While the Indian folklore is full of tales about how the mongoose is the fiercest enemy of the snake and is generally looked upon as the good guy, the tale which really endeared me to the mongoose was Rudyard Kipling’s short story Rikki Tikki Tavi in his novel Jungle Book.
Rikki Tikki Tavi was in our English curriculum in standard 7th or 8th and we had a damn good English teacher who would emote the story so well that we could just picture it happening in front of our eye, besides it had a young boy as the main human character. Add to it the fact that we lived right next to a nallah which was home to several Mongoose families. The young mongoose would be playing in the garden and at times would be playing with the kittens – pity I didn’t have a camera then. In later years our house was a short cut to the other side as some unauthorized construction had cut off the older routes which they took. It was not unusual to see a family scampering thru the drawing room via the dining room and kitchen to cross over. Some times they would stop to inspect the garbage can for any tidbits. A particular favorite were the Cheeseling crumbs of which we would empty out in the garden and they would leave smacking their lips with satisfaction!
Indian Gray Mongoose it is said make excellent pets. Historically the mogul ladies are said to have kept them. I never felt the need to restrict them cages or chains because they were around or could be called. Since we moved to a new location I miss them a lot but of late a young mongoose has started visiting our garden. Hope he sticks around and raises a family here…..
