Disclaimer:
A) A looooong post!
B) ***Purely my thoughts, my views on the topic(s) covered. Please don’t look for any hidden implication or outrage to feel outraged about**
A carnival was under way in the Antland. There were ants from all corners, some from Ms Deeps’ sink, some from Ms Smita’s shelf, some from Mr Hitchy’s tree, some from Ms Pixie’s land even, all the way from the US of A, gathered to celebrate.
What were they celebrating?
Well, they were generally celebrating life. Their life. Their freedom to live. Howsoever short that might be. It’s not as if they had found some elixir of life on one of their sojourns to Ms D’s house recently. Well they did manage to drag in back a few flakes of the carrot halwa that she had made and some crumbs of the choco-chip cookies from the box that her daughter Ms N had left open for them.
They did have plans to extend their holiday there just so they could thank Ms N when she would come looking for the cookie jar though, you know. But that could wait as they realized it was not so safe to go back to the region where Ms D was now planning a terrorizing attack on them.
Moreover they were sick and tired of being vulnerable to getting stamped and crushed by the human feet! They deserved to enjoy some time off the worry.
So there they were, some singing along to Let it Go in the karaoke station, some playing Ring a Ring o’ Roses in the field nearby, some even sipping a cuppa and having a good chat around the tree-cafe.
That’s when the sneaky Ms.D overheard this conversation
Ant A (raising her elephant-mug): So guys, aren’t we all happy that we are alive today! Cheers to us!
The ants gathered around the cafe, raising their mugs, squeaked out a thankful “Aye Aye” in unison.
Ant B: BTW, did you hear about Ant X? She got to taste some beef when she went clubbing in Mr. Rocky’s bar, the other day. Not to mention the wine that she got to taste too. Some guts I must say.
The ants all exclaim a WOW!
Ant K: Her religion doesn’t allow her to try any of that,right?
Ant B: Yeah! Yet she went ahead and tasted it anyway. Isn’t that great! What was even more amazing? That the priest of the ant-shrine that she visited to confess was so cool about it. Mr Ant-priest didnt care two hoots in fact! As per him, neither did our God.
Ant K: The priest is so right. Why would our God object? And why should we as fellow ants? X did what she desired to do, took that liberty, followed her heart. That’t it. That’s what we all should, right? Use our freedom as long as we don’t harm our fellow beings, violently or otherwise.
Ant A: That’s so true! Life is short, in our case its minuscule, so we need to make the most of it by living freely. How difficult is it to understand that? Oh I am so proud of Ant X. Of our entire clan!
And L: Absolutely! I think the humans can learn a thing or two from us. A similar incident like this happened in their world and it turned so awfully ugly, from what I read in one of the newspaper-tracks I went jogging on. And now there’s a famous actor who’s raking up a lot of flak from his own fellows, for speaking his mind, for expressing his views, personal views mind you and there’s a whole lot of idiots hounding him for that.
Ant A: These humans I tell you! They talk about being tolerant and all. They can’t even tolerate us being around, or even those cockroaches for that matter. We don’t even harm them, do we? Ok ok, we do creep up on them, and try to nibble at them but we just do it for fun, for ant-sakes! We can be friendly too you see! And how do they react? As if we are Dracula-reincarnated! 🙄
Ant K: I know! The just don’t get us. Oh and have you seen some of those girls screaming their lungs out when they spot a lizard? Gosh height of over-reaction! They say they are scared of the lizard, but do they really know how much more frightening their own shrieks are? The poor lizard ends up getting scared and runs for its life! I have invited some lizards and cockroaches and their families too to join us in the fun. C’mon, they deserve a chance to let their hair and tails down too, you see.
Ant B: Of course they do! I’m glad you invited them, K. These humans, they fail me! Going by the way they go up in arms against their own lot for expressing their views or exercising their basic right to expression, wonder what they would do and where they would hide if and when we were to become intolerant and bloat up to attack them for invading into our right to existence!
Ant J: Hey hey,hold your horses, B. Did you know that Ms Deeps was in serious consultation with Ms Smita on how to drive us away! What nerve I tell ya! I even heard Ms S suggesting some flour as a remedy! And as if it wasn’t enough, Ms D was seen zooming off to the nearest store to get a poisonous ant-killer to spray at us. She couldn’t afford to leave any ant-corner unturned it seems. So while it’s laugh-worthy, their intention to wipe us off the face of this earth, let’s not get carried away. Let’s not behave like them. They know in their heart of hearts that we are just as significant to this world as them. So let us celebrate while we can for the life we have.
On that note they all got up to shake a leg or two on the dance floor near the lake.
As for sneaky Ms D. She was seen walking back home meekly, feeling a little ashamed of herself for wishing those ants’ end.
She switches on the comp to log in to her space, and right there she spots him jaunting through her keyboard as though he was in Switzerland….
Perceptions 