Thursday, February 17, 2005

Remixed Fable

After a day of doing lots of nothing, I feel tired enough to take a break from my blog So let me present to you something that I didn't write myself, but still enjoyed a lot. This remix story was forwarded to me by my friend N.H.Krishnan. With so many online petitions floating around nowadays, and people forwarding them without putting their head to use, this story lends some food for thought.
Disclaimer: The message in the story is what we are concerned about, and the names are just to add a bit of masala


CLASSIC 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 he's a fool and laughs and dances and 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 he's a fool and laughs and dances and 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.

BBC, CNN, NDTV 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?

a.. Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house.

b.. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.

c.. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper.

d.. Opposition MPs stage a walkout.

e.. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala

demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

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 BBC, CNN and NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly

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