It can be said with a fair degree of certainty that in no other country would you find an entire song written about/around a bedbug. This 1971 song from the movie Chhupa Rustam that I have embedded here, of course, is a spoof on composer S D Burman’s own ‘Dheere se jana bagiyan mein” of earlier vintage.
The notion that a man (Dev Anand) can use a bedbug as a metaphor for his own unexpressed love for a woman (Hema Malini) can exist only in a Hindi movie. In case you are wondering where I am going with the bedbug song, here is the context.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of America has issued a statement that “the United States is one of many countries now experiencing an alarming resurgence in the population of bed bugs.” The CDC is not looking for a theme song for the revived menace, otherwise I would have suggested this one.
"Although bed bugs are not known to transmit disease, they are a pest of significant public health importance. Bed bugs fit into a category of blood-sucking ectoparasites (external parasites) similar to head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis). Bed bugs, like head lice, feed on the blood of humans but are not believed to transmit disease. Other ectoparasites, such as body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis), are known to transmit several serious diseases. Differences in the biology of similar species of pests, such as body lice and head lice (or bed bugs) can greatly impact the ability of pests to transmit disease.” the CDC says.
Like most Indians born in the 1950s and 60s, perhaps even earlier, bedbugs were part of my formative years. On many a morning one discovered telltale evidence of how bedbugs had feasted on one’s blood the previous night. The red eruptions/bumps were not so painful but were extremely itchy. Speaking of itchy, I am sure some of you have noticed that scratching an itch can be a particularly pleasurable experience in the first few seconds of one breaking out.
The best antidote to bedbugs in those days for people in certain economic class was simply sunning the infested mattresses. I can still vividly remember striped mattresses laid out on the terrace of our rented home. A full day of Ahmedabad’s summer sun could be fatal for a human. No wonder bedbugs were roasted. Sunning was not a permanent solution to this menace but in the absence of anything else—and swatting each one of them being a somewhat tedious task—it was the best way.
As mentioned in the CDC statement bedbugs are not known carriers of diseases but they may “affect the mental health of people living in infested homes. Reported effects include anxiety, insomnia and systemic reactions.” In retrospect I can think of at least one person in my neighborhood whose mental health was affected by bedbugs. And no, it was not me contrary to what some of my posts here may suggest.