Ant n Grasshopper

This is an interesting story that I came across. It highlights the changes in the dyamics of our society over the years. And more importantly it drives home the point why we as a nation fail to grow at the pace we should ....

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.

TODAY's 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 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 .

Ticket to ride Twenty - Oh - Seven

Ups and Downs
They make you smile
They make you frown
But Life is such a funny bitch
To LIVE it .. you have to DROWN

These lines have no poetic sense.. but they make realistic sense .. they may not rhyme .. but they are worth every dime .. Atleast to me ...

These are the thoughts, running through my head, as I book my tickets before embarking on a new journey - a transition from Twenty - Oh - Six to Twenty - Oh - Seven. ... This transition will mean different things to different people .. for some it may bring in hope of a better life.. for some it may mean looking forward to more joy .. or for some it may mean leaving behind something dear to them ....

Looking back I can say that Twenty - Oh - Six was fair to me ... it gave me joy at one hand .. and sorrow at another... it made me laugh ... it made me cry.. it took some people away from me .. and it gave me new friends .. on times it made me calm .. and on others it made me as mad as a raging bull... it closed many a doors.. but opened many a other ... life completed many a circle in 2006 for me ..

And, Looking into future .. Twenty - Oh - Seven... am sure like its old friend .. it will also not disappoint me .... it will be my master .. it will be my slave .. it will be my friend .. it will be my foe .. and it will also complete many more circles .. Overall, I look at the future with optimism standing heads and shoulders above the fears waiting to pounce upon my dreams ... and I Pray to the Lord above that he gives me the strength to be a good human being...

And this rare picture from Burma captures my thoughts for the coming year ....

Am a Good Cook

What is life?..

One can get many a philosophic and not so philosophic answers to the same ... Here I am making one not so philosophic attempt to answer the same ...

Joy and Sorrow .. Pride and Shame ... Win and Loss... Love and Hatred... Success and Loss... Smiles and tears... these are the spices of life.. vital ingredients for a recipe which defines our purpose of existence ..be careful in what you pick and choose .. and how you mix them .. and in what proportion .. decides the taste of the recipe called LIFE ...

The variable proportions of these ingredients decide your fate... One extra spoon of sorrow and you might become a loner or one extra spoon of joy may make you selfish ... But what's really amazing about this recipe is that though the ingredients are the same and the proportions vary from person to person -The end result is different but The taste of the recipe is the same for every one ..


You don't agree???... Ok think about this ..

When you are happy ....everything just seems to fit in beautifully ... at that time you feel you can hear the chirping of the birds, the buzz of the bees, .. you an feel the smiles of a sleeping baby and on and on .... But when you hit the rough.. the world seems to come down as a house of cards... the same chirping of birds, the buzz of the bees become the noise that rattles your brain to insanity ...

Thats what i mean .. at the end ... one might be a pauper.. and other might be the president of US .. but the spices that bring the flavor in life .. they make them both go through the same emotions (though maybe at different points of life) .. This is applicable to all of us..

So you see.. next time anybody asks you ..
"Can You cook??" ...
Say .. "Yes I can ... And am damn good at it "