Gondho Gokul is a weird but special creature found mostly in the eastern parts of the country. They are usually very shy and mostly intimidated by the presence of human beings and hence, Gondho Gokuls never appear before these humans when they are awake. They always visit the houses during night to get some food.
Primarily a rodent, the animal mostly feeds on cereals, nuts and various kinds of pulses. They smell of a special kind of a rice named Gobinda Bhog, which means the food of Lord Krishna. In these fourteen years of age, Girish had seen a Gondho Gokul, only once, and that too a black one, but has heard of it and felt its presence quite many times.
The wheatish ones are not so rare as the black ones. The size of a fully grown one wouldn't exceed a cat. However, because of a very long tail like that of a monkey, usually one confuses it with an Asian Palm Civet. Although, the Gondho Gokuls look like these civets and live mostly on trees or burrows dug by other animals. The usual civets do not or rather cannot ooze out that particular scent of the Gobindo Bhog rice. And, due to its enchanting smell, and the mystery of not finding too many such creatures here and there, these are often revered as an apparition of Lord Krishna.
Around five years ago, one day, when Girish was asleep, he had smelled this scent of this rice. Almost like every other bengali boy, he was also very inquisitive about this creature. At the same time he was pretty skeptical about the smell that originated from its body. He always had felt that, the animal must have gone to somebody's kitchen had tried to eat the Gobinda Bhog rice, resulting in the body acquiring the smell from the rice. He silently sat on his bed and tried to see where it was.
Next morning, he was very perplexed with the fact that he could smell it but couldn't see it coming. Now, that he was planning to see one, it was obvious that he had to place a trap. The rat trap was brought. He kept a few morsel inside the trap and left it open, and then switched off his light and waited for the Gondho Gokul to come again.
But, the night passed and it did not turn up. The second day also, Girish and his trap were waiting for a Gondho Gokul, but, alas, nothing came. After few days of futile experiments, Girish gave up pursuing the Gondho Gokul.
Fifteen days had passed and there was no sign of the Gondho Gokul in the house and in the garden. The next morning, when Girish woke up, he got that enchanting smell from the open windows behind him. He quickly hastened towards the window of his room in the first floor that faced the backyards of the huge garden that surrounded their house. The smell was still coming from somewhere in the garden, but he couldn't find the Gondho Gokul there. The smell was stronger than ever.
And he rushed to the garden on the rear of the house. There he found a Gondho Gokul, smelling like a pile of Gobinda Bhog rice, lying on the ground, with absolute dark black fur covering its entire body. The torso of the small creature might have been eaten up by foxes at night. The dark red blood has clotted on the fur. The Gondho Gokul lay dead in front of Girish's surprised, poignant eyes. This was the only time, he had seen the creature, and had almost fallen in love with it as if it were his pet.
Primarily a rodent, the animal mostly feeds on cereals, nuts and various kinds of pulses. They smell of a special kind of a rice named Gobinda Bhog, which means the food of Lord Krishna. In these fourteen years of age, Girish had seen a Gondho Gokul, only once, and that too a black one, but has heard of it and felt its presence quite many times.
The wheatish ones are not so rare as the black ones. The size of a fully grown one wouldn't exceed a cat. However, because of a very long tail like that of a monkey, usually one confuses it with an Asian Palm Civet. Although, the Gondho Gokuls look like these civets and live mostly on trees or burrows dug by other animals. The usual civets do not or rather cannot ooze out that particular scent of the Gobindo Bhog rice. And, due to its enchanting smell, and the mystery of not finding too many such creatures here and there, these are often revered as an apparition of Lord Krishna.
Around five years ago, one day, when Girish was asleep, he had smelled this scent of this rice. Almost like every other bengali boy, he was also very inquisitive about this creature. At the same time he was pretty skeptical about the smell that originated from its body. He always had felt that, the animal must have gone to somebody's kitchen had tried to eat the Gobinda Bhog rice, resulting in the body acquiring the smell from the rice. He silently sat on his bed and tried to see where it was.
Next morning, he was very perplexed with the fact that he could smell it but couldn't see it coming. Now, that he was planning to see one, it was obvious that he had to place a trap. The rat trap was brought. He kept a few morsel inside the trap and left it open, and then switched off his light and waited for the Gondho Gokul to come again.
But, the night passed and it did not turn up. The second day also, Girish and his trap were waiting for a Gondho Gokul, but, alas, nothing came. After few days of futile experiments, Girish gave up pursuing the Gondho Gokul.
Fifteen days had passed and there was no sign of the Gondho Gokul in the house and in the garden. The next morning, when Girish woke up, he got that enchanting smell from the open windows behind him. He quickly hastened towards the window of his room in the first floor that faced the backyards of the huge garden that surrounded their house. The smell was still coming from somewhere in the garden, but he couldn't find the Gondho Gokul there. The smell was stronger than ever.
And he rushed to the garden on the rear of the house. There he found a Gondho Gokul, smelling like a pile of Gobinda Bhog rice, lying on the ground, with absolute dark black fur covering its entire body. The torso of the small creature might have been eaten up by foxes at night. The dark red blood has clotted on the fur. The Gondho Gokul lay dead in front of Girish's surprised, poignant eyes. This was the only time, he had seen the creature, and had almost fallen in love with it as if it were his pet.
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