The Ant and the Grasshopper
I may not necessarily agree with this, but it’s an interesting parable of sorts.
OLD VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building hishouse and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks theant’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 hedies out in the cold.MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building hishouse and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks theant’s a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference anddemands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fedwhile others are cold and starving.NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to providepictures 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 poorgrasshopper 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 thatgrasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government fornot upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to thegrasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for promptsupport as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .Opposition MP’s stage a walkout.Left parties call for “Bharat Bandh” inWest Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Keralaimmediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat soas to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian RailwayTrains, aptly named as the ‘Grasshopper Rath’.Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism AgainstGrasshoppers Act [POTAGA]“, with effect from the beginning of the winter. Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educationalInsititutions & in Govt Services.The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothingleft to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered byNDTV.Arundhati Roy calls it “a triumph of justice”. Lalu calls it ‘SocialisticJustice’. 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 dollarcompany in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvationdespite reservation somewhere in India.
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