“Eenampechiye kande! eenampechiye kande! Sara cheduthy was howling at top of her voice and sprinting towards the house at a speed unbelievable for her age

Sara, the elderly domestic help had gone to the giant mango tree in the compound to fetch a few of the delicious mangoes, those must have fallen from the tall tree.

Pangolin, the scaly ant eater also had similar intentions, devour a few mangoes.

Seeing Sara, the rare pangolin got frightened and assumed it’s defensive posture, of turning itself into a ball and rolled away, making an eerie noise.

The scaly appearance, the ball shape and the eerie sound had earned the rare pangolin a nickname ‘eenampechy’ which was nothing in the folklore, but reincarnation of the devil himself.

Any amount of consoling could not pacify Sara, who was convinced that bad luck would befall her for seeing the devil.

Finally, she was consoled when Anna cheduthy, another domestic help, brought the book and said a prayer to ward off the devil.

(a true childhood story, though names of the domestic helps are changed)