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Journalism of Courage
Robert Burns had once observed that 8220;the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry8221;. Chandigarh Press Club8217;s plan to scare the mice away is an example. A cat has been kept for this purpose but it looks as if the rodents have already belled their putative nemesis. The abundance of rats seems to have given the cat a morbid phobia, making it leap at entirely benevolent objects even as the mice get away. Last Wednesday, it attacked a gentle journalist.
But this mice menace seems to go beyond the journalistic fraternity. Their sheer ubiquitousness is making people smell a rat everywhere. Even the chief minister8217;s office situated in the fortress-like secretariat isn8217;t safe. Parkash Singh Badal8217;s personal staff have realised that it takes more than Black Cats to ensure security. So they have installed a mousetrap of magnificent proportions. Trapped rats jostling for space in this contraption may not be a happy sight, but the secretariat staff swear by its efficacy.
Realising the futility of felines, the city8217;s main hospital, the PGI, chose to let the cat out of its bag of tricks to manage the rat nuisance. But the other alternative hasn8217;t been too successful either. Quantities of vermicide kept at nooks and crannies have proved ineffective. The authorities have now placed a tender for a more potent repellent. If that doesn8217;t work, they may well have to import a Pied Piper.
However, not everyone is unhappy with the mice. Chandigarh8217;s kids don8217;t seem to share the general consternation over rats. Fed on a diet of Harry Potter, they can be seen chasing the creatures with a wand-like stick, screaming Homorphus charms and hoping that one of these creatures would turn into Peter Pettigrew. Others more docile are happy to keep them as pets and call 8216;Stuart Little8217;.
