An Old Story:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house andlaying up supplies for the winter.The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays thesummer away.Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food orshelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house andlaying up supplies for the winter.The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays thesummer 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 provide pictures of the shivering Grasshoppernext to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filledwith 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 .
Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
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 MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' inWest Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hardin the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants andGrasshoppers.
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 TerrorismAgainst Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of thewinter.
Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in EducationalInstitutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing leftto pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Governmentand 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 dollarcompany in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewherein India, .......ANDAs a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding thegrasshoppers, . . . . . . . . . .
India is still a developing country…!!!
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