Nocturnal
Nirosha reunited with her pet cobra
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by Wasantha Ramanayake, Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte
The
Sunday Times
( December 9,
2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) She was ecstatic about the Court order that
her pet cobra be returned. “I will dance with her. I will now have a companion
to sleep beside me,” …. year old Nirosha Wimalaratne, a nightclub dancer
declared with joy on Friday. After a month-long court battle, Colombo Fort
Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne ordered that the cobra be returned to her.
She will take
charge of her pet from the Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala, on Tuesday.
 |
| Nirosha Wimalaratne: Happy with the verdict. |
Nirosha’s tale
of woe began when the Kollupitiya Police raided the Cleopatra Nightclub at the
Liberty Plaza at dawn one morning in August this year. She was arrested and
charged under the Animals Ordinance and Cruelty to Animals Act and the
Dangerous Animals Act, for keeping a snake in her possession.
“I usually sleep
a lot, but, because of the mental agony, I could not sleep even after my tiring
performance at the club that went on till the small hours, because l was
deprived of my pet cobra,” she said.
“I even had
scary dreams and woke up from my sleep many times,” she confessed, adding that,
she hoped that her troubles would soon end, although the case filed against her
by the Police, and the Fundamental Rights case filed by her against the
Kollupitiya Police, are still pending.
“Dilani Chopra
is my Indian name,” said Nirosha Wimalaratne, who was adopted by Sri Lankan
parents from Danthure, Kandy. She attended Danthure Central College. She
claimed to be a lonely child who was underfed, as her adopted parents, who were
once well-to-do, had become poor.
She says she
does not remember much about her childhood, and what made her parents give her
up for adoption. Her adopted parents would not tell her what made them adopt
her, but only told her that it was “a long story”.
But she
remembers her Iranian father telling her that her mother was a snake. “I don’t
believe him, but I believe some species of Cobras could change their shapes,”
she said.
She also said
that their parents had separate rooms in their home. “I think my father wanted
to separate me from my mother,” Nirosha said in a broken voice. Although both
mother and daughter were in touch with each other, her mother always wanted to
be away from her.
“I missed my
family, especially my mother, so much,” she said, adding that she had been
brought up alone when she was 11-years-old.
“Whenever I saw
children with their parents and how caring these parents were, I felt like
crying. I feel my parents have not done their duty by me,” she said, giving
vent to her inner tensions.
Her mother too
kept snakes she said, adding that her mother had a king cobra which can let out
a jet stream of poison, at their home at Nashik in India. Her fascination for
cobras started in her childhood.
And she had
started petting a cobra in Dodanwela Dewalaya in the neighborhood. She brought
the cobra down to Colombo to show her friends, and intended returning it to the
dewalaya.
“But
unfortunately, the Police arrested me on the previous day, and filed a case
against me, alleging that I had ill-treated my pet.”
She said that
she would feed it with milk and eggs. She also believes that there is a strong
bond between her and her pet, and think it has some divine affiliation. This,
she said, had prevented her from accepting alcoholic drinks from her guests.
Unpleasant
experiences with friends has made her keep people at arms length, while
preferring to live alone most of the time. However, she added that she has a
boyfriend who is living in Dubai. She also has a brother in Iran, who has
visited her on several occasions.
Her hobbies, she
said, are few; she has a pet toque macaque and she also enjoys travelling.
Apart from that, she lives her life just like any other woman. She has a
motorbike; her first dream, while she is yet to realise her second dream, which
is to own a house and start life anew, and of course, visit her mother in
India.
