On Sunday, Aug 25, Hostel was immersed in the unpleasant sound of a fire alarm that drove people out of their rooms to inquire about the situation.
The alarm was triggered by someone accidentally spraying deodorant near the smoke alarm in their room as an attempt to kill some bugs. Many in Hostel were perplexed as to what caused the alarms to blare.
There has been an incredibly peculiar amount of insects all over the campus lately. Bees and wasps have been bothering people in the quad and flagpole, they have entered the classes too, which has often caused distractions and hindered people from completing their tasks and following routines.
The dorms have experienced large numbers of small flying insects in the bathrooms and the rooms which have been an annoyance to many. This infestation of insects in the dorms has raised many concerns among students and staff.
“In the past month, I’ve had at least ten bugs in my room,” Muskan Negi, class of 2020, said, “even in the bathroom, there are bugs in the sink and the showers,” she added.
Negi has described this minor plague as “insane” since it has bothered her in her daily life heavily and has confused her a lot as to why this sudden outburst has occurred. She is unaware of whether it is because of hygiene or if it is just because of the fact that she’s on the senior side of Midlands.
Some, on the other hand, are quite nonchalant about this situation.
“I’m not really bothered by it,” William Joseph, class of 2020 said. “Bugs always come in the monsoon, you can’t really blame anything for it,” he said after being asked about what has caused this sudden outburst.
Joseph has however noticed the high number of insects in the bathrooms and the ceilings, but he does not think of it as an inconvenience. He also adds that the hysteria is caused by “people just not liking them or being scared of them,” which he thinks is irrational.
Although students have relatively one-sided opinions about this situation as it relates to convenience, Mr. Darab Nagarwalla, Middle Years science teacher, who has born witness to this bug eruption, provided a precise reason for this situation.
“You get some years where there are more bugs than normal,” Mr. Nagarwalla said, “sometimes the conditions are just right, which has created an explosion of bugs.”
He also adds that it is highly possible that the eggs laid in the fall have hatched in larger numbers because of better conditions. However, this may not be an ideal situation since it is natural for many of the thousands of the eggs to not hatch for some balance.
An explanation for this has been given, but it might have some serious implications.
“I definitely think there is a strong link to climate change,” he added, “because I have been witnessing strange explosions of different kinds of bugs, while also seeing some of them completely disappearing, over the last 20 years at Woodstock.”
With even the weather being severely altered this academic year, the insects can also be correlated to climate change, which may have severe repercussions in the future.
Photo by Janvi Podder
Nalin Mahajan is the Opinions editor of The Woodstocker
Edited by Nupur Agrawal
thewoodstocker.com 