2007: The year that was

As I sit here waiting to ring in the New Year, I can’t help but look back on the year gone by and recollect all the experiences – good, bad, funny, sad, exhilarating. So let’s go back in time…exactly a year back!

I welcomed 2007 in one of the most perfect ways I could – my band Serenity rocked out a New Year’s party gig with an impressive setlist covering Gn’R, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, RHCP, Pink Floyd, Dismember among others.

- The first good news of the year came in the form of an opportunity to move back to the US for a job.

- Close on the heels of the good news followed a personal tragedy. Lost my grandma after a long illness. May her soul rest in peace.

Arrived in California in February and the year since then has been one interesting journey!

- Formed another band and for the first time, put down the bass guitar and took up full-time drumming duties.

- Got myself a pure white Pearl drumkit that recently has been christened “Bianca”.

- Went rock-climbing for the first time and absolutely loved it.

- Went for an alternative rock concert with a EL (this guy is quite a character!). After fighting through traffic and finding parking, I realized that I had left my tickets at home and had to drive back and fetch them. Luckily didn’t miss a lot.

- Got my first sportsbike, a gorgeous, 600cc Honda CBR F3 Smokin’ Joe’s limited edition.

- Met some really awesome riders and had a great time riding through the streets and mountains of Bay Area. The riding community is almost like my new family.

- 3 months and 2000 miles later, sold my bike for more than what I bought it for (I know…I should be working at the dealership!)

- Attended Ozzfest and saw Hatebreed, Lordi, Lamb of God and Ozzy Osbourne perform live!

- Saw Dream Theater perform live at Berkeley. Watching Mike Portnoy (drums) and John Myung (bass) was a dream come true.

- And to top it all, saw Rush perform live. For a drummer, there is no better experience than watching Neil Peart live in his elements.

- Met Oz and the PFC junta in OC and it was one hell of a party.

- Had an adventure on the freeway on my way back (read my older blog entry about the same)

- Met my childhood friend A and had an awesome time with his kids in OC.

- One of my closest friends PT came to the US for a month on a business trip. I went to Disneyland with her and though she didn’t particularly enjoy it, I had a total blast as I got to be a kid once again for a day. Yay!!

- Was treated to some delicious home-made desi food on a couple of weekends when my maushi (aunt) was in town visiting her son.

- Started working on an original Hindi rock band project with a guitarist friend. The project didn’t take off but I made a new friend nevertheless.

- Had the most boring, disconnected conversation of my life with a girl who got in touch with me through a matrimonial site.

- Made a trip to the Big Apple and spent a nice weekend with my wonderful sister K.

- One of my best friend J had an absolutely adorable baby boy. Eagerly waiting for her to return to the US.

- Learnt to swim! Now if only I could be a little more regular and go swimming often.

- Played my first gig as a drummer with my new band The Joy of ESX (NO, there are no typos!) covering songs by Gn’R, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Poison, Dire Straits, etc.

- Met Nishikant Kamat (of Dombivali Fast fame) and Madhavan at the preview screening of Evano Oruvam, the Tamil remake of Dombivali Fast.

- Went to Austin, TX and celebrated my birthday with some good old friends. It was one of my best birthdays ever!

- Our lead guitarist V moved back to India and we are still struggling to find a suitable replacement.

- My colleague and friend KB had a beautiful baby girl. Poor guy keeps complaining about his loss of sleep.

- Saw Van Halen perform live after reuniting with David Lee Roth.

However, most of these experiences would not have been possible had I not met some interesting people along the way. Some I had known from before, some I met here, some came for a while and disappeared, some have stayed on for longer and some might stay all the way. So let me try and mention a few who made a difference….

My bandmates who are an absolutely crazy bunch and have been my Sunday entertainment. My friend KB who in ways unexplainable has somehow helped me out on different occassions. GB, a cool guy from work who has made the afternoon coffee-breaks interesting. DH, a Swedish colleague who helped me out a lot during my initial days at work. M from the local music store who has given me some absolutely killer deals on all my drumming gear. SJ, my guitarist friend with whom I had some fun times in the city. My goofy new friend AR with whom I have had some completely non-sensical conversations and some fun times hanging out. And as the year came to a close…met someone really wonderful (if you are reading this, you know who you are!) and the time (though very little) I spent with this person has been absolutely amazing!

Apart from these wonderful people, I would not be the sane (???) person I am without some people who hold a really special place in my life – my sister K, best friends J, N and AS (Mumbai), and some good old friends – SK, GP, RD, TO, AS (Reno).  I don’t get to meet them as often as I would like to, but I know they are always just a phone call away.

So thank you all for being a part of my life and making me feel special!

Wish you all a Very Happy and Wonderful 2008!

And I’ll leave with this quote by Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden: “Somedays you’re the pigeon, somedays you’re the statue…but if you can, you should only do the things you love”

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!

The Missing Coffee Cups…

This is a follow-up to my previous post about some ridiculous company policies. Here’s one more that takes the cake (or coffee??).

A few months ago, coffee vending machines were installed at our workplace to provide free coffee/tea to employees. In an “unrelated” incident, a week or two ago, small, pathetic looking cups with our company logo were distributed to all employees. Last week, a rude surprize awaited us as the plastic, disposable cups next to the vending machines suddenly disappeared, never to reappear again.

After asking the administrative department, we realized that the “unrelated” incident was not so unrelated after all. The new “protocol” was that employees were supposed to take their own cups to the vending machines, have their coffee and then wash their own cups during working hours and then enjoy (yeah right!!) another cup of coffee later on. Maybe its part of their training for employees who have to travel abroad on deputation and suddenly find themselves having to learn to wash their own plates and cups.

If you are familiar with or have ever had any experience of village life or life in chawls in Mumbai, then the above scene of an employee carrying his own cup to the vending machine …. is similar to carrying a tumbler of water to the common restroom, doing your thing and returning with an empty tumbler! Damn!! We are really living in a high-tech society aren’t we?

Happy Birthday Sandra

A special friend requires special wishes, so I had to write this post to wish Sandra a Very Happy Birthday.

She is one of my most special friends and here’s wishing her a wonderful year ahead.

Surviving Taliban

No, I don’t live in Afghanistan or anywhere close to a nation run by religious fanatics. In fact I live in Mumbai, a city that’s as cosmopolitan as they come. But even in this crowded city, in one small corner of a bustling suburb, there is a place whose policies are inspired directly by Taliban. That place is my workplace!

I work in an IT company, that too in one of the most technologically challenging and fast growing domains. And like almost all of us in the IT industry, I cannot survive without trolling various technology forums to keep myself updated with the latest developments.

You must be wondering by now that how does this in anyway relate to Taliban?

Well, I like challenges and my company does its best to keep throwing new challenges at me. Here’s how they do it:

1. You cannot send/receive mails to/from yahoo, hotmail, gmail and a gazillion such mail programs from/to my work email. Brilliant I must say! It doesn’t sound that bad right now, but remember this point for later reference.
2. Came to work last week and saw my colleagues discussing something. I thought it must be some client issue. But what do you know? The USB ports on their work machines had been disabled! What the fuck? The hardware team had raided our machines overnight and blocked the ports. Great! So I can’t transfer the documents I had laid my hands on while surfing at home.
3. I don’t have any internet access from work! Holy shit! I pinched myself enough to bruise both my forearms. The last time I checked, I was working in IT and I DON’T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS? Oh wait! I’m sorry, I have limited internet access. I can open Google and Yahoo and any search engine you can think of. Cool! I enter a search term…and wait. FUCK! I can’t open any of the result links. So what do I do with Google and Yahoo? Stare at the screen and wonder what theme Google will have on the next major holiday?
4. Now let’s combine points 1, 2 & 3. I cannot mail any interesting thing I found while trolling the tech forums from home to my work email. I cannot copy it onto my pen-drive and transfer it to my work PC since the USB is disabled. I cannot access those forums from work as we don’t have internet access.

And then I’ll have my seniors telling me during my appraisals that I do not contribute towards knowledge sharing!

Apart from this, we also have a dress code. Employees are supposed to dress in appropriate business attire. No jeans or t-shirts. Now who the hell decides “appropriate”? Is a bright orange or flourescent green shirt acceptable over my dark blue polo t-shirt from Gap just because it’s a shirt? Is a black belt worn with brown formal shoes acceptable? Since when did corduroy become formal wear?

I won’t be surprized if in due they time block guys and girls from emailing each other! Forget that…they might just shutdown emailing altogether. You have to write letters, then take a dozen permissions before you can affix a stamp and mail the letter to the client to report bugs or status. They will have a team to open and read all communication travelling back and forth from the employee to the client. For all you know, the employees will be given huge books and pens or blackboards and chalks to do their daily work. No PCs! Naa rahegi baans, naa bajegi baansuri!

Phew! Are those American troops that I see caught in the traffic jam headed towards my workplace?

10 Reasons why you should leave work at 6:00p.m

I got this in my mail a couple of days back. I found it quite funny as well as insightful and above all, very true (especially point 5)! Here you go:

1. Employment letter stated that working hours finish at 6:00p.m

2. Work is a never-ending process. Even if you stay back till next morning, you will never finish it.

3. Humans are not robots. Even robots/machines need rest to prevent a breakdown.

4. You love your career, but your family is even more important in your life.

5. If you fail in your life, your boss is not going to be the one who gives you a helping hand whereas your family will definitely offer help.

6. You do not want to screw up or make your life miserable because of your job.

7. Monthly salary = Work from 9:00a.m – 6:00p.m

If 6:30p.m = $0.00 + 0 bonus + 0 appreciation + bad health + bad social life + poor family relationship

That equals to: Unproductive employee + performance drop + company reputation drop + increase in retrenchment rate + increase in resignation rate

8. If any person disagrees with the above formulation, we think he/she is a LOSER who has no life, is heartless, doomed, workaholic, etc. He/She deserves the “Best Employee of the Year” award!

9. You don’t give a damn if your boss fires you.

10. For the chinese, remember this “If the house in the East no longer keeps you, then just move to the West house” (apparently in Cantonese its stated as – “Dong Ka Umm Da, Da Sai Ka!”)

Rock is Noise Pollution

So often we come across “music aficionados” (I’ll refer to them as MA through this article) who always know anything and everything about music. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, these conversations are quite intriguing and enlightening. I had one such conversation with a MA.

Dinner was done, people were sitting and enjoying dessert and our MA was charged up. He starts off quoting some great singers, giving details of their songs, the music, the ragas used, lot of trivia about the song, singer and music director, etc. Folks were mesmerized by the abundance of information that this MA’s head could hold and recall at the press of a button. There was an occasional input from someone or the other, but mostly the response was just of tacit approval and appreciation.

I barely had any response because the MA was talking only about Hindi and Marathi music. Yes, I listen to a lot of Hindi music and occasionally some Marathi stuff too, and I know who Lata Mangeshkar or Kishore Kumar is, but that’s about it. MA was Buddha delivering his sermons under the Bodhi tree while I was a starry-eyed disciple.

Things were going good until MA decided to enter the touchy territory of Pop and Rock music. At this point, MA started to take liberties in defining music itself. It was time for starry-eyed, long-haired, black-tee-clad disciple (i.e. me) to shine and teach the master some lessons. Here is what followed…

MA: …and this pop and rock is crap. It can’t be called music. That Jackson fellow just keeps shouting “oww” and grabs his crotch as if he has ants in his pants. And those rock guys make so much noise and just scream out loud.

me: Jackson is a multi-platinum artist! And what you call noise is distortion. It’s an effect to go with the intensity of the song.

MA: Why do you need intensity in music? Listen to how melodious Lata sounds even at this age. (He always refers to these great singers by their first names as if he was their langotiya yaar (underwear friend i.e. childhood friend))

me: She sounds like Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler in Veer Zaara! (Ha ha! Got you there didn’t I buster? Do you call a rocker bad now or good? Coz you are definitely not going call Lata bad! me:1 MA:0)

MA: (neglecting my previous statement) They just jump and run around on the stage screaming and making noise.

me: You expect a rock band to sit cross-legged and perform? How do you think “Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh” would sound if Lata didi jumped around the stage? Wouldn’t look good right? So you have to give a performance that matches the genre of music.

MA: Are you trying to say Lata is not good?
me: Hell no! I respect her and she is hands down an amazing singer. But that doesn’t mean that other singers are not good.

MA: Rock and pop stars are not singers…it is not music!

me: What IS music?

MA:  ummmm….errrr….songs that have melodies and rhythm.

me: The black metal band Children of Bodom uses keyboard melodies and rhythm! (me:2 MA:0)

MA: (after a long pause) I mean…uhhh…well…they don’t use ragas and don’t have control over their voices like Lata, Asha, Kishore, Rafi…

me: You are kidding me right?? Heard about chords, keys, modes?

MA: (oozing sarcasm) Right! Rock bands use notes and stuff to create noise.

me: Man! Do you even know how hard it is to actually co-ordinate the lead, rhythm and bass guitars with the drums? It f——-riggin (checking myself as parents are around) takes years of practice!

MA: But…

(I am in high gear and cut him off and continue)

me: Do you know how much stamina it takes to play a 2-3 hour show shredding your guitar, plucking those bass strings and pounding the drums at speeds reaching 200+ bpm (beats per min) at times? Do you know how difficult it is for the singer to keep jumping around and still having enough breath to sing in tune? I’m sure Lata didi can’t do that and most importantly, I wouldn’t want her doing that either. She is a great singer…possibly the greatest, but she is not a rockstar. Period! That doesn’t mean she is not good. She is good at what she does and rockstars are good at what they do. You definitely wouldn’t want to hear Alanis Morissette singing “Didi Tera Dewar Deewana”, do you??

MA: …ummmm….

(Cut!!)

me: Learn to appreciate all forms of music. You love the Hindi oldies…more power to you. But that doesn’t give you any liberty to criticize other music forms and musicians. I played drums and bass in a rock band and I know how many hours of practice I put in to go and give my best on stage. You won’t find me sitting and listening to Hindi songs, but you won’t find me criticizing them either. Because I love music! And to truly love, appreciate and enjoy music, you need to open up your mind and free it from your biases. It’s only then that you can truly call yourself a music aficionado. I’m done!

An eerie silence was followed by an approving nod from MA and smiles and murmurs from the other folks present out there. I winked at my brother as the topic shifted to cricket and I took a backseat.

ROCK ON!!!

I’ll be back

The crazy weather patterns took their toll on me. It’s been an uneventful and rather forgetful week. A bout of viral fever, the death of a close relative and horrible weather just killed my motivation to write. But now I am feeling better. Should be back to 100% in a day or two. So keep checking…

Why can’t parents say sorry?

Why is it so hard for parents to accept that they made a mistake? Why can’t they just say that what they did or said was wrong? Is there some written rule that no matter what happens, the kids are the one who always have to apologize? Is it that all the boundaries of right and wrong disappear when it comes to a parent-child relationship? Why do parents get so defensive if their child points out their mistake? Aren’t they setting bad examples for their children by not accepting their own mistake? Tomorrow the kids will be parents and they will follow the example set by their parents, thus in turn making the life of their kids miserable.

I feel (and I’m sure most of you will agree with me) that if one is in the wrong, it doesn’t matter if you are the parent, the child, teacher, student, brother, sister, friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or whatever, you owe an apology to the person you have wronged!