I suffer from the most intense, debilitating and distressing cockroach phobia.

I can fight with armies of men and I can easily deal with a pack of wild wolves. I can look into the eyes of a feral, teeth baring lion and I can walk calmly on a rope hung precariously over raging waters. But let a cockroach in a room and then watch the action.

If you are brave enough to do that (because I may kill you) then I hope you are also a little hard of hearing because I may scream loud enough to deafen you. Also, I hope you have nothing precious and delicate around us because everything that can break will break in a matter of seconds due to my leaping up manically in the air and clutching anything or anybody within an arm’s length.

Don’t ask me why that happens. It just..... happens. Especially if the cockroach is big, black and hairy. Especially if it has a pair of antennae that it waves around menacingly. And did you know that there are cockroaches that can fly ? Can you imagine such horrors ? They fly in the air with a sick, whirring sound. It has not happened to me so far (and I hope it never does) but I know for sure that if a cockroach comes flying and sits on my arm, I may die.

And what a way of dying that would be !

All the people who know me have tried to talk me out of this phobia. All those people have finally given up on me. The common advices I got so far are the following with my responses in the bracket :

‘Get over it’ (’Yes, but how ?’ )

‘It’s only a cockroach (‘NO ! It’s a monster.’)

‘Relax, it won’t eat you up, will it ?’ (It may. What if it does ?’)

‘It is so small compared to you.’ (Then why does it look so enormous to me ?”)

‘It won’t harm you. (’It will ! It certainly will !’)

‘But usually you are so brave’ (’This is not a usual moment. This is a COCKROACH moment !’)

Then I had a friend who recommended me to go for therapy. Imagine going for therapy for cockroaches ! He explained to me very patiently about the therapy. According to this therapy, as he patiently enlightened me, the person is first shown a small cockroach from a distance, then a bigger cockroach the next day and it goes on till one day a large cockroach is made to come very close. Very, very close. Really close. And by this time, he said, the person is totally cured of this phobia. I listened to him, horrified and speechless with shock. To go for such a therapy, I will have to be sedated. Or blinded. When I asked him sincerely if I can go for the therapy blindfolded, he gave me a strange look and shrugged. So much for therapy.

So, there I was, at a loss, my fate resigned to those monsters that crawl and creep about. Till I discovered Hit for cockroaches. I first came to know about this wonderful product from an advertisement where a woman kills these beasts with a flourish and a spray, then faces the camera with a triumphant look. I watched the ad in awe, with a mixture of amazement and relief.

The very next day, I got this Hit and tested it upon the first cockroach I saw. To be honest, I told the person standing next to me to test it while I watched with a shudder since I could not bear to go near the cockroach. And yes, it worked. The monster danced a graceful dance of death and died.

Some facts about HIT which is manufactured by Godrej : Hit (for cockroaches) is an aerosol insecticide, which comes in a dangerously bright red colored can. The idea is to spray Hit in crevices and other dark places which cockroaches inhabit. Just make sure that you don’t eat it or inhale it or you will be the one who will be dead, not the cockroaches. Keep it out of the reach of children. That’s it.

The moment cockroaches get a whiff of this deadly stuff, they will turn turtle, wave their hairy limbs and go still. Then all you have to do is sweep them out, if you have the courage to do so. I would rather someone else do the sweeping. Dead enemy is still an enemy.

Purchase Price (INR):	No Comment
Is it safe for children?	No Comment
Does it have any odour?	Yes, a lot