An original essay on snake written by our student Arnav Govil.

Arnav is 12 years old young writer from Gurgaon. He is enthusiastic about Cricket. We are proud to have him as a student of the Little Writers Program, an Online Creative Writing Program using Applied Storytelling & Applied Theatre tools under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Arnav for this exemplary true self-expression.

The Adaptable Animal

Imagine human beings, being the most adaptive, creative, and focused beings in this world. This seems impossible, right? Well, this may be a Utopian dream but there is someone who possesses all these qualities in the animal world. He is someone who has a skin of supple and living scales. Legless with eyes that never close or blink, even while sleeping. Known for his flickering forked tongue, a highly mobile creature, someone who will be right behind you and you wouldn’t even know about it. He can squeeze through cracks in rocks, climb vertical rock walls, climb the thinnest branch, and even swim at a very good speed. He is someone who has fangs that contain venom, capable of killing a human being. This is why we human beings are afraid of this powerful, dangerous, adaptive, creative, and responsible animal. By now you must guess it. If not, then he is who comes with a hisssssssssss – Snake.

Do you know how snakes protect themselves from their predators and how they catch their prey?  When the snake’s predator is nearby it can camouflage itself with the surrounding environment or also pretend to be dead by sticking its tongue act. This shows us the smartness and creativity of this animal. Humans must learn this trick from snakes. Snake is a master at catching its prey. It strikes out and reaches its target in about 50-90 milliseconds. That is very fast and extremely fascinating. This is what we humans need to do. We need to have complete focus on the target and act proactively.

Snakes are not only an integral part of the animal ecosystem but they also hold a strong presence in Hindu mythology. If you have ever seen a photo of the Hindu mythological Lord Shiva, you will notice he has a snake wrapped around his neck like a muffler. The name of shiva’s snake is Vasuki. It is believed that the snake represents the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Lord Shiva lives on Kailash a mountain that is very cold throughout the year. Vasuki lives around the neck of lord shiva who lives in this extremely harsh, cold, and rough environment. This proves to us that snakes are adaptable to any environment.  This is what we humans should learn from snakes, we should be adaptable to any environment. Why do we humans spend a lot of time adapting to an environment, why can’t we be like snakes? This is a question we need to ponder on and work towards a solution.

Finally, it’s important to see how this animal who has no limbs is able to catch his prey by virtue of his sharp focus. An important component of our eco-system that teaches humans the evergreen lesson to be adaptable, focused, and hardworking in order to achieve goals. Are we humans ready to be adaptable, adjustable, and completely focused beings?

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