Art of Snake Charming

Snake charming was banned by the government of India in the 1990s and though this spelt disaster for many, it led to a re-thinking about the importance of what were considered ancillary skills of the saperas. These skills included a knowledge of medicinal herbs, particularly those used for the treatment and cure of snake bite, abilities to identify and classify snakes and above all, their superlative musical skills using the been, a wind instrument made from bottle gourd with bamboo pipes and the tumba, a percussion accompaniment. To display these skills, Saperas or former snake charmers like Shisha Nath, Jagdish Nath, Narain Nath, Sheru Nath among others will come together for a concert at Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza, on February 15, 5 pm onwards