Snakes and Nag Panchami

Yesterday was a festival celebrated here in which everyone pays their respects to the snakes. It is called Nag Panchami. While it is associated with Krishna and Manasa, the festival is mainly to protect yourself from snakes. While mostly celebrated in villages (in villages, snakes could be a legitimate problem, while they are not as prevalent in cities), this festival is also big in Banaras (one possible explanation being that Shiva is often depicted with a snake). This means that there is some serious snake-charming going on at temples. We had a snake charmer visit after school (because we still had school- a sore subject among many students and teachers who just skipped school rather than miss the celebrations and ceremonies). As I result, I got to hold a baby snake (that will grow to be about a 1.5 foot constrictor).  We also saw some snake charming, and some other varieties of snakes, including cobras (defanged). Afterward, I talked to Jay (one of the managers who used to work in wildlife preservation) and learned about snakes. Here are a couple of interesting points. 

Since snakes are deaf, snake charming is really all about the movement of the flute rather than the actual sound of the song.

Once a snake is defanged, it will only live for about a month.

If you ever want to catch a cobra, here is your method:

First, get your supplies: a sack and a long stick.

Second, find your cobra.

Third, let the cobra get ready to strike while maintaining a safe distance (you can tell how far that is by how long the cobra is- generally about 1.5 times the length of the part in the air).

Fourth, start twisting one of your hands while in a fist so the cobra has something to aim at. With the other hand, hold the stick and push the cobra to the ground by pushing the stick against its hood.

Finally, when the cobra is on the ground, open the sack and the cobra will go right in (cobras like to avoid conflict, and like dark places).

Jay tells me that it is so easy to catch a cobra and that he has done it so many times.