NO CHARMING TALE, THIS

 

 

“For the government, a snake is just another animal for which the ‘ideal’ haven would be the zoo once again, but for us, they are bread earners and family members. Snake-charming, more than a profession, is more like a legacy that has been handed down generations. The government, in one whimsical move, has taken custody of our snakes and dumped them in the zoo. Do they ever press it such with the industrialists and their factories or mills? Then why our snakes? We, the poor, are always sitting ducks for the government to pick on; all the rules somehow seem to apply only to the poverty struck.



BRASS TACKS

As per the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) and the Indian Penal Code, it is illegal to remove snakes from their natural habitat and buy, sell or exhibit snakes. There are 3 lakh snake charmers in the country, majority of whom are now, out of work.



The government should try taking a peep into our homes to realise that arranging for even two meals a day is a difficult proposition. We are no farmers or routine daily wage earners; there are no alternatives to our livelihoods in sight. Thanks to our inherited profession, we have no land that we cultivate and earn off. We resort to daily wage jobs but that’s also a few days in a month and that doesn’t help much and is a matter of chance. Just until some time back, snakes spelt prosperity for the 200-odd sapera (snake charmer) families in my village. We used to roam around in villages with our snakes in tow – it used to be a form of entertainment – and also rescue accidentally trapped snakes from houses or treat snake bites with herbs known to us. The village folk would usually reciprocate with food or money but now with the snakes gone, those are fables from the past. Ever since the sanctions, there is only destitute helplessness all around. Now penury drives us to perform in marriages and parties to sustain ourselves. Some NGOs also organise shows for us where we get to display our skill with the been (gourd flute) but those are of course, one-off events. Besides, the music is only secondary; snake-charmers are what they are because of snakes.

Lord Shiva gifted the snakes and the been to our ancestors. Traditionally, we are professional healers of snake bites and our forefathers were the ones to discover anti-venom herbs employed as antidotes. The government did impart training in snake-bite treatment and milking snakes (for antivenins) in the Pune Snake Zoo but I think it would have met real purpose only if we were still leading the village-to- village life.

There are approximately 350 zoos in the country where they need caretakers for snakes and to fill positions of snake tamers. Considering the rampant unemployment in the community (my own 7 sons are jobless; we don’t even have sufficient space to live, let alone farm), why couldn’t the government think of utilising the saperas’ skill at handling snakes instead of training newcomers? Besides, every district could do with offices for conservation of these animals, where our children should be employed. Currently, there are thousands like us... we urge the government to arrange for our livelihood. If all this isn’t a possibility then they should allow us to continue with our tradition and our heritage.”