[rowenahere]

The following words were sent to me by an Indian Friend of mine, just quoting it exactly here:

An Ancient Tale Retold: The Ant and the Grasshopper.

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
is 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.

New 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
is 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. NDTV, BBC and 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 it be that the 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 Kofi 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.Opposition
MPs disrupt the Parliament work and stage a walkout. Left parties call for
a "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a judicial enquiry.
The 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 the grasshoppers on
all Indian Railway trains, aptly named 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 and
in government services. The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA
and, has 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 the NDTV. Arundhati
Roy calls it a "triumph of Justice". CPM calls it the"revolutionary
resurgence of the downtrodden" . Kofi Annan invites the grasshopper to
address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later, the ant has migrated to the USA and being diligent and
sincere, set up a multi-billion dollar company in the Silicon Valley.
Hundreds of grasshoppers still die of starvation in India despite
reservation.

As a result of losing a lot of hard-working ants and feeding the lazy
grasshoppers, India is still a developing country.

What do you say to the above?