Is it only about paying bills?

I was talking to a friend yesterday and reflecting on life and I realized that my life has become like my job. Yes, my life has become a program, just a couple of lines of code. Just like the code I write that does a couple of tasks over and over again, my life has become the same in the real world. I wake up, get ready, ride to work on the same route, sit in the same office, check mails, start writing some code and running tests to check it, go to the same crappy cafeteria and have the same crappy food, attend some meetings, write more code and run more tests, ride back home through the same traffic (believe me…at times I have seen the same cars at the same stop light!), workout, cook, watch some sitcom, sleep. And then the cycle repeats.

Is this what life is supposed to be? Live like a machine? A robot? A piece of code?

 And for what? So that you can pay your bills?

Whatever happened to your passions? What about the things that you loved to do? What about those activities that brought a smile to your face?

Our parents tricked us when they told us as kids that we could do whatever we want and enjoy life once we start earning. That’s so not true! We basically just end up doing what everyone else is doing. You get a job, your bank balance starts to look healthy. Soon enough you buy your own house, you get married, have kids and then tell them the same thing your parents told you. And that’s when it dawns on you that you never really enjoyed life and by then it’s too late. Life has slipped away and all you actually did in your life was pay bills!

I don’t want to let life pass me by while I was busy writing some code. No, I cannot just go all out to pursue my passions. I have to be practical, since paying bills is a harsh reality. But I’m not going to let that drive my life.

I am going to ride my sportsbike at every chance I get, even if it is only riding a few miles to and from work.

I am going to save up to go hit the tracks and improve my riding skills.

I am going to keep practicing and jamming to improve my drumming.

I am going to be more regular with my blog posts.

I am going to watch movies more often.

I am not going to work to pay my bills, but I am going to work to be able to pursue my passions!

When Virgil Donati made my evening…

It’s not everyday that you get a chance to see your idol performing live in front of you, so when such an opportunity shows up, you grab it with both hands. That’s exactly what I did when I attended a Jazz concert this Sunday evening. This was no ordinary jazz performance…it was one of the best line-ups you could imagine in modern jazz. So hold your breath as I present to you the line-up: Bunny Brunel (bass), Frank Gambale (guitars), Mitch Foreman (keyboards) and Virgil Donati (drums).

Virgil Donati is one of my drumming idols and I just could not take my eyes off whatever magic he was weaving behind that gleaming Pearl drumkit. This does not mean the other musicians were ordinary. Hell NO! Gambale is a guitarist par excellence and has some of the quickest fingers around. Foreman is nothing less than a man possessed once he is behind those keyboards and creates some unbelievable melodies. As for Brunel, well, he literally makes the bass guitar talk!

But Donati is simply irresistible. The way his hands moved around the entire kit, the evenness in the sounds from each tom, the perfect accents that added an unrealistic dynamic to the sound, it was all so mesmerizing. And what can I say about the double-bass drumming. He created some unimaginable patterns where his feet not only played the double-bass, but also kept switching between the bass drum and the two hi-hats (yes, he had hi-hats on either side of the kit!) without missing a single beat at speeds that would make a sprinter jealous! The amazing use of paradiddles and other basic rudiments speaks volumes of this master’s creativity and sense of rhythm.

After Donati finished his first drum solo of the evening, Brunel made a statement that summed up the mastery of this amazing drummer. He said something like this – “If there are any drummers in the house, now you know what you need to practice when you go home. You either practice harder or you just quit!” – and this had the crowd in raptures. But it was a very powerful and true statement made in praise of Donati. Seeing him perform live will inspire the true drummers to continue in their pursuit of excellence, while it would surely demotivate those who have taken up drumming because its cool.

I am still under the spell cast on me by Donati’s drumming wizardry. It was a once in a lifetime experience and will be one of the most memorable evenings of my life.