Welcome to India - The Cobra
By Mike McCaffrey
From Bonn, we were assigned to New Delhi (1980-82). I have to admit, it was somewhat of a culture shock, having left the pristine environment of Bonn to be blasted with the heat/smell/dirt of India the second the plane’s door was opened! We lived in the Compound directly across from the Embassy’s back gate. The Compound was nice, with all the amenities (as described in a subsequent submission). This little tale is one of those highly unusual things that seemed to be following me around in my various assignments . . .
We had just settled into our apartment on the Compound in Delhi, and this little tale is from one of the earliest days of my work at the Embassy. Per the above pic, I had just emerged from the Compound gate and was attempting to navigate my way to the back entrance of the Embassy, where the two Indian Army guards were posted. I saw this turbaned guy in that outfit carrying two baskets on a pole. He was looking directly at me. I attempted to ignore him, but he was pressing.
The guy plopped down and removed the lid from one of those baskets: a LARGE COBRA! The last thing I wanted/needed was to be confronted by THIS! That VERY menacing-looking snake joined all those people looking at me … the NEWBIE at post. I pretty much froze in my tracks. It was time to get into the office to go to work, but I had this CRAZY problem!
The standoff was resolved by THE SNAKE … it came right at me!!! A KING COBRA … a LARGE KING COBRA … coming right at me! I was a pretty good broken-field runner in high school football, and proceeded to do just that: bobbing/weaving. The damned SNAKE did the same: bobbing/weaving! I ran down the street a fair distance, the SNAKE on my tail. Then I turned around abruptly and ran back towards the gate again, and this time, the guy finally caught up with the cobra, grabbed it, and headed back to the basket to put it away for the next show to be presented to the next NEWBIE-looking person! I was soaking and totally out of breath. And, in that state, entered the office. People there asked if I was about to have a heart attack or something, and I related my encounter with THE SNAKE. Everyone laughed! The snake charmer was well known, welcome to India, NEWBIE!