New Delhi: For centuries, humans have disliked and despised them. But today, they are being “liked” and “followed” like never before. Well, you guessed it! We’re talking about cockroaches – who have become the talk of the town today in their new “online avatar”. The six-legged creatures – who have survived our hatred for years – would never have dreamed that one day they would become the center of a human movement and many would say “Me too cockroach.“Cockroaches needed only one controversial comparison to find their moment of glory in a hitherto despised existence among humans. Biological evolution or manufactured support, genuine popularity or an enemy-driven anti-India agenda – the online rage will continue to be debated but the fact remains that the cockroach has indeed now taken center stage of our political discourse.
The planet’s greatest survivor?
Cockroaches have already conquered the planet – quietly. Patiently. Mostly from under your sink.Long before humans invented democracy, taxation, unemployment, LinkedIn profiles, and motivational reels about “the grind,” the cockroach was already here – calmly surviving floods, meteors, and even volcanic eruptions.
Cockroach Survival Manual
not just an insect
Scientists estimate that cockroach-like ancestors existed more than 300 million years ago. Dinosaurs came much later. Which means that if Earth were a family drama, the cockroaches would be the ancient grandfather, while humanity would be the overconfident grandson who arrived in episode 4 and thinks the house is his.Dinosaurs became extinct. The cockroaches stayed put. Volcanoes erupted. The cockroaches stayed put. Empires collapsed. Cockroaches kept eating cardboard in a dark corner.In fact, the cockroach has mastered one of the greatest skills in history: being underestimated.We see lions and think ‘king of the jungle’. We look at sharks and think ‘the ultimate predator’. But if survival determined greatness, then the cockroach would be the undisputed emperor of evolution, wearing a tiny crown made of kitchen scraps.
Roach if you can: Cockroaches are winning the game of survival (AI photo by ChatGPT)
Do you know?
A cockroach can survive for several weeks without food. It can flatten its body into impossible crevices. Some species can hold their breath for about 40 minutes. They can be exposed to far higher radiation levels than humans. There are also experiments that show that cockroaches can function without their heads for some time because their nervous system is distributed differently from ours.Biologically too, cockroaches are a marvel of engineering. Their exoskeletons protect them while remaining flexible. Their sensory systems detect motion and vibration quickly enough to avoid most attacks. Their reproductive efficiency depends on administrative excellence.Which is ironic, because many humans with full heads contribute much less to society than the headless cockroaches roaming the sewers with purpose and ambition.
Cockroach CV
universally hated
And yet, despite all this flexibility, cockroaches are universally hated. No one has ever reacted with spiritual peace to the sight of a cockroach. Butterflies inspire poetry. Fireflies inspire wonder. Cockroaches induce Olympic-level jumping ability in fully grown adults.The injustice is extraordinary.The peacock does nothing more than pose dramatically in gardens, yet it becomes the national bird. The cockroach survives five mass extinction events only to find a slipper thrown in his face.Is humanity angry at meritocracy?There is also something very uncertain about the timing of the cockroach. Cockroaches are never visible when there are lights all around in your life. It emerges right when it’s dark, when you turn off the kitchen lights and start questioning your life choices. Suddenly the tiny antennae reveal the ancient eyes with the confidence of a creature that watches continents move apart.The cockroach doesn’t panic because the cockroach knows something that humans don’t: it will probably survive.
The final metamorphosis, through kafkalens of
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is perhaps the most famous insect-related work in modern literature.Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a monstrous insect. Popular imagination often turns him into a cockroach, although Kafka never gives the exact name of the species. This change horrifies his family not only because of the appearance, but also because Gregor ceases to function financially. It becomes unproductive, useless and a burden. His inability to contribute financially transforms him from a beloved son to a household liability.Kafka understood a terrible thing about modern society: people are often valued less as human beings and more as economic machinery.But real cockroaches would probably seem embarrassing to Gregor.Because real cockroaches are surprisingly productive survivors. They are scavengers, recyclers, decomposers and acclimatizers of elite level. They don’t sit in rented apartments pondering existential despair. They go. They persist. They hustle.If Kafka’s insect symbolizes separation, the real cockroach symbolizes continuity.
mascot of stamina
We build glass towers, hold conferences about innovation, and create passwords with special characters. The cockroach watches all this with the weary patience of an old landlord who has seen tenants come and go for centuries.Even our wars do not cause them any inconvenience.During the bombings of World War II, cockroaches survived ravaged cities. In nuclear disaster discussions, people often joke that only cockroaches will survive the apocalypse. While science suggests some insects are even more radiation-resistant, the cockroach has become a mascot of post-apocalyptic endurance.Oceans may rise, volcanoes may erupt, billionaires may flee, wars may be fought, cities may calm down but then somewhere under the debris of a luxury apartment, a cockroach peacefully finds half a biscuit.Life goes on.
Cockroaches survive regardless of the way they are treated.
fifth pillar of democracy
There is something almost democratic about cockroaches. They do not discriminate. Rich homes, poor homes, five-star hotels, government offices, student hostels – all are equally worth a visit.Cockroach believes strongly in universal access.And unlike humans, cockroaches don’t waste time making inspirational philosophies. No cockroach ever posted: “Get up and grind.” No cockroach has launched a podcast about peak performance. Yet every night, without fail, they emerge with a discipline more acute than corporate ambition.Imagine the confidence required to survive humanity’s hatred for millions of years.Entire industries exist just to destroy them. Sprays, traps, powders, gels, ultrasonic devices, herbal remedies – the war against cockroaches is one of the longest-running military campaigns in human history.The cockroach remains undefeated.We have reached an uneasy geopolitical arrangement with cockroach populations: we occupy visible spaces; They inherit hidden people.And maybe that’s why cockroaches attract us. It exposes human ego.We imagine ourselves as masters of the Earth as we build skyscrapers and launch rockets. But survival is a different metric entirely. The cockroach needs no stock market, no political system, no smartphone battery and no wellness retreat. It just adapts.Meanwhile, when Wi-Fi disappears for 6-7 minutes, humans suffer an emotional breakdown.If evolution were a competitive exam, the cockroach would have topped the rankings while humanity would have debated about reservation policies outside the exam centre.Of course, this doesn’t mean that people should suddenly fall in love with cockroaches. Admiration and affection are different things. One can respect a tiger and still prefer not to share a bathroom with it.The problem is not that cockroaches exist. The problem is that they appear too confident. A mosquito behaves at least like a criminal – timid, nervous, apologetic. Cockroaches behave like property managers.He strolls across the wall as if conducting an inspection round.And yet, buried beneath the hatred, is grudging respect. Because deep down humanity knows resilience when it sees it. The cockroach symbolizes an existence devoid of glamour. No elegance. No mythology. No cinematic soundtrack. Just stubborn persistence.Perhaps this is the real reason why insects bother us.Cockroaches force humans to confront an uncomfortable prospect: Nature doesn’t reward beauty, intelligence, or sophistication any more than it rewards adaptability.Cockroaches adapted while humans just gave speeches about adaptation. And in that difference lies millions of years of evolutionary success. But only one of them belongs to a lineage ancient enough to remember the world before dinosaurs.
