Hello folks who have often caught business-class passengers eyeing you in line and silently wondering if you should’ve made better life choices—especially as you wait for your economy-class seat,

What is an awl?

Perhaps “awl” is simply a typo for “owl”—certainly not the kind of spelling that would win you a spelling bee.

Or maybe an awl is a simple but often overlooked tool: a handle with a sharp, pointed metal tip that you use to punch or enlarge small starter holes in materials like wood or leather.

During my trip to India, I had the chance to observe a microsnail up close. You might be wondering: what exactly is a microsnail?

Microsnails are incredibly tiny, snails measuring 5mm or less in size. Compared to the garden snails that devour our backyard plants, which can grow up to 4 inches long, microsnails seem almost invisible.

Imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon them hiding in the soil of a potted spearmint plant!

These snails are called Awl snails for their distinctive shape of their shells, which are slender and elongated (like the tool) unlike the globular, rounded ones of a garden snail.

Because they’re so tiny, you could even place two side by side on a single finger and have them race each other if you like.

To give you an idea about how tiny they are, I use my index finger for reference.

These are tough times when even basic necessities feel like luxuries. Unlike people—who can launch crowdfunding campaigns or apply for government food-stamp assistance—stray dogs in India rarely have that option. They must make do with whatever scraps they can find.

When I saw a young stray dog carrying something in its mouth, I knew I had to find out what it was.

The rumor mills were true all along. They are eating the rats!

What you see below was once a rat—now it’s simply a meal the dog is tearing apart, piece by piece.