SARA’S PYTHON

“Momma, Momma, you know what happened?”” shouted little Sara as she came in like a mini typhoon.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Momma, I met this old man in the park…”

Immediately all kinds of lurid images flashed through my mind and I panicked.

“Who was he? What did he do to you? When…”

With all the affronted dignity of an eight year-old, Sara stopped and stood with hands on hips.

“Will you let me tell it my way?”

“Okay, okay, go ahead”

“I met this old man in the park. Yesterday he had been there in the early morning. There was a cute little rabbit playing on the lawn. Suddenly, a big python came slithering and gobbled up the poor rabbit. Then you know what happened?”

“No, tell me”

“The old man moved fast. He got up and caught hold of the bad python”

“He caught it?!”

“Yes, he then squeezed it like a tube of toothpaste and the rabbit popped out. He threw the python away. The rabbit hopped a little distance, turned and bobbed its head up and down as if to say ‘Thank You’ and vanished”

“Oh my goodness. That’s a lovely story”

“Momma, it’s true. He told me so. Isn’t he the bravest man?”

“Yes dear, now go and change your dress, I’ll get dinner ready”

I didn’t have the heart to tell little Sara that I had heard the same story about twenty-three years back. I used to go to the same park. The “old man”, Atul Patil had been old back then too. He had a fund of such stories and we kids loved to hear them. Soon we grew up, but it looked like he remained as he was – a little simple-minded, but essentially harmless.

 

The keyword was harmless.