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A GLIMPSE AT
THE TRUE INDIAN SCENARIO
A
OLD VERSION...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summerlong 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
Institutions & 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...
................................................
Alok Prakash Putul
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 5:28 PM
alokputul@rediffmail.com
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