My flamenco dancers...

When I’m faced with a mental block and can’t get anything going, I give my mind a break. For me, nothing suits me better than watching these beautiful Bettas (a genus of ikan Karin or fighting fish, which had been developed through selective breeding), dart about in their glass jars.

These fighting fish happened to ‘land’ in my house a couple of weeks back, after I developed a ‘fetish’ for them…It all began after I popped into a fish shop in Kuah and these tiny little fishes caught my eye, not because of anything but due to their attractive colours and flowing fins. I asked hubby Syed what type of fish they were and he replied, “fighting fish and they’re males…as usual the males and always more beautiful than the female species…..”

I love watching beautiful things, animals especially, and taking photographs of them. (I’m not a professional photographer though!!!) With this intention in mind, I selected two, Red and Blue - which I named them later and took them home for RM8 each!

On the way back, hubby Syed began to regale me with stories from his childhood back in Alor Setar where he and his tiny friends would slip out of the house whenever possible and cycle to the nearest paddy field to catch the fighting fish. They call them ikan Karin in Malay. Ikan Karin is actually the ancestors of the Betta genus, he told me.

There were plentiful in those days. They simply thrive in the paddy fields. But they were  brown and green and not as vibrantly coloured nor did they have such beautiful, showy fins and tails like flamenco dancers!!

Syed said they would catch the fishes and organize fish fighting competitions among themselves. Oh, they had lots of fun then!

When I got hooked on these fishes, (such as gaze at them for hours when I’m faced with a mental block) or take snapshots of them, Syed would laugh and told me that I am a “late developer” and 20 years too late..!!!

“This pastime was something I had done in my childhood…and you’re just getting excited about the fish now!!” he laughingly added.

Anyway later I found a soulmate who shared my interest in this fish and he happened to be none other than one of the ‘tiny’ friends from Syed’s childhood…can you imagine…!!

Zabidi has an advertising shop in Kuah where he and his wife would attend to their customers….at the back of the shop, in the garden is where Zabidi has tubs and pots of these fishes which he also breed!!!

“I don’t sell them, I just love to watch them and sometimes I give them to people like you…who also love them,” and I walked home with two more from Zabidi, this time another blue but with shorter tail and fin and a beautiful purple. My Red and Blue which I bought had flouncy tails which are termed as halfmoon. He also gave me a plain, brown female to start my own breeding project!!

“And look out for the bubbles,” reminded Zabidi. “Put the female into the tank once you see the bubbles in the tank where the male is kept,” enthusiast Zabidi…”Okay..okay..,” there I was, like an avid student taking notes from her guru!!

Hence the beautiful males are kept in jars in the house and I’m still waiting for the males to spawn the bubbles….!!!!