Murder of the Car...

It is nothing short of murder. The recent Cash for Clunkers program in the United States has seen the wanton destruction of thousands of automobiles. All in the name of saving the economy and the environment. But that means squat to the common man on the road. All that has happened is that the taxpayers money has gone into paying people upto $4500 for their used car. These people have bought new cars which means they have to make car payments and are under debt again.
The sad part is the rule about the used car engines having to be destroyed. This is achieved by draining the lubricating oil and replacing it with a liquid glass compound. The engine is then run and as it heats, the compound hardens and the engine runs itself to death. To watch a car cry and moan till its engine seizes is one of the worst things for any car lover. To put it simply, I hate the idea of killing a one of mans best achievements, the IC engine, so brutally. And you don’t even have to be a car lover. Anyone who appreciates the effort and technology that goes into making such a reliable and lasting piece of machinery like a car engine today would hate to see it choked to death like that.
It is claimed that it’s good for the environment as the big old polluting engines are destroyed. However, if Youtube videos and media reports are to be believed, most are standard family sedans and rarely old. Good cars which would have run for at least 5 more years have been junked. And this means the price for used cars will go up. Even worse for the people who lost their job and might need a car. And if one stops to consider the energy, manpower and materials used in building a new car, I don’t think it is as energy efficient after all. And then there is the impact of all that scrap generated.
So Mr. Government, the scheme may look like its stimulating the economy, but in the long run it might just come back and bite where it hurts most.

Peace At Last...

I was looking for a peaceful place on this planet. And it suddenly dawned on me; Antarctica. No wars or disputes there. And no prizes for guessing why. The lack of a particular species on that continent is all it takes.

The Friends We Were...

All we waited for was the lesson to get over. Since only some of us were attending it. And the rest were at the Boat Club. And that was the whole point of attending college wasn’t it. Studies could be put off till the PLs. But what we looked forward to was those long hours at BC. Chatting, laughing, arguing, discussing, quarrelling but still having a good time. Over cups of tea, samosas and uttapa-sandwiches.
All we waited for were the coffee and lunch breaks. To discuss the latest rumour. The latest whims of the bosses. And the plans for the evening. Be it a stroll on the beach or a sumptuous dinner, we had a good time. Chatting, laughing, arguing, discussing and even quarrelling.
All we wait for is those few days in the year when we meet. And some years even that is a luxury. We are busy with our individual lives. Some studying, some working. Thousands of miles separate us. Even when we do meet we are all not there. Some have other commitments that are more important. More often than not we get news via some ‘networking’ site on the internet. There is a lot more silence now.
Is this what befalls all friends? I sincerely hope not. But I have a feeling just hope is not enough.