While the monsoons are welcome in Kerala each year, they bring along a host of problems
with them. The rivers get flooded first, followed by the low-lying fields and small streams / canals. And depending on how close to the river or fields you are, your house would be
affected accordingly.
Most houses in our neighbourhood had ankle deep water around them. Some of them had
water entering the home, leading the residents to either go up to the first floor (if they had
one) or relocating temporarily to the homes of relatives. We are lucky to be located such
that the flood water only reaches till our paddy field that borders our home.
While rains and floods are looked upon as unavoidable problems, one fallout of floods is that reptiles get driven out of their usual abodes and enter human residences, which to be frank
is quite unnerving. Would you like to wake up at night and see a cobra or viper alongside you? Definitely not my idea of a good night.
When I was young and had not heard of wildlife protection and the value of each animal in
the eco-system, snakes for me were something to be hunted down. My uncle, at that time,
used to be a distributor for roof tiles and he used to stock the tiles in our compound.
The tiles would remain undisturbed for a long time, till some buyer came to get some.
When the tiles were disturbed, almost every time, there would be a snake slithering out.
I loved those times. I would be ready with a stick (made of chural - a tree from the bamboo family) which my Grandfather used to keep for such uses.
I don't know what snakes they were, or whether they were poisonous, but in most cases,
I would have managed to kill them. Today, I am wiser, after knowing their role in nature
and would not go after one. Ofcourse, if me or my loved ones were facing a threat from one,
I would still not hesitate to kill it.
Anyway, killing a snake is no big deal if you are armed and also are expecting it. What is
daring is to take one head-on when you least expect it, like it happened to my friend
Vijayan a couple of days ago.
Vijayan's home borders the paddyfield on one side and a small canal on the other. Due to
the location, the area gets flooded each year and this year also was no exception. Since the
water was creeping up daily and was threatening to enter his home, he sent his wife and
kids to his in-laws place and stayed back to guard the house - thieves get active during
such times, you see.
So, one evening, he is at home sitting and reading a magazine, when he picks up a towel
lying on the floor. The next thing he knows is an anali (malayalam for Viper - venomous
snake) has bitten his hand and is hanging on. As per Vijayan, most snakes usually bite you
only long enough to inject the venom, but the anali is like a dog - it will hang on after biting.
The snake was only 2 feet long, but is venomous.
If I had been in his place, I would have been really afraid. But what Vijayan did next was remarkable. He killed the snake using a wooden log he found nearby. Not because it angered him by biting, but because he knows that when he goes for treatment, it would be very helpful for the doctors to administer the right anti-venom, if they know which snake bit him.
So, he killed the snake and took it along with him when he went to the hospital at Kottayam, some 35kms from our place. Its a pity that a person has to travel so far for anti-venom in a state, which has such a lot of snakes and I assume quite some snake-bite cases.
Anyway, his presence of mind was helpful to the doctors to administer the right anti-venom
and combined with the help from friends who donated blood for him, he is alive today. Looks much leaner and weak than how he looked when I saw him a few months ago, but atleast alive.
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