Creatures and The Festival of Light

To cut a long story short, the apartment was meant to be ours ...it came back on the market and we moved in. This is from 27th November, 2007.

I had hopes that this apartment was fairly creature-free and it is true that we have only found the odd mosquito or cockroach; however (like Nigeria) there are tiny, tiny sugar ants that find their way everywhere. I keep the kitchen as spotless as I can, yet still they can be found camouflaged perfectly against the golden brown of the marble work tops. We discovered a baby gecko too which had perished, rolled up in the window blind. Occasionally, tiny geckos make their way in either under a door or by taking advantage of an open window. This might not be a bad thing if they found ants tasty, but, tiny though they are, they can produce an amazingly loud noise. The first time we heard it was just after we had satellite tv installed and I thought the neighbours were complaining about the noise by knocking on the ceiling!

Finally, we had the episode of the bees…..

Outside the bedroom window I became aware that large bees were flying around. Tucked under the eaves I found a thriving nest, beautifully constructed. It fascinated me but was spotted from below by the security guards who promptly called in pest control. The bees were sprayed away with a thick, soapy blue liquid. Some died, others buzzed round confused and angry to find their home had gone. The spraying revealed a bluish-white honeycomb below the swarm.

I was really rather sad to see it go....

Diwali or Deepavali as it is known here, the Festival of Light, was a memorable occasion. There were fireworks and celebrations for several days but on the most important morning we awoke to the noisy bangs of firecrackers at dawn. A thin sliver of moon smiled down on the waking city. Traditionally, the day is started by washing in oil.

The celebrations started at 4am and went on to midnight the following night. Firecrackers crackled and banged every few minutes. It seemed that every single family, from young to old, set off fireworks and the city looked as though a child had been asked to draw a scene from bonfire night. Rockets launched, then went awry, passing horizontally onto neighbouring balconies. The air lit and spluttered with hundreds of massive fountains of fire. Families shared sparklers and lit fireworks on balconies. And all the while the noise of the firecrackers was deafening. We witnessed young children go against every firework code that is drilled into us in the UK. If it didn’t go off they would return to it and prod it with a stick. Saris skirted the flames dangerously. I cannot imagine that the day did not pass without terrible injuries.