An uninvited guest

Illustration: Satheesh Vellinezhi Srini, Saanvi, and their parents were struggling to find the candles. It was getting dark and the power had gone out due to heavy rains, so they needed light to finish the day’s chores.TrappedTired, Saanvi stood near the window, watching the heavy rain battering the mango tree outside her house. Just as she turned around to speak to Srini, a loud fluttering sound filled the room. To their shock, they saw a huge bat circling the room. Confused about being stuck in a closed space, it swooped over Srini in its frantic efforts to find its way out.The siblings hurriedly rushed out of the room and bolted the door. Their parents, frightened by their yells, came rushing up to hear about how the huge bat had accidentally entered the room. Just then, there was a knock on the door. It was their neighbour, Harish, who had come to borrow candles.Help at hand?Saanvi poured out the story and asked if he could chase the bat away. Confidently, Harish said, “Yes, of course I can. I shooed one away just the other day.” The siblings rushed him to the bedroom, opened the door, and pushed him inside. In the room, Harish was aghast at seeing the bat’s size and terrified every time it came close to him.The bat was whooshing around and flapping its wings in its struggle to find an exit. Harish grabbed a towel hanging behind him and covered himself up. Now, the poor bat and Harish were both struggling to leave the room.Suddenly, Harish started banging on the door. “Get me out, please!! I am scared.” As his frantic calls filled the house, Saanvi’s father rushed to pull him out. He had become pale after his encounter with the bat. Suppressing his laughter, Srini asked, “Why did you boast that you could chase it away?”Harish was gasping for breath. He gulped down two big glasses of water before he could speak. “I thought it was a tiny one. I had shooed one away the other day but did not know that this one was huge, like a flying umbrella.” Fumbling, he grabbed the candles and sped away to his house.Finding out moreAfter some time, Srini and Saanvi opened the door to see if the bat had flown away. The moment they peeped in, the bat flew out and disappeared into the rain.That night, after power was restored, Srini and Saanvi decided to gather some information on “the only flying mammal: the bat.” They pulled out the encyclopedia from their library and found the page on bats. Illustration: Satheesh Vellinezhi “Why did the bat enter a closed room?” Saanvi darted off questions to Srini who was engrossed in searching for information. He replied, “See, it says here that they eat insects and use echolocation i.e., they send out high-pitched squeaks that bounce off objects — like trees or insects—and listen for the echo to know exactly where the objects are and how far away they are.”Saanvi, lost in thought, added, “Which means that it was searching for insects on the mango tree and accidentally entered our room.”“Correct!” exclaimed Srini.Just then, the doorbell rang, and Harish entered. He too had tried to find some information about the bat. “You will not believe what I found!” he said, excited. “There are around 1500 species of bats worldwide, and this one’s wingspan is roughly 19 to 22 cm. There was no reason for us to get scared of bats. They don’t attack humans. The other day, I just opened the door to let a bat fly away. I don’t know why my presence of mind failed when dealing with this bat. I guess the dark room added to my fear.”All of them laughed, as they marvelled at the wonders of Nature. Published - September 25, 2026 10:37 am IST