The Mark Of Vishnu

I admit it. I am a city slicker. Yes when my parents moved to South Delhi back in the day (when I was a toddler) it was considered the backside of beyond as you had to cross the Ridge Road to get to it. We had mongoose, likely snakes, peacocks and lots of trees around us. My earliest memories though are of a fairly well settled neighbourhood, although if went into the ruins of some old fort nearby we did see peacocks (even some charsis but that is neither here nor there).

My brush with wildlife has been restricted to safe, physically restricted environments - such as the zoo or the TV for instance. No matter how lifelike the image on National Geographic HD, it didn't put the scare of God in me. We did hear coyotes in San Diego in the hills behind our house, and legend has it that small pets had to be kept inside at night for fear of snakes and coyote packs, but other than the racket they created, I never did see one close up and personal.

All that changed today. Today we were on our usual early morning (early for me anyway :) ) walk. Matilda and Xena were particularly frisky chasing squirrels, birds and if they had had their way, dogs. Xena was nosing around as usual when suddenly she jumped two feet in the air and landed next to me. There in front of my eyes, no more than 8 feet away was the hood of a Cobra, the Mark of Vishnu plainly visible on it. Unaware of the danger they were in, Matko and Xena wanted to get a closer look at this strange creature, and I held on to them tightly as we backed away from the snake. I checked Xena all over for any signs that she may have been bit, not knowing what I would do even if she had. Fortunately for us, the cobra was not interested in confrontation and it slid away to find a quiet spot to rest in.

This experience has left me shaken (not stirred) not least because anything could have happened to Xena. I've always known and seen peacocks, monkeys and other fairly safe wildlife in the hills, but now that I know what danger lurks there, it gives me pause. After all, I am a city slicker.