At the first World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago, the USA on 11th of September 1893, Swami Vivekananda with his epoch-making speeches had changed the perspective of how the west looks towards India. India was considered to be a country of snake charmers, a land of superstitions, and a slave country that was being ruled by foreign invaders for centuries.
Swami had evoked the stereotype of ‘snake charmers’ that the West had brandished India with. Swami was right, for the West through movies and TV shows always picturized turban Indians, wearing robes, sitting at the corner of the street with a flute and a burgeoning King Cobra swaying to the tunes of the instrument as the mainstream.
However, what exactly is the truth? Do Indians derive pleasure from watching the ‘not-so-charming’ practice of seeing mutilated and deaf snakes and are rightfully ridiculed or is it the few chosen ones that have stigmatized India with the stereotype?
Snakes and their importance in the Hindu culture
Snakes and Indians have had a close relationship ever since the dawn of time. Our gods, especially Lord Mahadev coiled a snake around his neck, while Lord Krishna remarked, “Among the serpents I am Ananta.” (Ananta is the infinite divine snake whose coils rest upon the waters of creation.)
Then there is Manasa Devi, who is also known as the snake Goddess and is worshipped mainly by Hindus in Bengal and other North-Eastern states of India. She is also known as ‘Nagini,’ the female serpentine avatar or ‘Vishahara,’ the goddess who annihilates poison. Manasa Devi is believed to be the daughter of sage Kasyapa and Kadru, the sister of the serpent-king Sesha.
While worshipping snakes is an entirely different discussion as Hindus have worshipped animals and every tiny minuscule form of life since time immemorial — the practise of snake charming is illegal and has been for a number of years. Although snake charmers still do exist. However, it is also necessary to understand that snake charming has never been prevalent all over India.
It was mainly practised in Rajasthan by the nomadic Kalbeliya tribe, a snake charmer caste. It was banned and declared illegal under the Wildlife Protection Act to save snake killing and selling of snake skins. The Wildlife Protection Act was brought in 1972 for protecting special plant and animal species.
However, the Congress party is still living in the olden days and continues to promote the cruel practice of ‘Snake charming’.
Priyanka Gandhi promotes the cruel practice
As reported by TFI, in 2019 Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen handling three protected varieties of snakes in Purwa village in Rai Bareli, knowing well that the rare reptiles had been mutilated.
After Priyanka’s act, the chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-based lawyer-activist Gauri Maulekhi sought immediate action against the Congress leader alleging that the snakes were illegally procured and she “aided the act of hunting by encouraging and instigating people to touch the snakes”.
Read More: Priyanka Vadra in trouble for promoting snake charming
PM Modi’s stern opposition to Snake Charming and a powerful retort to Congress
While Priyanka choose to reinforce a particularly negative belief about Indians, PM Modi took a dig at her and remarked that citizens of India were moving ahead with the help of computer’s ‘mouse’ and not snakes, in the world of latest technology and innovation.
He said, “They (Congress) are forgetting the fact that India has moved ahead of snakes, it is moving ahead with ‘mouse’. They are not snake-charmers anymore, they now use the mouse of a computer,”
There was a time when India’s foreign policy meant Nehru organising snake charmer shows for the visiting US president’s wife.
Now India’s foreign policy involves helping other nations with potentially life-saving drugs as a humanitarian gesture! @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/FNlqHy5aBC
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) April 10, 2020
Without naming Priyanka, PM Modi continued with his sharp attacks, “There was a time when Congress used to please foreign guests through snake charming. The whole world used to believe that India is only the land of snake charmers and magic. Our image is still being projected as such even after decades,”
It is satisfactory to see how the narratives of the leaders of the nation changed, once the dynasty rule weakened in the country. Narendra Modi, even before becoming the Prime Minister had shown his aversion to the unethical stereotype of India being referred to as the land of snake charmers.
Read More: Congress promotes stereotypes while PM Modi busts them
Jawaharlal Nehru- the first Prime Minister who openly perpetuated the stereotype
While PM Modi has been staunchly against the stereotypes and working at a breakneck speed to quash them, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru akin to his great-granddaughter, openly perpetuated the said beliefs, which is responsible for the West’s dimming view of India.
It is reported that Nehru had organized a ‘Snake Charming’ show for America’s first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President John F Kennedy when they visited India. The pictures of the event have brought collective shame to the country and to this date, it is believed that Nehru, a privileged snob, throughout his tenure in the office continued to bring harm to the country through his ill-mannered actions.
#VintageIndia First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Nehru watch a snake charmer, 1962. #MesmerisingIndia #JackieKennedy pic.twitter.com/DjgouNdxQr
— HISTORY TV18 (@HISTORYTV18) May 28, 2016
It is sad to know that apart from the rich heritage, culture and monuments in the country, the first Prime Minister of the nation chose to boast out a stereotype that reduced Indians to mere “snake charmers”.
Snake Charming is a cruel practice
Make no mistake, there is nothing ‘charming’ about the practice. The snake charmers roam across and hunt wild snakes, preferably a King Cobra for its menacing size and venomous poison.
However, while conducting the show, the snake charmer has no threat to his life. To prevent the snake from biting, snake charmers rip off the snake’s fangs, gouge off the venom glands and if it still doesn’t satisfy them, sew its mouth shut.
As a result, the snake can’t eat and slowly starves to death. They live the entirety of their prematurely short lives in tiny, dark baskets where they slowly die a painful death. Non-venomous snakes are not spared either; their mouths are stitched shut, again making slow starvation inevitable.
Snake Charming is an inhumane, cruel, immoral and a devious practice that does not need to exist in modern 21st century India that has been making giant and at the same time, rapid strides in the development race.
