About

Ettukaali, the spider in the orb

Ettukaali is a free interactive 3D web toy. A shy redback spider lives in a glass orb and weaves a web while you work, study or rest. A quiet companion for long nights of studying and creating.

Meet Ettukaali Buy the maker a coffee

What she does

Ettukaali lives inside a glass orb drawn live in your browser. Left alone, she fills the orb with web in about twenty minutes. Her trust grows the longer you stay:

Timid for about five minutes: she scuttles away from your touch.
Curious after that: she creeps closer when you tap.
Trusting from about ten minutes: tap and hold inside the orb and she spins a web right there.

She has thirteen behaviours in all. Three are shown in the walkthrough; the other ten are for visitors to discover, and some take patience. Be gentle: rough tapping frightens her.

Made for focus

Pomodoro timer of 15, 25 or 50 minutes. One timer is one whole cycle: she starts a new nest, grows to trust you, and finishes her web as your time ends.
Themes: seven light colours, including a rainbow shimmer, and four backgrounds, from pitch black to a starry night.
Calm sounds made live in the page: rain, ocean waves, brown noise, a warm drone and soft chimes, plus gentle glass taps and her own little noises. Each can be switched off.
Hide all text for a minimal view, where the orb can be moved and resized.

Why she is called Ettukaali

In Malayalam, a spider is called ചിലന്തി (pronounced cilanti) or എട്ടുകാലി (pronounced ettukaali), which literally translates to "eight-legged".

In grade 6, in Kerala, a boy in her class called Viveka Ettukaali. Soon the whole school was calling her that, teachers included. It was meant to hurt. She wasn't quiet or timid the way a girl was meant to be, and people thought a girl with a few legs too many should have some of them broken.

Read her story

It went on for years. In grade 10 the name even won her an award: "best nickname". She remembers the hurt and the embarrassment inside, and how she put on a brave face, walked up and claimed it anyway. That night was one of the hardest of her life, and the feeling still stays with her.

In grade 11 she moved to a new school, and the name followed her there. This time she made a choice: she would not react, and she would act as if she had never heard it. Holding still took every bit of her strength. Within a week, they gave up.

She kept all her legs. The name that was meant to shrink her is now hers. Over the years those legs carried her into a field she taught herself, into a business of her own, and higher than anyone expected. She is the girl who dares to keep climbing.

So Ettukaali is a spider who is never bullied here. Rough tapping frightens her and she hides. Gentle hands bring her back. Be kind, stay a while, and she will come closer.

She exists for anyone who needs a companion on those long, lonely nights of studying and creating. You may feel invisible to the world, but not to Ettukaali. I hope she keeps you company, and brings you peace and comfort.

If someone is calling you names, you don't have to keep it to yourself. In Australia, Kids Helpline is free and open any time on 1800 55 1800, for anyone aged 5 to 25. In India, including Kerala, where Ettukaali's story began, Childline is free on 1098, day and night.

If you'd like to give something back, there are options. You can buy the maker a coffee, or, if you would rather make one donation, choose a charity that works to stop bullying, such as Dolly's Dream, part of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation in Australia.

Who made her

Ettukaali was made by Viveka Mohan Das, a maker and researcher in Sydney, Australia. She is a personal passion project, supported by visitors through Ko-fi.

Viveka is also the founder of AISearch Global, an AEO and GEO consultancy that helps businesses be found and understood by AI search. AISearch Global also makes Intelli Voice, a voice guide that lets people ask a website questions in their own words, built for people who find busy pages hard to use. You can see it at work in Alex, a demo of Intelli Voice running a set of dashboards. Ettukaali is not an AISearch Global product.

Facts

Name: Ettukaali, the spider in the orb
What it is: A free interactive 3D web toy and focus timer
Address: glasswild.app/ettukaali
Made by: Viveka Mohan Das, Sydney, Australia
Released: 15 November 2026
Price: Free, no sign-up
Works on: Any modern web browser, on phones, tablets and computers
Accessibility: Respects reduced-motion settings; works with a keyboard
Your data: Progress and settings stay in your own browser; visits are counted with Google Analytics
Last updated: 15 November 2026

Questions

What is Ettukaali?

Ettukaali is a free interactive 3D web toy. A shy redback spider lives in a glass orb and weaves a web while you work or rest. She grows from timid to curious to trusting the longer you stay, and has thirteen behaviours to discover.

Is it free?

Yes. There is no sign-up and nothing to buy. If you enjoy her, you can buy the maker a coffee on Ko-fi.

Who made Ettukaali?

Viveka Mohan Das, a maker and researcher in Sydney, Australia, and the founder of AISearch Global. Ettukaali is her personal passion project.

Is Ettukaali an AISearch Global product?

No. Ettukaali is Viveka's personal project. AISearch Global is her separate AEO and GEO consultancy, which also makes Intelli Voice.

Does it collect my data?

Your progress, settings and any name you give the hatchling are saved in your own browser and never sent to us. The page uses Google Analytics to count visits and a few anonymous events, such as starting a focus timer.

Why is she called Ettukaali?

In grade 6 in Kerala, a boy in Viveka's class called her Ettukaali (എട്ടുകാലി, a Malayalam word for spider that literally means eight-legged), and soon the whole school, teachers included, called her that. It was meant to hurt her, because she was not quiet or timid the way a girl was meant to be. The name that was meant to shrink her is now hers, and she gave it to the spider. Ettukaali hides from rough tapping and comes back to gentle hands: a small lesson in kindness.