Christmas, Fallout 3 and Goodbye to EDU (and 2008, as well)

Another Christmas Day gone by. Am getting used to spending Christmas by myself. It seems easier than it used to be. Took the day off from reading what I've written and instead, in a very Christmassy gaming mood , installed Fallout 3 on my pc. The graphics are absolutely brilliant and the plot (which I have read about almost everywhere) is already quite interesting. I was looking forward to checking out Liam Neeson's voice acting in the game: not sure whether it was him I heard in the very first scene. My only gripe so far is the Microsoft Live system and the fact that the installer was claiming that I had no sound card installed (what a lie - ask my neighbours about my soundcard).

I bought the game in London, last month - an early Christmas present. I simply had to buy it: the price had gone down, my pocket had two crisp notes freshly obtained from a cash machine and someone had told me that Fallout 3 would not be available in India. All three seemed perfectly valid reasons to buy it and buy it, I did. The third reason, however, is the subject of my posting. Microsoft has decided not to market the game in India. Apparently, it contains a mutant animal ( a two-headed cow) called Brahma: enough reason, thinks Microsoft, to enrage the Brahmans or the Hindu priestly caste. The 'cultural sensitivities' bar, however, reveals its typical Western cultural ignorance. Brahmini bulls are actually a species of cattle and no one seems to object to their being named thus (the cow and the bull are holy animals for Hindus). Secondly, Brahma is the name of the God of Creation; perhaps, that link could be cause for umbrage. it might, however, be noted that Brahma himself is said to have four heads (as do some other Hindu gods) and that Hindu gods often take the shape of animals. Finally, whoever told Microsoft that Brahmins are not gamers. Surely, no one even remembered to ask yours truly (after all being born a Brahmin, I have some claim to the title, however small). Anyway, I could go on and on and maybe even write an essay on this; suffice it to say that I'm not quite in agreement with the Microsoft Gamer's Guide to Hinduism. A deeper reading than this might even expose the layer of orientalism at work here.

Thank God (the Hindu trinity, perhaps) that I'm in the UK and MS doesn't consider me Hindu enough. Don't like to imagine being Id'd at the GAME till and not being sold Fallout because it would offend my cultural sentiments. Well, the game is on my pc and my profile has been created. You will hear more of my adventures in Fallout very soon, religion (or the lack of it) notwithstanding.

The other reason why I'll be plugged into the game is because I suddenly have a little more time
on my hands. My contract with my employers has run out and I am jobless again. I'll sorely miss the hours spent in training and troubleshooting and I'll miss my friends at work. I don't have a clue as to how I'm going to fill in this 'vacuum' in my quotidian activities. My former colleagues obviously know me more than I do myself: they have given me a voucher from GAME as a farewell present. Looks like its more games again, as the year turns the corner and disappears.

'And now another cup of the generous! and a merry New Year, and many of them, to you all, my masters!'