A Serpentine Tale

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

It looks like it is a season for the snake serials in the Television. While Tamil Television appears to be showing a serial about the snake turning a girl, Hindi Television appears to show Nagin, a famous serial acted by Rajath who has a big fan following worldwide.

Pouring milk into the pit as a worship has been traditional in India for years. I remember watching a Tamil movie in which a hero wants to show his guts to the heroine asking the comedian to put a trained snake into a pit so that when it comes out, he can take it out and show his guts to the heroine. All of a sudden, when the women poured milk, two snakes shows up resulting in the hero afraid of which one to capture. Finally, the heroine handles it resulting in hero getting disappointed.

Parama Padam is a famous game when we were all growing up and we used to take it out and play on Vaikunda Ekadasi to keep awake all night. While one ladder used to give an enormous jump almost towards the end of the game while one snake used to bring us down from the top line to the first line. In order to teach the children about values, I created a snake and ladder game a year or two ago.

If you carefully analyze the announcers and commercial product voice provider, you would notice that most of them use Tamil even worse than your friend. Your friend can be excused. In the software company we worked for, we had a nick name for the V.P. of Quality as snake as he is known for not just biting but back biting.

You have a pretty strong resume of writing about many species and it would be wonderful if you can write about Sparrows, a specie disappeared from Singara Chennai.

 

good one Sir. I liked the way you narrated the article.
Good snakes can't hear what we say

thank you.

 

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That was what how the snake laughed, CS after scaring me in my dream and seeing me run! I am not quite sure whether (s)he was amused at my fear or whether the sight of me 'running' was so comic!

You never cease to amaze me, CS with all the stuff on creepy crawly's that you can pull out of your hat (not that I have ever seen you wear one!!!)

 

Dear Cheeniya sir,
One more creepy creature is added to creepy creature lovers club!
I have Ophidophobia(Is the spelling correct). After seeing some T. V Serials developed love for snakes? Our Mythology has many stories of snakes. Of all the animal kingdom snakes have attracted many writers, TV serials and the imagination runs wild!
Non poisonous snakes laugh at us seeing us running away! How would we know if they are poisonous or not!!! Better to be safe.
Yes, however high we climb with ladder a snake can bring us down in one stroke of dice!!!! Very true.
Snacks and snakes are hilarious.
Syamala

 

Sir, your take on another creature this time is yet another thought provoking blog.
2. You had put it very hilariously as if snakes would standstill at your presence . I don’t think you would (with) stand it’s sight .
3. Bhagvan Vishnu is relaxing over coiled Adisesha and theists prostrate infront of sriranganathar.
4. But in real life not a single person would stand close when it takes its hood and dance menacingly.
5. I remember Sridevi movie NAGINA and whenever she appeared as snake on screen I stood still!
6. Recently I happen to watch the hollywood thriller movie “ snakes in flight” learnt so much about numerous varieties of snakes and how there poison come in handy to treat some cancer. ( that reminds the Tamil adage anything in excess including ambrosia is poison) another adage comes to mind . Pampu enral padaium nadungum.
6. Snakes reside in our adjacent open plot filled with wild growth. They at a time produce forty fifty babies they say. But luckily I don’t see so many around our home. One snake over one meter long just passing around mastry’s Legs and he said it will not harm him or any as it is quite old. The pattern over its body and its slither from a distance was a macabre watch.
7. Early morning, when I opened the wooden door leading to our back yard, OVER the iron grille, I spotted a long thin fragile cloth which I was about to push it away, when neighbour from balcony told me it is snakes skin. It sent shivers in me.
8. Your Snake story reminded me a comedy scene in Tamil movie a vadivelu starter. Of course the fear of snake dancing over his chest well expressed humorously by super star Rajini on his face in another Tamil movie.
9. Snakes as snacks - your friend and you quite hilarious. I think malayalee too utters the English snake as snack.
10. A snake was climbing up our stairs when we just unlocked our return from long tour. Our Ac bed room was up but we managed to bypass it reached our bed.
11. Snake and ladder reference is thought provoking. It is exemplifying how hard it is to reach heaven. I too used to play this with other members of family overnight and my dice could reach many times me to the bottom ie hell. This shows there is not as much to do as in down to earth.
12. Other day I saw lady dressed in sizzling snake attire and carrying vanity bag with snake face on either side. Macabre sight.
13. Mahiravanan played a major role in reaching his opponent hiding over a tall tower by holding in a fruit as a snake worm which was sent up for breakfast!
14. In Tamil we say "pampin kal pampu ariyum". I.e. that is a thief can identify another thief. 14. Nowadays it is easy for urbans to show snakes to their children thanks for discovery channel.
15. I remember a story read in kalkandu magazine edited by late tamilvanan. When all guests left after an elaborate feast in the afternoon, the cleaner found a dead snake in left over cooked rice in the huge container. When the news was heard by some guests who had eaten already but still at the venue died of heart attack but those eaten and left before the news was out found alive and comfortable. Mear shocking news supposed to have caused death to some.
16. You know pretty well that Snakes have no legs and they got to lift part of their body and throw to move ahead. Hence its movement is zig zag.
Regards.
Lord Shiva likes grey snake coiled around his waist and neck. Ragu and kedu are head - tail of a snake.

 

@Cheeniya Hi Uncle,
I was smiling from the beginning to end while reading your Serpentine Tale and especially your friend's snacks-snakes part was hilarious . Snakes and ladders is one of my all time favorite games and now I play that game with my kids during holidays. we can learn lessons from simple games, too.

 

An FB befitting your emblematic line at the foot of your response above. Nice & thanks.
2. In my response to this thread I had stated about my exp of pushing the tissue like skin shed by snake at our home backyard.
3. I googled to know why they shed skin vis a vis humans. Quote (.) Scientists call this process ecdysis, although you may also sometimes hear the terms sloughing and molting. Snakes shed their skin to allow for further growth and to remove parasites that may have attached to their old skin. As a snake grows, its skin becomes stretched.(.) interesting.
Regards.
God resting and relaxing enjoying His siesta on Adishesha - the mythological equivalent of modern giant Anaconda - believed floating over Milky Ocean - at Sri Rangam, Trichy, South India is feast to the eyes. Yeyn pallikondeer ayya ..... rendering by Padmasri jesudas in high octave reverberates......

 

An FB befitting your emblematic line at the foot of your response above. In my previous response I had stated of my seeing and pushing shed skin of snake. Researched and found in google these lines that are interesting to enrich this thread.
Quote (.) Scientists call this process ecdysis, although you may also sometimes hear the terms sloughing and molting. Snakes shed their skin to allow for further growth and to remove parasites that may have attached to their old skin. As a snake grows, its skin becomes stretched.(.) unquote
During those days as a school going boy, I used to wonder in the street with others a dancing snake uncoiling raising its hood from a bamboo basket to rhythmic music by snake charmer with his blowing instrument made of bamboos. I had seen the fat frogs caught and swallowed by snakes .
Thanks & Regards.

 

Dear Chennyia sir,

Indeed a serpentine tail...I know you said tale, I said tail My mom always said "it is like giving milk to a snake" every time someone back stabbed or did something that we did not expect from them. Perhaps, it indicates no matter what, some people are looking out only for them selves - you know a snake cannot help even with milk being fed, if it senses a movement will get ready to attack. It is a different story not all of them are poisonous but the suddenness of the action can scare anyone. I don't know about you, but I am glad to know the fear of snakes is universal. There is some relief in that. Truth be told, I am happy to see them around Lord Shiva than anywhere else. You speak of snakes and ladders and I did some reading on the same and some fascinating stuff especially related to spirituality but I have to be honest, all I worried about while playing was winning. I don't know why games have to be educational and them being educational should be a reason for kids to play or teachers allowing them to play. They can just be games no? when my students convince me about the educational value of some video game, it leaves no impression on me. All I remember about snakes and ladders is the calendar like chart that we used to roll up and take around. Enter Milton Bradley and now we have chutes and ladders - I think I still have one at home! The journey of this game from India, to England to US - never had I read about it.

Well no matter why you wrote this, I am glad those women showed up seeking your blessings and we get to read a snippet!