How much would a normal human being who has all his/her marbles intact pay for a beetle? 5 bucks (Indian Rs, not $)? Maybe. Perhaps 5 real bucks (Rs 225). Tops, you might think. That is, if the beetle is the last surviving one of the "soon to be extinct" Usneviladi Deputica Coleoptera species which is valued for its golden doodoo that helps in balancing the eco system of some University research fund. How about $100,000 (about Rs. 45 lakhs)? No $hit! is what that crossed your mind right now. But there was a time, not long ago, when that was the going price for the most expensive beetles in Japan. Nowadays, after the bubble economy burst, this industry is really doing bad (as per industry sources and don't ask me who the sources are) and the prices for the most expensive ones are ONLY about $5,000 and ordinary ones are going for as CHEAP as - hold your breath - $20. This is the time to invest in some beetles, I'd say. The new B2C -Beetle to Customer- business model. Catch a beetle and sell it.
Anyway, this beetle mania is restricted to the summer season here. Kids in Japan, like in every other place, love summer holidays. It's a time to climb trees, jump into ponds, throw stones at dogs (or anything that moves), fight, play in slush, catch and throw creepy, crawly insects - including beetles- and reptiles (well, maybe not everybody) etc. However, in places like Tokyo there are not many climbable trees or catch-able insects around. No stray dogs to throw stones at and no pets allowed inside many apartments. In the beach each person is allotted a maximum of 3 square inches inside which you should have your colour co-ordinated beach mat and parasol, your beer cans, your assorted junk snacks, your kids and then try not to kick the people who are trying to do this in the neighbouring 3 square inches space. Crowded is not the word for it. The pool is a totally different cosmic experience, where you go to see a stunt that Houdini would have been proud of. The trick of getting 500,000 people into a 400 sq m hole in the ground. This being the case, there was no other alternative for the parents but to .. what else.. buy and give some beetles to the kids to get them closer to understanding the wonders of nature.
Am I missing something here? I don't know if this is again one of those profound Japanese cultural thingy that I failed to grasp or just plain stupidity. The fact is that I'm seriously thinking of going beetle hunting as a midlife career move in Kerala. My dream is that pretty soon a whole bunch of venture capitalists will show up and invest millions in my new B2C model and create the next economic boom which would raise the price of beetles back to the 6 figure $ range (and like all my other recent dreams, allow me to retire early). I can dream, can't I? Today is Independence Day and the best day to dream of such things. Yeah Freedom.
Talking about dreams, Martin Luther King had a dream that one day his kids would be judged by the content of their character and not their skin colour. We're still waiting for that to happen. Another guy, Mr. Ramchandra Paramhans had a different dream. He is the top guy who is leading the struggle to build the Ram temple and takes orders only from god (and sometimes from police and district collectors. This was a few days before the deadline he gave to install the idol, I think, in March) "A few days ago, I saw a dream in which Ram came to me. He was looking hurt. He said: 'You have been serving me for so long but look, there is no temple for me. It is now up to you to take a stone and offer it for my temple.' I am only fulfilling my dream." He didn't. He offered it instead to somebody sent by Vajpayee (was it Shatrughan Sinha? I forgot).
I had a dream last night in which I was running around with a net in the lower reaches of Sahyadri looking for a rhinoceros beetle with character for which I was building a temple.
A whole bunch of elusive dreams. Or are they nightmares?