<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <title>Nithitsuki&#39;s Website</title>
  <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/atom.xml" rel="self"/><link href="https://nithitsuki.com/"/><updated>2026-07-04T00:00:00+00:00</updated>
  <id>https://nithitsuki.com/</id><author>
    <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name><email>hi@nithitsuki.com</email></author><generator>Hugo -- gohugo.io</generator>
  <entry>
    <title>Masks, Identities &amp; Cosplay</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/masks-identities-cosplay/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/masks-identities-cosplay/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2026-07-04T00:00:00+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-07-04T00:00:00+00:00</updated>
    <summary type="html">IndieWeb Carnivals prompt of the month</summary><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;
This blog post is an entry to &lt;a href=&#34;https://artlung.com/identity-cosplay-ic/&#34;&gt;IndieWeb monthly prompt&lt;/a&gt;, which I&amp;#39;m taking part from the lovely &lt;a href=&#34;https://blr.indiewebclub.org/&#34;&gt;IndieWeb club - bangalore&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
and here&amp;#39;s the prompt of the month:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
For this month’s prompt, I invite you to consider what masks and cosplay mean and how they interact with identity, for you. Write about it on your website, or do a photo essay, or a comic, or whatever creative expression works for you. But I expect an essay will say plenty.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
To me,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
a mask is an identity that we put on which we wouldn&amp;#39;t normally do alone or with someone that we&amp;#39;re comfortable enough being ourselves with, while cosplay is just going all out and taking the identity of someone with costumes, makeup, and the whole identity theft arsenal.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Usually, masks hide some part of our face, sometimes little, sometimes much, but they are an accessory that almost always involves hiding/distorting some feature of our face. Following that line of thought, I feel like a mask in an act of personality we put on which isn&amp;#39;t fully ourselves&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
lets take a Doctor for example, they&amp;#39;ve been invited by a middle school to teach kids about hygiene lets say, at the time they would be wearing the mask&lt;sup class=&#34;footnote-reference&#34;&gt;&lt;a id=&#34;footnote-reference-1&#34; href=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/masks-identities-cosplay/#footnote-1&#34;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; of a teacher (If the doctor doesn&amp;#39;t really identify as a teacher while still trying to teach the kids)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
and cosplay? well just searching it up online reveals people dressing up wildly with makeup, costumes and so much more beyond the mask, so I&amp;#39;d say cosplay is going all out pretending to be someone that you are not.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
So to me, you can wear a mask to be hide your anger issues to your boss on how much you hate them, or trying to be a good role model for your cousins when in reality you might not be the same person that they get to see during their vacations&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
while cosplay on the other hand is straight up LARPing (in the truest meaning of Live Action Role Playing) where a person goes all out and tries to be someone else that they aren&amp;#39;t.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;footnotes&#34;&gt;
&lt;hr class=&#34;footnotes-separatator&#34;/&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;footnote-definitions&#34;&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;footnote-definition&#34;&gt;
&lt;sup id=&#34;footnote-1&#34;&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/masks-identities-cosplay/#footnote-reference-1&#34;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;footnote-body&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;only during the re-read did I realise that its kind of a pun, sorry&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>Theres levels to appreciating art</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/theres-levels-to-art/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/theres-levels-to-art/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2026-06-20T17:00:12+05:30</published>
    <updated>2026-06-20T17:00:12+05:30</updated>
    <summary type="html">and I&#39;m definitely on the lower ranks</summary><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;
Recently I watched the backrooms movie, and not long ago I had also read the book &amp;#39;After Dark&amp;#39; by Haruki Murakami, and I felt that they had something in common - The lack of a definitive ending.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The movie and the book &lt;em&gt;did&lt;/em&gt; end after running out of time or pages ofc, But the story felt like I had just watched the first episode of a TV show with at least 7 more episodes to go. Except this wasn&amp;#39;t actually a series and just a stand alone entry.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
In both cases, there were so many supernatural things left unexplained, and by the end it felt like I was observing through a cctv camera of something bigger at play, enough to know something was up, but left hanging with no more leads.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
and for some, thats their point. In both the backrooms and the book &amp;#39;After Dark&amp;#39;, they aren&amp;#39;t praised for the conclusive ending or sometimes even their story, more so on about how it &lt;em&gt;made them feel&lt;/em&gt; (and something about the shape of the prose, or the cinematography without talking about the story behind it).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
To me its the equivalent of appreciating a picture for the &lt;em&gt;way&lt;/em&gt; they had taken it rather than the content itself. Making a picture look straight out a disposable camera is super cool, but if you use it to only photograph a pack of chips that doesn&amp;#39;t really say anything to me other than &amp;#34;a bag of chips if it would&amp;#39;ve been photographed in the 90s&amp;#34;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
To some it might invoke the feelings of nostalgia or give them a certain &amp;#34;vibe&amp;#34; or &amp;#34;feel&amp;#34; that I&amp;#39;m missing. Because to me Its just a 90s looking picture of a bag of chips.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
If it had instead been the same disposable camera picture but of teenagers in the 90s on skateboards with walkmans and tamagotchis strapped to them with a scene of them exchanging mixtapes, a culture that only really existed for a small portion of time, now &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; tells me a story. Kind of like those renaissance art pieces which can be analyzed to actually mean something.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Maybe then it would have been obvious to me that &amp;#34;oh- this person has tried to depict how it would have felt like to be alive at the time, and almost like a portal into some culture in the eyes of a camera from that time, how nice&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
but if you expect me to get all that with just the vibe and not the content, I&amp;#39;m sorry - perhaps I&amp;#39;m just not at the level to appreciate art from just the way the words are put together or the cinematography of how it makes someone feel. Rather than the bigger meaning behind&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
typing this out makes me feel like a kid unable to appreciate stories without a simple moral. Life is filled with events that do not have a definitive ending to stories and &amp;#34;just are the way they are&amp;#34; which I completely get.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
I&amp;#39;m even a fan of many &amp;#34;slice-of-life&amp;#34; media - but they all have something in them - a bit of comedy, sadness, complexities of being human &lt;em&gt;alongside&lt;/em&gt; a world building, a journey which makes the ending &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; much more meaningful.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
but what happens when the journey is the destination, and its all about world building and intricacies which put deliberate story writing like comedy and romance aside. Sure it&amp;#39;s a more &amp;#39;natural&amp;#39; world building with no forced elements. But if I wanted to just see things unfold, I&amp;#39;d go out and touch grass.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Anyways, I will probably hugely regret posting this &amp;#34;rant&amp;#34;. I still whole heartedly believe that its me who is too dense to appreciate such organic media rather than a fabricated story, but who knows, maybe someday I&amp;#39;ll come back to this and snicker at how naive I was&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
I really need to add a comment section, until then, feel free to text me about this or otherwise. Thanks for reading :)&lt;/p&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>You should use last.fm</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/lastfm/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/lastfm/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2026-06-08T00:31:12+05:30</published>
    <updated>2026-06-08T00:31:12+05:30</updated>
    <summary type="html">on why you should use last.fm, a website for music lovers</summary><content type="html">
&lt;p&gt;
(pre.script: this post was not sponsored)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-1&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-1&#34;&gt;
You should use last.fm
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-1&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
I&amp;#39;ve always wanted to share my music taste with friends, but as a YouTube Music user without Blend or Wrapped, I was stuck keeping it to myself.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Then I found last.fm: a record of sorts for your music listening history (pun intended).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
By &amp;#34;scrobbling&amp;#34; (logging) your plays to last.fm from literally any source or app, you get a completely unified listening history with no platform lock-in. The indie web dream: FREEDOM from big tech.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
That&amp;#39;s just the foundation. The real hook is sharing: hand someone your profile and they can explore your entire taste through tag clouds, listening heatmaps, top artists by decade, and tools like  &lt;a href=&#34;https://mold.github.io/explr/?username=nithitsuki&#34;&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt;. It&amp;#39;s essentially the best social features of every music platform, but for any platform and far more fun to dig through.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Last.fm also has a solid recommendation system and an open API if you want to build your own tools on top. One-time setup, forget about it the moment it&amp;#39;s done.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Stop reading and get to it: &lt;a href=&#34;https://last.fm/about&#34;&gt;last.fm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
If you listen to music in your browser, I recommend &lt;a href=&#34;https://webscrobbler.com/&#34;&gt;web-scrobbler&lt;/a&gt;, and for phones, I use &lt;a href=&#34;https://kawaiidango.github.io/pano-scrobbler/&#34;&gt;pano-scrobbler&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
(P.S: yt music has wrapped now, altough mediocre. Still no blend sadly)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>Name your contacts like a psychopath</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/name-your-contacts-like-a-psychopath/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/name-your-contacts-like-a-psychopath/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2026-05-25T00:40:12+05:30</published>
    <updated>2026-05-25T00:40:12+05:30</updated>
    <summary type="html">and how it has saved me on countless random occasions</summary><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;I&amp;rsquo;m a uni student, and that involves meeting many new people, and inevitably saving many contacts for countless occasions, even if some of them only get used once or twice.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Keep this up, and you might end up with 100+ new contacts in no time, most of whom you might not even remember much about, let alone specific details about them.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My fix, which I apparently started doing on instinct: is to name contacts like a goddamn serial killer.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;rsquo;s a real one:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Adithya Nair AIDS (F) &amp;lsquo;27 (ST) (DS) (Y) AMRITA (Rover) (Atlas)&lt;sup id=&#34;fnref:1&#34;&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;#fn:1&#34; class=&#34;footnote-ref&#34; role=&#34;doc-noteref&#34;&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Decoded:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;AIDS&lt;/code&gt; → department: AI and Data Science&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;(F)&lt;/code&gt; → section F&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;&#39;27&lt;/code&gt; → graduating class of 2027&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;(ST)&lt;/code&gt; → student, not faculty &lt;code&gt;(FAC)&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;(DS)&lt;/code&gt; → dayscholar, not boarder &lt;code&gt;(HS)&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;(Y)&lt;/code&gt; → guy; &lt;code&gt;(X)&lt;/code&gt; → girl&lt;sup id=&#34;fnref:2&#34;&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;#fn:2&#34; class=&#34;footnote-ref&#34; role=&#34;doc-noteref&#34;&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;AMRITA&lt;/code&gt; → my university, so I know where the contact&amp;rsquo;s from&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;tags after that, anything non-standard: clubs, teams, (BUS), etc..&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&#34;exhibit-1-a-day-when-my-friend-lost-her-blazer&#34;&gt;Exhibit 1: a day when my friend lost her blazer&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Our university has a strict dress code: girls must wear a blazer, or they get barred from exams and classes. So when a friend of mine showed up without one at 9am, 30 minutes before her exam, full panic mode, I knew exactly what to do.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I searched &lt;code&gt;(X) (HS)&lt;/code&gt; in my contacts. 3 letters, 4 parentheses. Girls in the hostel.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A handful of results came up. I called the one I knew best, and she was just about to leave her room. It was perfect timing to borrow a spare blazer. Disaster averted.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 id=&#34;exhibit-2-rounding-up-free-students-on-short-notice&#34;&gt;Exhibit 2: rounding up free students on short notice&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A teacher needed three students urgently to help set up an event, but classes were running for most people. I checked an app (&lt;a href=&#34;https://timetable.nithitsuki.com/&#34;&gt;timetable.nithitsuki.com&lt;/a&gt;) that shows which classes on campus are currently free, figured out some CSE juniors had a free slot, and typed one query into my contacts: &lt;code&gt;(A) &#39;29&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One call, and I had a list of people who were free and probably willing to volunteer. I&amp;rsquo;ve used the same trick to find classes to pitch our club to, rope in people for last-minute things, you name it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;rsquo;m curious to hear if any of you wonderful readers do something similar. If so, feel free to send an email or, even better, a response post to this one. I&amp;rsquo;ve yet to set up a comments section for now. Take care!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;footnotes&#34; role=&#34;doc-endnotes&#34;&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li id=&#34;fn:1&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;https://adithyanair.com/&#34;&gt;Checkout his website&lt;/a&gt; too, he&amp;rsquo;s pretty cool.&amp;#160;&lt;a href=&#34;#fnref:1&#34; class=&#34;footnote-backref&#34; role=&#34;doc-backlink&#34;&gt;&amp;#x21a9;&amp;#xfe0e;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li id=&#34;fn:2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I didn&amp;rsquo;t use &lt;code&gt;(M)&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;(F)&lt;/code&gt; for male and female since &lt;code&gt;(F)&lt;/code&gt; is already taken by F section.&amp;#160;&lt;a href=&#34;#fnref:2&#34; class=&#34;footnote-backref&#34; role=&#34;doc-backlink&#34;&gt;&amp;#x21a9;&amp;#xfe0e;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>Serve Atom rss on hugo</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/get-atom-rss-on-hugo/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/get-atom-rss-on-hugo/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2026-02-16T23:19:12+05:30</published>
    <updated>2026-02-16T23:19:12+05:30</updated>
    <summary type="html">add Atom feed support to hugo</summary><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;by default hugo dosen&amp;rsquo;t support generating atom rss feeds, instead defaulting to rss version 2.0, but you can easily add support for atom rss feed by following the steps below:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;p&gt;create a new file named &lt;code&gt;atom.xml&lt;/code&gt; (or &lt;code&gt;list.atom.xml&lt;/code&gt;) in the &lt;code&gt;layouts/_default&lt;/code&gt; directory of your hugo project root (or the theme folder).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;
&lt;p&gt;add the following code to the &lt;code&gt;atom.xml&lt;/code&gt; file. This template handles the logic for generating the feed and automatically converts relative image links to absolute links so they show up correctly in RSS readers:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;highlight&#34;&gt;&lt;pre tabindex=&#34;0&#34;&gt;&lt;code class=&#34;language-xml&#34; data-lang=&#34;xml&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- $pctx := . -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- if .IsHome -}}{{ $pctx = .Site }}{{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- $pages := slice -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- if or $.IsHome $.IsSection -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- $pages = $pctx.RegularPages -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- else -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- $pages = $pctx.Pages -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- $limit := .Site.Config.Services.RSS.Limit -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- if ge $limit 1 -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- $pages = $pages | first $limit -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;{{- printf &amp;#34;&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;?xml version=\&amp;#34;1.0\&amp;#34; encoding=\&amp;#34;utf-8\&amp;#34;?&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;#34; | safeHTML }}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;feed&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;xmlns=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;title&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ if eq  .Title  .Site.Title }}{{ .Site.Title }}{{ else }}{{ with .Title }}{{.}} on {{ end }}{{ .Site.Title }}{{ end }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/title&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{/* Dynamic Self Link: Matches the filename defined in hugo.toml */}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- with .OutputFormats.Get &amp;#34;Atom&amp;#34; -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;link&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;href=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ .Permalink }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;rel=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;self&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;/&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;link&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;href=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ .Permalink }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;/&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- $lastmod := .Date -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- if .Date.IsZero -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- if gt (len $pages) 0 -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;      {{- $lastmod = (index $pages 0).Lastmod -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- else -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;      {{- $lastmod = now -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;updated&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ $lastmod.Format &amp;#34;2006-01-02T15:04:05-07:00&amp;#34; | safeHTML }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/updated&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;id&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ .Permalink }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/id&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- with site.Params.author.name -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;author&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;name&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{.}}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/name&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- with site.Params.author.email -}}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;email&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{.}}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/email&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/author&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;generator&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;Hugo -- gohugo.io&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/generator&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- range $pages }}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;entry&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;title&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ .Title }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/title&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;link&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;href=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ .Permalink }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;/&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;id&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ .Permalink }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/id&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- with site.Params.author.name -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;author&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;      &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;name&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{.}}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/name&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/author&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;published&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ .Date.Format &amp;#34;2006-01-02T15:04:05-07:00&amp;#34; | safeHTML }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/published&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;updated&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ .Lastmod.Format &amp;#34;2006-01-02T15:04:05-07:00&amp;#34; | safeHTML }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/updated&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- if .Content -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $content := .Content | replaceRE &amp;#34; style=\&amp;#34;[^\&amp;#34;]*\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; &amp;#34;&amp;#34; -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $base := .Site.BaseURL -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $perm := .Permalink -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- /* Handle absolute URLs for images and links */ -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $content = $content | replaceRE &amp;#34; src=\&amp;#34;/([^\&amp;#34;]*)\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; (printf &amp;#34; src=\&amp;#34;%s$1\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; $base) -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $content = $content | replaceRE &amp;#34; src=\&amp;#34;([^/:\&amp;#34;][^:\&amp;#34;]*)\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; (printf &amp;#34; src=\&amp;#34;%s$1\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; $perm) -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $content = $content | replaceRE &amp;#34; href=\&amp;#34;/([^\&amp;#34;]*)\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; (printf &amp;#34; href=\&amp;#34;%s$1\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; $base) -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- $content = $content | replaceRE &amp;#34; href=\&amp;#34;([^/:\&amp;#34;][^:\&amp;#34;]*)\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; (printf &amp;#34; href=\&amp;#34;%s$1\&amp;#34;&amp;#34; $perm) -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;content&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;type=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;html&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;{{ $content | html }}&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/content&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{- end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/entry&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  {{- end }}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;lt;/feed&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ol start=&#34;3&#34;&gt;
&lt;li&gt;append the following code to your &lt;code&gt;hugo.toml&lt;/code&gt; (or &lt;code&gt;config.toml&lt;/code&gt; if you use an older theme) file to define the Atom output format:&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;highlight&#34;&gt;&lt;pre tabindex=&#34;0&#34;&gt;&lt;code class=&#34;language-toml&#34; data-lang=&#34;toml&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;span&gt;mediaTypes&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  [&lt;span&gt;mediaTypes&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;application/atom+xml&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;suffixes&lt;/span&gt; = [&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;xml&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;span&gt;outputFormats&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  [&lt;span&gt;outputFormats&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;span&gt;Atom&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;mediaType&lt;/span&gt; = &lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;application/atom+xml&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;baseName&lt;/span&gt; = &lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;atom&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt; 
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;isPlainText&lt;/span&gt; = &lt;span&gt;false&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &lt;span&gt;isHTML&lt;/span&gt; = &lt;span&gt;false&lt;/span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;[&lt;span&gt;outputs&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;home&lt;/span&gt; = [&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;HTML&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;RSS&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Atom&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;  &lt;span&gt;section&lt;/span&gt; = [&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;HTML&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;RSS&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Atom&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;]
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;for hugo.yaml or hugo.json, the configuration, refer to &lt;a href=&#34;https://gohugo.io/configuration/output-formats/&#34;&gt;https://gohugo.io/configuration/output-formats/&lt;/a&gt; to add the output format configuration above in the respective format.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol start=&#34;4&#34;&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Make sure to link the atom feed in your website&amp;rsquo;s header by adding the following code to your &lt;code&gt;head&lt;/code&gt; partial or &lt;code&gt;base_of.html&lt;/code&gt; file&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;div class=&#34;highlight&#34;&gt;&lt;pre tabindex=&#34;0&#34;&gt;&lt;code class=&#34;language-html&#34; data-lang=&#34;html&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{ range .AlternativeOutputFormats -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    &amp;lt;&lt;span&gt;link&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;rel&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ .Rel }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;type&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ .MediaType.Type }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;href&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ .Permalink | safeURL }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;title&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;=&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;{{ site.Title }}&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;    {{ end -}}
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ol start=&#34;5&#34;&gt;
&lt;li&gt;and that&amp;rsquo;s it! now when you build your hugo site, it will generate an Atom feed at the specified location, for example: &lt;a href=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/atom.xml&#34;&gt;https://nithitsuki.com/atom.xml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>Anokha 2026 - a Travel diary entry</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2026-02-08T00:00:00+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-08T00:00:00+00:00</updated>
    <summary type="html">diray entry wannabe travel blog about Anokha 2026</summary><content type="html">
&lt;p&gt;
I&amp;#39;m writing this blog right as the train is starting to move at around 30 km/h. This is my first attempt at making a travel blog, and I intend to keep it simple like the early days of the internet.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Also, check out my friends&amp;#39; posts on Anokha 2024: &lt;a href=&#34;https://heftymouse.me/blog/anokha-2024/&#34;&gt;Nikhil&amp;#39;s post&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; &lt;a href=&#34;https://adithyanair.com/blog/anokha/&#34;&gt;Adithya&amp;#39;s post&lt;/a&gt;. It was a major inspiration for me to write this blog. I also plan on logging them every day along with taking field notes, as I know I&amp;#39;ll procrastinate otherwise. (P.S. I still procrastinated for a whole month)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
For context, Anokha is Amrita (Coimbatore) University&amp;#39;s annual (mostly) tech fest. I&amp;#39;m going with my friends &lt;a href=&#34;https://madhumithawinsraj.vercel.app/&#34;&gt;Madhumitha&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&#34;https://mitran.dev&#34;&gt;Mitran&lt;/a&gt;. Unfortunately, we couldn&amp;#39;t travel together due to some restrictions, so I took the train, while they decided to come via a sleeper bus.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-1&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-1&#34;&gt;
The travel 
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-1&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I took the Vande Bharat, India&amp;#39;s best short-medium distance train (probably). It took me from Bengaluru Cant (BNC) to Coimbatore Jn (CBE). The train itself was pretty good, with air-conditioned coaches along with clean seats, trays, and a charging socket for &lt;em&gt;every&lt;/em&gt; seat. I don&amp;#39;t think I can ever take another train.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/01_story_train_journey.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/01_story_train_journey.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/01_story_train_journey.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
Legroom for days &amp;amp; the cockpit view.
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
And halfway through the train journey, I realized that Amrita Coimbatore is in a village called Ettimadai at the edge of the Kerala border, around 20 km from the CBE railway station in the middle of nowhere. Yeah.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
So I had to book a cab at around 8:45 pm from the railway station, and I almost got scammed. I first booked an Uber since it was the cheapest at around 600 INR, but the driver called me and said, &amp;#34;It&amp;#39;s going to cost 1500 INR minimum since it&amp;#39;s close to the Kerala border and there&amp;#39;s a strict speed limit,&amp;#34; and so on. I just (respectfully) told him that I did not have that much cash at hand, and I cancelled the ride.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Thanks to my friend &lt;a href=&#34;https://noeltom.pages.dev/&#34;&gt;Noel Tom&lt;/a&gt;, who had told me about &amp;#34;RedTaxi&amp;#34; while I panic called him in the train after realizing how far the campus was from the train station. I found a RedTaxi for around 620 INR. The driver took me there without a hitch and was very kind, worthy of a generous tip.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-6_flashing-id-card-on-parking-mirror.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-6_flashing-id-card-on-parking-mirror.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-6_flashing-id-card-on-parking-mirror.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
Me immediately after getting into the campus from my exciting cab ride there.
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
(P.S.: The IRCTC train food was mediocre; opt out if possible and get your own.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-2&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-2&#34;&gt;
The Missing Brain Cell
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-2&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#39;s a list of things I&amp;#39;ve forgotten to take on my journey, which also happens to be a checklist for the basic necessities that one must pack to a hostel.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Toothbrush and toothpaste&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;A bedsheet and a pillow&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Locks for the cupboard and the room&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Washroom slippers (I just wore my sneakers)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;And other sanitary items&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;d like to use the excuse that it was my first time going to a hostel and not a hotel, but goddamn it, there wasn&amp;#39;t even a 24/7 convenience store.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
I got allotted the Vyasa (Sri Vyasa Maharishi Bhavanam) hostel with a single sharing room like I had asked for. For what it&amp;#39;s worth, as a first time hostel stay, it wasn&amp;#39;t too bad. Clean restrooms, a room that didn&amp;#39;t smell bad enough to drive me away (although it had the distinct smell of a building from the 50&amp;#39;s, like the one at my grandma&amp;#39;s home, which was also in a village). All in all, if I could survive a single sharing room, you could probably survive it too. Although, don&amp;#39;t have high hopes for comfort.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/02_story_hostel_setup.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/02_story_hostel_setup.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/02_story_hostel_setup.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
Vyasa Hostel Exterior and Interior view
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-3&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-3&#34;&gt;
Jan 7 - the first day
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-3&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I woke up at 6:30 a.m. like I&amp;#39;m used to, and the whole hostel seemed desolate. Not a single sound, nor a light was on. It was more lively at 3 a.m. than in the morning. Apparently, since classes start at 8:50 a.m., most people wake up at 8:30: the absolute bare minimum to not miss class.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Surprisingly, minutes later a cat arrived at my door. Unlike most cats, it was absolutely unfazed by humans, offered me a leg rub, and went straight to sleep on MY BED. Thankfully, I was able to stop it before it ever got on. No hate against cats sleeping with me, just that this one might&amp;#39;ve been a stray and was literally living in the hostel. In my attempt to stop it, it tried fighting back by trying to bite me (which thankfully it couldn&amp;#39;t), and it even resisted as I sent it away and locked my room.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/03_story_the_cat.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/03_story_the_cat.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/03_story_the_cat.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
The intruder who tried to steal my bed
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
Later, I met up with Madhumitha and a friend of hers; we explored the campus a bit. Then Mitran and I made a quick pit stop to get some basic travel needs mentioned above and a coffee from a convenience store. It&amp;#39;s pretty cool! And THANK GOD THEY HAD (WHITE) MONSTER ENERGY DRINK. We then made our way to the hackathon, which was in Academic Block 1 (AB-1 from now on).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;AB1 was really beautiful, and I&amp;#39;ll get more into that the next day. But one thing for sure was that I really liked the huge campus that was 15x the size of the Bengaluru campus. I got around ~20k steps on all the 3 days I was there, and I still didn&amp;#39;t manage to explore everything I wanted.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/04_story_architecture.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/04_story_architecture.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/04_story_architecture.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
AB2 &amp;amp; AB1 atrium
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tip: Don&amp;#39;t go late for the lunch break on a Wednesday, especially at 1. It was too overcrowded, and by the time things stabilized at around 1:30, all that was left was egg &amp;#34;biryani.&amp;#34; It was basically just egg curry and white rice, and apparently it was really, really bad. I just got chicken cup noodles and a white Monster energy drink, and decided to mix them together. Never again. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While registering for Anokha, I had no expectation of a cultural fest, since it wasn&amp;#39;t mentioned on the website at all. But I did confirm over the phone right before leaving that there would be events. I gotta say, it was a really good time. Although it wasn&amp;#39;t a concert per se, rather the music club&amp;#39;s performance, which was really good and had plenty to cover across the time. While no one was allowed to dance, it was still a really good time with some very good songs sung by talented students.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-7_band-performance.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-7_band-performance.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-7_band-performance.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
The raaga concert
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We met Noel Tom and our friends at dinner, had some sandwiches and puris, and left satisfied after a wonderful first day. Also, Noel had gotten tandoori naan, which had run out by the time he checked the bill. To compensate, they offered 14 parottas, of which they only took 4. Something similar happens later too, so note: If the item in the bill is unavailable, ask for a compensatory food instead.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-4&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-4&#34;&gt;
Jan 8 - the scream
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-4&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I woke up early as usual, except this time I decided to freshen up and head out myself. I slept at around 1:50 a.m., and I knew Madhumitha probably slept even later than that (it was 4 a.m.) and that Mitran hated waking up even 5 minutes earlier than the bare minimum.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
So I went on a whole side quest, planning to explore as much as possible during breakfast time. In the next 90 minutes, I managed to visit Academic Blocks II and III, the swimming pool, the other canteen called the IT canteen, and more stuff like literal farms.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_pathway-near-AB2.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_pathway-near-AB2.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_pathway-near-AB2.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
although not much, crossing bridges in the nature was a wonderful experience in contrast to the bland city that I live in, It was a wonderful breath of fresh air (metaphorically and literally)
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
And I gotta say, I spent the entire 90 minutes in absolute awe with nothing but an incredible sense of contentment and peace for some reason. I appreciated every moment of it. I found the campus so beautiful, and every sight a painting-worthy view.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
I came back and ate breakfast (butter roast, 3.5/5, good). I waited till 9:30 to see Madhumitha struggle to buy breakfast in the now incredibly overcrowded canteen. I managed to get her a sambar vada since the pongal had run out. The bill still said pongal, so if they don&amp;#39;t have something that you paid for, always ask for a compensatory food instead. I also bought cup noodles for Mitran, who was attending in for us at the hackathon while we got food.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
As for lunch, all of us quite overate by buying a big plate of:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;chicken biryani (6/10 mid),&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;chicken sandwiches (8/10 good),&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;a plate of chicken manchurian - 12 pcs (6/10),&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;a white Monster (10/10),&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;sugarcane juice (8/10),&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;and sapota juice (9/10).&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Not to forget dessert:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;honey cake (8/10) &lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;and a red velvet cake (6/10).&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;All of it to say, we crashed the moment we went to the hackathon, and the submission was due in 2 hours. We also believe that something about the food or the environment over there makes one very sleepy after eating. We somehow managed to pull off an okay submission. If we don&amp;#39;t pass the first judging phase, we&amp;#39;d be out of work for the last day and possibly not get our promised on-duty leaves by our Bangalore campus. That was my worst nightmare.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/05_story_food_coma.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/05_story_food_coma.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/05_story_food_coma.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
The food coma culprit
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
After the hackathon, we went to the ground to check out the stalls and the cultural fest. I (not so) jokingly wanted to buy a pair of bunny ears headband that was on display, and I was able to convince Mitran to get it for me. We then spent the time exploring the campus with me as a tour guide, since I had already explored a lot of it in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
On the way to the swimming pool, the thought of us not qualifying for the next round was lingering in the back of my head. Then the dreaded message arrived: the selected teams. I was very reluctant to open it, but decided that it was better to know sooner than later.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
AND OMG WE GOT FIRST PLACE!?!? All of us screamed at the same time after seeing it. We were the number 1 team to pass the student panel. Not to flex, but mine was the most high-pitched scream. I felt much better knowing that our OD&amp;#39;s were secured, and we had a shot at the sweet sweet cash prize.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
After checking out IT canteen, AB 2 and 3, the swimming pool, and a few more spots, we went back to the stalls, got some really cool temporary hand tattoos (neck tattoos weren&amp;#39;t allowed sadly), and decided to call it a day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_hand-tatoos-cropd.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_hand-tatoos-cropd.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_hand-tatoos-cropd.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
the temporary hand tattoos that we got from the stalls (I&amp;#39;m the one with the hayabusa)
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-5&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-5&#34;&gt;
Jan 9 - The final day
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-5&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The final day was a bittersweet one for sure. We might have gotten a bit too excited during the judging phase and accidentally went (wayyy) overboard, which led us to secure a solid 4th place in the hackathon. Unfortunately, no cash money for us. We were really exhausted, so all of us went back to our rooms to catch a bit of rest. After a nice power nap, we went back at it. It wasn&amp;#39;t easy for us to shake off the 4th place, but thankfully we were all able to after some cheering up. In no time, we started goofing around.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/06_story_campus_toys.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/06_story_campus_toys.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/06_story_campus_toys.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
Random spotting of a fighter jet and a helicopter, also student-made bikes
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
We marched straight to hit the food stalls and the &amp;#34;proshow&amp;#34; of the 3 days. Unfortunately, the proshow wasn&amp;#39;t the concert I hoped for. It was instead more of an annual day, starting off with boring speeches and chairs all over so that very few could stand and enjoy the show. The choice of music too was anything but party. We still managed to get in some dance moves and enjoy the show. We left at around 9:30 for our midnight bus.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
We booked a RedTaxi to Gandhipuram bus station in Coimbatore city, as there aren&amp;#39;t many buses from Ettimadai. The ride was smooth, and the driver was extremely kind and friendly. We had a good chat all the way to the bus station. We reached at around 11:30 p.m. and had some time to spare before our bus arrived at 12:30 a.m. It got delayed by 30 mins. We grabbed some drinks from a nearby bakery and waited for our bus to arrive in the midnight cold. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
It was a Volvo sleeper bus that took us back to Bengaluru, specifically Silk Board, at around 6:30 a.m. From there, we took the &lt;em&gt;FIRST&lt;/em&gt; BMTC bus (a MF-1) to each of our stops and finally reached our homes (or hostel) at around 9 a.m. on Jan 10. That marked the end of the trip, and honestly, a paid vacation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-6&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-6&#34;&gt;
Conclusion?
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-6&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
We had LOADSSSS OF FUNNN! I LOVED the campus &amp;amp; the weather! The people were great too and attendance was taken care of. What more could one ask for? Insane trip, would recommend, Although pack better than me.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/08_story_squad.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/08_story_squad.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/08_story_squad.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
a pic of the 3 of us, what started out as me half jokingly asking them out for a Coimbatore trip thinking it&amp;#39;ll never happen, to (literal) last minute booking, and an unforgettable trip that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I love you guys &amp;lt;3
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-container-headline-7&#34; class=&#34;outline-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;h2 id=&#34;headline-7&#34;&gt;
Miscellaneous - behind the scenes
&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;div id=&#34;outline-text-headline-7&#34; class=&#34;outline-text-2&#34;&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;I posted the initial version of this blog on Feb 8th during my first IndieWeb meetup, it was already 80% done by then. But the publishing of this blog was just as spontaneous as the trip itself.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;I tried to curate the photos to a reasonable amount, but I ended up with 51 finalised photos, which is still a lot. I had to cut out a lot of good ones, just know that there&amp;#39;s always more to the story than what I could ever capture.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#39;ve read through the whole thing, I&amp;#39;m truly thankful from the bottom of my heart. It was my first ever long-form post and I hope you didn&amp;#39;t find it too cringey, I&amp;#39;ll promise to do a better job next time (-‿-&amp;#34;)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
pic dump:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-9_shoes-after-3-days-of-fun.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-9_shoes-after-3-days-of-fun.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-9_shoes-after-3-days-of-fun.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
my shoes after 3 days of walking around the campus
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-9_golden-hour.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-9_golden-hour.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-9_golden-hour.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
the stalls during the evenings
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-9_concert.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-9_concert.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-9_concert.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
concert on the last day
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_track.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_track.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_track.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
the ground in which the culturals took place
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_artwork.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_artwork.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_artwork.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
pongal artwork on the walls
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_knocked-out-madhu.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_knocked-out-madhu.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_knocked-out-madhu.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
glimpse of the hackathon
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_swimming-pool.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_swimming-pool.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_swimming-pool.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
the view from the swimming pool
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;
&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/anokha-2026/pics/final/jan-8_peacock-in-ab3.webp&#34; alt=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_peacock-in-ab3.webp&#34; title=&#34;pics/final/jan-8_peacock-in-ab3.webp&#34; /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;
a peacock in AB3 (there were so many around the campus)
&lt;/figcaption&gt;
&lt;/figure&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>Boot from PCIE on an old motherboard</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/boot-from-nvme-unsupported-motherboard/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/boot-from-nvme-unsupported-motherboard/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2025-11-28T17:00:11+05:30</published>
    <updated>2025-11-28T17:00:11+05:30</updated>
    <summary type="html">for mobo&#39;s that do not support booting from PCIe slots</summary><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;If your motherboard does not support booting from a PCIe slot, &lt;br&gt;
or if you&amp;rsquo;ve got one of those &amp;ldquo;nvme to pcie x1 adapter&amp;rdquo; and are surprised that it doesn&amp;rsquo;t work&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://nithitsuki.com/posts/boot-from-nvme-unsupported-motherboard/nvme_adapter.png&#34;
 			alt=&#34;a cheap nvme to pcie adapter pic&#34; width=&#34;320&#34;&gt;
 &lt;/figure&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Well, consider yourself lucky! (If your motherboard has UEFI that is). Since we can use a small workaround to chainload the bootloader(or)kernel on the pcie slot drive using a UEFI bootloader on another boot drive that&amp;rsquo;s supported (such as a sata hdd). Here&amp;rsquo;s how I did it using rEFInd on a sata hdd and booted into a pcie slot drive on a 3rd gen intel mobo&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr&gt;
&lt;p&gt;NOTICE: this post requires a bit of linux knowledge, since I don&amp;rsquo;t go deep on how exactly to do the things I&amp;rsquo;ve laid out here, I highly recommend the use of a good LLM alongside this article so that you can understand what&amp;rsquo;s written here, and hopefully don&amp;rsquo;t loose any data. Good luck!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 id=&#34;step-1-make-sure-the-pcie-drive-is-recognised&#34;&gt;Step 1: Make Sure the Pcie drive is recognised&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;boot from any old bootable usb (linux not windows), or an already installed os in another drive, and make sure the pcie drive is recognised - lsblk in linux, diskmgr in windows. If u can confirm that the drive is not recognised, it has to be fixed before proceeding&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 id=&#34;step-2-install-refind-on-non-pcie-drive&#34;&gt;Step 2: Install refind on non-pcie drive&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;make sure to have another drive plugged into the motherboard like a SATA drive, and then boot into a linux usb/hdd (preferrably systemrescue linux), and install refind on the non pcie hard-drive (this only works for an gpt (not ChatGPT!!) formatted uefi install, you might have to reformat the hdd into gpt-mode or re-install any previous OS in uefi mode).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 id=&#34;step-3-install-an-os-on-the-nvmepcie-drive-if-not-already&#34;&gt;Step 3: Install an OS on the Nvme/PCIe Drive (if not already)&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;after making sure the pcie drive is recognised (step-1), make sure an OS is installed in the pcie drive if u plan on booting from it, as a GPT formatted UEFI install&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 id=&#34;thats-it&#34;&gt;That&amp;rsquo;s it!&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Just make sure in your UEFI menu that refind bootloader is set to the first boot option, and refind should automatically find any OS&amp;rsquo;s on the pcie drive and let you boot to it!&lt;/p&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title>sysprompt.nithitsuki.com</title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/sysprompt-nithitsuki-com/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/sysprompt-nithitsuki-com/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>2025-07-10T00:00:00+00:00</published>
    <updated>2025-07-10T00:00:00+00:00</updated>
    <summary type="html">use AI to improve yourself, not to degrade your cognitive abilities</summary><content type="html">&lt;h2 id=&#34;just-a-txt-file&#34;&gt;Just a .txt file&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;https://sysprompt.nithitsuki.com&#34;&gt;Link to it&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Yeah, that&amp;rsquo;s it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s a &amp;ldquo;system prompt&amp;rdquo; (i.e. a prompt that is used to set the context for the AI) that tells the AI chatbot to help you think critically and challenges your assumptions. Instead of just giving you the answer, it asks you questions and helps you think through the problem. It helps nudge you in the right direction.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After enough time, you will be able to think critically and solve problems on your own, without the need for AI. As the prompt might say, it&amp;rsquo;s a &amp;ldquo;Socratic sparring partner,&amp;rdquo; so just like boxing, you&amp;rsquo;ll get better with practice.&lt;/p&gt;
</content></entry>
  <entry>
    <title></title>
    <link href="https://nithitsuki.com/posts/chatgpt-does-not-have-skin/"/>
    <id>https://nithitsuki.com/posts/chatgpt-does-not-have-skin/</id><author>
      <name>Nithilan Rameshkumar</name>
    </author><published>0001-01-01T00:00:00+00:00</published>
    <updated>0001-01-01T00:00:00+00:00</updated>
    <summary type="html"> ChatGPT doesn&#39;t have skin
ChatGPT does not have skin, and neither does it have skin in the game
for those who dont know, skin in the game means … [explain it]
as you&#39;ve seen in the title, chatgpt has no skin, no tounge, no eyes, and more importantly, no bills to pay
all it can ever do is regurgitate and generate &#39;recommendations&#39; from its training data
chatgpt has never experienced anything, will never experience anything, and can never feel anything
</summary><content type="html">&lt;p&gt;
ChatGPT doesn&amp;#39;t have skin&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
ChatGPT does not have skin, and neither does it have skin in the game&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
for those who dont know, skin in the game means … [explain it]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
as you&amp;#39;ve seen in the title, chatgpt has no skin, no tounge, no eyes, and more importantly, no bills to pay&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
all it can ever do is regurgitate and generate &amp;#39;recommendations&amp;#39; from its training data&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
chatgpt has never experienced anything, will never experience anything, and can never feel anything&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
for as much of a pleasure it is to converse with claude as compared to other LLMs, Anthropic making really antropomorphic sounding ai comes with the huge downside of tricking out brain into beliving its more human than how much it actually is (0 percent)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
when you ask it to teach your kirchoffs law
or ask it to write code to make a certain feature
the speed at which it generates tokens outweights the &lt;/p&gt;
</content></entry>
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