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When I posted to the FOSS.IN mailing list, telling people that delegate registrations were now open, I got a flood of private mail, most of which were to the tune of "where have you been?".
Ah well, I have been busy, but mostly, I have been sick.
On Saturday, the 28th of October, I, with a few friends, went to the Kingfisher Octoberfest, which I felt was a major let down, and certainly not worth the Rs.150 entrance fee, especially since you had to pay for everything inside anyway. The food was mostly bad, and the beer may have been good, but then I don't drink alcohol of any sort.
Anyway, as one of the "attractions", the place had a "disco drome", a huge hangar that had pounding music in there, and I got dragged into it, despite protests.
The music was bad, loud and there were just a few people jerking around pretending to have a good time (they weren't - as was evident by the fact that they just walked off after a while). Some big-name RJ was mouthing encouraging words, but mostly it was just cripplingly bad and loud noise pouring out of the speakers, way too overpowered for the space.
And I paid the price for this.
The next day, I had a dizzy spell, and by Monday I was screaming in agony as the world was spinning around me, I was vomitting continuously, and it took six people to get me into an ambulance to take me to the nearby hospital.
The diagnosis - I had developed Labyrinthitis - damage to my inner ear that provides my body with a sense of balance and equilibrium.
This was so ironic. I have been involved with the rock music world for decades, and have never ever managed to hurt myself, and it took one trip to a badly run, dangerously over-powered disco to destroy (potentially permanently) my ability to walk in a straight line!
I was in hospital for a few days, and am back home now. Things are better, but from all signs, I will have to live with a sense of dizziness for the rest of my life.
This has affected my ability to do a number of things - from directly managing FOSS.IN to even working. Things will probably improve over time, but the damage even in this short period of time is considerable. Time lost at this critical juncture can never be retrieved, and if I wouldn;t have had such a fantastic team working with me, FOSS.IN would have been doomed.
There is a lesson to be learnt here:
Many people believe that "if it is too loud, you are too old". Not true. I can take any amount of loud rock music, and have proved this over decades. What I cannot take is mindless thumping in a small, enclosed space as was exhibited by the inconsiderate organisers of the Kingfisher Octoberfest (shame on them for even hijacing that venerable German festival name!). Rock music follows patterned beats, "breaking" the assault on the ears, but disco music does not. On top of that, all seasoned rock musicians protect themselves with ear plugs - and ironically I used them to protect myself against the assault of really bad rock coming from the stage when Bramha was playing earlier. Mrinal, the former drummer of Phenom never performed without them, and there is a good reason for them - your ears are more than just things to hear with - they are the gateways to the very centre of your sense of balance.
Don't mess with your ears, friends. It is too heavy a price to pay for a short period of trying to look "cool" and "hip".
Anyway, I am recovering, and many thanks to everyone who has been enquiring. This incident did have some positive aspects - reinstating old friendships, making an already efficient team work even better, and hopefully resulting in an event that we all can be proud of.
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