India, May 10 -- For something as apocalyptic as the present times, the typical American slang is SHTF, that is, when the Shit Hits the Fan. A rather crude expression for a catastrophe. Nevertheless, as the whole world is in such a situation, let's examine what is happening. Two old time parables paraphrased here may help. First is the one I read in standard 4, some 5-and-a-half-decades back, in English Literature. It is titled the Timid Hares. The story goes that there lived in a jungle, a hare, that would always worry about the earth falling in. One day, as it was sleeping under a palm tree, a big coconut fell with a thud. The hare jumped in panic and started running, shouting that the earth is falling in. His fellow hare also followed ...