To prove: I am studying Computer Science

Lately, I have been eavesdropping around my house- the kitchen and my parents' bedroom and I heard really mean and awful things! Sniff.

"Is he actually doing engineering? I dont see any of it in him. Its like he just hasn't grown since he left school!"
"I know. On top of that, he's doing it in computers. He does stay on the computer but he talks to random people all the time in weird keywords!"
"Aap jakar pucho na usse ek baar!"

[Exagerration - begin]
Tears dropped on the floormat outside the door and I tiptoed away back to my room. I couldn't believe it. 3 years of my life suddenly came crashing down like the WTC. Fingers went numb and the faint sound of the fan suddenly started echoing in my brain!
[Exagerration - end]

So, basically, I decided I will use the laptop but for one constructive purpose atleast. And, what better use could it be for, than starting on my BE final year project?

What? Now, suddenly, you don't like this post anymore?
"Another one of those CSE ka noobs wanting to show their CS skills...whatta shame!"
I know...I know. Bear with me.

After lunch, I got a "jhaad" or "meri mom ne mujhe suna diya" or whatever.
"What are you going to do about GRE?"
I hate those moments. I hate it when that happens. You know you have to do something and you so badly want to postpone it and you have no reasons as to why. Then, your mother asks very innocently, so caringly about your future, and you have to rub it off by a "Karoonga na, thode din mein, pakka."
So, I decided I will do two things today. Register for GRE and set up the final year project's Hello World program. Thats exactly what I did!

Registration for GRE was a breeze and I was surprised to find available seats in August in Kolkata. So, that's done.

As for the project, let me explain it a bit to you before you change your tab to Facebook and check for notifications. We [Aditi and I] aim to create a speech recognition system to help kids learn how to read.
For that, we plan to use CMU Sphinx4 [An opensource library by Carnegie Mellon University for Speech Recognition written in Java]. That's it.

Setting up was initially a daunting task as I didnt know where to begin with. Multiple google searches led me finally to a page which explained how to do it in Eclipse: http://sourceforge.net/projects/cmusphinx/forums/forum/382337/topic/4058241/
After fixing random jar files, I tried running the program and it crashed by saying I ran out of heap space. Whatta shame again with a 2GB ram. Again, several Google tabs opened faster than a dog runs from a water spray. Eventually, I found a small and pretty [it looked pretty trust me, at 11pm after an entire day spent in trying to run a program, everything looks pretty!] solution to change the maximum heap size to 512mb in the VM arguments of  the Run Configuration of Eclipse [So technical I am! :D]
And, voila!
I spoke: "Good morning Rita" and it typed "good morning rita" !!!!!!!!!
Yes!
[Exagerration - begin]
Mount Everest conquered, Osama found and killed, Global Warming reversed, Pune Warriors win IPL and Qasab is hanged. Now, combine those feelings and you begin to feel like I did!
[Exagerration - end]

At end of day's play, Vrashank was at 2 for no loss!

Coke Voke and Gana Vana

After much speculation, Coke Studio is officially coming to MTV with Leslie Lewis and as anyone else who listens to Saari Raat at least once a week like its my duty, I am super excited at the least! Leo Burnett has been hired for its promotion, so we should expect some eye catching initiatives. Plus, Coke is soon going to launch Coke Studio promotional half litre bottles. So that takes care of the millions of Indians in every corner of the country. Marketing shall be heavy for this once a week show for 8 weeks. All this from an article in Business Standard.

MTV I believe has plenty of slots on its schedule to allot an hour to this. Infact, it'll be a splendid replacement to one senseless reality show that would have otherwise caused someone to vomit on their Christie's Persian Rug. Watch the sneakpeak of the 1st episode with Shafqat Amanat Ali (Tum Mile and Bin Tere fame) and Shruti Pathak (Tujhe Bhula Diya fame). The stage looks more impressive than the one in Pakistan. Strangely, I didnt know about Coke Studio starting out in Brazil initially after moving to Pakistan.

And as a stupid and curious kid living in Ranchi, I am encouraged to doubt everything that comes my way. I reserve my doubts about India appreciating CS(Coke Studio is too long to type). I, till now, couldn't recognise Shafqat Amanat Ali nor Shruti Pathak. Are we ready to look at the singers singing for 1 hour without any auditions, judging, controversy, prizes, SMS votes or contests in the commercial break? Are we ready to watch artists who perform well, not necessary look good or make us laugh? CS is a big break from regular television in the country at the moment and I wonder how we'll react to it. Downloading the episodes from the internet and watching it is different from watching it on Tata Sky. There won't be any bollywood guests on the show to promote their latest movie, not even cricketers from the IPL. Just music for one hour.

And that too, fusion music. Not the desi beats with Hard Kaur and Alyssa Mendosa to bollywood songs. Are we ready to listen to fusion music again after Colonial Cousins, Sagarika, Asha Bhonsle, Raghav Sachar etc. all failed to make us do it in the 1990's and early 2000's? Or is it about time we see a revival in the genre?

I for one am very excited about it. It'll be exciting to see SEL jamming with the other masters of music. I wish Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale, Raghav Sachar, Rahul Sharma among others also feature in the coming seasons. MTV should do well to revive its falling image of becoming RTV (Reality TV) instead of its actual full form. As much as MTV needs CS, India needs it too. To wake up and realise music beyond polyphonic ringtones of item songs, beyond the confines of local folk music with the same instruments and same beats, to open up to a world of unknown artists who never would've made it to the mainstream otherwise.

I await Coke Studio India with bated breath.

Home and all that

After watching Kung Fu Panda thrice, Madagascar and Ratatouille for a bit and even Igor for quite some time, I reached home exhausted and deserving for some nice bhindi(ladyfinger!). I spent a night in Jamshedpur, which I absolutely loved in the morning. The auto drove through Beldih Church across all the government bungalows and carefully tended gardens. JSR seemed to be pleasant with an air of stability.

So much time I have now at my hands, I sat down to write something after so long. College takes up so much of nonsense time even when you're not that busy that I found myself unable to write anything there.

I woke up today in the drawing room where I always sleep with the sound of the knife cutting through cabbage and my dad getting agitated. There was no newspaper today and believe me, its tragic news on a Sunday. I had an early lunch and sat down rummaging through old newspapers. The Bombay Times here is as thick as the complete newspaper that comes in college. I found the one I was looking for, dated 3rd May. I wanted to read TOI's articles on Osama's death and found them to be quite good.

After reading all of it, I realised the dilemma which US and Pakistan are in. I wondered on 2nd May, before my last exam, how US was allowed to go to Pakistan and kill him and bury him at sea. Which country's citizen was Osama at the time of his death? None? If he was never caught, how can anyone declare that he should be dead, without a court proceeding? Taking the blame himself doesn't finish the story does it? Questions go on and on for people like me on these topics.

On a happier note, Dada got a summer internship with Pune Warriors and he'll open tonight! I am indifferent to IPL at the moment. We were [Read: had to] watching Star Parivaar awards and mom was spotting people from TV shows she probably watches daily. It hit me: I AM HOME! The land of nonsense TV and good food!

I start interning with Polaris on Monday and I leave for a trip to Europe on 25th May which should be fun. After a promise to bring back soil from Switzerland, the birthplace of Federer, I am still open to requests for souvenirs from there, though I am sure most of you have already been there. So, that takes the thunder off most of it.

Some of you must know my recent attempts to extract Wikipedia and I report with sadness, I still haven't been able to complete the job. More space is needed! While watching the progress bar on the WinRAR window, I think is it even worth it? Then, I realise I can't really justify it. Who cares anyway.

I leave now to watch House Season 7 and later listen to Anoushka Shankar but I leave you with this C&H strip as always. Enjoy Mother's Day!