P i s s e d O f f P i x i e s

"What's going on !!? I cannot seem to find a decent program on a single channel for the past one hour", complains Zuick.

"Duh. That seems to be the normal state of affairs these days", quickly surmises Wopie.

Zuick and Wopie are pixies, little mischievous fairy-like creatures with wings.They live in the pixie-verse, which is a universe with the laws of physics quite similar to our own universe, except in areas such as time travel, teleportation, remote mind-control etc. One of the fundamental discoveries that changed the life style of pixies was the invention of the pixie-television.

Pixies are a relaxed and romantic species by nature. They love watching television. The pixie-television is none like our own television - it is a hyper-dimensional projection of 3D images, scents, sounds and emotions. It is no wonder that pixies are quite glued to it.

The interesting thing that has to be admitted is that the life of the Homosapiens on this planet called Earth is not, as you think, a collective outcome of several conscious entities. But, it is, in fact, the program on the pixie-television.

Yes, that is right. Our universe is nothing but the plot-verse for their television program. Human beings are merely characters created for the entertainment of pixies.

This arrangement worked fine for a long time for the pixies. Their romantic sentiments were well addressed during the several previous episodes of the television programs. In human beings, there had been characters strong and gallant. There had been characters cute and lovely. Pixies had a good time following all the mess that these characters got themselves into.

In fact, the pixie-television is interactive. And pixies can even interrupt the lives of the characters if they wish to do so, like as recounted by Shakespere in his Midsummer Night's Dream.

But, these happy times are soon getting to an end.

"These characters on the TV are turning into a joke", exclaims Zuick.

"Yeah. I mean I just do not get the whole concept", wonders Wopie, "Nobody seems to be fighting a war for the sake of love. Isn't it supposed to be the plot, during the episode of the Trojan war ? Now, what are they fighting for ? Oil !! Can it get any stupider than that ? "

"They are all a bunch of confused idiots. Why do they work like donkeys ? And why do they spend all their money eating junk food ?"

"I don't even feel like getting inside their universe anymore. It stopped being like fun."

"And when is the last time you saw a character love something for the sake of love ? "

"Dear God Pixeus !! You are right Zuick. Love is becoming dead."

"I think we should demand an explanation. If it is not about love, why are they showing all this crap on pixie-television ? "

Zuick and Wopie form a club, the PTCC - Pixie Television Condemnation Club. They spread the word amongst all their friends - Blooter, Wigwag, Tria, Lymee and so on. They finally meet Qonsper - the resident nerd amongst the local pixies.

"You fools of pixiedom. You don't have a clue of what's going on. Do you think it is accidantal that they are showing all this crap on pixie-television ? No, my friends, no ! The evil government is planning a massive brainwashing operation for us pixies. They are sending such images on the television only to subdue us into brainless and robotic creatures."

"Whoooa !! "

"I say, we should rebel against all this. Rebel against the television. When pixies no longer watch any of these programs on the TV, they will finally abandon them due to the fall of ratings. I think we should get riddance of these dumb human beings for good. We have had them for enough time on the TV", explains Qonsper.

Everybody responds enthusiastically, "Yeah !! "

S á g a r a k s h é t h r a

The ancient Indian epic of Mahábháratha narrates the story of an apocalyptic war. This is not a war between the good and the evil. This war is about too much greed and its necessary culmination into a major battle.

Kauravás, led by Duryódhana, are consumed by greed and blinded by absolute power. They deny their cousins, the Pándavás, the rightful share of their property. Fighting on the side of the Kauravás are great warriors and righteous men. Ranking first amongst them are Bhíshma - who is the greatest warrior of all time, and Dróna - the greatest teacher in the art of warcraft. The forces of Kauravás are ten times stronger than those of Pándavás. But above all, Kauravás have a great archer to fight on behalf of them - Karña, a warrior born of low parents. In times of adversity, Duryódhana befriends Karña and gives him respect and a position of power. In return to friendship, Karña would sacrifice his life for the sake of Duryódhana.

The interesting thing that is revealed later is that Karña is actually the eldest of the Pándavás. Due to a sad episode, he gets abandoned by his mother in his childhood. If the Pándavás win the war, the throne would naturally go to Karña. But, Karña still keeps his loyalty to his friend Duryódhana, and fights his own brothers in the war.

Legend has it that the epic war of Mahábháratha repeats itself throughout time, whenever people are consumed by greed, whenever equality and justice are burnt in the flames of arrogance brought through by absolute power.

In our times, the greed of the Kauravás finds its reflection in the greed of the corporations. The absolute power wielded by Duryódhana finds its counterpart in the nuclear arsenal of the USA. The mighty Bhíshma and Dróna find their equivalents in the great universities and the research labs of Europe and the USA. We have our own Karña - the emigrant researcher employed by the drug development corporation, the musical artist employed by the recording industry, the software developer employed in the big industry...

The starving peoples of the world who are denied access to their rightful resources by their own cousins - they have only a handful of Pándavás to fight on their behalf. But, these Pándavás are great warriors undaunted by their adversity. They have a resource which the Kauravás do not possess - Krishna, the greatest philosopher of the entire mankind.

In the approaching future, the world is set stage for another apocalyptic battle. But, this time it will be fought on the sea.

---

The sea is everywhere. In the begining, people fear it, they run away from it. But they occassionally receive sudden outbursts from the sky - messages from the sea, constantly reminding them of their duty - to discover the deep, to discover the beyond.

Gradually, people get rid of their fear for the sea. They make ships and sail into it - reaching faraway lands, meeting people and making friendships.

This sea is called information.

But, the levels of the sea start rising suddenly. Indeed, they rise at an alarming pace. So, people build dikes and dams to prevent the sea from flooding. These dams turn into fortresses denying entry to the sea and denying entry to people from outside.

But, trade over the sea continues. Soon, this trade turns into a massive robbery operation. Huge ships of gold and wealth start to sail from disadvantaged lands into the lockers of the massive fortresses.

---

"greetings. would like to reach raider"

"raider answering. who signals ? "

"plumber. I find strategic information"

"concerning ?"

"PNS"

"lose no time"

---

The message is transmitted in no time over the sea.

" US NUCLEAR STRIKE FOILED
A secret message captured directly from the President of the USA, the supreme commander of the US miltary forces, over a preemptive nuclear strike on Beijing is transmitted on several websites over the internet. China gets alarmed. All the nations of the world get on a red alert. The highly encrypted military intelligence of the USA seems to have been broken by a secret group of computer hackers. The possible reasons for the nuclear strike are still disputed with no explanations forthcoming from the US government. Massive protests have commenced in the USA demanding an urgent inquiry behind the episode. The Security Council of the United Nations meets in session with the notable absence of the USA. "

The dikes preventing the sea from flooding get broken. The entire people of the planet become sea-borne.

The epic war on the sea commences.