This is a story of fear, greed and misery. All Mine. So we refer to me in the third person. The fear About a month back, S was writing up a chapter for a book – purely boring stuff, I assure you. Something about viruses. Specifically, the kind that are carried by mosquitoes and cause horrible diseases like Dengue, Yellow fever and encephalitis. She read so much about the whole thing that she turned really paranoid. (Does that ever happen to you ?) The greed So, she rushed to the market to stock up on all the All-out refills that she could safely buy without other people thinking she was plain crazy. ________________________________________________________ All out liquid vaporizers are a blessing to any Indian household. Marketed by Karamchand Appliances, a small company, the name has become synonymous with liquid mosquito repellants. Before they were launched, we had either foul-smelling creams, smoke emitting agarbattis or foul-smelling sprays to fend off mosquitoes. To add insult to injury, they’re all pretty ineffective. Enter the Allout vaporizer backed by Japanese Technology. It has a small refill that can be fitted into a “pluggy”. The pluggy remains while the refill can be changed in a month or so. In a country and climate beset by mosquitoes, pluggies became an instant hit. __________________________________________________________ As S ordered the refills, the shopkeeper handed her eight Good Knight refills. “ I’d prefer All-Out”, she said. “Out of stock” called out the shop boy from the interior. “Take these” the shopkeeper persuaded S “ They’re just as good. What’s more, it’s a 45-night refill for the same price as a 30 night All-out one.” She’s persuaded. Biiiig mistake. The misery There’s a buzzzzzzz in her ear. Hey, it’s the mosquitoe’s song – I wanna know, Please show me, The idiot who brought, A Good Knight refill Take my antenna Come into my world Where there are loads of Mosquitoes like me. (Sing it to the tune of “Strangers like me” – Phil Collins.) As she sits up and turns on the lights, there they are - singing happily by the dozens with the Good Knight burning merrily in the background. Do they care that I’ve burnt up Rs. 60 to get these ? No! I should’ve stuck to All Out.