Mosquito Menace in Madras

However one remembers Chennai (erstwhile Madras), by the magnificent Marina Beach, or the marvellous Mamallapuram, there would be no one who would not vouch for the menace by the Madras mosquitoes. My! My! What an invasion by the murderous mosquitoes into every household!! They are everywhere, in mansions and mud huts alike. No one is able to come to terms with the mosquito menace. There is no one to tell us how to control or eradicate them.

Earlier, the use of mosquito coils, mosquito repellent cream, electronic mats etc., to keep the mosquitoes away, provided some relief. But now, the Madras mosquitoes have grown immune to all these and seem to be enjoying life at the expense of us, miserable humans! At one time, my husband and I had a heated argument over the idea of fixing net for the windows, to prevent these treacherous insects from haunting our house.

After a long debate, we came to a consensus and got the job done. I was very happy that we had, at last, arrived at a solution for the mosquito menace. The work was completed in a day; we celebrated with a farewell party for the mosquitoes that night. The next morning dawned very bright, particularly because we were not going to see any more mosquitoes.

Everyday I shut all the doors and windows by 5 in the evening, lest mosquitoes should start inviting themselves into the house. That evening too, I closed the doors (no need to close the windows-they had protective nets now) with the confidence that the net-fixing was going to keep them at bay permanently. But lo and behold!! By 7 p.m., there were mosquitoes everywhere, enjoying the cozy interiors of our house, leaving us shocked to no end.

Where did they come from? We started wondering as to what could be done to banish the most repulsive creatures from our environment.
Then it happened!! The Racket Revolution!! Looking similar to a tennis racket (but lighter), it is an electric gadget that, when swung around, caught the mosquitoes that were happily lazing around and killed them!

My husband had found it in a shop (soon after its introduction in the market) where the salesman was very enthusiastic explaining the assassination aspect of the racket. Obviously impressed by it, my husband bought it. Once home, he started swinging it here and there and everywhere around the house. It was like a Jalianwala Bagh Massacre (with due respect to the actual victims of the J M), with mosquito carcasses strewn around the rooms.

And so it was, everyday, that my husband would fondly use the 'new gadget' to murder the merciless mosquitoes. My daughter said to me one evening, as my husband returned from office," M.M. will start now". When I looked at her quizzically, she quickly explained," massacre mania". So it turned out that massacre mania has, sort of helped reduce the mosquito menace of the Madras mosquitoes.