R for Rat

Welcome! 
We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school? 

Its day eighteen and the alphabet is R.


R is for Rat. That is what I learnt in school. 
Rat as in the rodent that is a menace and dread in every household. Its cousin the Mouse is probably more welcome in laboratories as its commonly used as a lab animal. 
Outside the scientific setting, even a small kid with relate the word ‘Mouse’ to the black device attached to a laptop or PC … 

A close cousin of the rat is the mouse. A mouse is the  वाहन (vahan meaning transport or vehicle) of Lord Ganesha. You will always find a tiny mouse at the feet of any idol or image of this favourite elephant headed God.

This is the famous DagduSheth Ganapati of Pune. Click on the image to see his ‘vahan’ at the bottom left of the image- at the feet of the Lord Ganesh

Using the attributes of this mammal, the word rat has entered our vocabulary in many different ways.. 

• We smell a ‘rat’ whenever we suspect some discrepancy or untoward…. 
• The neighbourhood hunk possibly achieved this status by being a gym ‘rat’ and spending hours and hours working out at the health club!
• The office colleagues called him a ‘rat’ for betraying them in a crunch.
• Hair stylists refer to something called the Hair ‘Rat’ .. now now, there is no need to curl up in distaste! From what I have read, this was quite in fashion years ago to easily create classical hair styles. Women collected fallen hair, put it into a mesh bag and created the ‘rat’. This article gives more info. Recently I remember seeing one used at a local parlour to create the prefect French Knot the difference being, it was commercially made. 

• Scabbers who is the pet of Ronald Weasely. How many Harry Potter fans here?
• Ratatouille is a cute movie with a rat as the central figure and the movie has won one Oscar! 
• Can we ever forget Mickey Mouse and Tom and Jerry?? Though they are technically referred to as ‘Mouse’ I think both can find a place of honour in this post 🙂
• The Pied Piper of Hamelin must also find a mention in this post. He is said to have rid the city of rats in the year 1284. My research revealed some interesting stuff about Hamelin city which is in Germany. There is an automated clock describing the story of the Pied Piper. Do read this very interesting article on Mental Floss about Hamelin city.