What do you do when your problem is big and small at the same time? It’s so big to you that you cannot ignore it. It’s so small to others that they refuse to acknowledge it.
Residents of an apartment complex are faced with such a peculiar problem. They are unable to fend off attacks by big black ants, found on trees around Raj Apartments on Balakrishna Road in Mylapore. This one-sided battle between man and ant has been raging for 25 years. These ants are ubiquitous: they show up in the unlikeliest of places, say residents. Outsiders refuse to believe these tiny insects can be such a big problem.
Among notable cases of ant attacks is a resident being bitten so badly as to require medical intervention in a hospital ward. When they are not vicious, these ants embarrass us no end before our guests, say residents. “Recently, we had a function at our house and we had called some priests to perform the puja . When he was performing the homam, he was bitten by the ants and the spot got swollen. After this incident, he refuses to come to our house,” says Shankar Narayanan, a resident.
Once bitten, twice careful, Mr. Narayanan now warns visitors of possible ant attacks. “I now tell the plumbers and carpenters to be careful. The bite is very painful and it takes a couple of days for the swelling to subside,” he says.
For those who are still sceptical, there have actually been cases of people dying of ant bites. In June 1968, The Hindu carried a PTI report from Colombo that, with medical proof, attributed the death of a 58-year-old man from a suburban village due to a severe case of ant bite. According to the inquest, the bite from swarms of ants had led to “haemorrhage and a breakdown of the nervous system.”
(Read the story by L. Kanthimathi that presents this ant problem at Balakrishna Road in its entirety, in the Mylapore edition of Downtown, The Hindu ’s neighbourhood supplement)
It’s monkey business
People living in Kasturibai Nagar and Indira Nagar know everything about ‘monkey business’, beyond the dictionary meaning of the phrase. Living in close proximity to the Guindy National Park and IIT-Madras, they have had to learn to share their possessions with simians. “Monkeys enter our houses, steal our food, open our water taps and let them run dry. And occasionally, they bite us, for good measure,” say residents, matter-of-factly.
These residents may appear to have resigned themselves to their fate, but they do offer some resistance.
Viswanathan Krishnaswamy, a resident, has protected his windows and balconies with grills. “After much trial and error, we have been monkey-free for about six months,” he said.
The residents of 28th Cross in Indira Nagar thought they had rid themselves of their monkey problem when they installed milk boxes outside their houses for the milkman.
“One day, we woke up a bit early, opened the door and what do we see – a monkey expertly sticking its hand into the small slit in the box and extracting the packet, making a small hole in it and enjoying a refreshing drink,” says Lalitha, a resident, her eyes smiling at the memory.
Pigeon perch
If you visited Doshi Apartments at Perungudi, you would be struck by the sight of meshes on the outdoor units of air-conditioners. There are 200 flats, and 25 percent of them have resorted to this desperate measure to keep pigeons from making the outdoor units filthy with their droppings.
The meshes apparently don’t offer hundred percent protection though. Exposure to the elements makes them weak. Some residents are taking a ‘hands on’ approach to solving the problem.
“I do not believe in meshes. So, I gain access to the outdoor unit and push the twigs out (those placed by the pigeons). I did this a few times, and the pigeons got the hint. They realised they were not welcome and stopped visiting us,” says K. Vinodan, resident of Perungudi.
Charming snakes
Paambu Nagar lies curled up on the banks of the Cooum, close to the MTC headquarters. According to official records, this locality – actually a slum – is Pallavan Nagar. But it may never wriggle out of being called Paambu Nagar.
The locality is said to be teeming with snakes. And its residents seem to have made peace with the reptiles.
“Earlier, whenever we sighted a snake, we would be on edge. We lived in dread of these reptiles. People would think twice before settling down in this locality. To scare away the snakes, we would raise the TV volume, run the grinding machine and step up the speed of the ceiling fan. Nothing worked. The snakes continued to visit our homes. And slowly, we got over our fear of these creatures,” says Abraham, a resident.
But this happy co-existence between man and reptile may come to a close soon.
The Chennai Corporation is planning to demolish the slum next month to develop a park in the area.
(With additional reporting by Vivek Narayanan, Kavita Kishore, Liffy Thomas, and Aloysius Xavier Lopez)
