Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy

It's been a month since the ‘Bee’ family choose my balcony to set up their home. You can well imagine my fright; a sting is not what I cherish. They lorded over my favorite place and turned me out of my cozy corner.

Gradually, they started invading the bed room too. The insect repellants failed to ward them off my territory. They made me feel like a tresspasser in my own home. This went on for a couple of days until I recalled how our gardener would create smoke of dry weeds and leaves to ward off the bees.

I, too, started doing the same. I have to make them understand that they better lay off my territory. (Assertiveness pays). I thought this tamed them.

But No, they turned out with vengeance when, one day, I didn’t put up the repellant. I guess it was then,that, one of them managed to enter my bedroom but somehow hurt itself and could not make it's way out. Cautiously I picked it up on a paper and contemplated going near the hive to put it near it's family. It was not until late afternoon that I, finally,managed to fathom some guts and tentatively went near the hive to leave it there.

A swarm of adventurous but angry bees, hell bent on revenge, flew up, ready to attack me when I went near the hive. Flaying my arms around blindly to ward of the insects,I managed to, somehow, delicately place the injured bee near the hive and ran indoor.

Watching the circus from my bedroom window, I saw the agitated bees all around my balcony, some trying to get in through the window mesh (They reminded me of our political goons, and their desperate act to extract their pound of flesh at any cost).

The activity lasted for a couple of hours until sense prevailed and they released that they have an injured kith to look after.(Reminded me of a road accident scene where the injured lay moaning in pain while the mob got busy scorching buses and damaging property).

I guess they realized that I have actually saved one of their brothers. From that day onward, they have stopped bothering me and I have stopped using bee repellant. That was last week.

Inshallah!!!

It's was a lesson for me. We tend to forget the very hand which had helped us one, but animals/ bugs never forget that helping hand.

1 comment:

Anindita Basu said...

I had a beehive in my balcony too. It was the balcony that I used to put the clothes out to dry.

I discovered quickly that they'd get attracted to light - so I always curtained my windows at night; else, they'd try to come inside the room and fail, and next day morning I'd see several dead bees lying near the door.

So, we existed peacefully (together with the squirrel that came to lick the honey that dripped down and eat the dead bees) with me still using it as my clothes-drying area...till the pest control people came and broke the hive.

It was a sad day for me.