A few weeks later, when Senan had been to the river to fix the water pipes, he found the giant cobras together on the 300-acre farm. The vegetation had painted the surrounding hills in various shades of green, ranging from dark to light, from intense to mild. The river, which emerged from the springs, grew into small streams, and developed into waterfalls, was flowing down the hills and rocky terrain continuously.
The farms, estates, and homes receive water from the river via PVC pipes, from the irrigation system using the terrain and natural slopes before it reaches the ravines. The river also has tributaries and ditches cut into it. However, no one has been permitted to abuse the water, even if it flows through one's land.
During torrential rains on the hills, water floods the river. It was common for the PVC water pipes, irrespective of their size, to get detached and swept away due to the heavy thrust of water. In such circumstances, laborers faced a shortage of drinking water. Occasionally, stuff deposited at the mouth of the pipe hinders the water flow. Usually, Senan had to set out seeking the cause.
The opening mouth of the PVC pipes in the river was somewhat four or five feet away from the waterfall over the biggest boulder. It was hard to stand there on the streambed, surviving the heavy flow. Senan had not been accustomed to it. If the pipes were detached near risky waterfalls, he had not to fix them. Rather, the Dhani would send competent and experienced laborers with Pakirappa or the young Malakudiyas to connect the pipes. Since Senan wanted to do it on his own, he set out alone.
He found that the connecting pipe near the waterfall was missing. Carefully walking along the slippery rocks on the riverbank, he searched for the flowed-away pipe. Since he could not find it stuck somewhere in the river, he got into the heavy flow. Wherever the streambed ran deep, he swam in it, and whenever he could place his feet on the streambed without fail, he waded through it.
Senan had to hike up large rocks immersed in the water to move across the river. Three various-sized PVC water pipelines, marked with a distinct color, were immersed in the river, each belonging to a different farm or estate.
Bending down again, he observed the water pipes immersed in the river. It was found nowhere there. He concluded that it could be either stolen or lying in the streambed, or else, it could be caught amidst the rocks down in the river.
Meanwhile, he spotted something rolling and frolicking on a big rock far away, above the big boulder. Slowly, little by little, it was developing into a giant animal that he could not figure out.
He assumed it would be the back of a wild bull. Nonetheless, he remained sceptical about his assumption. He climbed on another rock with the rifle slung over his shoulder and tried to get a better look at it, using the hefty vines that hung above his head from wild trees for support. Senan moved forward, bending down, and clinging to the rocks, even without shaking off the cobwebs that stuck to his body on the way.
He imagined it would rise upright and develop horns. To his astonishment, the beast stretched out and stood upright, entwined like two large, heavy jungle vines. He seized the rifle slung on his shoulder. By then, the animal had developed two heads and turned into two giant cobras. While realizing that one of them had its eyes turned on him, he panicked. During mating, a looker-on is an aggressive intruder for the snake, whom they will never spare. Moreover, it had been an unpardonable crime committed against the snakes according to the indigenous people who believe in Naga.
At this point, the snakes that fell on the rock got untied and twitched. He was frozen, as if something had run up his head through his spine, making him immobile. Meanwhile, the snakes were scaling the cliffs and charging at him, moving across the rocks. They merely had to cross the river. Their speed made him more nervous, and despite his best efforts, he failed to target the rifle at them. It was unsafe to stay there any longer, and he stepped back. He slipped, leaped over the rocks, swam through the raging water, and got to the other bank of the river. Then, he turned back to find one of the cobras slithering swiftly through the water towards him. The other one was nowhere to be found.
The unpleasant growling of the mowing machine could be heard from beyond the hedges and bamboo groves that marked the 700-acre boundary. When Senan met Pakirappa at the road junction in the morning, Pakirappa had told him that he had to clear the 700-acre ground with the mowing machine. So, Senan was sure that it would be Pakirappa.
'Pakirappa, save me,' shouted Senan, 'A cobra after me.'
The screeching and stone-throwing of the mowing machine were too loud and deafening for Pakirappa to hear Senan. While running ahead, as Senan's feet caught in the vines, he fell face down and screamed scared.
Amidst these, the sound of the machine dropped for a while. Senan cried aloud, for which Pakirappa made a feeble reply from far, 'Where are you, Chenna?'
'Save me, Pakirappa,' Senan cried.
'Chenna, come on, fast.' Leaving behind the mowing machine, Pakirappa rushed to him. His innumerable queries became more audible to Senan.
'It has reached me, Pakirappa. Save me, please,' Senan again screamed.
As soon as Pakirappa reached Senan, he saw a giant cobra a few feet away, standing furiously with an unzipped hood. It stood with more than half of its body raised from the ground and was higher than the huge lemon-grass blades, sharper to bleed them to death.
Pakirappa turned motionless, folded his hands before the snake, and mumbled to Senan, 'Chenna, do like this. It won't attack us. If we flee, it'd pursue us to our death,' Pakirappa explained in a shivering voice. No rock, river, vine, tree, or ditch could impede its speed. To escape an infuriated charging snake in a forest would be impossible even for a Malakudiya.
The cobra stayed still and stared at them as well. A surge of hatred and anger stood out from its stance. Since Senan had turned its enemy, it would not simply abandon him.
Senan drew his rifle, carefully raised it, and pointed it at the cobra. 'Don't do anything so. You can't kill it. It'll pass,' Pakirappa mumbled in a trembling voice.
'Don't worry. I'll finish it off right now,' Senan said and decided to take his aim at the cobra.
He could hear Pakirappa muttering some mantra at high speed. Although Senan could not make it out, he heard the word 'Nagam' intermittently in Pakirappa's chanting.
Senan aimed the long barrels of the rifle at the cobra. Since he closed and opened his eyes one by one, he could see it in two alignments. The next moment, he determined to use his dominant left eye for a better shot. Meanwhile, the cobra flicked out its split tongue two or three times and hissed at them. Senan sharply looked at it, aiming its hood with his fingers on the trigger, he could only hear its hissing mixed with Pakirappa's chanting far inside his head than in his ears. The prevailing river's roar in the ambiance was not heard. He felt no more ears. However, many audible vibrations from the surroundings crept into his body from the ground. The trigger trembled. His heart rate began to increase. But, he had no time to spare. Amassing up all his courage, he fired the bullet. At the same time, Senan felt a heavy blast in his head and felt as slithered into thousands of pieces. With a vehement, sharp shriek, he fell back, dropping the rifle on the earth.
The snake's hood was shattered, and it held its body upright for a time before succumbing. The other cobra following it stared at them from further afar. It zipped its hood, dropped to the ground, retrieved to the hedges, and disappeared.
Pakirappa screamed in awe and made queer sounds and expressions to the unconscious Senan. Whimpering and muttering mantras of Naga all the while, he brought some water from the river, splashed it on Senan's face, jerked his body calling out to him continuously, and feared Senan would die at any instance.
Gradually, Senan regained his senses and found Pakirappa close by. Senan touched his head, shook it a few times, rubbed his eyes to look around, and endeavored to convince himself that he had been alive.
Meanwhile, Pakirappa sat on his haunches beside him, and asked desperately, 'What happened to you, Chenna? You shouldn't have killed it.'
Senan found bloodshed, the shattered hood, death, and the dead body of the cobra. He held his head in his hands, bent down, and recollected everything that happened since he aimed at the cobra, but did not reveal anything to Pakirappa. When he insisted, Senan said, 'I don't know. But, for sure, I fainted then.'
Pakirappa said furiously, 'You've no right to live in a forest.'
'Can't you see it following me?' Senan tried to justify his act.
'It's an awful sin. Who knows what awaits you?' Pakirappa was panting and still mourning the death of the cobra.
'What do you mean? Will the snake's ghost haunt me?' Senan asked sarcastically.
'We should not forget that reptiles are the true heirs of the earth. Moreover, it's forest, their home and we're intruders here,' Pakirappa said. After a while, he asked miserably, 'Do you think the escaped snake will spare you? '
A deep silence prevailed not only amidst them but also in the whole ambiance. For a long time, they sat on the earth, deep in irrevocable silence. This time, Pakirappa abandoned his squat pose, but sat flat on the earth, unable to balance himself on his heels.
'What are you going to do with its body?' Pakirappa asked.
Either dig up a grave and bury it or cremate it. Senan thought. Unfortunately, the surrounding ground was too rock-solid for Senan to dig a grave there.
'The earth is too firm. I can't dig it,' Senan said, and Pakirappa hummed.
If he could find a diggable land, Senan would have to drag it along to bury it, which would be as hard as hauling a huge log. Pakirappa would be unwilling to carry it along, as he hated to get involved in the sin Senan committed.
Senan decided to give it a funeral pyre. The intermittent rain of the past few days had left the dry, fallen leaves damp. It could not be ignited easily. Senan thought about the diesel can in the farmhouse.
He asked Pakirappa, 'Will you stay here for a while?'
'What are you going to do with it? Are you leaving it here?' Pakirappa, who was agitated, shouted at Senan.
(to be continued...)