ANNYATHA MULYAHEENA…… childhood memoir.
Is it possible to write adequately on motherhood, that to by a male? Answer is a big no. I am putting here a perfect picture of still confrontation between two mothers, witnessed on Raja, the festival of monsoon during pre 8th class summer vacation in 1979. The cow with a fresh calf was grazing at the southern side of our kitchen garden where there was the sweetest guava tree near the cow dung pit that supplied good manure to it; at a little distance was the bamboo bush on the wall of a tiny family pond, used for washing the dishes. It was not for swimming. In between the pit, the pond, the bush and the sweetest guava tree was a weak Bella tree that never grew. Nothing grows well near a bush of the tallest grass, bamboo. That weak tree could hide a story at its root.
The area was an attractive place for children to pluck guavas.
The boy in charge of the cow was Indramani whom I called mamu suddenly screamed. All the festive gathering rushed to the spot. The cow was in a special posture never moving an inch and creating unusual sound not akin to cattle, a big cobra stood at its maximum spinal erection spreading its hood to the largest without moving a little from its place, throwing hissing sound but not swinging to and fro as a snake does. The cow was not guarding itself but clearly guarding its baby calf not to go near the danger. My father went with a big and stout long stick and first tried to move the cow to safe place but in vain, and then he tried to threaten the snake with the stick it also did not move. Our villagers do not kill snakes as a first option as we had a natural snake help line in the form of Singh Sahi, the snake charmers of the village. One was summoned and the perfect still picture of nature remained as such till some minutes. Now a plan B was adapted by moving the young calf to the distant cow shed and then only the cow moved to the shed. Probably the unusual voice of the cow was begging this for long time. With the movement of the cow the snake receded inside the hole at the root of the Bela tree. Bella tree and the snake favorite of Lord Mahadev on this festive day can be a news item today but that story ended in tragedy.
The snake-help-man arrived. The skilled man put all his special efforts to catch the reptile which otherwise was an easy job for his degree of experience. With a lot of trial he brought the cobra outside, caught it safely and the man told it laid eggs so was very dangerous. The eggs were not like bird`s egg but all had ready young ones some already out and some were inside the egg, and some came out in front of our eyes.
To memorize snake is ovoviviparous, and to see it in reality is different. Total 21 cobra-lets were counted in our own kitchen garden but what to do with them. We were told, the Singh would be the king of this brigade and will rear them.
Elders were discussing why the cobra mother did not come out or recede till the cow was there; it also had motherly instinct to feel the cow may put its leg destroying the young ones.
It was not difficult to go to the singh sahi to verify the snake and its young ones and unfortunately not a single young was there I believed we were wrongly told so to keep the sensitive childhood unhurt, tragic fact is that, the platoon was killed.
Is it possible to write adequately on motherhood, that to by a male? Answer is a big no. I am putting here a perfect picture of still confrontation between two mothers, witnessed on Raja, the festival of monsoon during pre 8th class summer vacation in 1979. The cow with a fresh calf was grazing at the southern side of our kitchen garden where there was the sweetest guava tree near the cow dung pit that supplied good manure to it; at a little distance was the bamboo bush on the wall of a tiny family pond, used for washing the dishes. It was not for swimming. In between the pit, the pond, the bush and the sweetest guava tree was a weak Bella tree that never grew. Nothing grows well near a bush of the tallest grass, bamboo. That weak tree could hide a story at its root.
The area was an attractive place for children to pluck guavas.
The boy in charge of the cow was Indramani whom I called mamu suddenly screamed. All the festive gathering rushed to the spot. The cow was in a special posture never moving an inch and creating unusual sound not akin to cattle, a big cobra stood at its maximum spinal erection spreading its hood to the largest without moving a little from its place, throwing hissing sound but not swinging to and fro as a snake does. The cow was not guarding itself but clearly guarding its baby calf not to go near the danger. My father went with a big and stout long stick and first tried to move the cow to safe place but in vain, and then he tried to threaten the snake with the stick it also did not move. Our villagers do not kill snakes as a first option as we had a natural snake help line in the form of Singh Sahi, the snake charmers of the village. One was summoned and the perfect still picture of nature remained as such till some minutes. Now a plan B was adapted by moving the young calf to the distant cow shed and then only the cow moved to the shed. Probably the unusual voice of the cow was begging this for long time. With the movement of the cow the snake receded inside the hole at the root of the Bela tree. Bella tree and the snake favorite of Lord Mahadev on this festive day can be a news item today but that story ended in tragedy.
The snake-help-man arrived. The skilled man put all his special efforts to catch the reptile which otherwise was an easy job for his degree of experience. With a lot of trial he brought the cobra outside, caught it safely and the man told it laid eggs so was very dangerous. The eggs were not like bird`s egg but all had ready young ones some already out and some were inside the egg, and some came out in front of our eyes.
To memorize snake is ovoviviparous, and to see it in reality is different. Total 21 cobra-lets were counted in our own kitchen garden but what to do with them. We were told, the Singh would be the king of this brigade and will rear them.
Elders were discussing why the cobra mother did not come out or recede till the cow was there; it also had motherly instinct to feel the cow may put its leg destroying the young ones.
It was not difficult to go to the singh sahi to verify the snake and its young ones and unfortunately not a single young was there I believed we were wrongly told so to keep the sensitive childhood unhurt, tragic fact is that, the platoon was killed.
I requested my daughter to read it loudly over the landline .It couldn't imagine brother's writings were touchy then in English also !
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