The Dark Knight - My first encounter with a serpant

That was a cool January evening. Just a month ago, we had inaugurated our new house at a new layout in the outskirts of the city. Bellary in Karnataka, is mostly known as a dusty arid place, and gets hardly a few inches of rainfall for the whole year. By this time of the year, one can sense the onset of Spring – the dry cool breeze with smell of blossoming neem trees and of smoke coming out of burning dry leaves. There were very few houses in that area at that time, and our building stood quite isolated. With dense thorny bushes around, I would rather call that place a jungle.

There were no tarred roads, and the area was connected to the main road by a foot-road, a literal translation of the word kaalu-daari in my language Kannada. Our way back from the bus-stop off the main road was less than two furlongs, but quite challenging, for there were no lights. The place was infested with poisonous creatures – particularly scorpions; we could spot at least ten of them every evening – really scary place was it.

The previous day we celebrated Deepa’s pregnancy into six months, it was Amogha in her womb. We still had relatives at home. And I was preparing myself to travel to Noida the next evening. I had got a new job in a software company there. Those days were hectic as I had to prepare myself to shift to a place almost a thousand and five hundred kilometres far away.

With all these busy-ness, my bike had its own tantrums to throw. It got a flat tyre. I got the puncture fixed at a ‘punchar’ shop on the main road. Those fellows in the shop discussed about a black cobra they spotted a couple of days back near-by. They asked me if I saw it anytime. Not really! I knew about this because in May previous year, when we laid foundations for our building, an auto-driver who drove us had seen a huge black snake crossing the road very swiftly. I didn’t give it a thought at that time, but then I was scared a bit. And the reason was obvious!

I am always scared of scorpions; their very sight makes me jittery. I still remember how I and my bro survived scorpion bite years ago when we lived in Fort area. We killed at least a couple of scorpions every year in all the localities we lived. So this new place was, in that sense, not very new to us. We usually carried large rechargeable battery torches to make our way back home every evening. What if I found a snake crossing my road?

With all these thoughts in my mind, I rode my bike to home. With so many polythene bags hanging over my bike’s handle, I banged the gate and rushed my bike into the left passage.

Hold! Hold! Hold! It was as if my feet and my brain and all my reflexes were suddenly up in the war-front! I heard a loud hiss. That corner was poorly lit, and I braked instantly. All that moved were some wild horses inside my small thoughtful universe, trying to find a corner to rest in my round little space! I stood agape!

Look down! Freeze! F r e e z e ! Ffff rrr eee zz!!! Did my thoughts take shape! Oh No! What am I seeing! That huge black cobra! Is that real!

Am I alive! Do I have a functioning voice-box! Why am I not able to utter a single word! Where’s all that water in my mouth! My tongue! Does it exist! My lips zipped! Where have my eyelids gone! Breathe! Breathe! OK! OK! Courage! Breathe again! Breathe heavily! Oh! No sound please! No vibrations please! OK! Slowly!

Where is everyone! Why are they all deaf! Does anyone notice! Does anyone know I am here! Breathe! Breathe! Breathe! Ah! Wasn’t the breeze cool enough just a minute back?!

OK! Now! I know you! Enough of this introduction! I know you much better than before! I know you better than those punchar-walas do! I know I don’t want to see you anymore here! I know I don’t know! I have a family! Stop caring about me you six feet scare!

Time has stopped ticking! OK! Who moves first! I know you win! Go! Go! Fast! I know you listen to inner voices! Why aren’t you getting what I mean! Faster! You dark Knight! You can’t lose! Can’t you full-throttle your engine! Covering a centimetre per second is not enough! Seriously? Don’t you plan for an overnight stay here! I am not kidding!

A hood is not necessary! I know you are a cobra! You are the king of the underworld! For some you may look beautiful and charming! Not for me! But why are you bowing down your hood! I am not as scary as you are!

Stop hissing and keep moving! It scares me! Are my feet magnetic! Well! They must be cold by now! Are your heat sensors working! What a pity! You cold-blooded wierdo are on my feet! And I am surrendering to you! What kind of yoga do you practise! Where did you master the art of fine-crawling! Stop playing this slow-motion soundless movie of the forties!

Do you have kids! They will be happy to see you back hole! Go! Fast! I beg! Faster! Why are you in no mood to hurry! You should call it a day! Don’t stress yourself! Your friends must be waiting for you! Aah! What! Did you say you don’t have friends! Ugly, aren’t you! How can you make friends at all! You scare everyone!

Aren’t you lazy! What’s the bulge on your tummy! What have you feasted upon! A frog! Or two! You could have slept by now! Warm up! Summer is still one more month away! Don’t you care about your family! Go! They are waiting for you! Oh! Your belly is as cold as my feet! Look, who is scared?

Don’t you worry! There are a dozen mongooses around here! I will make sure I feed them grains now on every day! And, by the way, they like making friends with you! And partying of course! They will like your family too! You still don’t get me? Tail! At last! Pointed tail! And a scary trail! Breathe! Breathe! Deepa! Deepa! Wow! I have a voice! It’s all back! I am alive!

By the time Deepa came out and stood on the stairs, the black serpent was at least seven feet away from me. He was just waiting to bid good bye to me. He slithered slowly into the man-hole in front of the gate.

Ah! Those five minutes of hell!