the old donkey joke

you've definitely heard this one - a beggar is sleeping under a statue of gandhiji. at 12 o' clock the statue comes alive and says, 'listen, i have done so much for you people. i fought the british, i went on fasts, i practically got independence - and i have to now stand on my feet all day! shivaji atleast has a horse - i am the father of the nation, i am older than him - even i want a horse, so please get me one.' the beggar gets shit scared, but decides that if the mahatma is asking for a horse, the mahatma must get a horse. since cannot afford one, he goes to the local MLA who doesnt believe that the statue could come to life, so he goes along with the beggar and sits under it. sure enough, at 12 o' clock, the statue starts moving. the mahatma takes one look at the MLA and tells the beggar, 'i asked you for a horse, and here you have brought a donkey?'

ha ha. a piece of chalk is probably funnier, but that's not the point of this post. well, what would different people's response be to this joke? that, my friends, is the point of this post.

FEMINIST
this joke shows the patriarchal hegemony in society. firstly, you will notice that there are only men in this joke. where are the women? secondly, why is gandhiji called the father of the nation? we will call him the parent of the nation. thirdly, a man can easily go and sleep in the park at 12 o' clock at night. but if a woman is in a park at the middle of the night, she must be a prostitute. right?

PETA ACTIVIST
we protest against the ill-treatment of statues of horses. the horses are often cast with one or both feet in the air, which causes severe distress to the animal while modelling for the statue. also, we would like this joke to be banned from all humour columns as it disregards animal rights. it mocks donkeys by likening them to MLAs.

CULTURAL HISTORIAN/ SOCIOLOGIST
this joke marks the links and shifts between the newly-independent india and the india of the 21st century. the gandhi-MLA syllology is used to depict the neta-junta divide in postmodern india. it shows the declining respect for politicians in indian culture, with gandhi mocking the present day MLA-archetype being very strong symbology. this joke also highlights the advent of the social and political new world order, caricaturing the india-bharat divide.

MLA (government)
yeh oppozeeshun wale neta hai jo polayteeshun ka naam badnam kar rahe hai. yeh chutkula ek oppozeeshun propgaynda hi hai. is baat ko hum sansad mein uthayenge, ispar vichar karenge, aur oppozeeshun par CBI enquiry baithaiyenge. jai mahatmaji - jai nehruji - jai indiraji- jai rajivji - jai sonaji - jai rahulji- jai hind!!!

MLA(opposition)
yeh chutkula isi baat ko dikhata hai ki yeh sarkar janmat kho chuki hai. ab yah sarkar bhooko-nango ki nahi rahi! gira do is sarkar ko, band karo yeh nanga nach!! jai hind!!!

i came up with this a couple a year or two back, and have been adding since. please feel free to contribute!