The MOS-E-CUTOR

Like most grandpa's, my Dada (as I address him) also has something new to show off each time we visit him in Bhubaneswar. In Dada's case, it more often than not, is related to his favorite passion- gardening. But this time it was going to be something different.

After an emotional welcome home, we were all settled and enjoying a full family get-together. Amidst all the chit chats, Dada all of a sudden seemed to remember something. He said, "Hey wait, I have something to show." Well, I immediately understood and got myself prepared for a new variety of bougainvillea or possibly acacia or mangifera indica (now you know that I have studied bio). Dada popped back within seconds and goodness gracious!, what was that in his hands? He was holding a tennis racquet, a rather small one, as it appeared to me. "Can you tell me what this is?” he asked. Although the racquet was in his hand, I quickly returned the ball to his court-"Er, I have no clue."
I learned that this racquet had an extremely high voltage in its net and is used to swat mosquitoes. It took me some time to respond to that. In fact everyone there was speechless. Dada continued to illustrate its properties and boy, you should have seen that smile of content on his face.
At dusk, when the mosquito influx rate is at its peak, Dada held a demonstration of that instrument. He very meticulously showed me how to switch it on, the grip and the stance. Whooosh, he gave a full swing and splaaatt! There was a vociferous momentary spark on its net which took all of aback. The ladies were stunned and were certainly not amused by any standards. Dada was though. He burst into his characteristic guffaw. Throughout that evening he must have killed, or rather electrocuted (to be more fair to the poor mosquitoes) myriads of mosquitoes spanning the complete length and breadth of the house. This device certainly had something about it.
It would be pretty much the same sight throughout the next few evenings. Of course he had a new partner now. Our young lad, the domestic help had also seen the fun side of that device and was thrilled to bits, each time he got a chance to use it. I would not quite rate him highly for fair play though. In some cases he managed to kill the mosquito with his hands, but yet put the dead body on that dreaded mesh. Now that's cheating.
We had a few guests dropping by in the past few days. Well, Dada was not going to spare anyone. He displayed his possession with great pride. One of them raised a valid query though. What if we accidentally touched the net? Out came the physics then. The net was designed to form Faraday’s cages, which are supposed to be safe from electric shocks. I was not going to try it anyway.

It was now time for part two of this procedure. Dada would always ask me after his demonstration-“Do you want one?” “Well…”, I was confused as usual. He decided to buy one for me and that too the next day, in strict accordance with his ‘Do it now’ principle.

Next morning, we were on our way. But where were we going. That was one question which had been haunting me for the past few days. Where in the world can you find this unique invention? We reached some sort of a temporary market place, which looked more like a trade fair to me. Dada led us to the most unexpected of shops and bingo!!! The shopkeeper pulled out many of them. We purchased two and believe it or not, the cost- a mere Rs. 130/- a piece.

Within a matter of days, this racquet became a spectacle in my house too. It was quite pleasing to hear the distinct sound of a successful hunt. In fact it also gave out an odor after charring each mosquito. So we were literally roasting them. The variant that we owned also had a flashlight in it to attract the insects. Boy! These innovations I say! It also proved to be a nice toy for the kids visiting the house. In fact I ,of and on, use it for some valuable tennis practice too. It had so many applications at such a reasonable price. But how come this thing had not gained the popularity it should have? Not being able to spot a single T.V. commercial or print advertisement of this product was surprising.

So I decided to sketch one out myself. I would love to make a motion ad, but am handicapped for resources. So kindly check out print ad below! I have christened it ‘The Mos-e-cutor as an abbreviation for mosquito electrocutor.

CAUTION: Manufacturers of this product should plagiarize my ad with the knowledge that on doing so, they may have to face severe legal action. (Just Joking) You can give me some credit for it, and maybe some cash as well.