“Amit, Rohit is coming to stay with us,” said Amit’s mother Vaishali.
Rohit was his cousin — at 11, he was tall, hefty and overbearing. Though the same age, Amit was short and skinny with ears like handles of a tea cup and a nose that was barely there. Rohit’s favourite hobby was teasing, taunting and bullying Amit.
“Rohit’s parents are going to Moscow and he will be with us for a year. And he shall be studying in your school and your class,” Vaishali said as she walked out of the room.
Amit collapsed onto the sofa with a groan.
A week later Rohit arrived. The minute they were together, he said, “So monkey brand, you seemed to have shrunk further since we last met.”
Mighty creature
At school, Rohit went around making friends with great ease. He did not trouble Amit in front of others. But, when they were alone, Rohit bullied him. Amit had only his best buddy, Juhi to turn to.
“Children, tell me which is your favourite animal and why?” asked the science teacher Rakhee.
“Tiger, because it is our national animal.”
“Lion, since it is the king of the jungle.”
“I love the mighty elephant, the biggest of them all.”
“The peacock is my favourite. No one can dance like it.”
“My vote goes to Cheetah for its speed and grace.”
“I love the cockroach,” Amit said.
There was a shocked silence, before the class erupted in questions.
“Amit, can you explain your choice or are you trying to be different?” asked Rakhee ma’am.
“Ma’am, cockroaches are probably the toughest creatures on the planet. A cockroach can stay unharmed inside an operating microwave oven, survive a month without food and can even live for a week without its head,” Amit paused and looked around. He had the complete attention of the class. “Cockroaches have been around since the Jurassic age. This means they even survived the dinosaurs.”
“I am impressed by your knowledge, Amit, but your choice sure is strange,” said Rakhee ma’am.
It was true. Amit really loved cockroaches. He kept them in a large plastic jar and fed them biscuit crumbs, bits of meat and strands of hair collected from his mum’s comb.
One evening, he was feeding his ‘pets’ when Rohit came striding in and pushed him roughly. The jar fell and the roaches flew out. Rohit screamed in fear and began to jump up and down. There were cockroaches of all sizes and shapes flying around his head. Rohit was convinced that the repulsive creatures were attacking him. They were heading for his eyes and mouth and trying to get inside his shirt and into his ears.
Filmed!
Rohit, who was not scared of rats, toads or even snakes, was terrified of roaches. He was now running around like his backside was on fire. Amit quickly caught the action on his cell phone. Finally Rohit managed to escape from the room.
Amit put biscuit crumbs in the jar and managed to lure his pets back into it. He then joined Rohit in the garden.
“What happened, dude? You were acting as if a tiger was chasing you?”
“I..I am terrified of cockroaches.”
“I am sure Divya will be fascinated to know this.”
Divya was their classmate and Rohit never missed a chance to impress her.
“You rascal, I’ll cream you if you tell her.”
“I took a video of your ‘ants in the pants’ act and sent it to Juhi. If you tease or bully me again, this video will go to Divya.”
From that day, Rohit was on his best behaviour. In fact, if anyone tried to bully Amit he would come to his cousin’s rescue.
Amit’s love for the cockroaches increased and he now kept them on his study table and talked to them while doing algebra or geometry.
