He has been engrossed in his reading and was disturbed by his mother’s call. He ignores her call and continues to read. He has completed his graduation and should have taken up a job as would be customary in the community he lives. But he was not ordinary. His mother has consulted an astrologer when he was very young and he had predicted that the boy will be very innovative and his invention will make him famous. From that day he has been in search of that invention.
He has been reading about snakes and venom lately. He was fascinated by this snake named Okinawa Habu, a venomous pit viper endemic to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Its venom is a cytotoxin and is classified as a phospholipase. It is an enzyme that transforms the phospholipid molecule into a lysophospholipid (soap) and the new molecule attracts and binds fat and ruptures cell membranes. The snake also produces good quantity of venom.
His thoughts are disturbed by his mother’s call again. She was announcing that the dinner is ready. He keeps his phone down and was about to answer her call. But he decides otherwise and wait for his father to complete his dinner. He avoids encounter with his father. His father keeps on repeating that he should stop dreaming about his invention and should focus on his life and get a job. He could hear his father switching on the TV, which meant that he has finished his dinner and gone to watch the news. He tiptoed to the dining room and in silence finishes his dinner.
It is his usual habit to go for a stroll along the dark after his dinner. It was the waxing phase of the moon and closer to the full moon. It has drizzled a bit in the evening and he could sense the wet soil as he prefers to walk barefoot. As he approached the jasmine bush, he could smell the floating fragrance in the air. He suddenly hears a hissing sound from near the bush. He paused and started to observe carefully. It is usual for vipers to make hissing sounds. His mother has spotted one couple of weeks back when she was clearing the grass below the coconut tree. He watched carefully as he moved closer to the jasmine shrub trying to get a glimpse. He switched on the torch in the phone but was unable to spot anything. He walked back and washed his legs in the tap before entering the house. It was time to get to bed as he had to get up early in the morning.
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The soap ruptures the virus outer layer is what is told. Who could think about connecting a viper venom and corona virus. He has created the perfect cure for the world threat. The boy from a remote village in India has made it happen. This is what happens when you follow your dreams. When you want something and you seek for it with intense passion, the world will align to make it happen. Remotely he started working with some Japanese scientists to study the Okinawa Habu venom and came out with this breakthrough invention to save the mankind. The prime minister of India and the prime minister of Japan called the boy to congratulated him. Messages from world leaders and other well-wishers were pouring in. This media is full of this news and they were already predicting the Nobel prize for the boy.
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Suddenly he wakes up to the sound of loud coughs. His grandmother has not been keeping well off late. He can already hear his mother fetching medicines to her. He felt his throat dry and drank some water before going back to his sleep searching the same dream.
