Sneaky Snake

Sneaky Snake

Somewhere in the lap of mountains, in the rural village of Vellari, there lived closely knit families in huts with thatched roofs. In one of these huts, Swami and Shreya lived with their farmer parents – Asha and Nagraj. To have additional income, sometimes their father drove trucks. The family dearly missed him whenever he went for driving truck for weeks together.

As their hut was surrounded by Uncles-Aunts and grandparents, they helped each other in daily life. One night, when Nagraj went out on driving expeditions, a slimy Indian king cobra sneaked in their hut. Asha was quick to spot it. She screamed aloud with all her might and hurried the kids outside the hut. Two of Nagraj’s brothers – Krishna and Mani, ran to their rescue.

Both Krishna and Mani were opposite each other. One wanted to kill the cobra and the other feared it to be God send. He believed that if we show lit camphor to it and pray, it will go. Krishna didn’t agree, he opined what if it hid nearby or came back again.

Krishna’s daughter in law died due to snake bite leaving a year-old baby girl to be brought by Krishna and his wife. She was immediately given first aid and rushed to the hospital to no avail. This incident hardened him, and he started despising snakes.

The snake settled calmly in one corner of the hut. Krishna was in haste and wanted to act before it harmed anyone. He rushed with a stick and hit the snake once. It rattled and produced hood with a hiss. It scared everyone. Mani was in tears. He instructed Asha and the kids to bring camphor (karpuram) from the puja room. As the snake was lying adjacent to that room, no one dared to go past the snake to get it. Mani ran to his hut to bring the camphor.

Everyone waited outside until Mani returned. The snake was nowhere to be seen. No one saw it coming out. The hut had 4 rooms – Kitchen, Puja room, storeroom for grains and hall for sleeping or performing daily chores. They feared the worst if it hid in huge grain storage mud pots, it could bite anyone to death anytime. By now, all the elderly family members had joined in searching for the snake with their lathis and small weapons. They left the sleeping kids in their respective huts. Hours passed by and nobody knew where it went. Gradually, people started going back to their huts. After a daylong work and this snake search, they were all worn out.

To calm everyone, Mani, said “it must have gone outside unnoticed via roof. Let’s go to bed. It’s very late now”. Krishna on the contrary worried what if it was still there. He stayed back.

As soon as Swami lifted the blanket on the cot to sleep, the king cobra hissed with the hood. A chill ran down his spine. The startled kid threw the blanket, ran, and hid behind his uncle. Krishna beat it to death as if taking the revenge for past.

It almost dawned by the time they burnt the dead snake with prayers and swept the home clean. Finally, all of them rested for the day.

 -          Saranya