Playing with deadly snakes in this Indian village is child’s play. In Gauriganj, Uttar Pradesh, children as young as three years can been seen handling snakes with ease.
Every child, according to the locals, is brought up in the company of venomous snakes so that they can become ace snake charmers as they grow up.
The snake charmers of Gauriganj don’t waste any time and consider it their duty to introduce children to snakes soon after birth.
Instead of attending formal schooling, all village children complete a ten-year initiation ritual that culminates in the boys becoming fully-fledged performing snake charmers.
In the village, the act of snake charming with a traditional flute is the role of men, while the women care for the snakes and handle them when the men are not around.
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
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