Then, in the heart of our town we didn't hear any sounds overnight during our sleep. There were no disturbances except for an occasional terrorizing sound - the screeching of owls! We consider here the owl's sounds heard at midnight as portending the presence of ghosts, and a bad omen. But in the modern West and the ancient Greece it is considered as to be a wise bird! What we see here in our town itself is the Spotted Owlet (Athene brama, 'Aanthai' in Tamil). It is a small bird of prey having the size of a dove. It is totally nocturnal.
In my younger days, whenever I went to a temple, I noticed that there is a prickly tree in its courtyard. It bore oval-shaped fruits that resembled a Sapota fruit or an Elephant apple ('Vilaampalzham' in Tamil). On inquiring the elders about it, I was informed that it is the tree that bears the leaves which are used in the worship of the God, Shiva. And that it is not a sapota or elephant apple bearing tree. Then what is it?
In our school days, we used to track any rare aeroplane that we spot on our skies with its booming sound. We shouted at the sighting of it to alert all other fellow students to view it. Now, it is needless to say about the reactions of sighting of a 'planet' that moves like an UFO! As I alerted about its visit this month, both adults and children reported back about its visit with awe. What is this moving 'planet'?
Recently, I was stung twice by wasps unusually. I got the second stinging when I tested the wasps whether they differentiate between my body odours or between the colours of my dress. The result of the test, apart from having a stinging, is only that the wasps have become aggressive recently! This kind of wasp is the Paper Wasp (Ropalidia marginata, Vespa ferruginea, 'Sengulavi' in Tamil). These social wasps are much different from other wasps. I find them often build nests in the dark undisturbed storerooms, inside rain water pipes and also even inside the bedrooms!
At my younger age, we walked on at evenings to the outskirts of our town, where the railway station is situated. At such one bright evening we saw sparrows fly down to the sandy path that we tread on. They sat on the ground and began to flap their wings to get sand all over their body! This continued on for sometime when another flock of sparrows joined them in doing it.
Kids in 1970s enjoyed their summer holidays freed from the school classes and exams. I enjoyed a vacation by doing a small business :) I bought a few grams of a white substance from the mall, ground it into powder; soaked it overnight in a plate full of water. At morning I was delighted to see the plate full of a jelly-like delicacy. I added colourant and sugar to it and then, the delicacy was ready for sales to the boys and girls! What is that substance that I used?
Yes, snake's venom can save a person from diseases such as Diabetes mellitus! After venom is secreted in venom glands and it remained unused, where does it go then? Or what happens to it?
Some years back we went on a trekking through the coffee plantations in Western Ghats (Lower Palani Hills range). After returning back to our residence, we noticed that each one of us having a black sac-like thing on our legs! Blood was oozing out from that spot. We had been bitten by Leeches (Haemadipsa sylvestris, Indian Leech, Terrestrial Leech, 'Attai' in Tamil).
At my younger age there was gossip in our group about ghosts' voices that were heard at nights demanding delicacies from the passersby. Now, I wonder whether it could have been the mimicked sounds of a bird! Here, in South India, mynahs and black drongos mimic and then forget the sounds instantly. But it is said that there is a bird that records, remembers and repeats sounds that it heard 30 years back!
