MEHSANA: At a time when Nipah virus scare has gripped the country – and each bat is under scrutiny – this lady from Rajpur village, about 50 km from Ahmedabad, has no plans of being separated from about 400 winged mammals that live in her two-room house. Villagers name Shantaben Prajapati, 74, ‘chamachidiyawala ba’ (grandma residing with bats).
“I've heard of Nipah but I'm really not afraid. I've been residing with bats for a decade now. They are my circle of relatives. Their population within my house has proliferated when I shifted from within my house to the courtyard for making ready foods and sound asleep. The interiors most effective have a couple of belongings,” says Prajapati, who opens the door to show the ‘bat colony’ occupying all four walls on the floor and the primary floor.
It began a few decade ago when a group of bats made one in all her unplastered walls their house. At first she was scared as the bats -- recognized by professionals as greater mouse-tailed bats – used to fly in the evening and come again once more early morning and dirty her floor with droppings. Huddled together like a small bundle, they dotted all the house. But Prajapati had no one to share her house with as her 3 daughters – Jyotsna, Chandrika and Kanchan – are married, and her son Dinesh lives in Mumbai. Prajapati had raised her children by operating as a farm labourer after her husband Kanjibhai died due to electrocution when she was 30.
To fight the stench, Shantaben burns incense of neem and camphor two times an afternoon while amassing a bucketful of droppings. “A couple of within reach residences also had a couple of bats residing there. But they were quick to eliminate them through chemical treatment. I will not do it. They will depart when they have to. Who am I to come to a decision their destiny?” she asks. She says she won't section with them until her death. Her affection for the bats has also been topic of a documentary by a Delhi-based film pupil in 2015.
Madina Bibi Sipai, sarpanch of Rajpur, says the affection is indeed unique as other people get repulsed by bats or even imagine them inauspicious. “A variety of villagers have volunteered to eliminate the bat risk from Shantaben's house but she is not sport. In truth, she has earned the sobriquet of ‘Chamachidiyawala’ for her affection and emotional attachment with the mammals,” she says. Experts said up to now spread of Nipah virus is located to be carried by some species of fruit bats. Other bats, together with mouse-tailed bats, don't seem to be discovered to be carriers of the virus.
“I've heard of Nipah but I'm really not afraid. I've been residing with bats for a decade now. They are my circle of relatives. Their population within my house has proliferated when I shifted from within my house to the courtyard for making ready foods and sound asleep. The interiors most effective have a couple of belongings,” says Prajapati, who opens the door to show the ‘bat colony’ occupying all four walls on the floor and the primary floor.
It began a few decade ago when a group of bats made one in all her unplastered walls their house. At first she was scared as the bats -- recognized by professionals as greater mouse-tailed bats – used to fly in the evening and come again once more early morning and dirty her floor with droppings. Huddled together like a small bundle, they dotted all the house. But Prajapati had no one to share her house with as her 3 daughters – Jyotsna, Chandrika and Kanchan – are married, and her son Dinesh lives in Mumbai. Prajapati had raised her children by operating as a farm labourer after her husband Kanjibhai died due to electrocution when she was 30.
To fight the stench, Shantaben burns incense of neem and camphor two times an afternoon while amassing a bucketful of droppings. “A couple of within reach residences also had a couple of bats residing there. But they were quick to eliminate them through chemical treatment. I will not do it. They will depart when they have to. Who am I to come to a decision their destiny?” she asks. She says she won't section with them until her death. Her affection for the bats has also been topic of a documentary by a Delhi-based film pupil in 2015.
Madina Bibi Sipai, sarpanch of Rajpur, says the affection is indeed unique as other people get repulsed by bats or even imagine them inauspicious. “A variety of villagers have volunteered to eliminate the bat risk from Shantaben's house but she is not sport. In truth, she has earned the sobriquet of ‘Chamachidiyawala’ for her affection and emotional attachment with the mammals,” she says. Experts said up to now spread of Nipah virus is located to be carried by some species of fruit bats. Other bats, together with mouse-tailed bats, don't seem to be discovered to be carriers of the virus.
This ‘bat woman’ is not scared of Nipah virus!
![This ‘bat woman’ is not scared of Nipah virus!]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 25, 2018
Rating:
