Back home, the neighborhood would be up in arms when a hospital was closed and turned into condos, or when the local schools were too crowded to educate the neighborhood population and one closed its pre-k to make more kindergarten slots. Or when there had been a series of stroller thefts. Or one time when there were shots fired in a neighborhood park (where Mia, Evie and I happened to be at the time). However, like almost everything in Bangalore, neighborhood crises are completely different than they were back home, and are treated with an attitude I have come to respect, if not love and sometimes f—ing hate, which is that ‘it will all work out, somehow, and what’s the use of getting upset?’ This is a completely un-New York frame of mind, which tries, and hopefully elongates, my patience on an almost daily basis.

The latest crisis facing Adarsh Palm Retreat (until this afternoon) was the neighborhood cobra. For about a month this snake had been seen in the neighborhood primarily around the maintenance office and house helpers’ bus stop. It was originally spotted in one hole, but eventually transitioned to other holes in the same general area. Because cobras are poisonous (deadly) and we have so many young kids in the neighborhood as well as people who don’t wear shoes, obviously the residents wanted to make sure that the cobra was caught and given a new home far, far away. When the snake was seen repeatedly in the same location over the course of a week it became clear that the maintenance office wasn’t going to do take care of the problem themselves, for whatever reason. So several of us called any and all snake catchers we could find the phone numbers for. The person I spoke with told me to have the person who actually saw the snake call him get in touch. No problem. Done. After 2 hours of not hearing from the snake catcher I called him back. He said that because the snake had now gone back into his hole there was nothing he could do, and he would not come over to check it out. The American in me was cursing the guy under my breath thinking that surely in his years of professional experience he has come across a way to deal with getting a snake out of its hole since a) he is a snake catcher and b) snakes go into holes. Deep breaths. This is not how it works over here.

Several of our neighbors called snake catchers as well. One even managed to come see the snake, which the maintenance office took credit for arranging on the neighborhood message board. Like the first catcher, this one also said that nothing could be done until the cobra removed itself from its hole. In the meantime those not on the message board or neighborhood What’s App group – small children, gardeners, and houseworkers, weren’t even aware of the snake. And cobra’s are great at concealing themselves in the dusty, dirty summer ground. It took a group of expats protesting at the maintenance office for them to put up yellow caution tape around the area, which is funny because a cobra is not going to stay in one location, but better than nothing, I guess. Another solution was to put half of a brick on top of each assumed snake hole. Still another was to dig up the whole area near where the snake was last spotted, to no avail. That snake could not be caught.

Fast forward 2 weeks. The snake has been spotted here and there around the neighborhood in drains, still peaking out of holes, and apparently trying to burrow into houses through holes in the structure, although I don’t know if this can actually happen or if it’s just snake-lore. Today a neighbor posted on the What’s App group that the snake was in front of her house. Of course I had to see this snake who outsmarts all the snake catchers in town. As I approached this villa, I saw a house helper looking out the window as two local men essentially in shorts and flip flops, possibly construction workers, chopped erratically at the snake’s head with a sharp 2 x 4. Myself and a teenage neighbor yelled for the men to stop killing the snake. I even went so far as to point to the snake yelling, “You’re killing Shiva!” as I remember someone telling me once that killing a snake is like killing that Hindu god, and they would be guilted into stopping. Not exactly sure if I got that all right, but it was worth a shot. More on Shiva and snake killing here: http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/JM-know-why-is-killing-snake-is-considered-inauspicious-2574338.html

The guilt didn’t work. They said, “No Shiva” although for a second they looked afraid. When the snake was dead they threw the creature into a heap next to the street, and proceed to laugh and take selfies with it. Well, the selfie part is an exaggeration, but they did take photos of the butchered snake while laughing. At one point the tail of the snake was still moving while his head was bloody and broken. I asked why they had to kill the snake, and they said that

they called a snake catcher, but that it had already been 30 minutes and he had not yet shown up.

Never in my life did I think I would stand up for the rights of a venomous cobra. I was sure that I would be the one siding with the men killing the snake, and I believe I even wrote about this viewpoint in earlier posts. But seeing the creature being beaten and broken changed my mind completely. I am a sucker for the underdog, and I am now trying to get the neighborhood to employ a snake catcher. Dan and I are even willing to help pay the salary if this horror show can be avoided in the future. We will see. Also, if I ever see a cobra near my house I reserve the right to change my mind, and yell for the men with the 2×4 to come save me.