One snake for two people in Indian village

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Dear All,

 

Love and Love alone...

 

The below reproduced incredible news item was sent to me by my

friend Mr. Abbaraju Venkata Ramana.

 

Love and Love alone...

 

P. Gopi Krishna

 

======

 

One snake for two people in Indian village

by Sailendra Sil

Fri Aug 31, 2007

News

(copyright Agence France Press)

 

For some people, a poisonous snake hissing in their courtyard is the

stuff of nightmares. But in this sleepy village in eastern India,

the reptiles are welcome and abundant.

 

The village of Choto Pashla in West Bengal state has one snake for

every two residents, mainly the poisonous monocled cobra, a black

reptile with a yellow ring around its neck that can grow to seven

feet (two metres) in length.

 

Such snakes are found everywhere -- in rice fields, ditches, muddy

ponds and even sometimes sunning themselves by houses -- and no one

appears to fear them.

 

" The poison-fanged reptiles represent a way of life in Choto Pashla.

People of the neighbouring villages are scared to come here, " said

Samir Chatterjee, the local school headmaster, who has written a

book about the snakes.

 

" A recent count by the villagers found there are more than 3,000

snakes in this village of 6,000 people. "

 

The Geological Survey of India is studying the village to figure out

why the cobras are flourishing there, an official said.

 

" We wonder why a particular species of snakes is thriving in this

village, " said the official, asking not to be named. " We are looking

into the topography of the village. "

 

Local lore has it that the reptiles first came to the little

rice-farming village 130 kilometres (80 miles) northwest of the

state capital Kolkata en masse six centuries ago during a flood.

 

The Hindu village began worshipping the snakes as the

representatives of a goddess and believe that their farms have

consequently prospered ever since.

 

" Women offer milk to the reptiles at midday when the priest worships

the goddess of snakes, Manasa, in the temple, " said Chatterjee.

 

When a snake dies, the villagers place it in an earthen jar and then

immerses it in the sacred Ganges River.

 

Still, apart from feeding them and performing their last rites, the

villagers do try to keep the snakes at arm's length, or more.

 

" Our customs forbid us from touching the snakes, " said 25-year-old

Dipu Majhi who was bitten by a snake nearly five years ago while

fishing in a pond.

 

Nearly a dozen villagers die of snake-bite every year, locals say,

with the village still relying on traditional treatments.

 

" I was asked to bathe in the pond beside the temple of the goddess

of snakes and then a pinch of mud from the temple compound was

rubbed on the injury, " said Majhi, a fish and vegetable seller.

 

" My hand swelled but healed after a week. "

 

Anti-venom drugs are available at some hospitals in the state, but

these may not be near enough for the villagers to get to in time.

 

" It's a unique village where poisonous cobras are co-existing with

human beings, " said Dipak Mitra, a herpetologist. Mitra also runs a

snake park in Kolkata with 700 species of the reptiles, and has

visited the village.

 

" It's simply incredible, " he said.