The Ant and the Grasshopper

Got this mail from one of my friends. Couldn’t help but post it here. Just a continuation of few of my earlier blogs like ‘I am an upper caste, Hindu, Brahmin North Indian‘. Its a very interesting read – an old story with a new angle to it.

 

 Original
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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.

Indian Version
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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 .

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes 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 ‘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.

Arjun Singh makes ‘Special Reservation ‘ for Grasshoppers in
Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

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 !!!

 

Guru and his proteges

 “A teacher’s purpose is not to create proteges in his own image, but to develop protéges who can create their own image.” – Kahlil Gibran

The other day, I was watching the “NewsHour Debate” on Times Now, where Arnab Goswami was discussing the situation in Pakistan with diplomats and journalists from both the countries. I try not to miss the NewsHour Debate, specially when its about Pakistan, which I guess is Arnab’s favorite topic.

During the commercial break, I noticed Dr. Pranab Roy discussing his favorite topic – elections, on NDTV. And if it wasn’t enough, we had Rajdeep Sardesai on CNN-IBN discussing his favorite topic Gujarat.

For almost an hour, I kept flipping channels trying to catch maximum of all the three programs. Three of the biggest names in the News genre, all debating their respective favorite topics, and at the same time – it couldn’t get better then this.

Pranab Roy, needless to say, is the Grand Old Man of Indian News channels. Almost everyone in my generation has grown up seeing him first on Doordarshan (that was very long ago though), Star News, and then finally, NDTV. I must admit that I’ve always been an admirer of his passion and values.

Both Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami were loyal foot soldiers of Pranab Roy just few years ago, when they quit NDTV and joined rival organisations. Once upon a time, Rajdeep was the hottest journalists and anchors at NDTV in terms of public perception along with Barkha Dutt. And Arnab, despite his excitable tenor, was a rising star.

Hence, it was great to see all three battling it out on their respective channels. For years, I had believed that Pronab Roy was way above anyone else in that space (and I had reasons to believe that – both emotional and rational), followed by Rajdeep (he was always the second – in – command to Dr. Roy), and then Arnab (to be honest, it was only after his move to Times Now that I started counting him in the same league).

 

 

But that day, watching all three in action, confirmed what I knew, but didn’t want to believe. Pranab Roy looked suave no doubt, but he also looked like an ageing war horse. The natural flow, which came naturally to him, was missing. At times, he looked confused and indecisive during the debate (very unlike him).

 

 

Both Rajeev and Arnab, on the other hand, were amazingly impressive. They seemed very much the new faces of Indian News channels – fiery and aggressive but witty at the same time. They always looked to be in control – people who believe in journalism with valid arguments rather than creating noises and scandals, which makes them the current faces of emphatic and matured Indian journalism.

 

 

But I must admit, somewhere inside, I prefer watching Arnab over Rajdeep (maybe because he was always the underdog). Though, both of them have come a long way from their NDTV days where they used to be Dr. Roy’s proteges. I’ve absolutely no doubts in my mind that they have finally overshadowed their mentor. As Thomas Carruthers once said, “ A good mentor is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.”

 

 

At the same time, according to an old Irish saying, “ A Mentor affects eternity. He can never tell when his influence stops.” And nobody will agree to it more then the two proteges. Both Arnab and Rajdeep openly acknowledge the role played by Dr. Roy in their professional lives and careers, as they perform their now immensely successful role as de facto leaders.

 

 

Pronab Roy, for so many years, has been the face of Indian News genre. But I guess the time has come for him to hand over the baton to his proteges. And even he will agree that both Arnab and rajdeep have come a long way. And I’m sure somewhere inside he knows it too and is very proud of his proteges.