That a cobra was more venomous than most other snakes
My mother was brave…. brave to the hilt
If ever she sighted a snake by chance
She would at once chase it with a stick
And kill it if it couldn’t escape her notice
A strange trait not in any way keeping with the one
Who by nature was so compassionate to man and beast
I used to wonder why she was so spiteful to snakes
She had had it ever since I could remember
Later I learned, one of her uncles, in his prime
Had been bitten by a snake and had died a tragic death!
She once chanced to see a snake in our compound
This time her enemy was a formidable one
It was trying to escape to the cluster of bushes
But through the furrowed land, its movement wasn’t easy
My mother not armed with a sturdy cane
Beat it with a flimsy stick… of course a risky act!
It was hit somewhere around its tail
With the fire of fury burning in its eyes
It stood erect with its forked tongue flicking out
And its six inch hood spread out like a fan
It was a cobra of the deadliest kind!
To make matters worse, our dog
Came running from far, ready to pounce on it
My mother was between the devil and the deep sea
Yet she didn’t lose her composure
Without taking her eyes off the snake
She called out to her children to watch the drama
Which she said could never be seen so close
And could be watched, perhaps only in a zoo
We were so scared of the whole scene
And pleaded her to come away instantly
But she said- ‘a wounded snake was a dangerous thing
If let go, it would at any time come back to bite’
Might be a superstition she had imbibed as a child
Fortunately just above that fateful venue
Was our compound wall behind which
All of us had stationed, so panic stricken
My brother, from somewhere lifted up a huge stone
And dropped it over the snake from behind the wall
Something the cobra had never anticipated
Its head was hit hard and was under the rock
As it wriggled and coiled desperately trying to free itself
My mother using the chance, beat it black and blue
And finally it was dead….
A memory
That still sends shivers down my spine
And fills my mind with a rare awe for my mom!

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