A Day with Vasuki

Monsoon in Kolkata after the searing summer days brings a much awaited relief, albeit the city has woes of its own in the wet season. Precipitous clouds drench the parched earth as well as a caked mind. Mental avenues are flung open to niches where rain soaked nostalgia nestles. Mona, a housewife with a school going kid was particularly enamoured of such rainy afternoons. After being done with hectic domesticity, afternoons were only for herself to browse, chat online or just get immersed in effusive memories.

On one such afternoon the newly sprouting patches of green near her window was the focus of her attention which swerved to lush green ambience in Arunachal Pradesh. It was there that she was born and brought up. Both her parents taught at the technical institute NERIST. The rain bathed the innermost recess of her heart; a nugget of her childhood days snuggled there.

This was one of those wet days of the month of Sravana wringing out each drop of water from the charcoal hued sky. Riding high on the tide of remembrance Mona couched on the window ledge and became oblivious of her surroundings. She had taken a mental flight to the banks of river Dikrong in Nirjuli. Suddenly a plop on the puddle distracted her. Her inert gaze shaken she drifted in the direction of the sound .She caught a glimpse of a stout ophidian twisting its way in the puddle and heading towards a nearby thicket. Mona was not at all perturbed at the sight of the slimy slithering reptile.

The place she hailed from abounded with various species of such crawly creatures. She knew from her childhood that most of them were harmless and only struck while in defence mode. But the sight nudged her to a particular day in Arunachal Pradesh when she was barely eight years old.

The road to her house situated on the fringe of Itanagar was an uphill diversion from the main road with indentations which served as steps. Their house perched on top of the slope was open to nature in all its resplendence. Mona spent most of the day with her loving Dai, a middle aged lady whom she identified as her second mother. Mona loved her spunk, her assuring warmth. Thus little Mona never suffered pangs of insecurity or feeling of being abandoned in her mother’s absence. On weekends and holidays Mona rejoiced in the embracing sights and sounds of Nature. She would try to capture its beauty and colours in crayons. Her bond with Nature was inspirational; the companionship growing day by day.

It was a Saturday; a holiday for Mona but working day for her parents. There was an antechamber in their house in Itanagar with its door facing a sprawling garden.  In this little chamber was enshrined their family deity Radha Krishna and the room served the purpose of thakur ghar. Mona was sitting in the adjacent living room near a window gazing intently at the outline of a flock of birds receding far away against the background of a cerulean sky. All of a sudden a shriek coming from the antechamber startled her. The cacophonous chirp of the birds in the morning did little to drown the exploding scream of Dai. She rushed into the room and shut the door with a bang breathing a sigh of relief. But an inkling of consternation emanated from Dai’s eyes.

Overcoming the initial jolt Dai was back to her air of composure. Hugging her little darling she whispered, “Don’t open the door and enter thakur ghar. Don’t ever go outside the house.”

Mona, befuddled at the stern warnings from her ever indulgent Dai asked, “Why Dai?”

“Come see with your eyes. It is indeed a rare sight.”

Holding her little hands securely Dai led Mona to the only window which opened to the ante chamber. Then lifting her a bit she pointed at the deity’s ashana.

Through the window Mona beheld a brownish black neatly coiled thing near the deity’s mangal ghat.

Mona mumbled, “What is that?”

“A snake”

Mona was flabbergasted. Being a child brought up in the hilly terrain amidst nature she was acquainted with the fauna of the place. Many a times she had chanced upon snakes slithering past groves and hedges in their compound and outskirts. But never did she encounter such a situation inside the house!

The little girl gulping down a whimper threw her hands round Dai’s neck.

“What shall we do now?”

“Hush dear, all will be well. We should not disturb it.  We are blessed as Vasuki, who coils round Lord Shiva’s neck is visiting us. Snakes do not harm if left alone. It will go back to nature on its own through the open door of the room. But we must be careful.” Saying this she closed the door.

The hours spent thereafter were fraught with anxiety and trepidation though Dai put up the coolest show. She cooked lunch as usual, dusted and cleaned while Mona doodled with her crayons unmindfully. The subdued agitation of Dai only surfaced with the intermittent peeps she took from the window to check the whereabouts of the reptilian guest. And it lay there immobile as if in fuzzy torpor. Nothing could be more nerve wracking and inhospitable than this expectant wait for their guest to depart.

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While having lunch Mona said, “Who is Vasuki, Dai?”

“The snake that you see coiled round Lord Shiva’s neck is Vasuki. He is supposed to be the king of serpents and has a gem embedded on the crown.”

Mona’s eyes glistened in surprise. “So this snake has a gem?”

“This one doesn’t.”

A bit disheartened Mona quipped, “But you said that it is Vasuki .”

“He is a representative of Vasuki and the real Vasuki is coiled round Lord Shiva’s neck.” Dai tried to sound confident enough.

Lunch was not the same as other days. Mona’s thoughts irresistibly hinged on Vasuki. How could Vasuki or his representative stay at one place so long? Was it sleeping or meditating like Lord Shiva? Didn’t it feel hungry? She had heard that pythons could swallow birds and mammals. Thank God this wasn’t a python! Mona by now had overcome her initial fear. So every time Dai went to the window to check whether the visitor had left them Mona fervently prayed that it remained in its place. The dramatic appearance of the intruder in her uneventful life meant more than an adventure for her. The euphoria of spending hours with Vasuki’s representative in the adjacent room boosted her imagination. She beamed with the idea of spinning a story and bravely boasting about it to her school friends on Monday.

At about 4 o’ clock Dai’s face lighted up with a sense of relief. She had peeped through the window to find that the snake was not in its place. It was as if a stone had been lifted from her heart. She opened the door and looking carefully in all directions of the little space tried to convince herself that the snake had left through the open door facing the garden. With a lilting gait she went to the open door and peeped out in the garden. No! Nothing could be seen. Having satisfied herself she was about to close the door when her eyes fell on the utensils used for puja piled up in a corner.

A second round of surprise awaited them. Dai tiptoed to the corner to check whether the visitor had taken refuge in the mess of utensils. With a long stick she poked and rummaged the items from a distance to detect its presence. She was about to be rest assured of its exit when a wooden low stool in the room caught her attention. Could it be hiding below it? With the end of the stick she gently overturned the stool from a safe distance. And hey presto, the snake lay ensconced in the cavity below the stool. Annoyed at being disturbed, it writhed out. Dai flung herself back to the living room closing the door behind her.

For a moment she stood dazed with eyes closed contemplating on the danger she had managed to evade. She then went to the window to take a look where their Vasuki had positioned itself. The visitor was back to its prior seat of repose.

“What shall we do now?” Mona wailed.

“Shhh…your parents will be back now. Don’t worry. We will definitely think of a strategy if it doesn’t quit on its own.”

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It was almost 4.30 pm. and time for Mona’s parents to return. The clank of the compound’s iron Gate heralded their arrival. Mona’s face lit up with a sense of relief as she ran to the front door to greet them.

“Oh my God! Look out Dai…there’s a snake sneaking out through the back door.” The voice of Mona’s mother though quivering in fear rang distinctly. Elated, Dai mumbled a prayer and rushed to the thakur ghar. She caught sight of the wriggling tail of the incredibly large reptile vanish out of sight; Vasuki meandering its way into its abode, nature.

Dai closed the back door.

Papa and Mama entered, Mona could not wait to narrate her intriguing experience of the day.  She could not deny the fact that she had enjoyed every bit of the episode with baited breath.

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             Sravana: one of the two monsoon months.

        thakur Ghar:  room for worship in a house

         ashana: seat of the divine deity

         mangal ghat: pot filled with water used while worshiping.

Amita Ray, former Associate Professor in English is a Translator, Short Story writer and Poet. She has four volumes in Translations of noted Bengali authors to her credit.  She has also published  a collection of short stories titled TRAIL OF LOVE AND LONGINGS. Her recent publication is a collection of poems UNTIL BIRDS SING .