Encounter With a Leech

 I have had encounters with many species, but had not met a leech before. Mosquitoes are long-standing friends- at least one of them, Anopheles by name. A leech, if you have not seen one, looks like an earthworm on a diet-a successful one. So small that you can miss it if you are not looking for one. In rainy times, they are everywhere, in grass particularly. 

Once it latches on to you, usually on your foot somewhere, only salt is effective in getting rid of it. Otherwise, before you know it, it sucks out a few drops of blood, and grows five times its size. If you pull it out at that point, the blood still flows out for a little while. Shoes with thick socks may make it difficult, but if you are in chappals, it's a good idea to rub salt on your lower foot before you step out in a leech-infested area. 

I had heard about them in Waynad area, but actually found them in Kotagiri, near a waterfall in a jungle. Interesting, but I don't really want to ever meet one again, if I can help it.

Playing Golf Again

Where there is a will, there is a way, they say. In college days, this was twisted to bring in the cigarette brand Wills by some. But in my case, wherever I see a patch of land about 200 yards with grass on it, I start imagining a Golf Course. And so it was that I started practising my shots on a newly built playground at IIM Indore. Pics will follow sometime.

Now the epidemic is catching on, and a couple of faculty friends have joined in. Hope the fever grows further (what a wish) and we have  a full-fledged Golf team soon. IIM Indore may well become the first IIM to have a team of its own. Students can also join in if interested, as we progress, if they can find time out from other things. Actually at IMT Nagpur, we had a Golf intro lesson built in to the orientation for three years. We had a two-hole Golf green out there.

Having a Golf team's better than growing a pony tail to achieve differentiation, what? Dare to think beyond pony tails! Would you say I am counting my "chickens" before they are hatched?