Couple of tales

R was telling me about this jungle in Orissa, somewhere close to where she is from where people see large snakes that look like brass and copper tubes, depending on how the light falls on them. People get attracted to these and try to steal them because brass and copper are expensive metals. But as they approach these snakes, they retract, get thin and small like earthworms. Then they fly out in full force and size and attach.

She was also telling me of this beautiful and tasty fruit called 'Kendu'. Apparently it is bright orange on the inside (yellow when raw) and has a seed like an avocado. Its covering is as thin as an egg-shell. One breaks it open and scoops out the soft flesh and eats. She says that the trees from which these fruits hang are beautiful.