Just Back from a visit to Kolkata I expected a most uneventful dull evening that day. My thoughts were as clouded as the monsoon sky. Memories of the previous weeks visit seemed to flash by. I guess that's why it's called home sweet home.
What I least expected was any more adventures for the day. When I returned to our apartment gate ( shalom home) from the local grocery I saw a small gathering at the entrance. One of my friends started waving from a distance - hey we just spotted a SNAKE!
As I approached I saw that the cemented entry of the apartment had a small crack and the people around had placed a huge stone on the crack to prevent our friend from escaping. The spot was one neighborhood favorites. Often on a normal evening I may have spent hours sitting and chatting with friends and neighbors there. So have little children often ran along and fallen, got up and ran about that spot.
Least did we expect our friend to turn up at such a spot. All necessary arrangements had been made. The snake handler had been summoned. He was some place far and suggested the owner to keep an eye till he reached the spot. Bangalore during monsoons has it's share of snake distress calls and these handlers were on a very busy schedule.
There seemed to be three classes of people. The excited one's ! The super excited one's and the balcony watchers. The excited one's stood surrounding the spot and eagerly waited for the handler to come so that they could see first hand how a snake was caught and bagged. The super excited one's were these bunch of kids who had no idea how dangerous a snake bite could be. They kept trying to lift up the stone and have a glimpse. The only way to keep them in control was to shout and threaten them. Then their were the balcony watcher's who didn't dare come down to the ground floor. They stood at the safety of the balcony and watched the ongoing's. Some among'st them clutched their Bibles fearing that the devil had just showed up at their doorsteps.
I was neither the balcony watchers nor the super excited group but chose the middle path. As a teenager in school I was a fan of Jeff Corwin and Steve Irwin. These two guys always awed me by their fearlessness to be in peace with any reptile. Today it seemed I was just at a shoot of such an episode on National Geographic. Excitement keep building on but the most awaited handler didn't seem to show up.
From evening to night almost 4 hours had passed. People took turns to keep a watch, so that other's could finish dinner. Finally at 10 the guy turned up on his bike. He took out a hammer and started banging around the spot. I guess his attempts may have scared the little fellow. When he lifted up the stone our wriggly friend had disappeared in thin air. He hammered and broke down the cemented entrance but nothing turned up. He said the snake must have disappeared into the nearby hedges through the internal crevices. Everyone was disappointed ! Some cursed him for scaring away our friend.
People slowly turned back to there homes. Our slithery visitor had turned my dull evening into a racket. Some feared that it would show up at someone's doorstep in future. I knew at heart that he knew better and had run for his life.
There seemed to be three classes of people. The excited one's ! The super excited one's and the balcony watchers. The excited one's stood surrounding the spot and eagerly waited for the handler to come so that they could see first hand how a snake was caught and bagged. The super excited one's were these bunch of kids who had no idea how dangerous a snake bite could be. They kept trying to lift up the stone and have a glimpse. The only way to keep them in control was to shout and threaten them. Then their were the balcony watcher's who didn't dare come down to the ground floor. They stood at the safety of the balcony and watched the ongoing's. Some among'st them clutched their Bibles fearing that the devil had just showed up at their doorsteps.
I was neither the balcony watchers nor the super excited group but chose the middle path. As a teenager in school I was a fan of Jeff Corwin and Steve Irwin. These two guys always awed me by their fearlessness to be in peace with any reptile. Today it seemed I was just at a shoot of such an episode on National Geographic. Excitement keep building on but the most awaited handler didn't seem to show up.
From evening to night almost 4 hours had passed. People took turns to keep a watch, so that other's could finish dinner. Finally at 10 the guy turned up on his bike. He took out a hammer and started banging around the spot. I guess his attempts may have scared the little fellow. When he lifted up the stone our wriggly friend had disappeared in thin air. He hammered and broke down the cemented entrance but nothing turned up. He said the snake must have disappeared into the nearby hedges through the internal crevices. Everyone was disappointed ! Some cursed him for scaring away our friend.
People slowly turned back to there homes. Our slithery visitor had turned my dull evening into a racket. Some feared that it would show up at someone's doorstep in future. I knew at heart that he knew better and had run for his life.
