Of thirsty squirrels and baby aligators.

I am having a coffee break with a colleague at the corner of the office basement car park, which is lined with coconut trees. We are talking when something falls with a thud in front of us from the nearby cocount palm. It's a squirrel, which immediately scampers away. The following conversation ensues between me and my friend, who is a know-all - he has a firm opinion on everything from falling lizards to satellite launchers.

Me : The poor thing must have lost its grip and fallen.
Friend : Naah. It fell because it was either thirsty or hungry.

Me : What ? !!!!
Friend : Yes, because you know squirrels belong to the lizard family.

Me : So ?
Friend : Don't you know that when they are really thirsty, lizards just drop to the ground ?

Me : And ? How does this help quench their thirst ?
Friend : They have some internal mechanism which quenches their thirst when they fall down.

Me : @#$%T(#(#@

Ofcourse I know that it is pointless to argue with him due to 2 reasons :
1) I have no knowledge about the dietary habits of the lizard family.
2) From experience, I know that there is no way you can win an argument with him.

I leave the conversation at that and as we walk back to the office, the topic of lizards brings another interesting incident to my mind. Some 6 years ago, there were 2 engineers visiting us from our Belgium office. Since I have enjoyed the hospitality of my Belgian colleagues many times during my visits there, it is only perfectly natural for me to take them around Chennai after office-hours and on weekends.

One day, I invite them home for an Indian dinner - they had already tasted Indian food and found it good. So, after work, I drive them home, where my wife has prepared a decent Indian meal - rotis, rice, chicken, veggies, fish etc. Ofcourse, I ask her to tone down the spice because the western palate would not be able to handle the hot 'n spicy Indian food.

We reach my apartment and while we wait for my wife to answer the door, my Belgian friends happen to look around the corridor wall and see a couple of house lizards on the wall, and almost in unison they say, "Wow, baby alligators".

Everytime I recount this incident to someone here, it raises laughter. From just a plain house lizard, these creatures got an instant upgrade to the scary alligators. Well, can't blame the Belgians because I think it is their first sighting of a lizard - don't remember seeing any during my stay in Belgium.

The next time a lizard falls off the wall, I guess I should have some water handy for the poor thing. On second thoughts no, I just can't stand the sight of lizards.