The Hunt

Summers in North India are scorching hot. Entire day sun will be shining, heating up the houses and making them unlivable. In the night, the houses radiate back the heat absorbed in the day, keeping them still unlivable. So, in the night, people prefer to sleep in open – either in their front yards or on their roofs; it provides at least a moderate relief from the heat. This is truer of the villages, where electricity supply is there, but only in name. This also provides a good bonding opportunity for large families. All are at one place, unable to avoid each other, unable to form small groups, each criticizing others, like in other seasons; so they form one large group and criticize the neighbors instead. So, contrary to the laws of physics, heat also strengthens few bonds.

Just beside Raman’s house, there was a tamarind tree, it was a big tree and was very tall, its branches were spread over a part of his house, and it provided more relief than the adjacent open rooftop. So naturally, his entire family along with his two younger brother’s families preferred to sleep in the shade of the tamarind tree.  One evening when Raman’s wife Vimala, after assigning all the housework to her younger sister-in-law and getting totally tired from this feat, went on the roof and lied on her bed, she saw a strange thing. Just above her, entangled in the branches there was a writhing black, ropy figure. She jumped out of the bed, ran and screamed, “A snake”.

Killing snakes is a crowd-pulling adventure in rural India. A cry about snake might make people stop all their work and reach the spot immediately. Only 3-4 people engage in an actual hunt, but there will be 20-30 spectators, who also act as advisers and historians. Snake being a dangerous (or supposedly dangerous) animal, a lot of caution is taken, strategies are drawn after much brainstorming and then only the real hunt begins, which might last for hours.

Within a few minutes, a huge crowd gathered. There were five people ready with lathis, and 20 more with words and mantras. Someone, standing at a maximum possible distance from the tree on the roof, started chanting mantras of lord Shiva, shaking with fear but unwilling to leave the spectacle. Someone else, with exactly similar feelings, got inspired and started chanting mantras of Janmejay, the king who caught Takshaka naga to avenge his father Parikshit’s killing and whose mere name is supposed to make snakes deter and even vanish.

This was a very unusual situation, the snake was not there in the open or hiding in some bush, it was hanging on a tree. It was half-moon night, but it was considerably dark at that height. There were no torches powerful enough to throw light directly at that height at the snake. It was just swinging and writhing there, stuck at one place, as if thinking of getting out but feeling dizzy because of the height. 

Fear mixed excitement was in the air, voices were coming from all around. Opinions from everyone.

Someone will have to fling a stone so that it falls down.

But will it fall down on the roof, or on the ground?

If it fell on the ground wouldn’t it hide somewhere?

Wouldn’t it get hurt from fall? But what if it didn’t?

‘Don’t forget to crush its eyes after you have killed it, snakes have the photos of their killers in their eyes and their families take revenge.’ This came from a movie buff who had learnt about the photography skills of dead snakes from Bollywood movies about shape-shifting snakes.

 How the hell did it reach at such a height and no one noticed?

‘I have been telling you guys for years that tamarind trees are very inauspicious and get it cut, but you don’t listen, today someone noticed it but what if no one had noticed, what if it was a darker night.’ This was an old man, who truly speaking, had never given any such advice.

After 40-50 minutes of fervid deliberations, the strategy was decided. Two people will be standing at opposite corners of the roof, two more in the front yard, ready with their lathis. Lanterns were placed at many places so that no possible place of the drop remains dark. A fifth person was provided a good supply of wooden wedges, which he will use to hit the snake so that it falls down. Others will be ready to hit it immediately, as soon as it falls down. All the eyes were on the menacing black figure. The hunt was about to begin.

But, it was interrupted by Joginder’s sudden entry. Joginder worked as a guard in a nearby sugar mill. He was given a torch and a regular supply of new batteries by the mill to perform his duties. He stopped others so that he can have a good look and offer the changes in the strategy, using his previous snake-hunting experiences. To assess the situation properly, he pointed his torch directly at the snake and switched it on. It was a torch using 3-batteries and the batteries were new, that entire portion of the tree was bathed in bright light. The first time, everything was visible at that height.

But, there was no snake. It was just a long and thin piece of paper, shaking even from little air – giving the appearance of writhing black snake. It was tail of a kite, which came-off and got entangled in the branches when the kids were flying kites in the evening. Everyone started laughing and took a sigh of relief, except the hunters of course, who were a little disappointed. The tree was 15 years old, it had never given any trouble, only shade, but it was cut and sold before the start of next summer. No one wanted to risk a real snake hanging above their heads in some imaginary future.