As anyone who has ever had to cope with one can tell you. phobias are usually completely irrational and totally overwhelming. As a result. they can also lead you into some pretty embarrassing situations Because, as any sufferer will tell you. the hated object/creature also holds a kind of horrid fascination for them, despite (or perhaps because of) the revulsion they fell — simultaneously, it too is drawn to the phobic individual by some kind of inexorable attraction
An acquaintance of mine has a real horror of cockroaches, and recently, on the way to a wedding, she encountered one in the car. Seated in the back of the car. she looked up
to see the creature perched on the back of the front seat.She froze In horror! This cockroach was clearly a particularly insolent specimen, since it too stood motionless, with only its antlers twitching mesmerisingly back and forth.
On the verge of going into a hypn6t ic trance. Laila suddenly squeaked to the driver to stop the car. Despite the fact that her father-in-law and mother-in-law were also going to the wedding, she decided that she had to speak out. because she was convinced she would die of horror long before they reached the place where the wedding was being held. So the driver then had to stop the car. help her to climb
or stage of domestication), and therefore, of course, tends to attract these animals with monotonous regularity! A good example of this was when the two of us went on a trip to a rural part of Dhaka recently and effortlessly attracted the attention of a couple of dogs, which started howling rather menacingly. The news of our arrival rapidly spread in the canine community, and their number subsequently expanded to Ove. The villagers whom we were talking to were totally puzzled at this phenomenon but were alarmed enough to advise us to brandish a couple of sticks, which even I (who am not generally afraid of dogs, having three of my own) felt was a good idea! Luckily for us. with a group of around eight people surrounding us. we managed to get out of there In one piece.
My one phobia, for some reason, is related to sharks, which I don't like watching in documentaries or movies. A few years ago. I decided that I was going to break this fear by forcing myself to watch a series of shark movies on video. I sat down with my cousin, and the woman who worked at our house to start my "therapy". By the time we'd reached Jaws 2". however, things started going wrong, in the scene where the children are stranded .on a raft in the middle of now here, and the shark is circling
out into a dark Dhaka side-street (in her jewellery-laden state!), and vanquish the cockroach before she could climb back in and the party could resume its journey.
Another Dhakaite (whose name must remain confidential for reasons of major embarrassment!) has a phobia about snakes. This is certainly not an uncommon fear, but in her case, the problem is so serious, that the mere sight of the picture of a snake, or an image on the television is enough to freak her out. Because of this, friends conversing with her on the phone have to keep their eardrums braced to hear sudden shrieks, in case she catches the glimpse of a snake on TV in the middle of a conversation.
A friend of mine. Shoma. is petrified of all cats and dogs (regardless of size.. dlSEPSiUPP I - -
around them before closing in for the kill. Maya had gotten so involved in the movie that her face was about six inches from the screen, and she was shouting. "Ailore! Khailorey! Dekhey na kan?!" (It's coming! It s.going to eat you! Why can't they see it?!) My cousin and I were so busy laughing, there was no chance to even see the shark (not to mention that Maya's head was blocking the view anyway)!
Needless to say. those sessions did not really manage to get rid of my phobia totally, but the memory still provides me with some laughs. So as my friend, Shoma the dogphobic bitterly says. I will just have to console myself with the thought that one is slightly less likely to meet a shark than a dog or cat on the streets of Dhaka!