Ant and Grosshopper - Indian Version of story - too good and fact

I have copied this story from Facebook but a must read for all!

Original Story:

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:

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 & 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, BBC, CNN.

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 losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the
grasshoppers, India is still a developing country...!!

Some not so famous people I regard highly!

E. Sridharan: It’s very easy to praise this man for the work he has done, but no one knows what goes behind all this for his exemplary work. His sheer dedication towards his work has made the life of Delhi walas very easy. I recently visited Delhi and I think Delhi Metro is the only place where you can see that India somewhere match the standard of Japan or China. But it’s not this simple; he fought many battles to accomplish this from government clearances to political obduracy. He is the new role model to the people who want to work for the betterment of the country.

Pullela Gopichand: I am not very sure how many of you had heard this name before the Olympics but I am sure that now everyone knows who Saina Nehwal is. He isn’t just an incredible coach but an incredible human being. Recently I heard that he has been funding the junior badminton players from his pocket as government doesn’t provide enough facilities to train young athletes. When ever Saina wins a title, people congratulate her but a lot of credit must go to Gopi as well. You can find him thinking about something all the time during the game. He is never too excited whenever she wins and never seems dejected when she has a bad game.

Dashrath Manjhi: If you always criticize others and government for not doing anything, learn something from this man. A man of century or mountain man who dint wait for others to join the uphill task to create a road through mountain, died before reaping of what he has done. His grit to save thousands of people of Gahlour village from walking 8 KM for water gave him enough strength that he shoveled day in day out to do the undoable.

Piyush Mishra: Yeah that guy from Gangs of Wasseypur! All these years I dint notice him in Gulaal, Matrubhoomi, Bhindi Bazar, Rockstar but what a natural talent he is, he is an actor, lyricist, singer and composer. I have become a fan of him after watching Gangs of Wasseypur and listening to his song, Ek Bagal me channd Hoga. These are some special talent we forget to give chances to. Thanks to Anurag Kahsyap who once again brought Piyush into mainstream. People say that GoW was hit because of the story Anurag Kashyap represented but I think it was big hit because the way Nawazuddin, Piyush, Manoy Bajpia, Richa Chaddha acted.  

Bharti Singh: I know you are laughing. Those SAB TV addicts know this fat short height girl. She rose into fame after TV show comedy circus on SAB. Where girl of her appearance find it hard to even come on camera but she surely is a brave girl. I just admire her so much; she is fun to watch every time she appears in any show. Recently in Jhala Dikhla Ja I got to know her true story, how she was raised. She used to watch people eating Burger and wondering how they eat them. No one likes to put on weight but she seems to smiling at all times. She got Madhuri Dixit and Karan Johar in tears when she performed on the song "Kyun mai Jagun aur wo sapne bun raha hai". You must never stress on how you looks but focus on what you are. 

Rakhi Sawant: Dont judge me but yes I like Rakhi Sawant a lot, not her grace but her stiffness. It’s very tough for a ganwar to stay in light in the age of Penty's and Fukhri's and especially when you don’t have a great physique and no bollwood link up, but she still manages to be there. Whether it’s big boss house or the parliament, she somehow gets there.

Unmukt Chand: You absolutely know this lad now. He was big even before he won the world cup. I have been hearing about him from quiet a long time now. It’s hard for a boy to manage people of 15 different states and make them perform and win the cup beating mighty Australians in Australia. He got few chances in IPL season gone by but couldn’t convince selectors to get more chances to show his metal or may be he was in the wrong side when you have KP, Taylor, Mahela, Warner, Veeru, Morkel in that side. He played a great knock and a matured one in the world cup as watched by many. He looked very calm and composed throught. Hope he maintains the same attitude and brings many more cups to India. Indian team’s future looks very bright.

Surely there would be many more in the hindsight but these are the ones that caught my attention.

“Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was”

Signing Off

Anil Anuragi

What Young India Wants by Chetan Bhagat

For me significant amount of reading happens while I travel. I got hold of this book while window shopping at Howrah station. This is Chetan’s first non fiction book which is combination of selected essays and columns he has written on various newspapers and magazines where he talks about mainly on society, youth and politics in India. To be honest I dint find anything encouraging or inspiring in this book like his other books. In this book he tried to touch the problems India is facing at present but dint go deep into it. We all are aware of what is happening in the country. Has he written a fiction again, I would have given a miss because all of his books are more or less same or may be I bought this book so that I can flaunt in my friend circle that I have read all of Chetan’s books.

In the my journey section he tries to show how he deeply loved India and cared for it while working as manager in Bangkok or I think he was rather trying to show off or was trying to get in more readership.

This book doesn’t only focus what young India wants but what we society as a whole want.

Some of the columns are thought provoking and some I couldn’t understand. In a column “Adding values to life” he tells about Indian values and how we should strive for these values in our life. There are some sections where he specifically takes on Government and also tries to provide solution of the some of the problems nation is facing. I loved the column where he tells the difference between money and lakshmi. He also wants like me that politics in India shouldn’t be dynastic but should be rewarded only on performance basis.

You might also feel to do something for the country after completing this book but that desire will not last long. Read this book like you watched Olympics and celebrated our medals but that celebration wouldn’t last long we all know that and the heroes will be forgotten in a month or two.

It is not boring but it is not indulging also. But I think he missed one important page where he specifically writes for the youths. Hope you guys got it.

Happy reading!

Gangs Of Wasseypur Part II

After a tough day at office I went to watch this movie with my gang. I had lots of expectations from this movie but it didn’t turn out to be as great as I had thought or not close to part I if I am allowed to draw the comparison.

The movie started where it ended in part I where Sardaar Khan (role played by Manoj Bajpayi) was shot at petrol pump by Sultan’s (role played by Pankaj Tripathi) people.

They went on to kill everyone in Shahid Khan’s family except Faizal Khan (role played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Then he realizes that puffing hukka with friend aint going to help.  So he also decided to jump on this ugly war to take revenge and to rein Wasseypur area.

Everything happens as it used to happen in those days, though I am not quite sure whether they had those aaatomatic guns that have been used or not. Everything that was there in the past is there in part I so they have shown only the current situation and time doesn’t move from 19^th century to 20^th century.

What has been exceptional in this move is Faizal Khan’s acting. For me, he let the movie get going. He was just phenomenal in acting, while shooting and when using expletives. But what was perplexing for me was that why there wasn’t enough for Piyush Mishra except narration? The way he delivers the dialogue is just awesome. I can remember in the part I when they go to petrol pump to replenish the diesel and he slits the throat of the man sitting in the counter and Manoj Bajpai asks “Maar diye kaa?” and he answers “ pata nahi” (for me the way he said those two words were just brilliant).

I was also looking for some more tadka songs like in part I and absolutely no one can match Manoy Bajpayi’s acting.

There are also some more character: Tangent, Perpendicular, Shamshad( The guy from Ragini MMS). In all those Perpendicular was the best. He is the son of Sardar Khan and Durga( role played by Reema Sen) but in the end to become the don of Wasseypur he shoots Faizal Khan after both surrender after killing Ramadhir singh. Durga played the card to see his son rising and not the Faizal Khan.

I would say if you have watched part I, you should go watch this movie. But for those who haven’t watched first part, you aint gonna miss anything exceptional.

I would rate this movie 3 out 5.

Ego clash

How often do we see that people refuse to compromise even if it costs nothing?

Last evening while returning from office, two cabs came head to head and none of them were ready to budge. They were giving insane reasons not to move from the place and the place was jammed by then. The road was amassed with water and so it was very narrow to cross through. The problem came when my cab driver signaled the other guy not to come close while the other gave the indication that he is coming but none stopped and they kept driving. Before their engine stopped my cab driver was in hurry as he had a pick up and was complaining to the supervisor not indulge him in drops when he already has someone to pick up.  

Now after the two cars were stopped both were giving dreadful looks to each other and were exchanging pleasantries but none of them were in a mood to reconcile. Now he forgot whom he has to pick up and was almost insensitive what others are saying. That ego clash was causing a problem to others and because they were talking in Bengali we were unable to intervene.

Meanwhile a guard comes and intervenes and then they both go back and cross path giving tough looks to each other when their cars were passing like they are the don’s of the area.

How often do we see these scenes? People just don’t want to conciliate.

It’s not just this case it happens in all walks of life. While traveling in a bus, queuing for tickets/coupons, watching a movie in hall, asking for change and that delay you unnecessarily and gives you head ache.

We must learn to co operate as we go ahead in life. 

Good Morning, Have a lovely day!

Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel

I finished reading this book very long back but didn’t have enough time to write my review because of Olympics.

The book is collected writing on Indian Cricket’s goto man by writers, commentators, coaches and the players whom he played with for the last 17 years. The book is divided in five parts describing each and every quality of this great man. There are interviews, his great innings, and captaincy, as a man and at last his Bradman’s oration before his last series against Australia even before the actual contest between bat and ball began and that I think is the best inning by Rahul Dravid. I have read and watched his Bradman’s oration umpteen times and still can read and watch it many more time.

It started with an introduction by Sambit Pal, editor of CricInfo and where in he writes “Indian Cricket may find a batsman as capable, but to find a man as exceptional is likely to be far tougher”. Yes indeed, he was more than a cricketer, he believed in simple thing. Wasn’t flashy and followed by as many as SRT but he knew his ability and stood firm when the situation demanded. Always very cool calm and composed whether he is inside the arena or in the public. As he says in one of the interview that, “I take time to have a bath, wear my clothes, eat breakfast. I never rush things and that sort of sets up my mood for the rest of the day”. His interviews are really motivational.

Former Indian coach writes about him,” I have never seen a more dedicated player than Rahul Dravid in the nets” and he goes on to write “He never made the same mistake twice”. He worked hard, discussed with coaches and senior players to overcome the the mistake he made in the previous game.

He wasn’t gifted as some players of that time were like Sachin, Lara, Steve Waugh but he was hard working. He worked relentlessly to learn one thing. He wants to achieve perfection and for that he could do anything.

As Suresh Menon, editor of wisden cricketers writes, “Talent without hard work withers early, hard work without talent gets you know where”.

After 2^nd test against Australia in Eden Garden which will always itch in our memory where RD scored 180 and along with VVS (281) and leveled the series by 1-1 and the rest is the history we all know, he said “It would define our careers from now on, irrespective of what we achieved or dint achieve after that”.

Once he was asked if he is eying to break Lara’s 400 records he grins, “Four hundred? For me to score 400, the test match would have to go into sixth day”

A man who has scored more than 13000 test runs has never been dismissed for first ball duck. He was though run out for 0 without facing the ball once. That speaks about him that he was always prepared to bat at any situation and at any number.

He opened the inning, batted at no 3, 4, and 5, and kept wickets at the age of 38. He could do anything for the team. He was the most selfless cricketer.

As he says the moment you are determined that bowlers have to take their wicket and you will not throw it just like that (unlike Rohit, Dilshan), you wouldn’t have burden to perform, runs will come automatically.

For him the dropped catches mattered the most as he feels that he let down the bowlers personally who try hard and create chance and it’s all gone.

He helped his junior team mates and always encouraged to do well. Suresh Raina writes, “He said a lot of glamour, fame and money would surround you as an international player but the key thing for you is to keep in mind at all times to never lose your focus on cricket, to be disciplined and remember that you are a person”

He showed the way to youngsters and told that “practice what you preach” (unlike the politician: D)

He always enjoyed the process, personal battles and sacrifices he made to achieve that, he never played for accolades or for money.

His wife Vijeeta says about his husband perfectionist, “I often tell Rahul that he is very good husband but would have been a very boring boyfriend”. “He doesn’t like the word hero being used carelessly, because to him real heroes are soldiers, scientist and doctors”.

That tells you that at the end of the day he feels about himself as a simple human being like we are.

One thing that I have noticed about Dravid is that he always takes the first name while speaking like Sachin, Grieg, Sourav, VVS, Gauti, John, MS. I don’t know how many of you have noticed that.

This is a must read those who love Rahul Dravid and cricket in general and test cricket in specific. He is the best test cricket player to have played the game. When we have IPL and meaningless T20, his priority was always test cricket. He always believed that to do well in test cricket in overseas is the ultimate satisfaction.

The book could have been a more palpable read had there been views and thoughts of groundsmen, camera persons when he drove to the off side, his team mates like SRT Dada and his best mate on the field VVS.

This is the nicest book I have ever read and in the finest read “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand tops the list.

Happy Friendship Day!

India At Olympic!

So we have come to the half way in London, some disappoint, some glory for India and some still vying to add in the medal count. All in all it hasn’t been that disappointing and not that glorious that we had hoped for.

Surely Deepika’s exit in first round was a set back but Vijay Kumar’s silver medal was out of no where. (specially for me). We surely have hatched some talents in this Olympic, some went little further while some faltered in initial stage but none the less they caught 120 crore people’s eyes. Kashyap went till Quarters after bowing to No 1 Malaysian Lee Chong Wei while Joydeep finished fourth in 50m Rifle prone and lost the bronze just by a whisker. Had it not been world no 1 Yihang Wang we surely had another medal in badminton but Saina is still in pretty much contention for bronze later today.

While Abhinav Bindra and Ronjan Sodhi disappointed us we managed our only medals in shooting only so it is still better that other sport so far. Gagan and Vijay rose to the occasion and performed their skin out.

Had Vishnu Paes won the tie break in the first set against Frenchmen Tsonga Llodra story would have been different now but what a game they played against world no5 Tsonga. But surely Vishnu is a good prospect after Paes and Mahesh. Paes Sania is playing their mixed double unfinished match against top seeded Mirnyi Azarenka of Belarus. India pair is trailing 2-3 in 2^nd set after losing the first one by 7-5.

Hockey was big disappointment, losing 3 games in a trot against the Dutch, New Zealand and yesterday against the Germany when they were hammered by 5-2. India’s problem is the finishing touch; they create the opportunity but most of times fail to capitalize on them.

There are few athletes who are in contention and one medal hopes Mery Kom is still to start her campaign on Sunday. And then there are Vijendra Singh, Poonia, Devendro Singh and of course Saina Nehwal.

I am still hoping that India will finish with 5 medals. How many you are hoping for?

Roger Federer and his record 17th Grand Slam title!

Ahh 7^th Wimbledon title, atop the ranking, just closing to the record he idolizes, his wife Mirka along with her twin daughters watching her husband to lift the glittering trophy, and packed center court including Britain’s PM David Cameron giving him standing ovation when he goes to receive the trophy, it surely couldn’t have got any better than this for Roger Federer.

But it wasn’t that simple. He has been fighting for this trophy since last 2 and half years when he beat Andy in Australian Open 2010, people raised fingers against him, they thought he is finished now and ageing as well (he is 30), he had a lot to answer yesterday and he answered every question with his racquet beautifully.

We never thought he will again have a come back specially in the presence of Novak and Rafa, but man he isn’t going to relent, he has been fighting hard.

Uber cool RF dint lose his temper till the end, how does he manage that in the big stage where every one is cheering for your opponent? Man he is the master!! The greatest tennis player to have played the game. Agree?

Match started in high note for Britain’s no1 when he broke Federer in the very first game and hold his serve to go 2-0 up in the opener. But if you are playing against 16^th time grand slam champion you have to be at your best at each shot, each serve, at each moment, you just can afford to be at rest for a second. You have to stay calm and motivated. You give one chance to the man and he wouldn’t let the opportunity slip in.

Though he managed to win the first set 6-4 but that wasn’t it, he had a lot more work to do to go past him.

At 4-4 in second set Murray had two chances to break Roger but couldn’t seize the chances and let RF held his serve. Had he broken him he would have been serving for the 2^nd set and that would have made all the difference.

But after 2^nd set, RF never looked back, in 3^rd set at 1-1 each with RF serving at 40-0, it started pouring in and they had to stop the match to wait for the roof to come. So this was the time for £80 million center court roof to come in.  

 6^th game of 3^rd set was a marathon one which went little over than 19 minutes (in this time one set finishes in mixed doubles) when Andy was serving to level the game 3-3, he should have held the serve but after fighting hard for 19 minutes he gave up and RF can never let these opportunity go away. Federer was ahead 4-2 in third set and was serving to go 5-2. He held the serve and in next game held again to book the 3^rd set under his name.

Murray seem frustrated when he was finding net too often but man what a game he has had, he was there at every shot Rog played, struggling, falling but reaching to the ball. If it had been other than Roger yesterday, Andy might have pulled it through.

On a lighter note as I tweeted they should have given the trophy to Andy as he had already won a set which he never won in any the Grand Slam final he appeared before yesterday.

Roger winning the 4^th set by 6-4 and leaving the entire center court crowd shell shocked while he went teary. The emotions were bound to come out. It shows how much this trophy means to the man who has already won 16 such trophies.

Andy made his girl friend cry in the presentation which I dint like; she is such a cute lady. But he made everyone smile saying “I am getting closer” and burst into tears once again.

What a super Sunday it would have been had Paes Vesnina also pulled it through? But they played some good Tennis especially in second set and forced Lisa Bryan to go in decider. Anyway I enjoyed watching the match. Did you?

Signing Off

Anil Anuragi

Saina Nehwal and her 3rd Indonesian Title!

Saina Nehwal winning momentum continues here in Jakarta as well. I was flipping through channels and suddenly switched on to Neo Sports, what a luck!! They were showing live streaming of Indonesia final. Saina was taking on Chinese Li Xuerei and the game was just about to start.

In the opening game Saina was not moving well or may be Li was hitting too many smashes which Indian wasn’t able to respond well and in return hitting on the net or outside the court.

In the second game she came with extra energy and played some excellent drop shots and smashed the shuttle quiet a few times. That surely gave her confidence but when she was on the verge of winning the second game and up 18-14, she conceded 6 consecutive points and had 2 championship points against her but again came back strongly and win the game by 22-20.

Third game was really intense. Score was moving like 1-1 5-5 11-11 and even 19-19. But Li’s return on net made me rose from the chair and clapping hard for her. Loved that moment!!

22 years old won the third game by 21-19 and thus winning her 3^rd Indonesian title that went little more than an hour. That was Sain’s 2^nd title in just 2 weeks, what a player she is and from where she gets that energy and motivation to do well all the times.

There is never a prouder feeling for me than and Indian flag flying high on the foreign soil. Crowd was ecstatic so was me. All credit to Saina and Pulela Gopichand.

5th seed words after winning the title "It was a really, really tough and I love the crowd here. It's really nice here. Whenever I enter the court, I feel like a champion here,"

It was a battle for Saina against an opponent to whom she had lost four times and won just once. So she wad a lot more to prove and once against a Chinese. Now we have started winning against Chinese and that is surely a good sign for the younger players who aspire to make big names for themselves in the future. Saina beat Chinese in QF Korean in SF and Chinese Li here in big final as well. Truly a class act!!

Now I hope politicians and administrative staff doesn’t start playing politics with her’s game as well what they played against Mahesh Bhupati. They put so much effort and give their best to reach to that level so we must respect their choices as well before making any final decision.

Happy Father's Day!!

Thank You!!

Djoko vs Tsonga encounter!

After watching that epic match I couldn’t contain myself to put down some words here. Oh well what a match that was. After easily winning first set by 6-1, Djoko had tough time dealing with local boy Tsonga. I wouldn’t write what happened till 3^rd set but in the fourth set we as a spectator had heart in our mouth. Djoko had 2 match points against him at 5-4 and he hit the forehand at the corner. How brave these players are! A miss and he was out from the competition. How do they remain calm, focused and motivated when we, watching off the field have our heart beat stopping at every shot? There is really a lot to learn from these players. How not to lose focus and not become aggravated when things don’t go your way?

That why he is standing at the top I think, Djoko. Tsonga gave him chances after chances and the big guy sneaked through in the end. Last set was purely dominated by Djoko and Tsonga looked searching for his shots. In the end Djoko won comfortably by 6-1 5-7 5-7 7-6(6) 6-1.

One thing that impressed me as well was when Tsonga was leading in the fourth set, crowd was cheering for him like anything, standing and clapping after every point won by Tsonga. But at the end Djoko girlfriend gave me the last smile.

So now we have Djoko vs Roger semifinal coming up on Thursday while Rafa takes on 12^th seed Almagro and Murray takes on big Spaniard Ferrer in quarters tomorrow.

If all goes well, we can again have a classic encounter in the final. We have all the top seeds in the tournament in men’s game while in women’s Masha is leading all the way.

We have another good news from the center. Paes Vesnina and Bhupati Mirza pair have advanced to the semifinals. Hope to see the cup coming back to India.