Invasion of Ants

Khatoon Baig: Once bitten, many times shy!

After days of dodging anthills, we were today unceremoniously ousted from our usual stomping ground in the Garden. The entire stretch was crawling with ants – long trains of them, big and small, shiny red, zig-zagging through the grass… eventually forcing us to relocate to a ‘safer’ spot close to the public toilet.
“It’s so hot these days that the ants need to come overground for a breather,” explained Santosh Tyagi sympathetically.
“Just shows that it could rain any time,” proclaimed Nahid Khan.
But it was Khatoon Baig who had spotted the ants first. As usual, she took her position next to Nafisa Sayyad and asked if there were any “moongi” around, only to let out a loud shriek within minutes. Stamping on the grass, she quickly changed position and stood next to Sunita Jajodia. Soon both started screaming and jumping together, dusting their clothes furiously.

Sunita Jajodia: Casualty II

They rushed to a bench, took off their shoes and started swatting the ants on their feet and legs. The spectacle turned others antsy and everyone began scratching and slapping themselves at the oddest of places. Only Geeta Sardhana was not amused at this mass scale antslaughter: “What do you expect the ants to do when you get into their space every morning? They are also living beings.” However, she was the first to rush out when the call came to shift to another location in the Garden.
“Why should ants bite the ladies only?” grumbled Razia Khan. “Why don’t they bite the men?” Good question and as always, Srichand Arora had the answer: “Because the men come to the Garden after a bath. The women don't bathe.”
“No, because you wear shorts!” Razia countered.
“So come to the Garden tomorrow wearing shorts and no ant will bite you,” was Arora’s instant solution.
From then on all went well as there was no further casualty. Sunita rejoined the exercises, but Khatoon stayed put, refusing to tread on terra firma. Scared stiff, she sat on the bench for a long time with both legs raised, surveying the ground below. Clearly, once bitten, many times shy!
Jagmohan Papneja:
The presence of ants, in millions, is affecting us badly as they crawl up our body during the exercises. I have sent an e-mail to the Chairman and Secretary of Celebration Club with a request to treat the ground with the help of Pest Control of India. I hope they will do the needful.