Pet-o-philia:

Tired of my Mom's innumerable pleadings and complaints to spend a long vacation with my "old man and woman" at my picturesque home in Kerala, I finally obliged with a work-from-home option loaded on my shoulders. Not as exciting and fast-moving life it shall be, having known that, I moved in for a month to my Dad's lil villa on the river-side.

A pretty predictable routine, my Mom and Dad have made for themselves for each day. Wake-up, argue, have breakfast, argue (maybe fight), have lunch, argue, have evening tea, fight, dinner, argue, sleep. Things might change between days, when they decide to go out, and argue there. When you don't hear noises and voices in my house or close to where my parents are together,assume something's majorly gone wrong. Else, everything is just as fine and bonny it could be.

My Dad loves fish, and though he complains my Mom doesnt make them often for him, I don't see much truth in that considering all fishermen flocking every morning in front of my house promising the best and fresh ones. And though the dish may be lip-smacking, the effort that goes behind it is remarkable ( despicable to me, since I can't bear the smell and feel of any raw fish). I decided to watch my Mom clean those slimy things once in the back-yard from a distance. To be more precise, my lappy and me on the terrace, me with nothing much to do than gaze around, and Mom down there.

And he came. Magnificient. A giant white-eagle who perched right on top of the wall my Mom rested against. He was a treat to watch, but a scare. Eagles hit hard, and deep. What if Mom got hurt? with these fishes, I was sure the eagle might show no pity for my Mom's poor head. Ideas racing in my mind on how to warn my Mom, my jaw dropped when she raised a fish in her hand and the eagle pecked at it lovingly. One strange pet she has, i thought. And that's when two more came. Two ravens. The three together were a sight to watch, white between two blacks, all waiting for their master to feed them with her own hands.

My mom later told me, that if she misses for a couple of days, the eagle shows his anger by making screeching noises while perching on our terrace. But no physical harm. The ravens, more subtle, only pluck the tender fruits and flowers as their retaliation. Interesting.

I dialled my nature-loving uncle at my maternal home to tell him of this spectacular pet show. He was busy feeding his new friend. An elapid reptile just eight feet long. King Cobra.