Chennaites love for mosquitoes

We as Chennaites have a special bond, an affection with certain things found here around us and these form our identity, whether we like it or not. Idly, dosa, the morning coffee, dothi, beach, Koovam, Egmore, Santhome church, Parthasarathu temple, Triplicane colony life... the list goes on. And this one which needs a special mention is mosquito.

Mosquito -  an additional member in every family and the must mentioned topic in every conversation. That special bond we have with mosquitoes make us think about it every day in the evening. Our every action is connected with this. "It is 6.00 PM close all the windows" is a everyday phrase.We have become so used to these mosquitoes that when someone from abroad come here and tell us "Chennai la ore mosquitoes", we get extremely angry and even say that once they had gone abroad they forgot their land and showing off.

Though not all the varieties of mosquitoes spread diseases, some do and Chennaites, who may not know what multiple sclerosis or brain hemorrhage means but will definitely know about Malaria, Dengue and Chikungunya. And yes they make fun of these diseases and even use them in our jokes.

This blood sucking species have given us a way to pass time (a stupid topic during chats to continue the chat, a game - how many mosquitoes did one kill a day; clap-clap, take the bat and play shuttle, run and catch on air) and avenge our anger (hit someone and say there was a mosquito, scold the poor mosquitoes for someone else's mistake :p )

Chennaites have gone so used to the mosquitoes and have developed an 'acceptance mentality' towards it. But why should mosquitoes even exist  Every organism is said to exist because they help in completing the life cycle and maintain the balance in the ecosystem but what balance is mosquito creating?

I tried hard to think if there is any one organism which depends entirely or partially on mosquitoes for their living- and the answer is no. Frog eat mosquitoes, some fish eat the larva of mosquito but they neither are completely nor partially depended on mosquitoes alone. I came across several research articles on the same topic and one said that there is a type of flowers/plant which needs mosquitoes for its growth and another article said that there is a type of bird in Africa which depends completely on mosquitoes for food. But then when I read more I found that there were other articles proving these theories to be false.

So why should these mosquitoes exist? Well, to us - Chennaites the very reason why mosquitoes exist is our special bond with them and thus the highest level of patience towards them. We still keep the dustbins open, koovam uncleaned, drainage uncovered because of our love for these tiny, little, sometimes harmful, blood sucking, irritating, sleep depriving mosquitoes.