Even insects have feelings

I remember a story my mother recounted a few years back. She was on one of her regular chores - scrubbing clean anything which was already clean. Ofcourse the definition of 'clean' is something that she will never disclose to anyone. So on one of her lively scrub-apades, she came across a wasp hive. It's one of those nuisances we take for granted - they're positioned at obscure places and before you know it - they're bigger than ever. Scraping the wall off was a tussle, even more messy were the hives contents. The mish-mash of yellowish slimy eggs and brick red colored hive gave it the appearance of a squashed rotten egg. Right after my mom accomplishes this immensely satisfying task, she religiously gets back to her cooking. A while later she notices the lone mother wasp hovering around the clean wall where the hive once 'stood'. And what shocked her later was that the wasp was following her. No, not a vengeful pace. But at a slow, calm and dejected one. You could almost feel for the wasp, when in contrast you've been force fed news by supergeek scientists that beyond humans and animals - the rest of the living kingdom are run by instinct alone. 'Survival of the fittest','instinctual bee hive rituals', etc. The wasp would fly low and stop right in front of her. It was as if it wanted my mother to end its life too, in the same manner as its offsprings. After being followed around to the living room, the dining room and beyond, my mom gave in. She couldn't stand it. It saddened her immensely, but she had to. The wasp had given up on it's life.

As I read this article in the paper, I resign myself to the fate that awaits me. I'm no labourer, but a newcomer(as regards work) to this cruel part of the middle east where many people have made it their home. I'm an underpaid employee, just as many employees across the UAE are. Prices of labour cards, licences, you name it - they've all been jacked up to such an extent that people have forced themselves to be fickle minded when recruiting newcomers. I can understand their dilemma, they're actually being penalised for helping out individuals who start out on a career. As a result, they lose out on an otherwise cost effective yet loyal employee who'd benefit the company for many years to come.

So now labourers have found out ways to make someone pay for their suicides. It's a gamble that will pay off a jackpot (in relative terms) to their family. And in most cases, even the family doesn't care about the condition of the remitter as long as the remittance is good.

Why is nothing being done about this state assisted suicide?

A country that refuses to endorse the dignity of labour will never grow. All the Palms and the worlds and whatnot cannot save you. America has finally reared it's ugly head for the UAE, the same way we were shocked to know when 'The Passion of the Christ' failed to secure an Oscar nomination, the same way Fahrenheit 9/11 wasn't generally accepted because the producer was a 'fat, ugly man' (as commented by many in the IMDB message boards).

P.S Excuse me for the sorry/poor comparison. It befits the wounded.