Taking a tough stance, home minister P Chidambaram has warned Pakistan against meddling in India's affairs and said any more terror attack from that country will be retaliated "very strongly". He said he has been warning Pakistan not to play with India and that the Mumbai attacks should be the "last game".
After I have finished laughing on reading this at the naivette of our Home Minister who is part of a Government that has been remarkable for its spinelessness while dealing with Pakistan, I was reminded of an old story.
A Namboodhiri was very hungry and knocked the doors of another Namboothiri and asked him for a meal. In olden days, a hungry Namboodiri was never turned away. But the house owner was a miser and refused to give food.
Our namboodiri raised his voice and said, "In that case, I have to adopt the last resort. Better you dont force me to do it".
The neighbours of the miser advised him to give food lest our namboodiri does something drastic that might bring disrepute or a curse on the household. They pointed out that the miser had 3 girls of the marriageable age and he didnt want to risk some curse on their future. Reluctantly, the miser concurred.
After eating the sumptious meal, the neighbours politely asked the Namboodiri what the last resort in fact was.
He calmly replied, "Oh that!. I would have tightened by Dhoti, drank some water and walked off to the next village in search of another house. What else could I have done?"
