The author as a young boy used to live in his grandfather's house in Dehradun. There was an old banyan tree in the garden. The tree was home to squirrels, butterflies and snails. The author used to hide in its branches and behind thick green leaves.
The Author has a Small Friend Squirrel
His first friend was a small grey squirrel. The squirrel became friendly after it found that the author did not have any catapult or air gun. It grew quite bold and started taking small food pieces from his hand. It started going deep into his pockets in search of food. During the time when figs appeared, the banyan tree was the noisiest place in the garden. The birds of all kinds would flocks into branches. The author used to read books and looked down through the leaves at the world below.
The Author saw the classic Fight between a Mongoose and a Cobra
One day, he saw a huge black cobra coming out of a group of cactus. At the same time, a mongoose also came from the bushes. They came face-to-face. Bothe of them were aware of each other's strength and weakness. It was a battle of champions because both were equally skilled and experience fighter.
The mongoose was clever, aggressive and a superb fighter while the cobra can strike swiftly and his sacs were full of deadly poison. The fight between the cobra and the mongoose began and there were three spectators of the battle. The three viewers were the author, a myna and a jungle crow. They settled down on the cactus to watch the outcome of the battle.
The Mongoose Bit the Snake
The mongoose started the attack. It made a pretended move to one side. The cobra struck, but the mongoose jumped to one side. The mongoose bit the snake on it is back. The two birds tried to feed on the cobra, thinking that it is dead. The crow and myna made three attempts to feed on the cobra. They collided two times with each other. Meanwhile, the mongooses keep attacking the snake. In the third round, the cobra stuck the crow with great force and killed it. The myna remained on the cactus and decided not to interfere when the snake and the mongoose resumed their fight.
The Mongoose Killed the Cobra
The Cobra grew tired and weak. The mongoose went near to attack the cobra. The Cobra coiled itself around the mongooses in a frightening manner. The mongoose killed the cobra when it ceased to struggle and dragged it into the bushes. The myna came to the ground and looked into the bushes. It later flew away.