satire : As you sow shall you reap

 

 

As kids, whenever we went to the annual fair or the big exhibition, there used to be one pavilion with a banner that screamed ‘Karni-Bharni’ (As you sow, so shall you reap) Inside, terrifying posters showed, after death, you are awaited up there in hell, where horned demons stirring humans in giant boiling pot, some being roasted on open fires, others being sawed in half by muscular monsters with axes and bandsaw. The message was clear — live a virtuous life, don’t steal, don’t cheat, don’t sin, or else such horrifying punishments are waiting for you in hell.

 

It was basically the same logic our elders used to use when they said, “Don’t lie, or your ears will be filled with traumatic pus” or that infamous classic, “If you lie, a crow will keep pecking you” We all knew in heart of hearts none of this ever actually happens — no crows attacked liars nor liars’ ears discharged pus due to their being liars — but still, the idea worked. It planted just enough fear to make a person pause and think, what if there really is a boiling pot waiting somewhere, and someone’s already keeping score board.

Fast forward a few decades, and that same moral opera has just moved to prime-time television. A certain politician, full of righteous anger, declared after a terror attack: ‘These terrorists will face a punishment far beyond their imagination! Their souls will tremble!’ The crowd cheered, cameras flashed, headlines screamed. Time passed. New headlines replaced old ones. Public memory, as always, proved to be shorter than a TikTok clip. People forget faster than you can say ‘Breaking News’

 

One of my friends used to describe his ‘joke memory’ is limited to 1-JB (one joke bas!)  The moment he hears a new one, the old one gets deleted. Public memory, I’ve realized, functions exactly like that — except less funny.

 

But when too much time passes without a new tragedy, the old one starts resurfacing again. News channels rediscover their archive folders, YouTubers sniff clickbait, and the opposition digs up old speeches. Suddenly, that old ‘punishment beyond imagination’ clip is everywhere again. Our politician, now older and wiser (or just cornered), decides it’s time for some creative reinterpretation.

 

He calls a press conference. Cameras roll. He says, with the calm of a saint: “I stand by my statement. I said they’d face unimaginable punishment. But did I ever say ‘WE’ would give it? Who are we to punish anyone? That’s the Lord’s job. Whether you call Him God, Allah, Rama, or Hanuman. He’s the one in charge of dispensing justice. We are from the peaceful land of Buddha and Mahavir.

 

The boiling pot has just moved from the fairground to hell, where it belongs. The demons have retired. The moral of the story? In this great republic of short attention spans, everyone eventually learns the same trick — make the threat sound divine, make the responsibility sound divine, and you, remain perfectly human, politically correct, hence, politically safe.