Every year, as I see the big black ants in my kitchen and garden, it is a signal that it is going to rain. I feel happy about the heralding monsoon. I enjoy watching them walking silently one behind the other gathering food or dragging a dead insect from one place to another. At the same time, I shudder at the thought of scores of them gathering on my kitchen platform. Memories also flood back of my little two-year old daughter being stung by one as she innocently sat on the platform watching and helping me make rotis. Now, as I flip through Saving the Ant and Nanhi Cheenti Bach Gai (its Hindi translation), I am touched by a five-year old girl enjoying nature and helping save a little ant from drowning in a puddle of water.
November 2022, volume 46, No 11