Legend of Snakes
Close Shave Suspicion Rise of Slum Boy The Lame Panther Legend of Snakes
Legend of Snakes
Chapter-1
I was born in the small hilly town of Hazaribagh in Bihar in
1950. A new State of Jharkhand came into existence under the Republic of India
on November 15, 2000, by carving out from the southern portion of Bihar State. Hazaribagh
fell into the new state of Jharkhand.
I had three elder sisters and three younger brothers. The
eldest sister was married in 1954 and stayed with her husband in Patna. The six
brothers and sisters stayed with our parents at Hazaribagh, and we studied in
schools and colleges.
Every summer and winter vacation, we loved to go to our maternal
grandfather's village, known as Laranga. To reach there, we went to the town of
Tandwa, 54 miles away from Hazaribagh, by public bus. The bus journey was good
since we enjoyed the picturesque beauty of rural areas, the hilly rivers, streams,
and dense forests, and at some places near rivers, we saw colorful migratory
birds and swans.
In two to three hours, we reached Tandwa, where our Nana would
be waiting for us. The distance to the village Laranga was 16 miles; since
there was no motorable road beyond Tandwa.
We used to travel in bullock carts, and there were Palki
(palanquins) for the ladies. Four numbers of men, known as Kahars, used to
carry it on their shoulders. We crossed three hilly rivers and passed through
the hills and forests.
We enjoyed watching the birds and colorful water snakes. Unfortunately,
there were no roads, and negotiating the terrain took much work and time.
Our Nana was old but firm; he preferred to walk all along.
He was in the police department during British rule in India
and retired as a Sub-Inspector in charge of a Police Station. He bought a plot
of 500 acres or more of land after retirement, at a price of Rs.2000 only, and preferred
to do farming, so he stayed in the village, even though he had a big house in
Hazaribagh.
He constructed a large house in an area of 150 feet x 200
feet with rooms on all sides and a big open courtyard of 100 feet x 150 feet in
the middle.
Our Nani (maternal grandmother) would eagerly wait for us at
home. We were so happy to meet her, as she loved us a lot and showered her
affection on us, the grandchildren.
She cooked various snacks, which were served to us with tea
and hot milk.
The night used to be very dark, as there was no electricity
in the villages those days. Kerosine lamps and petromax were used for lighting.
We were very cautious of snakes, as the snakes used to come out from their bill
during the night in search of food.
After dinner, we requested Nana and Nani to tell us stories.
During the summer, we preferred sleeping in the open courtyard with mosquito
nets tucked correctly into the bed cushion.
The external walls of the building were made of 3-foot-thick
burnt bricks, and the internal walls were 5-foot-thick clay and sand bricks
(raw unburnt bricks).
There were many rooms to store agricultural products like
paddy, rice, lentils, dried corn, mustard seeds, dried grams, jaggery, etc. For
example, paddy production used to be approximately 200 quintals; hence these
were correctly stored in long bamboo containers, and a mud layer was applied to
save these from rats and insects.
Many a time, we saw cobra snakes in the store rooms.
Probably they were there to hunt for the rats. But, unfortunately, the deadly
krait snakes were hiding in the rat holes, which was a serious concern to all
of us.
There was a vast, solid wooden door at the entrance, which
was riveted with steel. It was not easily breakable. All possible steps were
taken to protect the house against thieves and wild animals.
Outside, there was a large front verandah. At night, large wood
logs were fired, which drove away the mosquitoes, insects, and snakes. The
security guards would rest in the front verandah after a few rounds.
The Night guards used
to guard the house and properties with spears and thick sticks in their hands.
We had around 200 numbers of cows, oxen, and buffaloes,
which the tigers and wolves sometimes attacked.
The young kids of the laborers took the cows and oxen for
grazing in the fields and the forests.
The hilly cows were small and would not produce much milk.
The total milk production was only about 10 liters per day. The milk used to
boil on a low fire in a large shallow pot, and there would be a thick layer of
cream, which was our favorite food item.
We used to enjoy the cream, which used to have a naturally sweet taste.
The laborers were given land to make houses, live, and grow
vegetables. The adult laborers worked in the vast farm area, and the females
worked to process the paddies and rabi crops. They were drying the paddies,
cleaning rice, corn, grams, lentils, grinding the wheat, etc., in the open
courtyard. During the season, the laborers made jaggery from molasses and
extracted mustard oils.
Our Nani used to pay them every day in the evening, not in
the form of cash, but in the form of food produced. So almost all laborers'
families earned. Money had little value; because there was no market nearby,
and if they wanted to buy salt, matchbox, or clothes, they would sell their
food products and get cash.
We learned about snake bites frequently and used to be very
careful.
We also saw giant scorpions once or twice outside the house.
We used to wake up early in the morning, and after bath, we would
have breakfast, and then my dad would call all of us and play card games, Ludo,
Ladder, and Snakes.
I feel sad that those days we did not have good cameras with
us, so I don't have pictures.
I am writing this short story to portray our village life
about 60 years ago.
Many changes have taken place in our villages by now. For
example, I have checked google Maps and found that a motorable road already
connects the village of Laranga. And my home town Hazaribagh has been upgraded
to a district.
After completing my Higher Secondary at Hazaribagh in 1966,
I was admitted to the Regional Engineering College, Rourkela, Odisha State. The
course was for five years, and I graduated in 1971 in the Civil Engineering
stream.
Our campus had extensive land of more than 600 acres. We had
the excellent infrastructure for the College, Administrative Block, Auditorium,
playgrounds for football, hockey, cricket, basketball, badminton, hostels,
markets, restaurants, hospitals, residential quarters, etc.
The college has since been upgraded to the National
Institute of Technology.
Everything was so good, but the encounter with the snakes
did not stop. I remember the day I was riding a bicycle at night, and for a
fraction of a second, I did not trample the King Cobra snake, which was
crossing a road in the town.
Once while walking to college from my hostel in the morning,
I suddenly found a thick black rope between my feet. I looked at it and discovered
its moving tongue. If I tried to retreat,
I might trample it, so I took a quick forward step. It was a lazy, friendly black
snake since it did not attempt to charge or run away.
Some students were behind me. I just warned them to be
careful.
Chapter-2
After obtaining my degree, I got an offer for a job in
Noamundi Iron Ores Mine under TISCO( Tata Iron and Steel Company) in the
Jharkhand area.
I decided to visit my father, who was working in Nagaland
Public Works Department because it would take much work to get leave
immediately after joining the job in TISCO.
I went to Kohima, and my dad came to meet me from his
headquarters. He took me to his Chief Engineer to pay respect to him. The Chief
Engineer persuaded me to join his department.
"Why should you join a private organization when we are
offering you a government job," Mr. Rynjah, Chief Engineer, said.
"Sir, the salary is good, and it was just 200 Km from
my hometown," I replied.
However, ultimately, I joined there in Nagaland PWD. The
place and climate were good. My father also advised me to accept the offer.
The salary was around Rs.1000 per month, which was too much
for me; I could only spend up to Rs.400 monthly. The liqueurs were too cheap
there. One bottle of Rum cost Rs.3, good quality Indian whisky was Rs.20, and
beer was only Rs.3 per bottle.
I had a few good local friends there, and we started having
regular parties.
I never saw any
snakes there.
What may be the reason? I wondered.
This became clear to me when I found that it was a popular
dish for many tribes in those days.
I worked in Kohima for two years and resigned to join the
State of Meghalaya PWD in 1974.
I was posted in Shillong, a wonderful city at an altitude of
5000 feet.
However, within two months, I was transferred to Garo Hills
District and posted under a subdivision looking after embankment and drainage
works. This was a plain belt on the foothills of Garo Hills that was subject to
flood every year, and we had to move in country boats to supervise the earthen
embankments. During the flood, the snakes used to climb on trees and wanted to
jump on the country boats passing by and sometimes chase the boats to climb on
board.
Many times, they used to enter our residences. Several times
I had to jerk them off when they tried to climb on my feet.
In the hilly areas, the Russel vipers, common krait, banded
krait, and Indian cobras were poisonous snakes, and frequent snake bites were
reported. However, timely injections of anti-venom saved lives.
I have probably seen thousands of snakes in the jungle, near
the water, roads, under the bridges, culverts, and around the house in the
compound. Yet, despite staying in snake-prone areas, I have never suffered a
snake bite, perhaps my good luck and God's blessings.
I have experienced a strange incident with snakes and want
to share it with you.
In 1992, I was an Executive Engineer at Tura in the West
Garo Hills District of Meghalaya.
It was a Government-residential quarter allotted to me. It
had three bedrooms, a drawing room, a dining room, a guest room, a kitchen, and
a servant quarter. There were several trees in the compound; banded geckos used
to dwell there on the trees, and sometimes one or two entered the house. I did
not fear them, but their look was so horrible that I hated them.
The local name of the Gecko was TAKKHAT, and their voice was
so high pitched that it was audible from half a kilometer away. They used to
eat all the smaller lizards.
All these poisonous creatures surrounded me, and at night, I
used to tuck the mosquito net properly to be safer.
One night I woke up and found one snake on the bedroom wall.
This was a black King cobra, and I was about to touch it, but I quickly pulled
back my hand.
The snake said, "Don't be scared of me; touch me, and I
won't bite you."
A snake spoke to me in a human voice; I was terrified and sweating.
I looked at the wall. The Snake had vanished. That was a scary dream, I realized.
I looked at the wall clock; it was 7 am. I jumped from the
bed as I was to go for an inspection of a hill road. I asked the servant
whether the driver had come. He told me the driver had been waiting for me
since 6.30 am.
I took a quick shower and was ready within half an hour.
It was a Jeep with special 4/4 gear suitable for a graveled
road. Finally, we reached Rongram on the main highway and entered the graveled Rongram-Phulbari
hill road.
There was dense forest almost throughout the road. I noted down
the road and cross drainages conditions when the driver suddenly applied a hard
break.
"What happened?" I yelled at him.
The driver was speechless; he just indicated in the front.
And when I looked ahead, a long black King Cobra stood erect on its tail just 10
meters away.
I was also speechless and mesmerized. It was the same King
cobra; I had seen in my dream this morning.
The snake stood erect for a minute and then slowly moved out,
cooled down, and entered the forest.
I felt that day that the snakes were not my enemy. They were
always protecting me since childhood, which is why they never harmed me.
Wherever I stayed, I found snakes around my house, as if they were guarding me.
My maternal grandfather had taught me a mantra. He had told
me that if I recited the mantra regularly, it would save me from a snake bite.
I don’t know to what extent the mantra helps, but precaution
and alertness could always be helpful.
Disclaimer: This story, or any other story posted on this Blog/Web site, is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents portrayed in these are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to the actual person/persons, living or dead, events localities is entirely coincidental.
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