Well, not that guy exactly. But his charmer.
It was just like you'd see in the movies. He had a shehnai, he played it, and the snake came rising out of his basket. It was all very surreal and as I stood there in the alley right outside my in-law's home, I suddenly thought "Is this really my life? How did I end up here?"
Poor snake charmer. Little did he know who he was dealing with. Most people probably just let the guy do his job; knock on doors, charm his snake, take some cash on the way out. Not my father in law! He's a big fan of reptiles and he just came right over a picked up the snake with his bare hands!
And then I realized: Even a snake charmer coming to the door is too normal - in my life, even that strange occurrence has to be extra-strange. I mean, come on, how many of you have seen your in-laws charm the snake charmer's snake?
15 comments:
Hahaha oh well!!! welcome to the jungle.. :D
Very cool!
My most surreal moment was when on Eid Ul Adha we tried to slaughter a cow, it got up, neck half hanging and tried to make a dash for it. I watched it gallop past in slow motion!!!
www.iwwwrite.blogspot.com ( A blog that believes vegetarians should only eat grass) Ha
I must affirm that this is not a global Pakistan experience, my IL's house doesn't get snake charmers knocking at the door. I have seen them in tourist areas though, and in India, too.
Is this common in DH's neighborhood? Maybe the snake charmer showed up to earn some cash because he knew a foreigner would be there at the house?
Hahaha your FIL sounds like an interesting guy!
I lived 18 years in Pakistan and no snake charmer ever knocked on our door, EVER! :(
I asked M, and he said snake charmers are common in his neighborhood, and that often the monkey handlers and the snake charmers roam about together. Although I think this may be tied to class separations because in the nicest areas of the city, where guards sit outside of every home, these kinds of beggars couldn't work because they couldn't get to the doors to knock on. M says there were snake charmers in his neighborhood before he brought the gori there, and my MIL says they still come by from time to time. It may be more likely they frequent around my inlaws house because they know my FIL likes the snakes so much?
However, I do think the hijras and the monkeys would be a global experience throughout Pakistan because they roam even the busiest traffic stops knocking on car windows as well.
Among other reasons, it can also be a Lahore thing, a city I never lived in.
M's from Karachi...
U r right Goriwife, its a class separation thing. In most middle class areas , these sights are common along with street vendors that come selling stuff in the gali mohallas, gol gappay walas, kulfi walas, subzi wala, lohay langar wala. I have seen these vendors in high middle class areas also although not so common.But still for an average Pakistani the pics u posted should not be shocking I believe..
My husband said when he was younger they used to get these guys in their neighborhood (it was Isloo at that time) and occasionally in KHI but he said they hardly come any more.
When I studied in India they had sabzi wallay and glass bottle/perfume bottle collectors, old paper collectors, and others come by where I was staying. But yep I guess the armed guards on the corner probably keep those guys out in DH's Defence neighborhood. I have occasionally seen a gol gappa cart on wheels, though. I think he is for the people who work in the neighborhood, not the residents, though.
hehe .. great post :) .. and this is true for India too!
I wish my husband's house got cool visitors like that. He has those guards with a wall and gate and stuff so we never get to see anything fun. Boorrriiiinnng!
I would *die* if this guy showed up at my door. I am pathologically afraid of snakes, so there would be doors slamming and screaming for sure. Still, great story! Your father in law is a bit insane, btw, but I'm sure he realizes he's picking up a venomous snake and loves it...while for me, that's a total nightmare.
I lived in a South Indian all my life. The "Python-Charmers" come by every now and then playing music and carrying the bigggg longgg live python on shoulders. My parents shoo him away but If I'm in the house I pay him something from my pocket money. I hate snakes so I don't touch them.
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