Mosquitoes, like lizards, are very common-place in India. Unlike lizards which are not as harmful and irritating, the mosquitoes are known to cause several diseases. To combat the growing menace of mosquitoes, there is a cheap tennis racket like device, made in China but found all over India, which is battery operated and is designed in such a way that one can use that device to kill mosquitoes while they are flying or are seated on the wall. If any mosquitoe is caught in the device, then it makes a whirring noise which indicates that an insect has been killed. When there is no electricity, people sit out side their homes and kill mosquitoes and other insects using that device. Well, what begins as an exercise to keep mosquitoes away gradually gives way to another instinct: That of killing.
I observed this trait in me when I was at a friend's place. The house was infested with mosquitoes and to combat that, seh gave me this tennis racket. First, I used this to swat the mosquitoes that were buzzing around me. Slowly, when there were no mosquitoes around me, I started searching mosquitoes to kill. I started walking around the house to find my kill. The ability to take a life started thrilling me. Finally, I was so exhausted that I threw away that devise. The devise went into the hands of my friend who accompanied me. He first started killing the mosquitoes that were around him. I was looking intently at his next step. Then, like me, he started looking out for mosquitoes to kill. Now, this was something that everyone did. I didn't know whether it was the killing or the device which made the task addictive.
Sometimes, even without the device, I have seen children killing mosquitoes and collecting them and then bragging, "I killed twenty-three mosquitoes." I wonder whether it is the same with killing humans. When a person first starts taking a life, it torments her/him but later when lives are taken, it sort of becomes addictive, I reckon. I have never spoken to a hitman before but would like to sometime. Talking of hitmen, I remember the film, Leon: The Professional, which was a very sensitive film about a hitman and a young girl. Natalie Portman makes her debut in this film.
So, killing could be addictive, right - mosquitoes or humans!
Image: Internet
I observed this trait in me when I was at a friend's place. The house was infested with mosquitoes and to combat that, seh gave me this tennis racket. First, I used this to swat the mosquitoes that were buzzing around me. Slowly, when there were no mosquitoes around me, I started searching mosquitoes to kill. I started walking around the house to find my kill. The ability to take a life started thrilling me. Finally, I was so exhausted that I threw away that devise. The devise went into the hands of my friend who accompanied me. He first started killing the mosquitoes that were around him. I was looking intently at his next step. Then, like me, he started looking out for mosquitoes to kill. Now, this was something that everyone did. I didn't know whether it was the killing or the device which made the task addictive.
Sometimes, even without the device, I have seen children killing mosquitoes and collecting them and then bragging, "I killed twenty-three mosquitoes." I wonder whether it is the same with killing humans. When a person first starts taking a life, it torments her/him but later when lives are taken, it sort of becomes addictive, I reckon. I have never spoken to a hitman before but would like to sometime. Talking of hitmen, I remember the film, Leon: The Professional, which was a very sensitive film about a hitman and a young girl. Natalie Portman makes her debut in this film.
So, killing could be addictive, right - mosquitoes or humans!
Image: Internet