Snakes for high pleasure

Snakes for high pleasure
Monday December 17 2007 08:00 IST

Bosky Khanna

BANGALORE: Many star hotels in Bangalore are booking snake charmers to entertain customers. Foreign visitors in Bangalore demand snake charmers to perform or get snakes and by-products for expensive thrills.

The trend of consuming snake bile or venom fermented with wine or whisky as an aphrodisiac is gaining popularity. This myth is becoming a fashion statement as the ultimate high.

Environmentalists suspect that some tourists would want to watch people consuming snakes or getting bitten for pleasure.

BBMP Forest Cell Wildlife Rescue Team member Sharath Babu said that manager of a five star deluxe hotel on Airport Road on Sunday contacted him to organise a snake charmer to entertain their foreign guests or entertain them by himself.

This came after the NYX Elite Club raid on Saturday by the forest department. “The manager said that he would take care of the legality and had committed to his guests.

He wanted me to perform at night, so that there was minimal risk. Hefty amount at the end of the show was also assured,’’ he said. Sharath has been rescuing snakes for the last 10 years.

He pointed that a couple of years ago another star hotel on Kumara Krupa Road contacted environmentalists to bring an elephant to entertain foreign clients.

City youth are becoming a part of this Goan trend for pleasure. Peer pressure, urge to impress counterparts and stand out among crowd compel youth to do so. In a high, some youth go to the extent of getting bitten on the tongue for a kick or even hang themselves upside down.

Reptile Conservationist Anees Mohammed said that this is very common in USA, Thailand and China. “Getting a high when bitten by a snake on the tongue for a kick is a myth.

In the recent Rajyotsava celebrations in J P Nagar, a team of Mangaloreans had got a cobra to pep the event. the cobra was seized,’’ he said.

Such malpractice is illegal under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, leading to rigorous imprisonment and fine.