Nikhil Kuruganti: A Short Story on Indian Reservations

A Short Story on Indian Reservations

I will tell u the true story of reservations

You must have heard a very old tale of the ant and the grasshopper. The story went like this : The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is 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.



Now comes the true story. The changed story. The story of India as it is today.
It goes like this:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its 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 .

Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.

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 MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal 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 Grasshoppers in Educational
Institutions & in Government Services.


The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left
to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government
and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Other ants who survive are fined by levy of taxes like education cess which is used for giving education to these grasshoppers. These grasshoppers eat & live on the education they got out of the ants' money. And they leave no stone unturned to destroy these ants.



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,


.
..AND




As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the
grasshoppers,

.
.
.
.
India is still a developing country…that too due to the efforts of the foolish ants who stay back and appreciate the mirage of this country being their own.

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