"Oh, my God! Mummy, there is a snake in the house.” "I am dead and yuck!” I heard the desperate cries of my two daughters, Badki and Chutki. Alarmed, I ran towards the room from where I could hear their voices, to check whether it was actually a snake in the house or something else. As soon as I crossed the threshold of the room I spotted three earthworms wriggling in through the space between the main door and its frame, into the house. My younger daughter Chutki was calling it a snake and the older one Badki was so scared to see them that the glass fell from her hand and broke!
With her hair neatly oiled and braided, wearing her green-and-white school uniform, Selvi sat on the mat waiting for Amma to get her favourite tiffin of idlis and carrot sambar. But today, as she waited she couldn’t smell the usual aroma from the kitchen. 'Here you go, Selvi, finish your tiffin and go to school!' Amma placed a plate with idlis and coconut chutney. 'Before you ask me, let me tell you, no carrot sambar...