Aw crap

It was a Wednesday afternoon. The sun was beating down on my brow and I squinted to see the ugliness just meters ahead. I watched in amazement as a garbage truck drove whirred and poofed more crap into its surroundings than it had cleaned. I don’t have to elaborate; the picture should show you the sorry state of affairs that was. I don’t think any city with public facilities as good as this, deserves to be called a metropolis.

Red moon rising

Almost a decade ago as I fell asleep on a warm summer night in Pune; cozily, as the air outside was calm and it felt safe to breathe it in. Today as the warmest of summers in decades grips our nation it is my mind that singes more than the skin. How can our government mutely sit as the Mao-Naxal terror spreads its dark cloud over central India? Why is our army holding back on a full fledged operation against the terror militia?

All I can say is it is through no fault of theirs that innocent lives are being held for ransom in Chhatisgarh; a state that has put bureaucratic machinery into place to ensure an even more equal and socialist governance. I don’t think the Maoists’ actions are any longer in keeping with the ethos they lay claim to. The center should really take some strong steps to curb this violence meted out to citizens, soldiers, doctors, engineers and other officers, who brave it all in the name of our country against a cause gone berserk.

Capitalism ahoy

Pune recently had an incident of rape which has raised a big question about passenger safety, especially that of women passengers. As a response to this the local road transport authority has asked for radio cabs to be deployed across the city so that reliable and safe transport is available to citizens at any hour. (News article: http://bit.ly/aqmR2h)

Pune, which is growing rapidly has an abysmal public transport system. There is absence of buses between certain parts of the city and the rickshaws are having a ball in this “almost monopoly”. Plans for metro rail projects keep being introduced only to hit the wall in some sort of bureaucratic infinite loop.

What beats me is how does providing individual radio cabs solve problems like rape? Passenger safety would be ensured more effectively if there are multiple passengers in the vehicle. This is possible in buses or metro rails rather than in cabs or rickshaws that are mostly on private hire. But it is possible that a passenger in a cab will be taken advantage of, especially at odd hours where there are few patrol vehicles and almost no people on the streets.

On the other hand, there is the infrastructure problem. Roads in Pune are hardly enough for the current population of vehicles. Adding cabs to that would only worsen the traffic situation. It is immensely frustrating that the government has hardly given a thought to improving the public transport and is already drawing up plans to increase the pressure on the current infrastructure.

The plan to launch radio cabs stinks more of a money making strategy lobbied for by the cash rich cab companies trying to make a foray into a city that has long resisted them, than of a scheme to find a genuine solution to the rising insecurity among commuters. I hope someone among the powers-that-be wakes up and scrutinizes this move.

Nice guys finish last huh?

A battle with ones own conscience is almost always the hardest fought. I realized this over the last week when I sent an email to someone I’ve recently been estranged from. It was about something that she is going through but is seriously in the dark about some things. And she’s been kept in the dark about it on purpose. I was made party to this information a little while ago and it sickened me to the core just listening to the designs the perpetrators had on the vulnerable woman. So I sent the information to her hoping that she would realize that she was being taken for a ride.

But after I sent it I got a response that was exactly what I had expected but the opposite of what I had hoped for. So doubting my own action I asked another lady friend, who agreed that what I did was right but the choice of taking the advice rested with the girl at the receiving end. Then our talks moved towards why people (not just women) make regretful choices. And we spoke about how nice people always end up cursing the world for their problems and wuss out when we have to be manipulative to get what we want. “You’re just a nice guy, Anup. You wouldn’t understand why and how people do these things. Nice guys just finish last.”

I don’t know when my lips moved and I said, “Nice guys don’t finish last. They just suffer less at the hand of their conscience when their whole life flashes before their eyes.”

Imagine a life where one gets what one wants by running all sorts of Machiavellian schemes. Great job, active social life, a long list of women/men to satisfy ones fantasies, every possible luxury on earth … the works. But when the reaper comes around what does one actually feel? Nobody’s ever lived to tell that tale, but if one were to believe in the existence of conscience, I’m sure the only feeling one would feel is pain; pain ridden with guilt. What would be worse is knowing that one has no time left for penance. I thought about this and came clean with this person. And I instantly felt lighter. Not only inside my brain which was working in overdrive but in my heart which was pounding at twice the speed throughout the period I had kept the information to myself. She may think I did it to set the record straight between us. I hope she finds for herself why I meant to convey her the information. Rather I hope she never has to go through the ordeal to find out for herself.

In sum I’d only say “Nice guys don’t finish last. They outlast.”

Grand Theft Auto 4 or Grand Larceny

Read an amazing review about this year-old game and decided to get a copy to play on my PC. I searched all the PC game stores in my area and found one which was selling it. Took me 2 hours to get my hands on it since the store had to fetch it from another branch. Must say it was a complete waste of 2 hours (And my money!). The game just wouldn’t start after the 1-2 hour installation process. Here’s what I read this morning and felt a bit redeemed.

Here’s the original where I shamelessly lifted it from.

20 easy steps to get GTA 4 running on your PC:

Step 1: ”Tut” loudly as you are forced to agree to be part of the Rockstar Social Club; a Gamespy type program that must be installed before you can install the game.

Step 2. Wait for it to validate your DVD. Begin to install the game. It comes on 2 DVDs, taking up 16GB’s of space.

Step 3: Growl loudly when asked to make a Microsoft Live account. If you haven’t done so, be prepared for an arduous task in itself. Begin to cry.

Step 4: Wipe tears of frustration from eyes. Unclench jaw. Finish installing the game.

Step 5: Start crying again when you realise you must now make a Rockstar Social Club account. Do so while chanting a mantra of harsh words (language choice is optional).

Step 6: Go to email account to find validation code. See no email. Break something within arms reach.

Step 7: Ask website to resubmit code. Eventually find it in the junk folder. Consider offering Satan your soul to end the pain. Click validation link.

Step 8: Choose whether to assign your Xbox, Play Station or PC Microsoft Live account to the Rockstar Social Club. Plot assassination of Microsoft Live creator. Choose account.

Step 9: Attempt to sign into account as requested. Check watch: it’s dinner time… but didn’t you just eat breakfast?

Step 10: Finally finish creating Rockstar Social Club account. Sigh with wary relief. Start Social Club program.

Step 11: Speak in tongues as the program updates. Make a pot plant spontaneously combust.

Step 12: Rejoice as a big splash page with the word “Play!” appears. Click it with tired optimism.

Step 13: Bash head against keyboard repeatedly after seeing message stating “Please install the new Windows Live Update”. Feel the beginnings of an ulcer forming.

Step 14: 22MB later, install update. Rock back in forth in your chair while attempting the “Play” button again.

Step 15: It works! Hooray! ….right? WRONG. Activate the game again by entering the code on your manual. Wait for it to suspiciously validate you. Feel slightly violated when it finally gives you the OK and starts the game.

Step 16: Begin to worry when black screen lasts 5 minutes. Alt + tab a few times. Remove fingernails from fingers due to over ambitious biting.

Step 17: Menu words! At last! Proceed to graphics options.

Step 18: Consider hiring Chuck Norris to roundhouse kick Rockstar when they tell you “You can not set the graphics higher as your system lacks resources” when you not only have enough resources, the benchmark test runs crystal smooth.

Step 19: Sigh, write it off as a bug. Begin game. Hooray! GTA IV at last!

Step 20: Game crashes to desktop.