The Ant & The Grasshopper
I usually hate forwards, but this one was special:
Nice story...read it....u are sure to find it really interesting and funny......but it teaches us something!
OLD VERSION.......
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
MODERN VERSION ........
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'. Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later...
The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...
As a result loosing lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers India is still a developing country......
Can any one dare to bring India out of this clutches...
14 comments:
Ohhhh..U Too started India Bashing ??!!..I completely agree with 'Hyperactivism' of Press in India. But Is Bush - elected by perhaps the most educated and informed people in the world and who is reponsible for 100s of deaths everyday and still crying out "Give War a chance !" to find "weapons of mass destruction" any better than lalu who scripted a succes story at Indian Railways (perhaps through his non-ibtervetion rather thean his intervention !!) ??
Suchu.
It has nothing to do with "India bashing" as you put it. There wouldn't be a happier person if all these weren't involved with India and Indians. I liked the forward because of the reality it portrayed in a comic manner. The TV channels today do overstate and overreact to everything and anything and have become so commercial and uncensored that the reality never reaches the masses. The same thing you said of Lalu's successes are never shown on TV rather a person burning himself is shown live. Is this what the media is supposed to do?
Another "thing" with our media. WHO CARES IF SHILPA SHETTY EXPERIENCES RACISM IN A "REALITY" SHOW? Is that the "NEWS" people want to see on the first page?
Read 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. Applies to larger scheme scheme of things -
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79a/index.html
d.n.a.
That was really good. Reality - well narrated. Two good reads in three days.
I suggest other blog visitors to read the story too when time permits.
Welcome to my side of the world.
I agree with you on the former part - it is a very good sarcy of the state of Press here and I agree to that. But the later part surely ridicules the political system and the country as a whole rather than the process. So do u say every ant leaving the country and going to US becomes a Billionaire ?! and Is going to US the panacea for all these ? and do u find all the solutions out there ?..
Politicians out there are same everywhere..Its money and not principles that rules politics everywhere !People lost their way out somewhere in the journey.The best example I could see that was of Israel..I was just overwhelemed to know about the detemination of Israelis (not just their leaders)in their struggle for formation of Israel (in the book 'O Jerusalem'). But couple of weeks back I was just shocked to see Israeli PM (or president) almost being chucked out for SEX Scandal !!!..If such a thing can happen in Israel i have no surprise on the state of politics in India..and I believe India is no more worse than other countries
And when u have thousand thigs to b sarcy about India , don't U have one to ridicule about US ?..Y do Desis want 'homely god-fearing' Indian Girls as partners though they are in the 'land of opportunities' ? and we Indians are so benign to accept things like Drinking, smoking and premarital sex as "part of their CULTURE" and we are 'Fine' With it !!..Its ironical that people who don't dare to clean their shit with water (and use 'Tissues') talk about cleanliness hygiene and pollution (or rather the lack of it) in India !!!
suchu:
you are getting emotional for nothing here. let me put my points forward to clarify my position on this.
First of all - the state of affairs in Indian social and political setup has nothing to do with those in the US. So, comparing these two countries is beyond my logical perception.
If you insist on comparing, why do you have to compare the "bad" things happening? You can ridicule the current US government for many things and you are not alone in doing that. After all that is human nature - it is easy to see the things that are "wrong" rather than appreciate the things that are "right".
Also, to clarify my stand on it. I will ridicule anything that I feel is wrong and I will try my best to appreciate anythign that I feel is good. Also, this is a funny forward in the first place. I enjoyed its sarcasm because it makes people think. If you believe it is destructive criticism, nothing can be done about it. People will keep living in denial and nothing will be better before a thought and after that.
"desis wanting 'homely god-fearing' Indian Girls as partners".
It was really funny to read that.
I really have no idea what that has to do with the context of this discussion but since you indulge me in responding, I am obliged to do so.
Being in the "land of opportunities" as YOU always like to call it, doesn't mean that one gives up the upbringing and culture. 20-21 years of upbringing can never be replaced by 5-6 years of "opportunities". I don't know if that answers your Q. BTW, one of my "desi" friends wanted (and wants!!!) a desi girl who is "Kinky & Bitchy".
And c'mon... please dont even try to compare your personal ways of hygiene and public hygiene. It is an individual choice and it doesn't affect your life. But throwing garbage on the street and letting the sewage clog up affects every one in the community. Do you mean to say you shouldn't ask or tell someone not to do it just because you love the country beyond criticisms and anything and everything that is done by your co-citizen. In fact, I would say that person is "unpatriotic" and doesn't really care for the country. If a little criticism cannot be met head on with an effective response, then there is no point in bragging about things that don't really make any significant change to the very community one lives in.
Dear Driver..I enjoyed the sarcy on the hyperactive over-animated press (read News Channels) as much you did. And I am equally frustrated on the same. My only point of contention was when the fwd had things like 'ant going to US and became a billionaire'.."India losing hard working ants and still a developing country"...etc..I felt like it was a comparson which was not required in the context of the fwd. All my other statements were a result of this frustration added by dearth of such sarcy stories, comments, fwds or even opinions about things which are not so good in US (or any other foreign country) in comparison with India. Nothing Personal..Keep Driving
Suchu.
Driving will continue inspite of speed breakers and wrong turns ;)
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