Incongruous

We traveled hundreds of miles by train and bus to reach the village where people thronged by thousands year after year for a glimpse of a deity in a shrine that was probably as old as the hills that surrounded it. Feeling an urge to explore the place a bit, I walked down a dusty path that led away from the village to back and beyond… I went past small patchy dwellings that housed the millions of poor in the country side. Round a bend in the path I met a man carrying a stick. He had the demeanor of a man in defence, so I asked him why he was carrying a stick. To be prepared to defend himself from jackals, he told me, and that sent a tingling of fear down my being. As I walked further, a bit diffident now, I found the path was curving and leading into woods where every kind of tree, mostly tall and spread wide out, blotted out the sky, narrowing my vision to a few yards in front. I became conscious of a loud chattering of a thousand birds hidden among the trees. As I continued hesitantly on, the birds stopped chattering all of a sudden and stillness descended on the path. It sent a chill into my bones and unable to continue further I turned back and retraced my path, when the birds began chattering again in unison. I felt I was being watched and hurried on. As I came round the bend again I began to feel safe. I spotted some children playing in the sand near a mound that had holes and patches that looked like snake pits. I wondered about the safety of the poor children exposed as they were to the hazards of the wild. My sight roamed from the children to the path in front when I spied a snake meandering up the side. I froze and watched the black sinuous creature slithering up the side and now crossing my path. It had a shiny black skin with a head that made darting movements. It paid no attention to me. It was as though I never existed, for it went unhurriedly, crossed the path and went over the other side into a patchy hovel and disappeared. In the village humans and beasts lived side by side and an outsider like me, a city dweller, felt out of place. Does the city breed humans of a different kind?