GIBBERISHTALK-"SOLAR EFFECTS!!"

"SO, WHAT WERE YOUR OBSERVATIONS??", the question boomed through the other end of the phone..

"Sir…that sir…"

"What 'Sir and that sir' and all?? The Environment minister Mr.Nutcase Ramesh is breathing down my neck, demanding me to submit a report on the effects of Solar eclipse on the wildlife and what am I gonna reply, eh?? I need your observations...So what happened??"

"Sir..that sir…"

"See Mr.Sembulingam, you had received my orders to do a survey on the same..and now you say, you did nothing??"

"Sir, we have captive animals here..I kind of observed them the whole day.."

"Ah! Good!! Captive animals eh?? How did the Tigers, Elephants and Rhinos react to the eclipse?"

"Um..Sir, we do not have them…."

"Hippos, Girraffes?"

"Not quitely, sir….."

"Then what do you have captive?"

"sir, a Venomous spider, a biting Parakeet and Bichu."

"And what in God's name might be 'Bichu'?"

"oh! Bichu is my pet fish in the aquarium."

"Mr.SEMBU, ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME??? AND YOU OBSERVED THESE THINGS THE ENTIRE DAY???"

"No sir, no offence meant..But, yes, I was dedicated to this work the whole day..and I have come to a unique conclusion.."

"Now you are talking Sembu!!Good Job!! And what did you conclude?"

"Sir, the Spider as always, hid itself beneath a log from the sun 2 hours before the eclipse. Half an hour into the eclipse, it continued in the same position it had assumed earlier, and in the peak of the eclipse….."

"Yes, at the peak??"

"It still remained in the same position as before!!"

"WHAT???"

"Yes sir, so I concluded that the eclipse had no effect on the spider.."

"But that won't do….."

Sir, alas, that is the truth.."

"No, you could have missed something..Something unusual has to happen..You sure Sembu?"

"Maybe it might be due to the partial eclipse here, sir, but the Spider, the Parakeet, why, even Bichu led its normal life…The flowers bloomed as usual, bees flew and birds chirped…All was normal."

"Um..So without anything unusual, what do I report to Mr.Nutcase?? He would boil my brains and eat my head!!"

"Sir, there was another observation..the eclipse did affect one group however.."

"Who? The Ginearhinus momos?"

"No sir…Homo sapiens..us sir.."

"How?"

"Sir, it was only a partial eclipse, yet I had to grant leave for most of my staff. The servant would not come at home, wife would not cook food, hell, the soothsayers all boasted how truly their prediction on the end of the universe was finally gonna be fulfilled…"

"Um..Even I was on leave, Sembu…"

"Sir, then this is my observation sir..Solar eclipse, be it partial, total or even quarter if there is any, brings about a kind of social reclusiveness and burrowing habits in humans, who hide deep in their dens and fear to come out, to even eat on the day..while all other creatures freely lead a normal day, Humans hole themselves on the day……Clearly, the eclipse has induced a psychotic neuropathy in humans sir…."

The phone abruptly hung up in the other end..

Sembu smiled……..