Memoir

A WEIRD INCIDENT

A Weird Incident

We all know that in this world everyone is different or you can say that no one person is like other. This difference in personality results in the difference in thoughts and view. Every person see things differently.

      This difference some time make you think that how others are so strange and sometime they even seems weird.

      At some time in your life a situation like this must have arise in your life when you look at a person and think, "How weird  this person is", and the person think the same thing about you. Because as much as people are weird for you, you're also weird for them.

      An incident like this happened in my life too that I want to share with you guys.

       I was in tenth standard when this incident happened. I was fifteen back then and as I already mentioned I was a loner, no friends just class mates.

      so as I was saying when I was in tenth a weird incident happened to me, at least it was weird to me I don't know about others.

     so you see tenth used to be a board class back then and as was usual schools make board classes work harder than any other class.

And because of that we were always in school. life was hectic, we rarely got to watch t.v and there was rarely a time when you can find us home other than night.

      I can still recall the way we used to spend our whole day in school. waking up at 5 in the morning as we have to be in school by 6 for morning class that we called 0 period then a fifteen minutes break for breakfast at 7:15 am, then be in prayer by 7:30. After that school till 2:00 pm and then tution from 3 to 5 in the evening. So in a way we used to spend almost 12 hours in school and that wasn't all, we had no holidays, even  Sundayswere spent in extra classes in school. life was like a hell, a busy hell with no late nights and no late mornings, just a steady rhythm on which we were dancing between school and home.

      the incident happened on a sunday or might be a holiday as I don't remember clearly,  the thing I remember is that I was in school and it was an extra class. our class was the only class in school that day.

       Be in school on a holiday is bad but spending your holiday in Maths extra class is worst, actually it won't be wrong if I call it a hell day, God who wants to spend their holiday doing Math, definitely not me. I won't say I hate maths but I'm close.

      So that day we were in the extra class for like one and a half hour,  when our sir Mr. A give us a 15 minutes break and we were asked to be in school by 15 minutes.

      As it was a Sunday(or a holiday), there was no canteen that day and we were allowed to leave the school building for refreshments.

       On the end of the street, in which our school was situated, was a shop where we can get our refreshments. Almost all the students went to the shop including me.

      I went to get my favourite gelly type toffee that I love. That day on the shop there weren't just shopkeeper and students but someone else too.

     That someone else was a snake charmer who had a basket with him. You know a round basket that you see in the movies from which the snake come out suddenly.

Now as I remember the scene from almost 8 years ago, I realise it was quite dramatic. There was a snake charmer in the shop, who was standing in front of the counter surrounded by students. Where the basket was lying on the counter,  the snake wasn't in there. No, the snake was in the arms of its companion aka snake charmer. Actually it wasn't a snake but a boa, or as we Indians know it, an Ajagar.

     The snake charmer had held ajagar in his both hands and was asking everyone, if they wanted to touch or take it in their hand but no one came forward.

       looking around in that small shop I noticed the expression on the faces of some boys. It was a mixture of excitement and fear. They look like they were eager to touch the Ajagar but something was keeping them away. Maybe this something was their fear of a snake, or the fact that they don't know that it was an Ajagar not a poisonous snake. Their unawareness was keeping them away from that beautiful creature.

      I remember when I came forward and touched that beautiful creature. Honestly I don't remember much as it wasn't a big deal back then, but I remember the touch of the skin of the Ajagar. The skin was smooth to my hand, so smooth.

      I don't remember much about the snake but I remember the collective gasp that came around me the moment I touch that Ajagar.

      Everyone was too stunned to say anything and I took that opportunity and leave with my favourite jelly.

       I goes back to the school. we still have some minutes before Mr. A start the class again. That day Mr A was having our class on the roof of our school. All the students were sitting on the floor in rows. so I went to my place on the floor where my book bag was already lay marking my seat.

       Mr. A was already there sitting in his chair in front of the rows of taats. Suddenly Komal one of my class mate since kindergarten goes to Mr. A and said something, what I don't know. After sha was done saying whatever she had to, Mr. A called me forward and asked me, "If I really touched that snake?"

      The question felt strange coming from Mr. A as he wasn't in the shop at that time but still I answer his question positively.

      If you think what happened so far was weird then let me tell you that real weirdness is Still to come.

      When I affirmed to Mr. A's question he told me "Go And Wash Your Hands."

         Can you believe it "He asked me to Wash My Hands." At this I was like What the hell.

       I was so shocked but Who was I to question him. He was my teacher, whom I have to obey, not yhe other way around. So I left to wash my hands.

       While I was washing my hands. Komal came to me. Her face was a mixture of emotions that I can only guess were Shock, bewilderment and a kind of awe.

      Suddenly she started firing questions on me, "Why I touched that snake?" or Wasn't I scared?"

       It was strange for her to ask me these questions as we weren't friends,  we were just class mate. But still I tried to answer her questions with patience,  which let me tell you was quite difficult for an impatient person like me, but I tried.

      I simply told her that wasn't a poisonous snake but an ajagar (boa). But itwas like she didn't even hear me. She still has the same awe expression on her face.

       You know what shocked me most,  her next question. I was trying to tell her that how ajagars were not poisonous. I was trying to make her see my point but she wasin her own world.

       And then she asked me the epic question, " Why did you touch that snake and ate the jelly without washing your hands?"

       She said it like I had poison on my fingers by just touching the poor creature.

       At this question I was sure she never heard a single word I said about that snake being an Ajagar, which have no poison in its beautiful body.

      It was that moment when I was looking at her like she was some weirdo and I can see the same look reciprocate in her eyes.

      That day she was a weirdo for me and I was for her.

      What a weird incident wasn't it.