A heart-thudding episode!!!

 

THUD!!!!!

The sound was rather unusual  - more so because it was followed by  high pitched squeaking squealing  sounds.  I was in the inner room just getting ready to start the days work. The sound had come from the dining area side which has a high tiled roof.  I often see snakes on the rafters looking for rats. 

An old pic of a snake on the rafters

My guess was that a snake must have fallen down while trying to catch its prey.

I wasn’t wrong – as I peeped out cautiously from the connecting doorway I saw a large motionless lump next to the fridge just near the other door that leads to the hall.  I just couldn’t make out what it was.  The light wasn’t too bright and it was in the shadow of the fridge. I went closer and shone the torch on it.

Prey -tell me what is it!!!!

 It was a snake that had wrapped itself tight against a helpless rat whose squeals were slowly diminishing and fading.  What was heart-stoppingly scary was that Perl was too close to the snake on the other side of it.  She had the most curious expression and looked as if she would nudge the lump with her nose.  

“Perl -NO” I yelled at her and she backed off a bit. Zuki had followed me and was within my reach and I could hold her back. But not Perl.  Thankfully my farm-hand was back from delivering the milk and I called out to him with a “Kooooieeee”

 A Kooiee  is  a standard way the locals call one another -a way of throwing your voice farther than a normal shout would go.  I think I have gotten quite good at it because unlike most time when I walk out onto the porch to ‘Kooiieee’ today I was yelling it from within the house -just hoping he would hear it.  Luckily he did and replied back.

 It wasn’t yet time for his breakfast kooiieee so I guess he realized it was something unusual – I could hear him walk towards the house. “Come carefully and try to catch Perl -There is a snake here”  I said.  He came in thru the main door and managed to catch Perl and pull her back -looking wide eyed at the immobile lump on the floor. 

 “Leave it alone”  he said  “Danger Snake”

  “No - We have to get this out of the house – Think of an idea…” I said.  He had the most doubtful look on his face. 

I looked around – there was a large plastic tub which could cover the whole lump without touching it.  As I picked it up “Aagudilla - It won’t work” he said.   I asked him to move back a bit, I did not want the snake to unleash itself from its prey – it was such a tight bundle – you could not make out the head or tail portion of the snake.  All I could see was that it did not seem to be the usual Rat snake cos it had white markings on it.  If it unleashed in my direction, I had the tub like a shield.

S...l…o…w…l…y……..step closer………… steady your hands…………….and……………. gently place the inverted tub over the lump!!!!

Whheeew-  a sigh of relief!

Perl looking curiously
- Why did you cover it up?  It would have been interesting to watch the snake devour the prey - she seems to say

 – What next now? 

  “Leave it there”  he repeated.

“Look for a sheet”  I said.  I meant a hard sheet that I could slide under the tub and then carry the whole thing out of the house.

“Aagudilla…”

I could not think of a  large enough sheet with a  flat edge.  The lids of the cow feed drums would be large enough but they have  a 2 inch high border around the circumference – impossible to slide it under the ‘thing’  without letting the inmate escape

A couple of large  plastic gunny bags caught my eye. This would be perfect if the whole tub could go into it. I picked one.

“Aagudilla”….again!

Will this sack be large enough?

Hold this edge down tight I instructed pointing towards the edge of the sack opening,  and slowly tried to slide the tub into the open sack.  A couple of failed attempts – the tub wasn’t sliding as expected, the material kept folding up   -  I realized the lad was holding down the edge of the tub tight!!!

Leave that and hold the edge of the sack flat and down I instructed.   He looked doubtful, probably the thought of the ‘thing’ being slid an inch away from his hand wasn’t a comforting thought.  Look I am holding this side down I said.  He gingerly held the other side down and this time I could successfully slide  the tub right into the sack – there was no resistance from the inmate – just a little struggle for me to not let the sack fold up and not raise the edge of the tub too much!

Finally it was all in – the snake, its prey and the tub. I lifted it and bunched up the mouth of the sack really tight and handed it over asking him to  release it a little away from the house. He was back after some time – “Danger Haavu(snake)”  he said. 

Yes it was I guess!

Epilogue 

 

 The same snake was back on the rafters a few days later.  Guess its fall did not bother him much.  This time it was the sound of a dry leaf falling a few feet away from where I was sitting at my table, that alerted me to its presence.  And no the photo is not very clear, so if anyone can still identify the snake, it would be great!

He sat motionless curled around the  rafters for more than an hour. Finally I alerted the lad.

He came back with a long pole - a slight nudge and the  sluggish snake slithered out of sight through the layers of overlapping tiles.  I tried to catch a glimpse of it from outside the house, but it had disappeared  out of sight!

Well, out of sight - out of mind!

Until the next time I hear the sound of a falling leaf!

 

 

Denim Art !

 

A picture that caught my eye…..just so….…. an incredible work of  art  using discarded denim jeans.  Two graceful horses drawing  a carriage, the typical Delft street, the detailing of the windows, the bicycle against the lamp post ……and  a replica of “The girl with the pearl earing” Johannes Vermeer’s famous painting!   Not to miss the W of the Wrangler jeans pocket on the road!  And the cat on top of the stairs! It was an incredible work of art that captivated me. The more you looked at it, the more of the detailing you start noticing!  

I read more about the artist Marrie Bel, saw photos of her fascinating creations and realized that she lives in the Netherlands.    I made up my mind to reach out and check if  I could visit her on my next trip to Amsterdam.

I messaged Marrie on Facebook a fortnight before my trip and was thrilled to see her response.  Although she conducts quite a few workshops, there wasn’t any in the week that I was there. But she offererd to give me a short 2 hour workshop at her home.  Wow!  This was wonderful!

So early one morning in the week that I was in Amsterdam, I took an intercity train to Steenwijk a small town about 150 kms away.  The train journey was lovely and I enjoyed watching the farm lands and the sheep, horses and cows on the rolling grasslands.

Marrie was kind enough to meet me at the station and drive me to her home.  The work of art that had brought me all this way stood right in front of my eyes and I took my time gazing at it!  There were other collages too, each one more beautiful than the other. 

For the workshop, Marrie offered me a choice of either a picture of a cottage or a flower vase on a table.  I selected the vase as it looked less complicated than the cottage. 

There was a neat pile of denim jeans and  cut pieces from which Marrie picked out  a few.  She explained the method of cutting a template out on paper and then cutting it to perfection out of the denim piece.  The selection of the right shade of denim is just as crucial as getting the right cut.  Under her expert guidance I was actually able to start piecing  it together.

A pleasant  two hours just whizzed past and it was time for my return train.  I carried my little canvas and the rest of the pieces to complete the work at home.  

We said our goodbyes with the hope that we meet again! 

To a wonderful artist and new friend, Thank you Marrie Bel!

You can see more of Marrie's work here https://www.facebook.com/Zandoogje

The completed project

Kai Nattie or Machine Nattie ……..?

 

It  is early June and the buzz going around among the few farmers who are still cultivating rice is – “Kai Nattie / Machine Nattie?”

Nattie means Transplant and the question is “Do you plan to get the rice transplanted manually – by hand – Kai Nattie OR  do you plan to hire a Rice Transplant Machine? The locals have mixed opinions on the Machine transplanting – but I for one was keen on doing it this way.  It saves a tremendous amount of time and money. 

The seed sowing method is different for Machine transplanting and that is how the discussions and questions start in June when seed sowing is to be done.  For those of you who have not read my earlier blog posts, the nursery preparation for manual transplanting is linked here.

So  the difference starts with preparing the soil in which the seeds are to be planted.  You have to mix the soil with the compost and then sieve the mixture.  There should be no stones or pebbles in the mixture else the machine gets jammed. 

So I decided to have the rice nursery on the terrace as it would also be safe from the cows/wild boars and peacocks!

A set of 50 plastic trays was purchased.  My farm hand Yogesh brought a few basket loads of fine soil and compost up to the upper room and a large net for sieving the mixture.  I started mixing the damp compost and the soil- it was similar to making pastry dough – you have to get it all crumbly first – no lumps.  The netting did a good job of sieving the mixture and soon the trays were all filled and levelled.  

A prayer in my heart and I started sprinkling the seeds on the trays.

  Rice germinates very easily and there is no need to cover the seeds with another layer of soil.  Hay is laid evenly over the seeds and then a generous sprinkling of water.  The very next day I could see the sprouts and the third day the rice saplings had pushed the hay up by an inch.  

A week later the rice saplings were ready to be exposed to the sun and I removed the hay gently.

  A carpet of green adorned the terrace!

Just a regular watering was all that it needed.  And July first week, the plants were ready for transplanting.   

The rice transplanting machine is a fascinating one!  After the field was ploughed and muddled up with a 2 to 3 inch deep water level, the machine was brought in.  A note about where the machine comes from :

We have a local “Dharmasthal Sangha”  which has most of the modern machines required for farming.  They let out this equipment for a very reasonable hourly rate and the trained operator brings the machine to your farm. He  starts  the timer when he starts the work and charges you for the total time that the machine was used on your land!  Amazing isn’t it?   (You can read more about this here https://skdrdpindia.org/agriculture/chsc/)

We had already rolled up the ‘Mats of Paddy saplings’  out of the trays in which they were planted. 

They rolled mats were then carried out to the paddy farm.  Several  mats are unrolled and placed on an angular tilted frame and operator sets off pushing the  machine.  It trundles along and a set of hooks pulls out clumps of the saplings and plants them into the slush as it moves on. 

It briskly covers the length of the field, is turned  and then brought back to plant the next several lines of saplings.  The whole process of transplantation which would have taken 8 to 10 labourers a whole day, gets done in an hour and a half!

After one year of not planting anything and then one year of a failed crop – due to destruction by the wild boars, I hope this time things are better.

I plan on getting an electric fence to protect the crop from boars.  I hope the Jeevamruth works its magic and pray for a decent harvest.