Chiti’s Bobbing Antennas
Part 1 of 3
Somewhere on the edge of a dusty forest lived Chiti, a small worker ant, in a large colony with hundreds of her sister ants. She was young, just a few weeks old and like all other ants, she worked day and night, deep down in the ground, in the extensive ant nest. During the day, she carefully tended to the eggs that were laid by the queen. And every evening she dug the earth with her tiny pincers to make room for baby ants that would hatch from those eggs.
Chiti loved the warm sunlight that lit the nest but she had never stepped out of the big hole on the top through which it seeped in. Only the bigger, older ants with large antennas went outside to fetch food for the rest of the group. She would hear them daily in the corridors talking about the scary spiders, the boorish birds and sometimes even the large squeaking frogs. But none of that matched the ever-looming fear of the Chief.
Chief was a large ant with unevenly spiked legs, huge curved antennas and bulging eyes. She commanded all the ant armies. The ones that stayed inside the nest and the ones that went out to forage food. Her ruthless and coarse voice made every one jitter with fear and stand straight without the slightest movement in their heads. Even the Captain ants, who led the armies, tottered when the Chief invited them to her chambers. They reported to her every day: the quantities of food they gathered, the predators they encountered, any fights they engaged in, casualties, murmurs floating in the outside world and most importantly, the discipline of all ants in their teams. Punishment or praise from the Chief could change one’s life in the colony. All the ants kept their heads down, followed orders and always walked in a line.
All this seemed a little outlandish to Chiti. Why should Chief, control all of us? Why can I not eat what I want, work when I want, step out into the hot sun to go wherever I want and just live my life?
Her friends didn’t understand her and she was too scared to do anything unusual, only because she hadn’t done it before.
One afternoon, Chiti heard a lot of screaming and shouting in the nest. A storm of ants was rushing in through the big hole. “Run, Run! Make way. Let us enter!” they shouted.
Boom, Boom. The ground shook.
“Heeelp! Heeeelp!” the faint voices on the surface echoed.
She rushed to the top. Her antennas rattled furiously. She could sense danger. Instinctively, she moved towards the mud doors and with all her strength closed them in no time.
Loud thumping, scratching and screaming. Sharp claws grazed the mud ceilings. The entire nest rocked like a leaf fluttering in the storm. Her body trembled with horror. She had never seen anything like this, only heard stories of predator attacks and glorious battles that the ants had previously fought.
Is it one of those times? How will we survive this? Who is fighting? Everyone just ran inside.
From the corner of her eye, She saw the large body of the chief emerge. She moved fast but with grace. She raised her hefty hands to hold the crumping ceiling and pushed her long legs to keep the doors shut. Many more ants joined, pushing against the door and the walls. Chiti stood there with the chief, admiring her for what seemed like a lifetime.
Long after all the noises subsided, the Chief moved. She looked at Chiti and said
“Good Work. You did well.”
“I..I..My antennas rattled in time. And I knew that I had to close the door.”
“Hmm.. Instinct then. Very few of us develop it at this young age.”
“A.. A.. Thank you, Ma’am.”
“We can use you better in the outdoors. From now on you’ll work with Team Alpha.” She turned towards one of the captains and told them, “Make sure you take this little one out with you tomorrow.”
Chiti could not believe her bobbing antennas. The Chief, the big boss, spoke with her. And praised her. Yipee! And she would get to go out tomorrow. The day might have been dreadful in the beginning but it could not have ended better.
Next morning was a new day. The ants left the nest well before sunrise. Each captain hollered at their teams.
Antennas UP!
Ants Advance.
Left, Right, Left.
And all the ants marched forward on the damp and craggy trail. Chiti’s eyes, nose and antennas blinked, sniffed and wobbled at every new thing. The moist air, the warm sun, big beads of water falling from the leaves, the racket of the birds which filled the air and the hiss and the fizz of all other insects in the forests.
She walked somewhere in the middle of team Alpha and her only job today was to strictly follow the ant in front of her and do exactly what she did. But her antennas had started to ring continuously since she had left home. They ZZzzzzzed uncontrollably as a whiff of sweetest smelling mulberries entered her nose. She could almost taste them in her mouth. Without giving it another thought, she walked in their direction. And all the sleepy and tired ants behind her followed. They crossed the tall grass, climbed the fallen leaves, zig-zagged through the overgrown red mushrooms and then climbed the large mulberry tree. Chiti went straight for the berries dripping with sugar. Nom Nom, she munched on them while others diligently cut the fruit with their pincers to carry them home.
It was midday when someone noticed that half their team was missing.
There was complete chaos. Ants walking in circles, shouting at each other, a lot of finger-pointing and pincer fighting. The crying and crashing woke up Chiti, who had slept on the far end of a branch.
With drowsy eyes, she asked someone “What’s happening? What’s all the commotion about?”
“Don’t you know? We are lost. No one knows how we’ll get back home.”
That’s weird. We are not lost, I can smell home. She sniffed to the right, to the left, circled the branch from the top and the bottom until her antennas set in the direction of the ant nest. Walking directly into the crowd, she shouted at the top of her voice, “I know the way home and my antennas have charted a clear path. You are welcome to follow if you want.”
Very coolly she picked up one of the berries, loaded it on her back and started walking down the tree.
Silence, loud murmurs and screams followed. No one knew what to do. Some hurriedly loaded the berries, some pushed each other but all of them ran after Chiti, eager to get home. They zig-zagged again through the overgrown mushrooms, climbed the fallen leaves, crossed the tall grass, hiked through the wet trail, paraded around the big stones until they finally reached the nest at sunset.
The corridors were filled with gossip.
“Chiti, the little one, she could sniff her way home from the mulberry tree. She is a whiz kid.”
“Chiti’s antennas can smell anything.”
“Chiti’s antennas buzz like the wings of a bee.”
“Chiti can chart maps in her head.”
And on and on they went. She was popular. Her chest filled with pride, her antennas sparkled like dewdrops and she walked around with her head held high. Until the Chief invited her to her chambers.
“I heard what you did today ..,” the Chief said in a tough, loud voice.
“Thank you Ma’am,” she jumped in, still swelled with airs and without waiting for the Chief to finish.
“I am not praising you, you ignorant antbrain!”
“You endangered the lives of everyone in team Alpha. You broke the rules, walked to eat berries and then took an unsafe path back home, risking the lives of every ant who followed you. You got lucky today.”
“Ssssorrry..”
“You’ll join Team Bravo tomorrow and will be positioned on watch duties.
Dismissed!”
Chiti walked out in tears, cursing the Chief and not understanding the gravity of her actions. I won’t let her control me. She doesn’t know how powerful my antennas are.
