The house fly!

The English call it “house fly”. May be, English flies are domesticated and stay only inside the house. Indian flies are enterprising highflyers and travel everywhere.

Flies are as old as the rivers and the mountains. Even back in Lord Rama’s time, they were notorious pests. Evidently, yugas have rolled away, but flies haven’t mended their ways. In a bid to dissuade Seeta from coming to the forest, Rama says, “Seeta, in the forest, there are flies (damshah) and they will constantly annoy you! (keetaah damshaashcha nityam baadhantey!)”  If Rama himself found flies annoying, what to talk about the rest of us?

We do not know whether a recent census was conducted for the number of flies in India. For certain, for each human being, there are at least 100 flies. No wonder, it is such an unequal contest. You are as though Abhimanyu stuck in the chakra-vyuha, surrounded by flies, that assail you from all sides. By the time you deal with the fly in front, another has landed on the back of your neck, rendering you totally helpless.

In school, especially in the monsoon months, flies are at their worst behavior.  During the lunchbreak, the moment you open the tiffin box, flies in hundreds make a landing from nowhere. You cannot eat those 10 minutes in peace. While one hand picks up the food, the other hand moves in a broad sweep, to keep the flies away! Unfortunately, human hands are not coordinated to do different tasks simultaneously. In the moment’s gap, between one sweep and the next, flies like today’s drones, seize the moment. They land on the food, pick up a morsel and fly away!  

You get angry and move the hand in more violent sweeps. In the process, the hand accidentally strikes the tiffin-box. The box takes the aerial route.  Curd-rice flies to all corners, scattered on the walls and some landing as an unintended “curd-rice abhisheka” on the unwary student seated in the opposite row. The result is total mayhem. The fly has achieved its purpose- to provoke and irritate you, to the hilt.

Flies have a great fascination for the human nose. It is their Heli-Pad. They invariably land on the tip of the nose. You shoo them away, but they are back at the same spot. You are filled with a masochistic feeling and strike your nose with all your might. By then, the mischievous fellow has made a quick getaway. This is called “a double whammy”. The nose is in pain, and the fly is still around! The expression “don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” was coined for this predicament.

At times, you take an opposite stance. Anger and striking back do not help. You decide to "live and let live".  Self help books talk about adopting the attitude of “saakshi bhaava”- an approach where you simply observe and allow things to happen, without reaction. The fly sits on the nose. You observe. He walks around. You observe. Even the fly is surprised. You continue to observe. The fly gets more curious. He starts exploring your nostrils. You observe. Soon, he is trying to tunnel his way inside. How can you stay passive anymore? Saakshi bhaava is cast to the winds. You are up and about, to get after the fly, with a greater vengeance.

They say, pets like dogs get attached to the person. It is likely flies also fall in this category No wonder, wherever you go, he is already there to welcome you. You feel it is a different fly. It is not. He has traveled with you in the office cab. The moment you start work in the office, he is also back in action, toying with you.

End of the day, we learn a lot of life lessons from the house fly. Many of us are “aarambha shuuras”- we start an activity, like daily exercise, in great earnest. Soon, laziness sets in, and we discontinue midway. Let’s take a leaf out of the fly’s book. Resilience, tenacity, persistence, and the motto to “try and try till you succeed”- the fly is imbued with this and a lot more.

Let’s vote for the house fly as India’s national insect!