The 'Tiktikis' of Kolkata

After spending over 3 years in Hyderabad, a move to Kolkata came as an option. When my husband told me of it, my immediate answer was a no. Anyway, we decided to move. I was excited to see the famed Durga Puja celebrations and finally taste Kolkata’s Rosogollas and Jhal Muri. When we broke the news, my mother-in-law burst the bubble for me. She said, “You are going to a place with big lizards.”

Until then, it hadn’t struck me. I said, “Oh Mummy. What am I going to do?” There was nothing I could do but face it.

We moved into a new flat which was freshly painted and I thought that lizards will leave me in peace for a while. Of course, we moved right at the beginning of summer. Day 2 in our house, we still had our boxes and wall hangings lying around, I picked something up and saw the biggest lizard I had ever seen and jumped. Luckily, there was a lady who had come in to clean the house and she shooed it out, and then one more. I thought the worst was over. But in the next couple of days, I would spot one every day in some room and I would seal it off until someone came to shoo it out. The worst was having it in the kitchen.

Reena, who worked at my home, was a godsend. She drove a couple of them away on her second and third day working for me. I knew I could never let her go. Every day, I would tell her that a ‘chipkali’ has entered the house and she would give me a blank look. I used to wiggle my fingers moving them in an upward fashion to make her understand. That’s when I googled the Bengali name for a lizard— ‘Tiktiki’.

My neighbour too was terrified of lizards. We were of no help to each other in this regard. But we do have a fantastic friendship to cherish.

I was getting tired of always keeping a wary eye out for lizards on ceilings, floors, doors, bathrooms and even furniture. Whenever I used to visit Bangalore, my mind and body would relax. The home-grown lizards seemed baby-ish after seeing the crocodile-sized ones in Kolkata. A dear Kolkata friend said that the Bengaluru ones are not brought up on Rosogollas and Sandesh.

I was really happy to be in Kolkata during winter— the lizards go into hiding. When the news came that we have to move from Kolkata, the relief I felt was immense. I do miss my friends and their wonderful conversations, but definitely not the ones with a misleading musical-sounding name, the ‘Tiktikis’.