The sky had dark clouds painted over it. It could rain at any moment. But for a kid wanting to meet his grandma, how much it mattered? My grandma lived in our ancestral village by herself. It was not big of a deal to take such walks. We had no such traffic back then and, cars, motorbikes were not owned by everyone. Cycle Rickshaw and Bullock carts ruled the roads.
I took a shortcut which takes via the kaccha road. Mom had packed my favorite dry aloo sabji and puris. I have been on this path earlier, but this time around, I was on my own. After crossing the bazaars, I walked by the mango bagaans and, that was my first stop. The mali was from our village; I got to eat some juicy Kalkatiya and Biju aam.
I continued my journey and, after another 20 mins walk, I noticed a big crowd gathered near one of the fields and, some kids were shouting: Kato Kato (bite it). I joined the possession to enquire more about it. I saw a snake fighting with a mongoose. The fight was getting uglier with time and, blood was all around. After 20 minutes, the snake gave up and, the mongoose tore it into pieces. It was bloody in the end. Some elders were dancing with bidi and lathi in their hands. I wonder if they had put a bet of mongoose.
In the last stretch of the journey, I sat near the Nahar. I could recognize our relatives bathing in it. Ajit waked by, completely naked, sat, shared my meal and, then we walked to our village.
Once home, grandma had also prepared some aloo sabzi, paratha, and kheer. She asked me why I came all alone and about the long walk. I told her everything. She advised me not to engage in any crowd.