Saturday 13 September 2008

Rat - A - Tat

Last morning, Better-Half asked me why I left the drain cap in the bathroom open.

I was like “Eeewwww, I didn’t open it”.

We then asked the maid & she said she never went anywhere near it for the past 2 days.
Thanks lady, for letting us know the germs are having a field day out there.
Anyways, we knew the kids didn’t do it.

Then how did it……..?????
Huh…all of us simultaneously looked at each other in horror….Rats!!!!!!!!!!!

It was not unknown for rats to turn up, though very rare. The last time one entered was 8-9 yrs ago but that time the parents were around & they had dealt with it.

A moment later we heard a noise from behind the bathroom door. Husband opened the door cautiously but the coast was clear. But…the drain was open again. The suspicion was confirmed. A rat stole in by pushing the drain cap upwards, landing onto the bathroom floor.

Well there was no time for high hysterics as we were already late for work so the drama was adjourned for the time being. Strictest instructions were given not to use that bathroom until further notice.

Later in the evening we found the drain cap out of place again. That did it. We cant live in fear for the rest for our lives, can we?

“I’ll call pest control” decides Husband.

“Ok” agrees the dutiful wife supportively. No way was I going to get involved with anything to do with rats. Leave the experts to deal with it.

“Pest-control???? What for???? I’m here….all my neighbours used to call me when they found a rat in their house” said maid indignantly as if we cast aspersions on her honour.

I looked at her with new found respect.

Now the Maid was in charge, the master of the house & I meekly followed her instructions.
The sticks supporting the plants were pulled out to beat the rat with.
Water was boiled to flush the rat out.
An old, rusted rat trap which was co-owned by everybody in the building was brought in.

The maid wanted to fix Tapioca as bait coz rats are supposed to love it.

I was like “Well no tapioca at home, lets fix a banana”

Nikita piped in “I have an idea….lets keep cheese”.

All 3 of us turned & looked blankly at her.

Nikita explains exasperatedly “Don’t you know…….they love cheese”.

“Quiet, go to the living room & stay there” instructed her father, irritated.

Maid still looked blank, went on to fix the banana inside the trap.

Meanwhile a conversation was happening animatedly 2 meters away…

“Good Idea, Chechi*, I’m sure it will come & eat the cheese” said Naina supporting her sister's idea.

“Then Papa can catch it & give it to us” responds Nikita.

“Yes, then he’ll be our pet & we’ll call him Jerry” continues Naina.

Husband & I exchanged exasperated looks & went back to helping the maid to prepare for war.

Finally armed with enough ammunition she set out…..I assured her my complete support & firmly shut the bathroom door on her from outside.

All was quiet for 5 minutes, then after much thrashing, again all was quiet. I cautiously opened the door & found the maid looking into the laundry basket & the aiming the stick carefully to fatally injure the rat.

“Wait” I cried. “Don’t kill the rat. Catch it alive & we’ll throw it out.”

Maid looked up confused.
In that split second the rat jumped out & escaped with its dear life back thru the drain-pipe which the maid had forgotten to block.
Maid was so upset…..she almost had it in the bag…in this case the laundry basket.
And the Husband looked murderously at me, his hands itching to do what he wanted to do to the rat.

“Ummmm…..I didn’t want my favourite laundry basket ruined” offered Nancy lamely.

Later as I was settling into sleep, I remembered something & grinned to myself.
Better-Half arched his eyebrows inquiringly.

In my daughter’s voice I repeated “I have an idea….lets keep cheese”.

We burst out laughing.

*Chechi – Elder sister in Malayalam

24 comments:

  1. Nancy, you have the art of teleporting your readers to the place of incident that you are narrating. Hilarious one. But why not seal the cover of the drain or keep some weight over it (of course heavier than the visitor) unless you are looking for a pet, free of cost :-))

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  2. Ah.. once upon a time.. we had found a rats nest at home.. small pink and soft rats.. we were so in love with it that we never told our mom.. i used to play with it and all.. and once i played with it.. it fell inside the "drum" or that huge tank kinda thing we used to horde water in.. long time before sintex tanks were in fashion...

    I had to tell mom.. we had to throw a day's water 'It was summer and we got water once in 2 days' erm not a good time I know..

    Ah I got a good thrashing from home.. besides it was a summer after the dreaded plague...

    We had to clean the whole house.. placed rat traps n poison all over the house..

    And when it got killed it used to stink real bad :| :|

    My mom blamed me for everything.. :( :(

    it was lucky that she was a teacher n was home for summer vacation

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  3. oh i forgot to tell u.. it was very kewtly hilarious

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  4. Chuha!!! I am realy scared..Lol Jerry!!Akhir pakda ki nahi..raat ko phir aaya toh?? Now i am more worried about the rat than you...

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  5. LOL... What a great read! Your kids must be so cute. And your maid is quite a character, too.

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  6. I loved this post- you had me on the edge of my seat. I'm actually happy the rat was able to escape down the drain pipe. I think he will be sufficiently petrified and will think twice before venturing up there again!

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  7. Balvinder Singh: heeeheee I was smiling to myself all the while I was writing this down.
    Oh yes, there is a heavy duty bucket full of water atleast 50 times the rat's weight, on the drain opening now:-P.

    winnie the poohi: I cd just imagine ur mother's shock & fury...gosh cant imagine how u played with it:-o

    Myspace: Nope, didnt catch it. havent seen it since:-)

    Agnes: Oh the kids drive me nuts most of the time. And the rest of the time they r sleeping:-P.
    Yes, the maid is beginning to show some character;-P

    Anjuli: "I'm actually happy the rat was able to escape down the drain pipe."
    So am I;-P!!!!!!

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  8. There are rats in the UAE!!! I didn't know!!! :(((

    And rats love cheese...isn't that basic knowledge???? Don't you even know that Mommeee...hee hee

    Cute post...

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  9. Rat! Last year I faced a problem with cockroaches! They entered the house from the main door as esteemed guests of honour! Every night we found one in the house till we got tired and called pest control! I am happy the rat got saved and you also got rid of the problem - a win win situation without any damage done :)

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  10. lmao @jerry!
    and the entire post is written like one huge mission.. hilarious
    let us know if u succeed finally

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  11. I recently discovered that there is a rat in my house!!! eeeee!! and i have nooo idea how to get rid of it! For now i just make sure my room door is shut at all times...

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  12. nancy, u have a flair for writing,it was interesting to read about ur mission possible. Rats are a nuisance, once i was in Dewas MP, and had an independent house with lots of greenery and all, and GF always have this rat problem, I had so many of my clothes destroyed and my sofa........I had to discard that when we left dewas.
    Actually killing them leave me feeling bad for a few days and leaving them in house makes me so irritated, no way out:(

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  13. Nice story!! we had our share of the problem long time back. Amma bought a cat that was an "expert-rat-killer". It did its work all right, but getting rid of it after the work was done was another head ache...:D

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  14. wannabe: Oh yes, there are...tho not so rampant...like some other countries.
    And yeah, mommy is learning new stuff everyday:-P

    deeplydip: roaches are a problem everywhere but for the past 5 yrs we are rid of them coz we have an inhouse gecko taking care of the problem.
    Oh yes, thankfully the rat escaped...I cdnt bear the thot of it being killed in the end:-P

    Ish: oh lmao here too but only after the mission was over.
    Nope havent seen or heard anything of it after tht.

    sunshine: yeah even we are still keeping the door locked...just in case. U be alert....coz they can cause a lot of damage:-S

    Renu: Thanks for the compliment:-). Yes I knw they r a menace. Just tht u feel bad after cornering them:-( & see them struggle to save their lives.

    Abraham: Urghh....yeah u cant even ignore it. The stink can just do u in:-D. So that means ur cat only kills but doesnt eat it???

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  15. O my God! I am having to type with tears in my eyes. No, I am not feeling sorry for the rat. The blog was hilarious. The maid must really have counted on your support. Maybe u could get a drain cover (those solid metal things without holes) are keep something heavy on it. BTW, did it visit after that?

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  16. *blah* im totally a spoilt girl and cannot deal with rats n cockroaches n ants invading my house!! i need my maid to get rid of them!!!

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  17. What an Idea??!!! Read it like Abishek says in the ad!!! Your kids have great sense of humor and I think they passed it on to you.Thats what I felt while reading your post. Had a good laugh.

    Let me try my share of scaring you!! Check out if the drain in the bathroom is connected with that of Kitchen drain.orelse, ""Jerry" might POP-IN from there and ask "How are you Nancy??.

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  18. Nancy, yes, you totally bring the maid's character out in your writing. That, my friend, is what I call talent ;-)

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  19. all about a rat:-)really hilarious-looking back, eh?
    i also live in mortal terror of rats

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  20. bins: Oh yes the maid had my full support...from the outside of the bathroom door:-D.
    Nope, kept a heavy bucket on the drain cap...so I guess rat didnt get a chance.

    myspace: Yes, chked it out. Will do soon:-).

    sunshine: oh yes, then u better keep one soon before these creatures invade & take over ur house:-D

    maddy: U r giving me the heebie-jeepbies:-o, will get the maid to close all the suspect openings.

    agnes: "U r so kind" says Nancy & takes a deep bow in Agnes's general direction.

    kochuthresiamma p j: Yes, now when v look back it does seem hilarious.
    Actually I'm more scared of cockroaches but yes I'm not too fond of rats:-D

    piper..: Thanks:-))

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  21. Hi Nancy, it s only a few days i met u..i mean, here. you are really AMAZING my dear...

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