Ant and the grasshopper
An interesting story (though it is a lengthy one).
Ideally it should go to my forwards blog,but as it looks relevant to the current context in india. it got a place in my main blog.
Thanks to Pandurangaswamy for the email
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 (excellent)
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 GrassHopper 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..... .
Ideally it should go to my forwards blog,but as it looks relevant to the current context in india. it got a place in my main blog.
Thanks to Pandurangaswamy for the email
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 (excellent)
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 GrassHopper 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..... .
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