Etc...

Two more gallons should do it

Clearly, something needed to be done. Crime in Aurangabad, an ancient city in eastern India, was rampant. It spanned the spectrum, too: robbery, extortion, kidnapping, murder, street violence between castes in India's stratified social system, even terrorist attacks by communist rebels. The community's public image was poor, and spirits were low. And then – voilà! – inspiration struck. Last April, a citywide makeover project was begun, and by Friday, when an annual festival of lights is celebrated, Aurangabad will have been transformed – no small feat for a place that's home to 150,000 people. It all stemmed from the arrival of a new civil servant, Arvind Kumar Singh, who suggested that, for starters, a fresh coat of paint would help improve morale. Oh, there was some opposition, mostly from the area's members of Parliament. But eventually that was overcome, and now after a few more brush strokes Aurangabad will be resplendant in its new hue that, Singh told The Times (London), "is soothing [and] brings communal harmony." Well, what color is it, for goodness sake? Pink. Yep, every single structure. And if, as Singh suggests, the city also becomes a tourist attraction in the process, that's OK, too.