Kottayam: If you meet Soman Achari on the road, and if you have a fear of snakes, look the other way. The famed snake catcher may be carrying home his latest catch.
At 54, Soman Achari is still the go-to person for anyone woken up by a hissing intruder in the middle of the night. In his 25 years of career as a snake catcher, Achari has bagged about 20,000 cobras and almost as many pythons.
Achari’s assignments mostly start with a call from the police. Once the snake is caught, he has to keep it safe at his house until the forest department officials come to fetch it. He has set up small cages in his house to keep the snakes until the weekly clearance.
Though Achari plays an integral part in the conservation of snakes, he does not gain anything from the forest department, he said. His latest catch was an eight-foot cobra weighing 10 kilo, which was found from Varisseri near Kottayam on Sunday.
There were times when he had to walk back home with the snake in hand for want of money to hire an auto rickshaw.
Achari says he gets a hero’s welcome when he goes to a place to catch a snake. The applause, however, is short-lived. Achari would be left alone with the snake once the excitement wanes and the crowd disperses.
The job is made more difficult as it involves nocturnal creatures. Cobras come calling at night and the panicked hosts call up Achari. He says he hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in ages. Most of the nights, he ends up catching at least three cobras.
Achari is no mere daredevil. He owes his successful track record to a meticulous study of his subject. He knows how cobras think. If he caught a female snake, he knows its mate will come to the same spot in search of it the next day. Achari would be ready to trap the male too.
Achari’s sons follow in his footsteps. Prasad and Pramod make a living as drivers but both of them are able assistants to their father. If the snake is in a well, then it is entirely in the sons’ domain, Achari says.
The next time you spot a snake, you know who to call: 9961661311