Free from School

n Pune till finally the green signal was given and I was all set to visit the place. As the arrangements were not absolutely "puc

I had my first glimpse of the Pune Snake Park and the idea of my one year sabbatical took root. (Later, I was surprised to learn from Bany, their daughter, who I became good friends with, that her elder sister Lara and her friend had taken a sabbatical s

my food and stay. Until then I could spend all day at the Park but would have to go back to Sujit's house for the night. My father had no option but to leave it that way for Mr Khai

e the bus stand in the morning and given me the bus number. In the evening, one of the staff dropped me off at the bus stand where I waited and wait

ter under the note book I carried, I was surprised to see a number of children, who didn't seem to mind the rain, walking coolly past me as if there were no ra

out my half wet note book and scribbled "Deccan Gymkhana" and "Simbla Office". I managed to get a bus to Deccan Gymkhana (there are several buses which take you there) and from Simbla off

dle one trinket snake. On the third day Mr Khaire arrived and immediately made arrangements for me to stay at the Park in spite of the Park not having accommodatio

ne and all. He always wears a glove and long sleeved shirt as he lost his left hand to a Russell's viper bite se

reception area, a room which holds the display exhibits like the king cobra, python etc., a store room and a toilet. On the first floor is a large room with two beds. It is here that I began to stay, with the watchman as company

dying at night school and working here during the day. On Sundays and holidays there would sometimes be extra students to lend a hand. All of them lived in Pune and would go home for the night. H

it, the turkey pit, the chicken pits and later on the ratsnake pit, the chequered keel back pit and the monitor lizard pit. I also assisted with feeding the snakes,

wed to bite me for my experience and to enable me to get over the irrational fear of snake bites that all of us have acquired as a result of grandmother's tales being dinned into us from childhood. In

ite painful and one was so bad that my wrist had swelled up and I couldn't wear my watch for quite sometime. However when you remember that the snake gets damaged much more than you-it loses quite a few of its teeth in the

for rest and recuperation. At the time of my stay at the Park it housed a wild boar, a civet-cat, a leopard, a Shikra bird, a jac

uinea pigs, white mice, rabbits, monkeys and a pair of turkeys. And of course there were Ganges soft shell turtle

aking directions from him/her, and try to get the snake. This ensures that people do not unnecessarily kill snakes. It was on two such occasions that I went with the boys on "ca

answer all the queries like, "What is the name of the snake?" "What does it eat?" "Which is the male and the female?" and so on. At other times I would be pestering the staf

uld stop dead in its tracks, while another nabbed it with his bare hands from behind. (Frogs must be taken alive or else the snakes won't eat them.) It was easy to catch the frogs as they remain quite still for the few seconds

ade of vegetables and had lots of oil floating over it. This was served with bread and it was deep red in colour and very spicy. After a couple of days of eating this delicious

d a bath. When the Snake Park staff found out about this they decided to give me a bath. One day they caught me and stripped me of all m

and I were terrified. Next a light appeared at the window and the door started banging. A voice (in Marathi) thundered, "close the window". All sorts of strange things kept happening one after another. A skull with bones was floating in the air outside the window and when we went out, cautiously, to see who was there we found no one. Returning to the room we found my bedding thrown around and my clothes and the whole room in a mess. The door frame shook, the windows rattled and I held on tight to the wa

orms. Eating earthworms was not part of my diet or training, but once I saw Mr Shirke toss one into his mouth after being challenged to do so by one of the boys. I thought of try

cobra and then lifted it by its tail. I did this about 2-3 times after which the cobra was put b

had obviously dropped from the roof making loops all over and around the cradle. Snakes are not unusual in the countryside and RUSTIC Farm was no exception. Mum says she was terrified but dared not make a sound for I was sleeping soundly and the cradle was covered with a mosquito net, outside of

ake from one of them. To my parents' astonishment, instead of crying out in fear as one might expect a child to do

as a child. I would be afraid of dogs, for, as I would say, they had teeth and could bite,

Work

ak

ly about 15% are poisonous. The maximum number of species of poiso

s are poisonous but rarely prove fatal to human beings. The poisonous Big Four are (1) the Cobra, (2) the Krait, (3) the Russel's Viper, an

sea-snakes which have venom 5 times more toxic than the Cobra. But sea-snakes will

and can only respond to vibrations. They taste, feel and smell with their forked tongue. These senses a

ack it down with their tongue after the venom has done its job of killing it. Th

tgrow their skin so they moult the old one after a new skin has formed under it. The snake splits the old skin at

-venom. It is made by injecting very small doses of raw venom (about one-tenth of the fatal dose) into a horse and then gradually increasing the dose, making the horse immun

patient should be kept warm and reassured. The wound should be checked to see if it is a poisonous or non po

t be immobilized. No alcohol, tea, coffee or othe

hould be able to pass under the tourniquet. The patient should be transported as quickly as possible to the nearest hospital. The tourniquet should be left in place until antivenom is given. B

breeding in and around the house. Long tree branches touching the houses and creepers trailing the porches and window panes should be cut. Good boots should be use