Ants ants everywhere

My friend Gullu and I are ant people. We love ants. We think, talk and adore ants. And trust me if u can, this world of ours is full of ants…not cows, not rats, not even dogs but ANTS. Ants black and red.

The black ones are super cute….they crawl and they breed and they carry burdens ten times their body weight…they tickle you too and make you feel googly woogly woosh…Gullu says she envies them. She wants to have their lives…They are the lucky ones. Harmless, wormless and plain lucky. They follow their lines blindly and have everything clearly charted out for them. They abide by the wise old Grandfather adage…Don’t look here and there. Looking and thinking SUCKS. Instead feel each other's bums and continue to walk. The destination would be right ahead of you. And so they sow …and so they reap. They have their winters well stuffed and provided for. They, Gullu, makes me believe, and not without reason, are indeed the LUCKY ones.

The red ants are however, the ones who steal the show. They are my personal favourites. Gullu says they are the ones who really make a difference…they bite at the wrong time, in terribly wrong places, leave our skin swollen and our fingers scratchy. They build castles and parliaments where they breed and protect their kind, construct remarkable labyrinths and tunnels and nuclear reactors. These red ants also have a language of their own. They come on TV shows and use catchy duplicate dialogues like “ Behenji hatao, SC/ST bachao” or “ Mulayam hatao OBC bachao”. At times they ask legitimate questions like “When am I gonna get to the throne, Mummy?” At times they study Economics. And just keep QUIET. In short, they make their presence felt.

Gullu says she wants to become an ANT…If possible in this birth itself. She says she doesn’t care. She says Baba Darwin is outdated. She has another 25 years at the most and she would do anything to get her ambition fulfilled. But somewhere she and I and some of you genetically cursed human beings have not yet mastered the trick and the ANTics.

And that leads us to arrive at the greatest ANT-I-CLIMAX of it all. We like the whale are an endangered species, while the ant continues to do just fine…SO as the wise old book says…“ Turn on the prudent ant thy heedful eyes. Observe its labours, sluggard, and be wise.”

Love and best wishes to Me, Gullu and You...We too can be observANT and can reap abundANT advANTages as a genetically altered triumphANT species… cANT we??