices, and I had never played a game which had made me choose so much and also suffer the consequences in a few more minutes of play. Not so different from real life, is it?

Make the choice. Meanwhile, note the point from Ashley Williams who speaks the truth 😀

4. There is always something more than what meets the eye: Mass Effect does have a twisted story, and a lot of effort has been put in there to make sure that it doesn’t end up as just another shooter with guns and blood making the rules. Even as things would eventually lead to an alien race called The Reapers who would come and harvest the developed life as they always did, there are lots of twists concerning the same, and our protagonist has to fight more than just the harbingers or the final agents of Armageddon.

An ancient civilization devastated. But it should still have a few surprises for our captain.

5. Settle your differences before it is too late: Mass Effect is a game that thrives on relationships. There is friendship as well as the romantic relationship that blossoms for the protagonist, and displeasure is another side of the same. Just like in the game, we are aware of a possible end of the world considering the recent terrorist attacks and acts of hatred – so it becomes our duty to be tolerant of others, and hope for a better future. There was something more about this, but by memory is a little faded.

You are already in the middle of a big battle. Better before death than later in afterlife.

I have never played another game like Mass Effect. Most of you have watched Interstellar, but this game which came in 2007 had a lot of space exploration elements. It is one of those rare games that give so much choice. There is the movie on the same, which is a work in progress – it is going to be huge. There is already an animated movie Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, and two sequels to the game. Do you know that Mass Effect 2 is considered one of the greatest games of all time? I have a lot less idea about Mass Effect 3, but all three games were received with a lot of acclaim.

Oh no! This is not that area of the galaxy where I parked my fantastic spaceship, or is it? 😀

*All images used in this blog post are the screenshots of my game-play from Mass Effect.

TeNy

Let the Predator Hunt

In 1987, Major Alan Schaefer a.k.a. Dutch killed someone wearing highly advanced weapons, and whom they called the Predator. It is not something for which we can conduct an anniversary gathering every year, but Arnold Schwarzenegger needed to kill that one, because otherwise the movie would not have gone on to become a huge hit and later come in the all-time favourite list of many movie fans. Predator is one of the best movies of Arnold, no doubt about that, but the question is about the predicament of the Predator, the name that was so ruthlessly presented by the movie makers.

Predators are known for hunting of other species and collecting their heads as trophies. But in that case, they are not so different from the humans who collect animal heads after hunting them. It is only normal to feel that the Predators see humans as the mankind sees the other species. After all, Predators belong to an advanced species with better scientific equipments and a superior technology. As the name suggests in another way, a Predator predates, and thus there is another reason to assert its superiority as what came and thrived before humans.

You can’t escape the eyes of the Predator (pic from Predator FB page)

Unlike the Predators, the humans are even interesting in hurting their own kind and enjoy a lot from their suffering. If it was just another sport for the Predators, it becomes a case of sadomasochism for the humans who love each and every moment of inclicting pain upon their own kind, both physical and psychological. It is a certain kind of personal pleasure and happiness which they take out of it. Meanwhile, Predators only attack when the enemy is good enough for them, usually as part of a bigger cause. They follow a honorable path, and never see the need to deviate from the same.

There are not many people in the world who can prove to be better than Predators in quality. The hunt for fame and money becomes a man a Predator sooner or later. In this never-ending hunt for more, as they are never satisfied, means that the world has its own Predators already. Predators had honour in their dealings. Do humans have any? As they keep on trying to take others down along with going up the ladder, there is no doubt about the fact that humans can thrive well in another planet which has an alien species exhibiting goodness, on which they can feed and spread hatred.

If you have watched The Cabin in the Woods, you will know that the end of the movie was about total extinction, which is not really a bad thing, and the end of one species will only make way for another, and it could possibly be a better one as it might have known about the mistakes created by the former. The Predators could have actually brought that, restricting humans to their world of challenges and adventurous entertainment. But they decided to choose the higher path and rise above the humans, and for that, there is the need to be thankful to them.

Keep Calm & support the Predator (pic from AVP: Evolution FB page)

Meanwhile, the miserable humans will continue to fight each other over small things which are not of importance. There are many things that they can do, but they would choose to hold on to the so called ambition and push the other down, and ridicule those who haven’t reached close to their achievements. Humanity doesn’t love its own people, and co-existence is difficult, or rather one of the most impossible things in the history of the planet. There will always be many reasons to hate each other. There will also be new reasons coming up. They conduct rallies and demonstration for ridiculous reasons, and for the real needs, there is none.

People blame religion, but no, the mankind will always find some new reason to kill one other. Blaming religion is the dumbest thing that one can do, as there will be a new ideology coming up every time to replace religion and spread hatred. There will be politics, race, caste, death of some so called important person, cricket matches, football rivalry and finally more reasons which has no meaning. Now, can we blame Predator if he is killing a few people on the screen. No, he is not even scary compared to the humans. I would say we welcome him to our world. If we can kill each other, why not let the Predator do his job in a decent way? May be he will keep our heads as trophies, and we will be popular among aliens.

TeNy