Cataloging and naming

I cataloged my collection of music yesterday. It is a task that I wanted to do since a long time but never got round to doing. There are several levels of organization needed to have an efficient collection of songs. The first level is: Naming. Like anyone else, I get songs from many sources - audio cds, limewire, youtube and friends (NOTE: If you are the kind of guy who spends sleepless nights over losses that the audio industry incurs from pirated songs, this blog is not for you). Each source seems to have their own naming convention. On one hand, the songs from audio cds start with numbers and on the other hand the songs from youtube have no name at all. However neither of them compare to the songs I get from the net. They come in all sorts of names and styles. Their names can start with the name of the singer or end with it. Sometimes, they mention the album's name, sometimes they do not. Then there are those which proudly bear the name of the website which brazenly distributes it. And not to forget the ones which just have double digits as their identity. Sort of like the 'James Bond' of songs.

More levels later

Hmmm .... the obvious facts in print

So I am sitting discussing my future plans with my roommate and I realize that the only direction left is to run after money!

Ive tried my hand at further studies since I thought it was like the path towards salvation. It offers you a chance to work your ass off and get paid little in return. A life somewhere between that of a businessman and a hermit. But I forgot one important bit while charting this path for myself. The fact is that a PhD is not everyone's cup of tea after all. There are only two kinds of people that do a PhD. The first are the lovers. Lovers of science, lovers of arts or lovers of whichever field they see fit. These lovers want to spend as much of their time as possible with their love. They want to explore it, feel it, live with it and in the extreme case, even die alongside it. They are the ones who never feel the dilemma of choice at all. They are passionate creatures with only one desire.

The other kind of people are the world-fearing ones. They are the ones who know, by a personal experience or a personal lack of belief that they do not have what it takes to step into the real world. They are the ones that either tried and were shot down or those who did not try at all. And not surprisingly, there is no shortage of people like them. Confidence is a rare asset it seems.

Hence, if you are not in either of these two categories, the chances of survival in this harsh academic climate are slim. Of course we all have the option to conform to one of these two types. But as it might be obvious, both are types that someone cannot adopt just by practice. These two kinds of people are born that way and it is hard to 'become' that way.

Hockey - really ?

The country is stuck. It will be so appropriate to call cricket our national sport. So appropriate! It is a sport played by all sections and all regions. It is game liked by young and old. A game that incites so much passion that hearts fail in sorrow and shock at games lost. Isnt that what a national game should be all about? Who crowned hockey as the national sport anyway? Why did we choose it in the first place? Does half of the nation even know of the sport? Maybe they have heard of the name but have they any idea of the way it is played ? Forget kids! Do you know about something known as the Astro Turf? Do you know of any players that played for our country other than Dhyanchand ?

I am sure that there will be many who do know this sport and those who fondly follow the matches. However, if it is a sport not appreciated by the masses, then its designation as a 'national sport' is worth reconsidering. I can speculate that we chose Hockey since it was probably one of the only sports that we were good at that time. Further, it was a sport that did not require too much of expensive equipment like the other contender sports such as Cricket. But the story has changed. With the new rules in place, hockey requires much more investment than many other sports. The normal ground has been replaced by a much more expensive 'Astroturf'. The equipment, the apparel and the gear used by competitive teams is much more specialized and effective. The level of specialized training required is an added expense. Under these conditions, we cannot argue in favor of it in monetary terms. Even in terms of our reputation, we dont have any standing in this sport worldwide. We are a persistent breed of people and I am sure we will improve with time, but by the time we actually rise to that level we will have to face the ignominy of dismal performances in our 'national sport'.

The joy of typing

There is definitely a sense of pleasure in typing the proper way. Till about last month, I used to be the kind of person who looks at the keyboard while typing hoping that the words will come out right in the end.

The laptop is our generation of paper and not knowing how to type is synonymous to having a bad handwriting. I used to think that there isn't much difference in typing while looking at the keyboard as opposed to while looking at the computer screen. But now that I have deliberately pushed myself to do the latter, I find that there is a world of difference. To be able to see what you intend to state makes your thought process much more logical. It helps to develop a flow in your writing. I used to argue that typists who look at the screen often make a lot of mistakes and the 'backspace' key tends to become the most important key on the keyboard. Wouldn't this back and forth motion of the letters hinder the thought process more ? After all, when you look at the keyboard and not at the screen, the error rate does go down!But to my pleasure, I have discovered that it is not the case. The back and forth motion, irritating as it may be, doesn't harm the flow as much as typing without looking. I guess it reflects human nature. We will prefer to be aware of our actions, make mistakes, correct them and move ahead compared to keeping our heads down, stay unaware of the consequences of our actions and hope for the best.

Jesus and the path to salvation

This week was a relatively free and peaceful one. And to enjoy it, I was sitting in one of the many spacious courtyards in UCLA, planning my work in the weeks to come. Five minutes into my deliberations, I was accosted by two young asian kids. Not intending to be rude, I peacefully answered their preliminary questions about my name, my department etc. Now, in my mind, I was almost sure that the hidden motive behind this interaction is a donation. However, this meeting had other intentions.

These kids were 'messengers of god'. At least that is what they called themselves. They asked me whether I had heard the gospel. Being a hindu, and having never gone to a church, I said no. I immediately saw their eyes light up from the prospect of 'educating' me about Jesus and his teachings. They spent some time explaining to me about his birth, his teachings and the 'gift' that he offers humanity. Do you know what that gift is? Well the concept is like so : Every person, whether he intends to or not, commits sins (sins being defined by the bible). Lets assume that the these sins are similar in nature in most religions. After all, deeds like hurting another animal, using curse words, jealousy, adultery etc. are not appreciated by any religion. Now, if you have committed these sins, then you will go to hell. Period! So how do you make up for the sins that you have committed ? Will working for humanity and doing good deeds sort of make up for the sins that you commit? Nope! Thats the catch! Apparently, working for the good of humanity, helping other animals, philanthropy etc. dont do any good at all. Your 'sin' account is a fixed deposit which you cant access. Isnt that scary ! If not for you, it was pretty scary for those young kids. The only way to get rid of the sins is to start believing in Jesus. Yes, thats right! No need for any philanthropy. Do the sins that you want to do, fuck your neighbor's wife if you feel like it, kill animals for no apparent reason; and in the end, just ask forgiveness from Jesus. Neat, isn't it !

P.S. - Even in this day and age, only god knows how people can be so illogical and naive. Not having a direction in life is one thing but following someone or some belief without any true basis..... thats just plain Stupid!