The Moth Effect

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wings

can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.

-Chaos Theory (The Butterfly Effect)

It has been observed that something as soft as the sound of a moth's fluttering

can make one attain, the otherwise unachievable, a speed approaching that of light.

                                                   -Me

Yes, I am petrified of moths, or for that matter anything that has wings (barring mosquitoes and house flies; God sure was a little lenient there). And they in turn adore me. I am a moth magnet; if you ever see a whisper of moths away from any source of light, chances are that I am around. As absurd as it sounds, I have even been paid a visit once by what I believe to be an Atlas moth. Not that I stayed back to exchange pleasantries or study its taxonomy, on the contrary, I didn't even catch a glimpse of it, so fast did I bolt out of my bedroom. But the magnified swishing sound of its batting wings conjured up images of everything that fit the bill and an Atlas was all that the search engine of my mind returned. Although indigenous to Asia (mainly south-east), it is found in the heart of the tropical forests. How one ended up touring the concrete jungle and paying me a visit beats me though. My guess is that the moths have a society gathering of their own and I must have been the topic in one of their symposiums (She is one of a kind. You must go visit her. The acrobatics that she performs at a lightening speed when she comes face to face with even the tiniest of our species is a spectacle worth dying for. And the bigger you are the better. LOL! ). Well they definitely end up having the last laugh. 

Talking of mass gathering of moths, there is one such every year at the onset of monsoon. Thankfully this one isn't restricted to my territory; you can find them swarming everyplace (Now that the words are in front of me it does sound totally absurd considering there is no refuge place that I can make a break for). So large are they in number that my neighbours, who own a house that is tiled in sparkling whites all over the exterior, appear to have redecorated the whole of it in blacks and browns. Not an inch of white is seen, au contraire it appears to have been generously coated twice! This occurs for a day or two, which means I have to place myself under house arrest. No one is allowed to venture close to any window let alone open one. All is well and good if I am already under a lock and key, safe inside the comfort of my house when this phenomenon occurs. But since the moths do not follow the sun calendar or mark the dates of their alien infestation in advance, I lose the vantage point of being prepared for the attack. A couple of years ago I had to spend the entire night trapped in my car because millions of moths had decided to give me company at my place and literally made themselves at home, some even raiding my fridge (How they let themselves in is a question the answer of which I wouldn't care to find out).

A kindred soul, while exchanging notes and sympathies, mentioned an embarrassing situation that had cropped up while the whole family was at the dinner table. A moth decided to join in on the festivities and seated itself on her shoulder to probably scrutinize the items being served on the table. All of a sudden there were plates flying and the food was everywhere including the walls and her father-in-law's being. My friend had hurled the plates of food blindly and rushed outside the room in a twinkling of an eyelid before others could even have the time to get themselves out of her way. When an hour later, on being vouched by every member of her family that the manner less, gate-crashing moth had indeed been driven away, she entered the room, her father-in-law quietly and lovingly pointed out that plates were meant to be eaten out of and not thrown across rooms; maybe she had mistaken it for a Frisbee!

"The moths wont eat you" or "It is more afraid of you than you are of it" are few of the numerous elucidating observations that I get from brave mortals. Out of these, of the first observation, I am quite in agreement with though it does nothing to allay my fears. On the second one however, I beg to differ. I am sure the moths thoroughly enjoy the joke when they hear the lionhearted trying to talk sense into me (believing it to be true). I, on the other hand, do not find it rib-tickling in the least. I definitely prefer snakes, scorpions and other crawling creeps to these flighty fellas. And those tickled pink by my faintheartedness, beware, I own a pet snake! ;)