Trial by Fire and Ransom

My faith in the last vestiges of humanity, particular in our part of the world, evaporated yesterday. I was faced with a revelation so shocking and harrowing that I am as yet unable to find adjectives that truly depict the horror within.

It was not that long ago that over 300 people lost their lives in the tragic inferno at a textile factory in Karachi. This post, largely an out-loud rant, is not about the owners and their apparent lack of regard for safety of their workers or even how they went to Larkana, of all places, to get bail. No, this is about a sin bigger than theirs.

Soon after the fire, the Government announced compensation for the families of the victims. Organizations like KESC also stepped forward to provide assistance through financial relief. It was the least that the public and private sector could do to help those whose lives had been shredded by the shrapnel of this fire. The pain of losing someone to a death like this is not something that one accepts easily - in fact, many of the relatives are only now beginning to come to terms with their loss and are beginning to put the pieces of the lives back together. Helping them along in this process, believe it or not, are political parties who have started visiting them, demanding their "share" of the compensation. Or 'bhatta' as it is more commonly known. What better reality check than to be thrust back into the vagaries of everyday life in Karachi - and what better way to do that, then to demand bhatta from the relatives of fire victims?

I was also told that there are two families who have already received compensation and people from their homes have already been kidnapped for ransom. An effective collection technique and ominous warning to those who may have second thoughts about cooperating. Perhaps you have, by now, understood the reason for my sheer horror at this bizarre situation. And if you haven't, then you probably aren't entirely to blame because frankly, we have all been thoroughly desensitized to such things, much like agents of secret agencies are repeatedly exposed to scenarios of death and destruction to remove all evidence of fear from their beings.

The saddest part is that these families, barely back on their feet and now reeling from this latest slap of fate, have no where to go. It's all very well for me to come online and rant about it and for you to read it, but none of this will make the problem go away. These poor people cannot go to the police, for obvious reasons. They cannot go to rival political parties for help, for self-preservation reasons. And they cannot go to the state, because the state doesn't give a damn.

And so they will probably pay up and silently lament their trials, first by fire and then by ransom.

The Ultimate Crossover

Many many years ago, I bought my first Apple product. It was a Macbook Pro, and I was blown away. It was, simply put, the most incredibly stable and fantastic computer I had ever used. I found myself wondering, why did I wait so long? Why languish in the agony that is Windows when such a gorgeous alternative is just an Apple Store away?

This first purchase was followed closely by an iPod, then an iMac (for work) and finally, an iPhone. The set was complete and I was able to worship gloriously at the altar of my new religion. iPhone followed iPhone and the 3GS came, replaced by a 4, then a 4S. It just got better and better. And then came the day that a pickpocket decided that my 4S and I had to part ways. And so just like that, I slid from the ultimate smartphone to an old Nokia handset that I had. Life quickly lost meaning - I couldn't sync my 900+ contacts because the Nokia didn't have a PC Connect option, I couldn't check or update my facebook status and worse still, texting became a nightmare. Sigh.

The iPhone 5 had already been launched at the time of the picking but it was selling in Pakistan in excess of $1100. Far too much, I thought. And so I decided to find something to bridge the gap. Something that would get me by for a few months, until I could get an iPhone 5. Don't ask me how, but somehow, this 'something to get me by' ended up becoming a Samsung Galaxy S3. A certain friend had a lot to do with it, you know who you are.

Now, you have to understand what a big step this was for me. A long time supporter of Apple in the patent war against Samsung, I have always harbored a principle disagreement against Samsung products. Not to mention a innate fear of the Android operating system, which I always found to be very confusing.

So its saying a lot for Android and Samsung that after less than 24 hours of using the phone, I'm actually blown away. I can see why the Android system is hated at Infinite Loop (Apple's Headquarters) - because it probably causes them sleepless nights. Now, I am NOT saying that Apple's iOS is not good. It's actually very very good and in many ways, much better than Android. But - and this is important - Android systems let you do a lot more customization right out of the box that iOS does. For instance, with the way I have set up my phone, my main home screen shows me a few important apps, an excerpt from my calendar and a clock. Other homescreens, just a swipe away, provide easy access to facebook, twitter, world clock etc.

It could be argued that it is too early yet - and I agree. What you read above is a very early opinion. But knowing how anti-Samsung and anti-Android I've been in the past, I've been pretty pre-disposed towards hating the experience. And to my immense surprise, I'm not hating it. Far from it, in fact.