As I walked back from the dining hall, the song "Paramasivan Kazhuthil irunthu" played in my head. I am not a fan of old Tamil songs. I attribute this dislike to T.M.Soundarajan whose voice I dislike; this song and a few others are exceptions. The reason for my liking this song seems to be Kannadasan's lines. Kannadasan is a tremendous poet and his words tend to break through my dislike for TMS. In this mentioned song, I simply love his reference to the snake circled around Siva's neck conversing with Vishnu's vehicle Garuda. I love the line "athil artham ulladu" which means "there is a meaning in what was said". As is usually the case when translating Indian words, like dharma, artham probably has more to it than the meaning.
I hummed the song in my head as I walked up the ramp to the art block. As I turned onto the veranda outside art room I saw a crowd standing around the jack fruit tree. I approached the 17 year old who is considered an expert in insects and reptiles and asked him the reason for the crowding. He said a few people had seen a snake near the tree. I asked him if it was poisonous. He said he did not know for he had not seen the snake himself. I became a part of the crowd for a few minutes. He looked towards me and said "there is no point waiting here. The snake is too scared to come out. Besides it would have settled down comfortably in some nook and has no reason to come out." I believed the guy for he knew more about reptiles than humans. I walked away. Later that evening, I asked him if he had seen the snake. He said "Yes! Its was a harmless bronzeback."
I don't think I will ever forget this boy. I find his passion for reptiles and insects unique. He and a few of his friends can be seen looking underneath stones and rocks in the campus in search of reptiles. When one sees him running through the campus, one can be sure that a reptile has been spotted in the campus. I hear the phrase "in him, snakes have a knowledgeable teen-aged individual" when I think of him.
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