We got an email from our admin department yesterday about pest control happening in our office on Saturday. No one is going to be allowed at work for six hours after the pest control has been done. The mail reminded me of this photograph I took last June when I was at my Aunt's place in Pune. The words 'Kanchi Varadaraja' were handwritten on almost all the walls of her house. When I asked her what that was for, she said that it is a belief that when you write these two words on your walls you no longer have lizards in your house. And my Aunt swears by this.
Growing up in Pune I remember being mortally scared of lizards, and now, even though I know they are quite harmless, I still am very scared of them. How I wish I had known about the power of Kanchi Varadaraja back then! A search on the internet will lead to sites on the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram, but nothing on why these two words are effective in getting rid of your lizard problems. But I can't help marvel at the miracle behind this non-violent way of pest control for the literate lizard.
