I have a story to tell. This is about my tryst with the bedbugs. I am the Desi in the lines below. Desis would be people around me who come from my country.
Bed bugs are omnipresent in the Indian homes of the Desi far from his/her motherland.
Most often, us Desis have the power and potential to scare away the cockroaches, hunt for the mousey, pray that the evergreen paLLi does not touch us and shreik in horror at the sights of tiny harmless spiders who cosy their way into our desks and undersides of the beds. We can identify many "dangerous" insects with only one glance. And we are innovative with our methods to catch and trap the 6/8 legged pests. Mice, Roaches and Mosquitoes have suffered many instances when they have been at the receiving end of many traps and painful near death experiences as we run behind them stomping our chappals on their frail skins/wings/legs/etc, you get the point, thats enough.
But these bed bugs have always eluded the Desi. Many a time, the desis have hopped, skipped and pranced about in horror to evade these millimeter-sized blood suckers. The words "bed bugs" arouse fear and pain in many a Desi heart. The words "bed bugs" are also a matter of social status. Desis fear when people say, "His house has bugs man, We can't go there and sit down, Bugs will climb on us". Some smart alecs look forward to their invitation being declined by these very people.
People choose better apartments hoping that they would'nt have to deal with bugs and their other friends. Alcohol is stacked up in separate areas to avoid bugs from getting hear them. As if they will all be drawn to alcohol, as bears are to jam. But the aam Desi aadmi is always paranoid about the discovery of bugs in his house. He will often fumigate with the hope that bugs will be destroyed. He will get rid of his furniture if he sees 5 bugs in his bedroom. Mind you the furniture is usually in the living room. Far from the bugs. Yet the paranoia and the stress associated with these millimeter sized blood suckers is something to be studied. But Alas, the bugs are omnipresent and they will always be, for they are the Bed Bugs.
Bed bugs are omnipresent in the Indian homes of the Desi far from his/her motherland.
Most often, us Desis have the power and potential to scare away the cockroaches, hunt for the mousey, pray that the evergreen paLLi does not touch us and shreik in horror at the sights of tiny harmless spiders who cosy their way into our desks and undersides of the beds. We can identify many "dangerous" insects with only one glance. And we are innovative with our methods to catch and trap the 6/8 legged pests. Mice, Roaches and Mosquitoes have suffered many instances when they have been at the receiving end of many traps and painful near death experiences as we run behind them stomping our chappals on their frail skins/wings/legs/etc, you get the point, thats enough.
But these bed bugs have always eluded the Desi. Many a time, the desis have hopped, skipped and pranced about in horror to evade these millimeter-sized blood suckers. The words "bed bugs" arouse fear and pain in many a Desi heart. The words "bed bugs" are also a matter of social status. Desis fear when people say, "His house has bugs man, We can't go there and sit down, Bugs will climb on us". Some smart alecs look forward to their invitation being declined by these very people.
People choose better apartments hoping that they would'nt have to deal with bugs and their other friends. Alcohol is stacked up in separate areas to avoid bugs from getting hear them. As if they will all be drawn to alcohol, as bears are to jam. But the aam Desi aadmi is always paranoid about the discovery of bugs in his house. He will often fumigate with the hope that bugs will be destroyed. He will get rid of his furniture if he sees 5 bugs in his bedroom. Mind you the furniture is usually in the living room. Far from the bugs. Yet the paranoia and the stress associated with these millimeter sized blood suckers is something to be studied. But Alas, the bugs are omnipresent and they will always be, for they are the Bed Bugs.
