The fly in the White House!

When CNBC flashed across the TV screen the ominous words ‘Breaking News’ a couple of days back, I panicked. My mind started imagining furiously all the possible catastrophes that could have befallen humanity. Was it another Airline plunging into the stormy Atlantic? Was it North Korea dropping an atomic bomb on its southern counterpart? Was it Ophra Winfrey crying uncontrollably again over some highly emotional issue that added a few million dollars to her already swollen kitty? After a few minutes of tense waiting, the news came on screen that Obama swatted a fly that troubled him during an interview with the CNBC reporter. We saw Obama eyeing the fly intently while answering the interviewer and finally got the hapless fly with a lethal Ninja-like blow and the next moment, we could see the fly lying on the floor dead as a dodo. The camera panned back to the triumphant slayer and his interviewer laughing uncontrollably.

I could not dismiss this news item as frivolous. In fact, I really got worked up sighting this news clip with my mind pondering over all the ramifications of this incident. First of all, American flies are not obviously as evolved as their Indian counterparts. In India, flies know too well where they are not welcome. The young flies are taught on day one that they are not to visit places where they have no business to be like the ironsmith’s work place for example. Even among flies, there are quite a few adventurous ones which buzz around nonchalantly over prohibited and dangerous areas which are no less scary than the feats of adventure sportsmen performing such dare devil acts like bungee jumping. But in India, they are smart and agile enough to escape the swatting hands. I have seen people getting very desperate in this swatting game but the flies always prove one up on them.

What stunned me was the ridiculous ease with which Obama delivered the killer blow to the fly at the very first attempt. I could not help comparing the American fly with the Indian one which can dodge an army of people. When I saw the dead fly lying motionless on the floor, I was overcome with great pity and grief. Had it been an Indian fly, it would have frustrated the President so much that he would have ended the interview midway and launched a war on the fly! It was obvious that the American fly lacked imagination and resources unless it deliberately avoided all evasive action because it considered dying in the hands of an American President a singular honour which no other fly had ever attained in American History. This fly probably knew that there was no need to fly all the way to Iran to attain martyrdom and White House was a good enough place for it!

Many of you might argue that any gate crashing into the Presidential Suite in the White House would certainly invite harsh action from the security and in this case, the wily fly met its justifiable end in the hands of the President himself. But my question is this. Even if we concede that the fly might have erred on the protocol side, was it not enough to render it lifeless? What was the need for the journalist to laugh uncontrollably looking at the dead fly and pointing it out to the President? Does it not amount to conveying the utter insensitivity of the humans for the fellow inhabitants of the planet? This episode certainly runs counter to the avowed American commitment of fairness to all!

And one last question. Why did the media have to cover this incident in such gruesome details? Could they have not switched off the camera, stopped the interview until the fly could be appropriately dispensed with? They probably do not know that the country whose friendship is a top priority of Obama administration looks upon driving flies during business hours as an indication of very poor business. The hapless fly is dead and gone no matter whether it became a martyr or not but the effect of its slaying by the President is certainly going to haunt him unless, of course, the soul of the fly decides to rest in peace!

 

Dear Shanthi
When they call Obama the Terminator for swatting a fly, I can visualise the face of the original terminator and the present Governor of California,Arnold Schwarzenegger, going green with envy that someone could garner all the fame that he enjoyed all these years with just one stroke swatting a fly while he had to slog at it for years carrying on his massive shoulders cannon sized guns!

But despite all the praise that is pouring into the White House for this unparallelled act of bravery, I still doubt very much if he could repeat his act with a Chennai fly. It will be easier for him to catch Osama and hang him in the nearest tree!

I should say I can't agree with Nana more! That single mosquito could be really hell if it inadvertantly gets inside the net. Like a single elephant in a forest, a single mosquito inside a net could be more lethal!
Sri

 

Dear Chithra
Your lavish praise just took me by surprise! Coming from the Supremo, I take it with all humility. But then writing about the world's most coveted person executing a fly in public glare does not call for any special skills! You just write a prosaic summary of the incident and the readers would still find it enjoyable because the incident itself is packed with humour like a fat lady slipping on a banana peel! Life is full of such incidents that are waiting to make us laugh. I have seen sometimes that the narrators of such funny incidents laughing a lot more than the people listening to them and seeing the narrotor laugh, they also start laughing!

Deve Gowda sleeping may be funny but it hardly makes news. I have rarely seen him awake in boring public functions but that is his way of telling them to finish it fast. Chennai fly is certainly a lot more resourceful than the foreign flies. And when it gets a chance to feature with the American President in prime time TV, you can expect the best from it. It will certainly not be lying there lifeless even to please the President!
Sri

 

Dear PVS
If this had happened in India, things would be quite different. If Karunanidhi had done it, this will form the fulcrum of the next election campaign. There will be huge cut-outs of Karunanidhi swatting a fly with a single blow. They'll sing the praise of the CM saying how alert and agile he is even in this advanced age. They'll produce a picture of Jayalalitha with a fly sitting on her nose watching it helplessly. People will ask how this lady who cannot deal with a fly on her own nose will deal with State problems!
We can make everything an issue here!
Sri

 

Yes Shanthi
The possibilities are immense. The guys who make a big issue of this fly episode may be called the 'fly by night politicians'! To give further credance to Madam's patient indulgence towards the fly on the nose, they'll start wearing 'veshtis' with a border of flies!
Sri