Devi Dies ...

That was a lovely yet tragic narration. I have always wondered ............ what kind of a bonding do people feel with siblings that they lost but never knew ?

Could you tell me a little about your customs , such as keeping the woman and the newly born child isolated for eleven days ,burning the snakes and the curse that goes with killing mating cobras.

and i liked your father`s decision.

would love to read more of your stuff.

My profuse apologies to Farangi_Kush.The second half of my post was meant for dost-mittar.

sa:)

Dear Gomathy jee,

This was so sad to read.Such incidents are very hard to forget.Yet again , you have Graced the site with your beautiful style of narration. Thank you, and please keep writing .

Farangi_ Kush,

I am very sorry to hear about the premature death of your brother.God bless his heart [Aameen ]

Regards,

Shirin

Gomathy:

Thank you again for a genuine earth-based story.This is the stuff we really need on chowk.Urstrulys` stories also fall in the same class.

What we do not need are the so-called intellectualised `literature` to sound like the Ba Ba Blacksheep Rushdie.

I sent one post to your Mirpurkhas story but it was gobbled up by Chowk goblins.There I talked about my soujorn of several months at Mirpurkhas.

Reminiscings just cannot be repeated the same way.They become stale.They cannot be refreezed or warmed up.

__________________________________________________

I request you to write some more about the aadivasees and their superior knowledge( some stolen by the western thugs & sold back to us as `research`& patents) about nature.

Please tell us why :

1)munkaas were not used.Especially in those days most people kept munkaas in their households & this was in jungle!

2)Day to week old chicks are also used to `s/uck` up the venom through their behinds.No jokes here,I have seen it being done.Three or four chicken die during the process.Could it be that the handling of chicken for this purpose was a stigma in that household?

3)Frog heads/brains are used.If avialable as dried powder or shrivelled dried-up stones.Sometimes they are mistaken for munkaas too.

``Sweet are the uses of adversity

which,like the ugly toad

wears a venom in its crown``

Shakespeare.

Please reminisce more,exchange views with contemporaries,and also discuss with snake charmers.It is sad that knowledge which is accessible to us at our doorsteps and in our own `superior` languages is brushed aside as non-science and debased in comparison to third fourth hand debauched always-skeptic techno-circus called western advancement.

WASSALAAM.

Your story brings out poignantly how primitive India was when the British left.

But let us not blame the British. Even they have lost their children to malaria, typhoid, cholera, and snake bites in India.

At least, states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu now have road networks that enable to seek medical help quickly and have Primary Health Centers for immediate treatment, though they would be of no help in cases such as your sister`s where the venom acts so quickly.

I look at cousins who have lost limbs to polio and know of a person who got polio between the first and second shots and lost the use of both hands and thank God that somehow I was spared. The only immunization I had as a baby was against small-pox. I can remember the hundreds of thorns that went into the soles of my feet and I shudder to think now that each one could have harbored tetanus germs.

It is indeed a long way that we have travelled in the last 50 years.

Brilliantly written I really enjoyed reading it

Very well written, easy to follow and entertaining, had all the ingredients of a well-told short story. Bravo!

A good piece, but needed some editing here and there.

Glad to learn you met family through Chowk.

A good piece, but needed some editing here and there.

Glad to learn you met family through Chowk.

That was a memorable read, tragedy and all. In those days, childbirth was a much more likely cause of death. Keep it coming.

Very touching.... I`m sorry about your sister.

Beautiful! keep sharing ur memories with us.

regards

Irfan