want a baby,’ Aadab demanded one day, ‘and I want a baby now. I'm young and beautiful, and I'm married. I need a baby before I'm too old and past my prime.’

Her husband, Arinjay, sighed a deep sigh. ‘You can’t always get what you want,’ he said.

‘But I want it now!’ she screamed.

Eventually, Arinjay relented and the couple tried for a baby. For years they tried but nothing happened. Every day – morning, noon and night – they prayed to the gods. They also prayed to the local snake charmer, who was considered a holy man, influenced by the gods, but still there was no baby.

Aadab’s parents had chosen her husband for her because it was an accepted part of their culture and tradition. But Aadab had always been angry about their choice because Arinjay was much older. He wasn't considered very good looking and he had a bad temper. He was one of nine children and always had to fight for any attention within the family. As a result, he had grown into a bitter and often very angry man.

But, after thirteen years of marriage, both Aadab and Arinjay became patient and calm and eventually the couple grew to love each other very much.

One day, quite suddenly, Aadab’s belly began to grow. The doctors were very surprised to announce that Aadab would give birth in only a few months’ time.

On the day the contractions started, the village women all rushed around to help. They fetched water and blankets and made sure Aadab was comfortable. But instead of tears and happiness at the birth, there was only confusion and fear. It wasn't a beautiful baby that appeared from the young woman’s womb that day, but a snake! The snake was grey and green and scaly. It had a forked tongue and wild eyes. Nobody spoke because they were all so frightened. But Aadab, who had learned kindness and gentleness over the years, took the snake into her arms and wrapped it in a warm blanket.

‘I learned this lesson many years ago,’ she told those gathered around her. ‘Beauty comes from within. There must be a reason for this to have happened. I will love this snake as I would any child.’

And so Aadab named the snake Nagas and proclaimed her to be very beautiful and precious. The people of the village were impressed by Aadab’s attitude and soon Nagas became very important to everybody. She was treated as sacred. The villagers all believed that she was blessed.

But outside the village, life was not so easy for Nagas. She was bullied and made to feel very bad. She had no friends and often spent her time alone.

When she was older, her parents decided that it was time she should marry. They searched everywhere for a husband but no one could be found. The boys and men from neighbouring villages fell about laughing when the wedding was suggested.

‘What do you take us for?’ they cried. ‘None of us will marry an ugly snake!’

Aadab and Arinjay searched high and low for a husband to marry their snake daughter, but eventually found a boy called Murali. Although he was eligible and prosperous, Murali had no wife because he hadn't spoken a word since his parents had been killed by one of the fierce lions that roamed the area. So affected by the loss was Murali that he remained forever mute.

When Aadab and Arinjay suggested the marriage, the young boy simply nodded his head in agreement. He had been teased and bullied since he had lost the ability to speak and he understood what it was like to be alone and unloved. So a few months later, the mute boy was married to the snake.