Introduction We took the liberty of fictionalizing a third installment of a very popular Indian movie, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’. Set in 2050, The movie has moved forward where Faizal Khan’s son, Sardar Khan Jr. comes back to Wasseypur to take revenge from Definite,the antagonist, who killed his father. This story deals shall tell you how design and science fiction helps Sardar Khan take revenge on his deceased father. 2 | Design fiction
Scene 1 [Trigger event] Assassination of Definite’s mom An assassination of a woman in broad daylight in commonplace here, but what’s different about this one is that this is no ordinary woman. She’s Durga, the mother of Wasseypore’s kingpin, Definite. When Definite learns about this, he is enraged but a part of him knows that someone who did this is no ordinary person. He looks over from the balcony of his large house, right in the middle of Wasseypore and ponders about the situation.
A city where you will see domesticated cows tied with smart lassos, which track their health and predict how much milk they will be able to give the next day. A city which has created artificial mountains of e-waste at the expense of connecting every object in the city.
Scene 2 [Introduction of smart city Wasseypore, and design fiction strategies] Wasseypore in 2050: Notice the heaps of eWaste that have emerged in the background, whereas the air has become so polluted that skies no longer appear blue. To counter that, the subway authority has created fake sky in the subway station. Wires are no longer required for the Grid, as floating Gridpods in the air directly transmit signals required for communication. This is Wasseypore, a city connected by sensors and data. The public transit and services, trees, buildings and nearly every object is connected to the grid.
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Also, this is Wasseypore, a city notorious for gang crime and the trade of illegal goods. A dangerous place. A city where law and order has been bought by money amassed through illegal means by one man,
Definite. He is the law here. Using his army of hackers and his influence over the local government, Definite controls all the communication channels of the city. All messages, calls and transactions can be accessed by Definite and his hacker-goons. The smart connected grid has made it easier for them to get information about those plotting against them. All conversations using technology can be tracked. Other hackers can access the grid too, but there is only one secure communication technology in Wasseypore, the Beam. While Wasseypore has evolved a lot in terms of smart cities, the basic human emotions of vengeance, patriarchy, and power worship remains intact. Human emotional connections are based on these fundamentals, although the expression of such emotions have transcended into smart mediums of communication and interaction.
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On the outskirts of the city, among one of the e-waste mountains, a young man looks over the city, he is in a vindictive mood. Wasseypore was once controlled by his ancestors, until Definite killed them. He was an e-waste scrap hustler in Mumbai for years, living off the grid, selling and coming up new inventions made from what the city dumps out. Now he is back in Wasseypore. There is blood on his hands. He just killed a woman in broad daylight. He is
Sardar Khan Junior. His life has just one purpose, revenge.
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Scene 3 [Diegetic prototypes] Meanwhile, at Definite’s house, a fortress right in the middle of the city, five new faces are joining the gang. These are individuals who are looking to move up Wasseypore’s social ladder. This city offers a lot of opportunities, but the high-risk, high-reward career of being in Definite’s gang is a chance which promises riches which most people won’t be able to amass in their whole lifetime. They meet Hero. Definite’s right hand man, loyal, ruthless and one of the smartest people in the city. A movie fanatic, he likes to be called Hero as he sees his life as a grand movie plot with him as the protagonist. Hero hands each of the new recruits, a small black device for receiving instructions. It’s the Holopager. He tells them that this device is the reason why Definite is the most powerful man in the city. The new recruits look confused, they haven’t seen such a thing before. They ask about the purpose of the device and how to use it. Hero gives them a manual to follow and warns them not to lose it under any circumstance. Hero also explains the Beam, a secure communication network used used by Holopager. While the city runs on the grid through the gridpods, the Beam if off the grid and is the only secure channel of communication left in Wasseypore.
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On the outskirts of the city, we see Sardar Khan Jr. meet Tangent. Tangent is Sardar’s uncle, a survivor of Definite’s purge of Sardar Khan’s family years ago. He has changed his name since and lives among Wasseypore e-waste mountains. He has managed to get his hands on one of Holopagers, and has hacked it to receive the messages being sent on the Beam. He shares it with Sardar and explains how Definite and his gang communicate. Sardar Khan Jr. looks calm and has a wry smile on his face. He knows about the Holopagers and the Beam. He seems unfazed by his disadvantage, as he has an ace up his sleeve too. He reaches for his bag and reveals two Desi Kattas. Handguns assembled from items found in the dump.
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It is capable of crippling Definite’s entire communication network and the Beam if its disabling electromagnetic wave is fired at the primary node, meaning Definite’s personal Holopager. That however won’t be easy to do, as Sardar Khan Jr knows that the Desi Kattas don’t always work and more importantly, he will need to be closer to Definite’s house to use it.
Scene 4 [Use of technology] Courtesy of a hefty bitcoin bribe paid to crime investigation unit, Definite is able to get his hands on the forensic report. There is evidence of the DNA of the murderer. Definite’s compares this DNA with all the other DNA records in the city by hacking the grid. The system generates a match, and Definite is shocked by what he sees. Genetically, the person most similar to the murderer is Definite himself. A chill goes down his spine, he just realizes what has happened and his nightmare is about to come true. He remembers years ago when he betrayed his half-brothers and took over the city. He remembers the pregnant wife of one of his halfbrothers fleeing to Mumbai. He realizes what he’s up against now. In a gut reaction, Definite reaches for his Holopager and broadcasts the message Get ready to receive battle instructions. Someone is back in town
The message get broadcasted through the Beam to all of Definite’s hacker-goons and also to a Holopager in the middle of an e-waste dump. Sardar Khan Jr. reads this message and knows that he is exposed and needs to act fast. He grabs the two Desi Kattas and leaves. On a motorbike, he knows he needs to cripple the Beam and the Holopager network soon before Definite can consolidate his men and attack. No one knows what Sardar Khan Jr. looks like. He parks his bike and sits by a tea stall opposite to Definite’s house. This is downtown Wasseypore, bustling with people, vehicles and gridpods. The dark grey skies above are reflected by the metallic texture of technology below. Sipping on tea while smoking a cigarette, Sardar Khan Jr. scouts the surrounding, looking for the perfect place from where he can use his Desi Katta. Among the crowd, he drifts towards the east corner of the building and targets the room on the third floor. Tangent had informed him about this and said it is where Definite should be during lunch time. Sardar Khan Jr. carefully takes out the Desi Katta and fires it on the third floor. The Desi Katta shortcircuits and its fuses go off, it doesn’t work. This one has backfired. It damages all of Sardar Khan Jr.’s communication devices instead. Frustrated, he throws it on the ground and decides to use the second one.
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This is probably his only chance of gaining the upper hand on Definite, he carefully aims it at the third floor and fires the second Desi Katta. Hero, sitting at a tea stall nearby notices that his Holopager is displaying gibberish messages and then switches off. He realizes that they are under attack, the Beam and the Holopagers have been destroyed. Sardar Khan Jr. moves rapidly through the crowd to get to his bike. Hero looks around and sees a suspicious individual rushing through the crowd, he chases this person. Sardar Khan Jr. finds that someone is chasing him and starts running through the crowd. He collides with a woman, hence dropping his Desi Katta on the ground. Hero finds it hard to navigate through the massive crowd of people, Sardar Khan gets to his bike and manages to escape.
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Hero looks at the item dropped by Sardar Khan. He inspects it and takes it to Definite.
Scene 5 [Final face off] Hero and Definite are in a pensive mood. They have lost the upper hand now. Definite tells Hero to gather everyone at the old coal mine, this is a problem which has gotten out of hand now. Hero informs the gang members about the time and location to meet. On the outskirts of town, Sardar Khan Jr. goes and meets Tangent and tells him that the Beam and the Holopager network has been destroyed. Tangent hacks into the grid and tracks all communication channels originating from Definite’s house. He finds a message sent out by Hero about a gang meeting at the old coal mine. The hunters have now become the hunted. Sardar Khan knows this is the best opportunity to wipe out Definite’s crew. It’s late in the evening, a dusty old coal mine which is now a landfill has Definite and his gang in it. A conniving individual named Sardar Khan has rigged the whole place. This is the day he has waited his whole life for. Revenge is dish best served cold.
|the end |
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