A Snake in the Grass

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (1906-2001), the Sahitya Akademy Award winner in 1960, was one of the most accomplished and well-known Indian writers in English. Realism, irony and humour are the distinguished strength of his works. He paints the idiosyncrasies of people with consummate skill. His works include The Guide (novel), Next Sunday (collection of essays) and Lawley Road (collection of short stories). 'A Snake in the Grass', the piece taken from An Astrologer's Day and Other Stories, dramatically presents the alarm and disturbance caused in a household threatened by a cobra. The character of some of the people taking part in the hunt is dextrously revealed. Narayan also touches gently on the people's superstitions concerning snakes. An undercurrent of irony and humour marks many of his observations in the story.

At midday sunny afternoon, when the inmates of the bungalow were at their siesta a cyclist rang his bell at the gate frantically and announced: A big cobra has got into your compound. It crossed my wheel. He just pointed to its track under the gate, and resumed his journey. The family of the mother and her four sons gathered at the gate. The old servant Dasa was sleeping in the shed. They shook him out of his sleep and announced to him the arrival of the cobra, 'There is no cobra,' he replied and tried to dismiss the matter. They swore at him and forced him to take an interest in the cobra. The thing is something here. If it is not found before the evening, we will dismiss you. Your neglect of the garden and the lawns is responsible for all these dreadful things coming in.' Some neighbours dropped in. They look at the at Dasa and say: 'You have the laziest servant on earth'. Dasa said: 'He ought to keep the surroundings tidy. I have been asking for a grass-cutter for months,' In a tone he ordered her to learn to manage with the things available and learn not to make demands. He persisted. They began to estimate how much it would cost to buy a grass-cutter. A neighbour declared that you could not think of buying any article made of iron tilt after the war. He chanted banalities of wartime prices. The second son of the house claimed that he could get anything he wanted at controlled prices. The neighbour became eloquent on black market. A heated debate followed. The rest watched in apathy. At this point the college-boy at home was with: 'I read in an American paper that 30,000 people die each year from snake bites.' Mother threw up her arms in horror and arraigned Dasa. The boy elaborated the statistics. 'I have worked it out, 83 a day. That means every twenty minute someone is dying of cobra-bite. As we have been talking here, one person has lost his wife somewhere.' Mother nearly screamed on hearing it. The compound looked sinister. The boys brought in bamboo-sticks and pressed one into the hands of the servant also. He kept desultorily poking it into the foliage with acynical air. 'The fellow is thinking of the bush,' someone cried. They tuck their dhotis, seize every available knife and crow-bar and start hacking the garden. Creepers, bushes, and lawns, were laid low. What could not be trimmed was cut to the root. The inner walls of the house brightened with the unobstructed glare streaming in. When there was nothing more to be done Dasa asked triumphantly, Where is the snake?

An old beggar cried for aims at the gate. They told him that when he was hitting a snake, he did not see it. On hearing it the old woman became happy. 'You arc fortunate. It is God Subramanya who has come to visit you. Do not kill the snake. 'Mother was heartbroken:' You're right. I forgot Abhishekam promise to everyone. this is a reminder.' He gave a coin to the beggar, who promised to send the snake and charmer on his way. Presently an old man appeared at the gate and declared himself a snake-charmer. They gathered around him. He talked to them about their lives and activities and their power over snakes. They asked admiringly: "How do you catch them?' Thus, 'he said, pouncing upon a hypothetical snake on the ground. He indicates the direction in which the cobra had gone and asked him to go further. He looked on helplessly and said, 'If you show me a snake, I'll catch it once. Otherwise what can I do? The instant you sight it again & send for me. I live nearby. 'He gave his name and address and went away.

At five in the evening, they threw away their sticks and implements and repaired to the veranda to rest. They had replaced every stone in the garden and cut down every grass-blade and shrub, so that there was no covering of the tiniest insect coming into the garden. They were loudly discussing various measures to be taken to protect themselves against future reptiles, when Dasa was carrying a water vessel in front of them, whose mouth was sealed with a slab of stone. He put the pot down and said: 'I have caught him in it. I saw him peeking out of it ... I saw him before I saw him. 'He elaborated on the strategy in which he worked to capture and seal the snake in the pot. They stood at a safe distance and gazed on the pot. Dasa had the glow of a champion on his face. 'Don't call me an idler hereafter,' he said. Mother complimented him on his sharpness and wished she had placed some milk in the pot as a sort of religious duty. Dasa picked up the pot cautiously and walked off saying that he would leave the pot with its content with the snake-charmer living nearby. He became the hero of the day. They watched him in great admiration and decided to reward him adequately.

It was five minutes since Dasa was gone when the youngest son cried: 'See there!' A cobra emerged from a hole in the campus wall. It glided along towards the gate, paused for a moment to look at the gathering in the veranda with its hood half-open. It creeps under the gate and disappears along a rivulet. When he recovered from the shock, he asked: 'Does this mean that there are two snakes here?' The college —boy murmured: 'I wish I had taken the risk and knocked the water-pot from Dasa's hand; we might have known what it contained.'

A Snake in the Grass - R.K.Narayan

End of Articles.... Thanks....