India at present

I got this article some where on the internet. Found it simply superb. It truly depicts the condition of India at present. Just go through it and give it a thought.
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.

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 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 Bengaland Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard 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 80% Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services. Karunandhi initiates it and says all ants should be killed.

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 USand set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still starving despite reservation somewhere in India....

Mahatma Gandhi: Relevence in today's world

In India, as the years are passing by we are not only forgetting the contribution made by Mahatma Gandhi, but also started making more and more fun of Gandhi ji. Some times it seems that it has become a fashion to ridicule Mahatma Gandhi. As a matter of fact,its very sad. Gandhi was a great human being, a great leader. How else can some one drive lacs of bare handed people along with him just by his words. All of his followers knew that they are not going to fight against their enemy with any weapon. They knew that the people,against whom they were fighting, were fully equipped with all the powers to harm them. Still they were ready to go along with Gandhi. Can you expect some one to do that unless he is dead sure that he possesses a more potent though intangible weapon, called Satyagrah, which is sure to make them win the battle.
History has shown us time and again that if you want a long lasting peace, you can not win it with the help of violence. You can certainly have a temporary relief but it may not, and will not, last for long. The ongoing Iraq war is a flagrant example. Though US is successful in eliminating Saddam, they are not able to achieve any thing out of it.Entire Iraq is burning. Violence has begotten more violence and the whole world has turned into a dangerous place to live in.
So Gandhian principles of Ahimsa and non-violence are much more relevant in the context of today's world.