Buzz off !

It never really was David vs Goliath. We Cochinites have been waging a battle with the mosquitoes (fondly called 'mossies') for decades who have always ended up victorious. Being Indians our bodies have found ways to deal with it. The mosquito bites dont really leave very visible marks on our skin though foreigners have a torrid time here. We often think they have been attacked by a swarm of bees when in reality they have just woken up after a night spent tossing and turning while trying to chase away those darned mosquitoes. Plus our skin isnt really sensitive to their bites (the mossies not the foreigners).

I really have lost count of the number of times that Ive spotted mosquitoes too intent of feasting on my legs to notice my hand inching closer and closer to them until I send them back to their maker. Interestingly at least someone (or rather something) finds my legs attractive but I suspect that one would feel that I digress. In fact a friend of mine still fondly recollects how I was describing my losing battle to those mossies over chat while I was slouched in my chair in front of the computer with my feet on the table while typing with my right hand and swatting mosquitoes with a rolled up paper in my left hand.

The only thing worse than finding mosquitoes feeding off you is hearing their rather annoying buzz as they decide to fly around your ear when you are all tucked in and ready to sleep. This means to have to flail your arms (careful if youre married cause you might end up sleeping on the couch if you whack your better half) in the hope of chasing away those darned insects and quickly cover yourself up with your bedsheet while praying that you managed to keep everyone out (the mosquitoes not your better half, unless you prefer the couch that is).


To be fair the Corporation does spray water bodies and other potential breeding grounds before the breeding season of the mosquitoes. This season they seem to have done a good job as I barely seem to have spotted any mosquitoes and I havent killed one yet ! So there I was content, thinking I could enjoy the World Cup bereft of the company of my not so friendly insect friends when I heard the same annoying buzz come from my TV, courtesy those blasted vuvuzelas. So now I have to listen to that endless drone throughtout all the matches. In fact my ears still ring hours after Ive turned off the TV. Last I heard George Bush II was cursing because he has now found the prefect way to make illegally detained prisoners give up secrets without having to subject them to stripping, barking dogs, intimidation and water boarding. He was heard muttering "If only South Africa had held the last WC, the world would have been a better place...". Now that I think about it David didnt need his sling after all.