Snakebite! An Unforgettable Incident

When I was about ten years old that time, I used to go to a near byschool which was a government school. I had to walk for half and hour to reach it. At that time my village was on the verge of development because electricity service had just started and road contstruction was being planned in the future. However, alhough the electricity was there in our village, my family was far from the electricity, so we used to light a kerosene lamp at night time.

My village was surrounded by darkness; neither the people of my village were educated nor was there any development. Like all the small children, I was accustomed to go for fodder for our cattle early in the morning with a sickle in my hand and a tray made of bamboo on my head. We used to go to the hills into the forest. It was very far but sometimes we used to go to our own field. Since we didn't have enough land, we had to go to other people's land to collect fodder or grass and we were sure to get a scolding from the owner of the field if we were found taking grass from their field.

One day when my cousin Dorje and I were secretly cutting grass some in other people's field, when a very strange incident took place. The field that we had entered was covered by tall corn. The corn stalks were much taller than we were. They must be have been 7 feet tall. Nobody could see us because the plants were so tall, but if we shook the corn then it could have been dangerous for us. If the owners happened to see us then they may have thrown stones and other harmful objects. So we were cutting very quickly, as fast as we could, as if we were being chased by a tiger.

Suddenly, when I threw a bunch of grass I’d cut down, on the ground front of me. I saw two equal pieces of a snake split into two. I screamed very loudly which broke the silence in the field. Later I realized that I had chopped the snake into pieces. It was such a terrible incident which scared my heart, though I wasn’t afraid of snake usually. It was what we call a blind snake, a kind which becomes active at night time only. It sleeps in day time. We say that this kind of snake only sees through one eye. When we got back home I was totally amazed with myself and surprised for what I had done. I could not remember it all.

In 2003 I was admitted into a city school in Kathmandu, which is approximately 100 km away from my village. I joined Shree Mangal Dvip School in Boudha. After three years, when I was 13, I returned to my village for the Fall Break which has ten to fifteen days of holiday. It was my second day of the holiday in my house. Since it was a festival, there were lots of relatives gathered in our home and they were all eating and chatting. My mother told me to bring a can of water from the outside tap nearby our house. It was dark outside even though we had electricity at that time. There was no bulb hung outside.

Since I knew the way to the tap I went to the tap imagining the way. I caught the top part of the water filled can. As soon as I touched it, I felt something like pinching in my palm. I felt as ifsomething very sharp like a needle was piercing my hand. Quickly I went inside our house and I told my mother. My mom said it might be thorn and I also thought so. Everyone again began to chat and neglected me. A few minutes later I felt a lot of pain. I looked and saw there was green and my palm was swelling. I told my mother. Everyone paid attention this time!

Someone said it might be a snake bite. I and mother went to see, she carried the light. We saw a blind snake lying in the ground as if it was unconscious. Then we knew it was a snake bite. It was the same type of snake that I had chopped, I mean the same species, not the particular snake that I had chopped. Everyone in my house was worried about me and they started to talk about the incident.

We went to a “jankri” (Nepali = witch doctor) in our village that can suck out the poison of snakes. It was very painful. My right hand was swelling very heavily. It was very painful all around the bitten part. That night I could not sleep well. They were celebrating the festival but because the minutes dragged by for me, it turned gloomy.

The jankri told me to come next day too. On the second day it was much more painful than the previous day. The jankri called me near the fire where some rice was cooking. Af first, he chanted some prayers in a low voice and rubbed the swollen part of my hand with ashes. Then he caught my hand and began to suck. It was extremely painful. Tears rolled down my cheeks. It was an unbearable pain but I didn’t go to hospital. The holiday was going to finish but my hand wasn’t well enough to write. I couldn’t hold a pen. When my holiday finished I came back to school and began to share the incident with my friends. Sometimes I proudly present the incident in class, especially in biology class when we read about reptiles, and in the first aid training classes when we demonstrate about snake bite.

Nowadays I am very proud that I had the painful experience with a snake bite. I am telling myself that unimagined incidents can happen in our lives. Some are bearable which is nice, and some are very harsh, which is unbearable and feels shameful to share. Anyway we have to learn to bear whatever happens. That’s what the meaning of life is; sometimes very happy and sometimes very sad. That’s also the nature of human life. I would also like to advise that whenever you get a snake bite you should not be scared but don’t visit a witch doctor for treatment because sometimes it may not work. You should consult a doctor.

by Chaynga Sherpa B021