Ente Khalbile Vennilavu Nee..

I was just about to get into my car after speaking with one my friend’s father from near Arattuthara Government High School, when all of a sudden some kids walking through the same road started shouting “Surpam”. In Malayalam, Surpam means snake of any kind. The harvest of paddy had already happened in the fields on both sides of the road and very near to the road, in the field I saw these snakes mating. Luckily my Canon PowerShot S2 IS combined with the canon teleconverter TC-DC58B giving a total of effective 648mm (12X) optical zoom was with me at the right time, so that I could take a snap without disturbing the animals.

In a hurry I attached the adapter and lens to the camera and ran to find a good position to take the snap. But I feared before I do everything I will miss the scene, so I took a few snaps on the way. Since these rat snakes were mating in a ground of the remaining of hay shrubs cut during the harvest, I was not able to get a snap which covered the full length of those creatures.

Unfortunately, some others who were walking through the same road noticed me sitting with a camera and clicking at something very eagerly. They two saw the snakes and went so near to them. The snakes got disturbed and retreated to gaps in between the raised stone wall of the road. I felt very angry at them for disturbing the creatures.

When I showed the photos to some of my friends, some commended that it is a sin to watch snakes mating according to religious believes, but some commended that I was so lucky in getting those snaps since people rarely see these and rarely will there be a camera with anybody during such a time.