05 | December | 2010 | Taneja's Bride

Wikipedia, "Rikki Tikki Tavi"

The story about a Mongoose named Rikki Tikki Tavi who protected his family from cobras. We watched the cartoon adaptation of the story by the same author of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling, in a few classes in elementary school. I used to sit there and feel a bit of pride that they were talking about a family in India during India’s British rule. The whole bit of pride came from it taking place in India, not the British rule! 🙂 The Mongoose portrayed a loyal pet as he protected his family whenever wild cobras decided to strike. After killing off one, as legend goes, the other could see who murdered its spouse through the eyes of the dead one. Creepy, I know. And, not willing to learn if it’s true or not because I’m terrified of these creatures. While watching the movie, one cannot help but cheer Rikki Tikki Tavi on as he shows true loyalty and faithfulness to the family who once saved him when he almost drowned during the terrible monsoon season. What’s funny is when I visited India when I was 14, I stumbled across a mongoose in the bathroom in the middle of the night, and I was not awwing and cooing at the creature because he scared me half to death. Although, I had seen the movie before seeing a real live one, it did not awaken warm and fuzzy feelings within. Actually, to tell you the truth, the mongoose I saw was not as cute as the cartoon one! The cartoon one was made to look like a sweet little ferret. Speaking of ferrets, my friend’s boyfriend had one and it followed me into the bathroom! Coincidence, I think not! These cousins must be quite fond of the bathroom! Anyhow, I think I am quite fine not running into a real-life Rikki Tikki Tavi anytime soon! The thought of Rikki Tikki Tavi came quite randomly to me, and I thought it was quite a good story that I had to share if one has not seen it. Wikipedia (which may not always be bad, although these Wikileaks are creating quite the stir and for good reason) has been a sweet and simple source for me at times and if you search for Rikki Tikki Tavi gives you the full-on story.