Have you heard of panchangams? How to describe them? They are a sort of Tamil calendar with time zones defined in the traditional way, giving important dates, events, good times, and so on. I have seen a ‘palli josiyam’ page on that. It tells you the effect of a lizard falling on you in different parts of your body. Luckily, the lizard I lament about decided to end its life in my curd rice. So, no astrological significance.

Come to mosquitoes? What great survivors. They are very fond of fresh blood, so always drawn to children, especially if they come from abroad. The mosquito population has a feast. Within the first day, the kids will wake up with tiny red rashes and swellings all over the body. Imagine the relatively huge human beings attacking with all their might the tiniest creatures with creams, then smoke coils, then smells, ultrasonic devices. Out of curiosity, I just searched for available mosquito repellents and could not even recognize many of the devices, apart from the herbal ones. Everything goes herbal nowadays. The old mosquito net was not bad. Hang it from the posters on the bed and get inside after chasing the mosquitoes inside the net. But be assured, in this Chennai heat, you would, without fail, profusely sweat as whatever breeze, natural or from the fan, would never reach you. I have never tried this net in air-conditioned comfort.

Then came the bat. Looking like a tennis racket and electrically charged. The happy members of the family wield these bats with all their power—even Nadal may be surprised at this—and obliterate these mosquitoes. The average lifespan of a female mosquito is around 45 to 60 days and male around 10 days. And with one swish of the bat, their lifespan is substantially reduced by us human beings. Yet their population never seems to decline.

It is a pitiable sight to see your grandchildren, who have just arrived from abroad, spending most of their time scratching various parts of their bodies instead of spending useful time with their grandparents.

Such is the power of mosquitoes.

Continued in 228. Tiniest Terrors - Part 3