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A Serpentine Tale

Discussion in 'Cheeniya's Senile Ramblings' started by Cheeniya, Feb 2, 2019.

  1. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Cheeniya Sir,
    Interesting mail on snakes.In villages a particular sect never used to celebrate the ayush homam or the first birth day of the child.The story goes that a lady gave birth to a male child and snake. The snake never harmed anyone and it was a pet. It willhave its bedding near the baby. It so happened that they wanted to celebrate the first birth day in a grand manner.As there were many guests the snake was kept in a back yard room. In the morning Homam was over.In the evening the child was taken by procession in the streets. The cooks were busy preparing dinner. The snake wanted to roam about and have a taste of payasam. As the cooks saw the snake they became much afraid and they simply kept a big brass vessel of boiling Sambar on the snake. The snake passed away immediately. The child who was taken by procession and was smiling with all lights and fire works immediately collapsed and died. My sister was given in marriage in that family and she never celebrated her children's birth day. Quite unbelievable. We used to think that they did not want to spend on celebrations.
    We had a 'visha Raja Venkataraman 'who used to cure snake and scorpion bites by chanting mantras. He was a distant cousin of my father.When my mother had scorpion bite, that Chithappa came home.He had patches of holy ash on his forehead.He chanted some mantras .He gave some spirit in a small bottle and applied it on the bitten area. Next morning Amma was doing work in the kitchen. I was about 10 years old. I took the bottle. Inside the bottle was spirit half full and it had dead bodies of the hit and killed small small scorpions. We thought that it was a trick.The dead scorpions soaked is spirit acted as antidote for scorpion bite,Thereafter we neverlooked for visha raja. In thatched houses there was no dearth of scorpions. We used to run after scorpions, hit them with broom and place them in a bottle of spirit. We started curing scorpion bites ourselves.I do not know whether the trick will work out for snake bites.
    Between snake and snack, it is no wonder, many pronounce it wrongly and seek shelter under pronunciation vagaries of English.
    jayasala 42
     
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  2. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    :hello:interesting and my mom used the scorpion dead and soaked in some oil as application on fresh scorpion bite that I had exactly at Nine in the night three times all on Fridays when dad was about to listen to AIR news. Yes we lived under country tiled roof then. It was my duty to roll out the beds for our family and the deadly brown scorpion hid in bed stung back of my palm.
    Very refreshing to read your parallel after a month of hiatus.
    Regards.
     
  3. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Sri sir
    I was clutching my tummy after a hearty laugh, especially after your friend ordered S. Indian vegetarian snakes!

    Snakes always scared me, though my dad tried to remove it by telling me their unique characteristics, and assuring me that they are harmless unless threatened, adding that our own species are the ones we should be more scared.

    Good one sir. Now I will never eat a snack without recalling this snippet.:D
     
  4. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Viswamitra
    My dear Viswa
    You said it right but a small correction though. Movies have been featuring snakes in key roles from time immemorial. I remember seeing some snake movies in my childhood holding my mother's hand. I remember Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam, (1950) featuring a snake-woman in a key role. Padmini's elder sister Lalitha was the snake queen. I remember another one which I saw as a kid. I forget the name of the movie. A snake decides to kill the king. Having come to know of it, he takes all precautions to prevent the snake from entering his house. The snake hides itself as a worm in a fruit that is sent to the king. When he cuts the fruit the worm becomes a huge snake and kills the king. Down the years, we had a number of movies featuring leading stars as snakes.
    That sentence brought tears in my eyes. There used to be hundreds of them in my house and with the high tech lifestyle of people, they vanished totally. I remember my mum keeping a bowl of water for the sparrows to drink.
    Sri
     
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  5. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Adharv
    Dear Adharv
    Don't be too sure about it. My grandma had told me several stories in which snakes had heard the voice of many humans and punished or rewarded them depending on the contents of what they heard. She would never call a snake as a snake but as 'Periyavar' (honored soul)!
    Sri
     
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  6. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @satchitananda
    My dear Satchi
    Nobody can supplement their posts with such visual aids . I loved the toothless Gandhian style of smile of the snake!
    I vote for this alternative. You have not been created to attempt running and that makes me feel close to you! Twin souls!
    I have never worn a hat. The only person I saw wearing a hat in this part of the country was the popular movie actor Jawar Seetharaman.
    upload_2019-2-4_14-46-1.jpeg
    Sri
     
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  7. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @shyamala1234
    My dear Syamala
    According to a survey conducted on snakes, it came to light that 99.99 percent of the population had great fear for snakes. The 0.01% comprised of the snake charmers of the country. Spelling rattles me a lot. I even get confused if we spell the land beside the sea as beech or beach!
    Here is a Ramakrishna Paramahansa parable about a snake:
    Some cowherd boys used to tend their cows in a meadow where a terrible poisonous snake lived. Everyone was on the alert for fear of it. One day a brahmachari was going along the meadow. The boys ran to him and said; 'Revered sir, please don't go that way. A venomous snake lives over there.' 'What of it, my good children?' said the brahmachari. 'I am not afraid of the snake. I know some mantras.' So saying, he continued on his way along the meadow. But the cowherd boys, being afraid, did not accompany him. In the mean time the snake moved swiftly toward him with upraised hood. As soon as it came near, he recited a mantra, and the snake lay at his feet like an earthworm. The brahmachari said: 'Look here. Why do you go about doing harm? Come, I will give you a holy word. By repeating it you will learn to love God. Ultimately you will realize Him and so get rid of your violent nature.' Saying this, he taught the snake a holy word and initiated him into spiritual life. The snake bowed before the teacher and said, 'Revered sir, how shall I practise spiritual discipline?' 'Repeat that sacred word', said the teacher, 'and do no harm to anybody.' As he was about to depart, the brahmachari said, 'I shall see you again.'
    "Some days passed and the cowherd boys noticed that the snake would not bite. They threw stones at it. Still it showed no anger; it behaved as if it were an earthworm. One day one of the boys came close to it, caught it by the tail, and, whirling it round and round, dashed it again and again on the ground and threw it away. The snake vomited blood and became unconscious. It was stunned. It could not move. So, thinking it dead, the boys went their way.

    "Late at night the snake regained consciousness. Slowly and with great difficulty it dragged itself into its hole; its bones were broken and it could scarcely move. Many days passed. The snake became a mere skeleton covered with a skin. Now and then, at night, it would come out in search of food. For fear of the boys it would not leave its hole during the day-time. Since receiving the sacred word from the teacher, it had given up doing harm to others. It maintained its life on dirt, leaves, or the fruit that dropped from the trees.

    "About a year later the brahmachari came that way again and asked after the snake. The cowherd boys told him that it was dead. But he couldn't believe them. He knew that the snake would not die before attaining the fruit of the holy word with which it had been initiated. He found his way to the place and, searching here and there, called it by the name he had given it. Hearing the teacher's voice, it came out of its hole and bowed before him with great reverence. 'How are you?' asked the brahmachari. 'I am well, sir', replied the snake. 'But', the teacher asked, 'why are you so thin?' The snake replied: 'Revered sir, you ordered me not to harm anybody. So I have been living only on leaves and fruit. Perhaps that has made me thinner.'

    "The snake had developed the quality of sattva; it could not be angry with anyone. It had totally forgotten that the cowherd boys had almost killed it.

    "The brahmachari said: 'It can't be mere want of food that has reduced you to this state. There must be some other reason. Think a little.' Then the snake remembered that the boys had dashed it against the ground. It said: 'Yes, revered sir, now I remember. The boys one day dashed me violently against the ground. They are ignorant, after all. They didn't realize what a great change had come over my mind. How could they know I wouldn't bite or harm anyone?' The brahmachari exclaimed: 'What a shame! You are such a fool! You don't know how to protect yourself. I asked you not to bite, but I didn't forbid you to hiss. Why didn't you scare them by hissing?'
    - Wikisource
    Sri
     
  8. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Thyagarajan
    My dear Thyagu
    When I was in the Bank, whenever a letter came from a customer or HO seeking information on many points, we would reply them back as under:
    Dear Sir,
    With reference to your letter, we have to advise seriatim as under
    I'll now go on responding to your FB seriatim as under:
    2. If snakes can withstand me, I too can withstand them
    3. The vehicle of Vishnu is Garuda and He sleeps on a coiled snake. That's the beauty and essence of divinity.
    4. I have never seen a snake dancing but I agree that if it ever did, it would be menacing.
    5. I used to stand still when Sridevi appeared in any role, not only when she acted as a snake.
    6. I have not seen that movie in English. I'll respond to this after seeing the movie. By the way, did the snakes also speak in English?
    6 (a).
    I remember the proverb that barking dogs do not bite. Someone remarked 'You know it and I know it but does the dog know it?'
    7. Only human beings wear their cloths again and again. Snakes throw them away.
    8.Does not call for a response
    9. See my response to 8 above
    10. You seem to be quite adept in handling snakes
    11 Viswa is better equipped to respond to this point
    12 I see it everyday!
    13. Mahiravanan appears to be quite a resourceful guy. He could be a good management consultant!
    14. Snakes obviously never suffer from neuropathy to be able to spot their foot. I can't do it not because I am not a snake but I have severe Diabetic neuropathy
    15. I can't understand why there was such panic reaction when the snake was dead and alive and hissing
    16. Thank you for that vital information. It certainly fills a gap in my narration.
    Sri
     
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  9. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Mistt
    My dear Mistt
    Even otherwise, you are a laughing and cheerful girl! Don't give me credit for it!
    Tell me one game from which we cannot learn a lesson!
    Thank you @Thyagarajan for supplementing my response to Mistt
    Sri
     
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  10. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    @Srama
    My dear Sabi
    That's rather an unkind remark about snakes. As one snake was telling another 'I hate milk and you hate milk. Why these ladies pour huge quantities of milk in our pit until we choke? And when we react unable stand the suffocation, they cry foul. Very unfair I tell you!'
    Very true. It applies not only to snakes but to any other species as well. As I have stated elsewhere, it reminds me of the movie 'Birds' by Hitchcock.
    You seem to be speaking more vital truths today than ever before! If there is a game, one has to win and the other to lose. The loser can ultimately be winner as we saw in Mahabharatha. But none felt happy about that because the stakes were too high. If a guy bets Rs.10 on a hearse and if it loses, he just smiles and moves on. But if another guy bets a million on the same horse, he would suffer a heart attack unless he is Ambani.
    Sri
     
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