Monkeys Banished From Delhi!
Monkeys and
Dogs cannot be allowed to take over this city! The High Court of Delhi made this observation
while passing orders on a PIL regarding the menace of stray animals in Delhi[i].
Of course, no pun was intended. HC’s order may have been based on personal
experience. After 4.00 pm, the Tis Hazari Court complex is reportedly taken
over by the monkeys.
HC ordered that
the monkeys be shifted to Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. No order was made
regarding the stray dogs possibly because of their uncertain identity - neither
wild nor domesticated; not acceptable to the forest authorities for fear of jeopardising
wildlife health, nor to the citizens of Delhi. Their fate hangs in balance.
A Limerick
For stray
animals, we’ve pity,
But won’t
allow monkeys and dogs to takeover this city;
At once
shift the monkeys,
To Asola Bhatti
Wildlife Sanctuary;
Orders
regarding canines will follow, after ascertaining their identity.
Bureaucrat Reborn[ii]
Amartya Sen,
the Nobel laureate, had a gentle dig at himself and his fellow economists when
he quipped, ‘As a Hindu, if you are a good economist in this life, you come
back in the next as a physicist. If you are a bad economist in this life, you
come back in the next as a sociologist.’
What happens
to the bureaucrats in their next life? A good bureaucrat is reborn as a
politician, and a bad bureaucrat returns as an ordinary citizen, you might
think. But like everything else in bureaucracy, that arrangement would be
complex and challenging like a maze. Each bureaucrat is evaluated every year
and is given a Grade- Good, Very Good or Outstanding; ‘Good’ being a euphemism
for ‘Good for nothing’, ‘VG’ for ‘Very Good occasionally’, and ‘Outstanding’
for those rare ones who stand out of the herd owing to their halo visible only
to the cognoscenti. So, a ‘good’ bureaucrat may be reborn a politician but as a
block level functionary responsible for hiring services of a tent-house for
free; a VG bureaucrat could be an MLA but never a Minister; and only the
‘outstanding’ ones may hope to be Ministers!
However, a
few privileged ones may choose their next life, notwithstanding their conduct,
credentials, and performance track-record; and the reference is not to
post-superannuation plum jobs.
A retired
bureaucrat who was also a most devout person saw a dream prior to his
demise. God appeared in his dream and said, ‘You have been my loyal
devotee all your life to reward which I will grant your last wish before your
death.’
The wizened
civil servant thought well but fast, and drawing upon his vast experience in
preparing proposals and notes for sanction and approval, made a quick mental
draft, and several rapid corrections to the draft. He would never approve a
draft, including one prepared by himself, without marking in red at several
places, and making necessary corrections.
God knew the modus operandi of his devout follower and waited patiently. RB
(Retired Bureaucrat) finally made his wish: ‘Bless me, O Lord, so that I may
once again, in my next birth, stride through the corridors of power, preferably
in North Block, or at South Block (my 2nd preference), or at least in Udyog
Bhavan or Nirman Bhavan or Krishi Bhavan (in that order, please), be in
proximity to the high and the mighty, and enjoy the heady, invigorating aroma
of stuffy rooms and musty files.’
‘Tathastu,’
said God, and vanished. RB had forgotten to wish to be born human, and for
this inadvertent but critical omission, was born as a monkey and placed at
North Block where he would meet several of his erstwhile colleagues who had
made similar wishes and had been blessed by the Lord.
***
Postscript
How many monkeys in Delhi?
[i] High
Court tells authorities to shift Delhi’s monkeys to Asola Bhatti Wildlife
Sanctuary - The Hindu
[ii] This story is from The Mysterious Stories and
Other Stories (2021) by the blogger.
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