DAIJIWORLD NEWS NETWORK (Mangalore, India) 03 May 06 Puttur’s Ravindra Aithal, the ‘Snake Doctor’ of Karnataka (Viju Mangalore)
The first time Dr Ravindra of Puttur tested the medicine developed by him for snakebites was on himself!
After getting himself bitten by a cobra, he tried the medicine that he had prepared as an herbal remedy for the cobra venom and it worked.
After two weeks he got himself bitten again by a Russell’s viper and this time too his medicine too worked effectively.
Today after 23 years of his first experiment Aithal is a well-known expert in the field of research and conservation of snakes and the most sought after doctor in the state when it comes to snake bites.
The young light bearded Aithal is famous as the ‘Snake Doctor’ and is a staunch conservationist with a heart that beats for every poor person.
Aithal who originally hails from Saligram in Udupi made Puttur his home 23 years ago when he shifted his base here as a bank employee.
A certified homeopath, Aithal after serving in a co-operative bank in Puttur for five years quit the job and started practicing Ayurveda medicine a family tradition he inherited from his mother.
Except for Manmath Kumar, Puttur didn’t have anybody who could catch snakes as well as treat snakebites and the people had to go to Mangalore for treatment of the same.
Many times this would lead to the death of the person due to the distance between the two places.
Aithal’s can be called the Ekalavya of the modern time for the manner in which he mastered the skill of catching snakes. An avid animal lover, he requested Manmath to teach him the art of snake catching. “I was refused this knowledge saying it was dangerous. Not discouraged by this I learnt to catch snakes by observing him do so. Like Ekalavya I perfected this art without anybody’s guidance, explains Aithal.
He learnt it well and caught his first snake at his friends place. He brought the reptile home and started taking care of it. Thus began his association with snakes.
In order to know about medicine for snake bites, Aithal went to the books. He studied every book he could find on snakes, observed the cold blooded animal intently and learnt about their food habit, life style, natural habits etc. He also visited the knowledgeable elders in interior regions of the taluk to know more about snakes found there.
At his Sarpaloka (shelter for snakes) he cares for 24 pairs of snakes including poisonous ones like the King Cobra, Cobra, Common Krait, Hump-nosed Pit Viper, Russell’s Viper, Saw Scaled Viper, Malabar Pit Viper and non-poisonous snakes like Common Worm Snake, Python, Brown Sand Boa, Stripped Kneel Back, Branded Racer among other.
In Sarpaloka he treats injured snakes (and later translocates them to nearby wooded areas) breeds and rears endangered species of snakes besides treating the patients with snakebites and other ailments. As part of his reptile conservation work Aithal travels to various parts of the state and even to Kerala, and conducts talks, live demonstration, audio-visual programmes to educate the people on the issue of conservation of reptiles.
“It is sad that majority of the people possess undue fear towards snakes and threatened as they are kill these cold blooded animals,” said Aithal, who is on a mission to create awareness among the people.
Aithal is perhaps the only person who is doing such an extensive work in the field of snakebites, research, medicine and conservation.
Till date Aithal has rescued over 120 king cobras among others snakes and treated around 3,000 cases of snakebites.
To the question ‘isn’t is risking one’s life’ Aithal revealed an incident where he had a close brush with a King Cobra.
“Once I had to apply medicine to the wound of one of the king cobras late in the evening and the light in the room was dim. After keeping the divider net to keep myself at a safe distance from the snakes, I got into the box and started applying the medicine on the wounded snake.
After a few moments I heard a hissing sound behind me. When I turned around I saw the second King Cobra staring at me with its raised hood ready to attack at any moment. In fact in the dim light I had not noticed that the snake was outside the safe enclosure. I sat there without moving for more than one hour. I just takes two minutes for a king cobras venom to kill a human. Six of my friends have died of snakebites. I sat there motionless inside the box I knew death would come any moment.
One of my patients who came to take medicine handed me a stick with which I distracted the snakes attention from me and came out of the box safe.”
Not all have the knack of snake catching. But Aithal is a unique blend of a snake catcher, a Snake doctor and an ace ayuverdic doctor.
Aithal is also popular among the local people as an effective ayurvedic doctor. He gives treatment to all kinds of illnesses except for cancer and AIDS. In fact his treatment for Gangrene is said to be very effective and people come from far off places for obtaining treatment.
Without expecting anything in return, this humble human has always kept a low profile.
In order to make his work more effective, he started a non-profit institution called Sheshavana Charitable Trust with the support of link minded friends five years back.
In the five acres of land which was allotted to the trust by the government, Aithal dreams of growing a herbal garden containing rare herbs and plants of all kinds which he says will be the first of its kind to be developed by a single person anywhere in the state.
He has already developed a beautiful herbal garden in the 1.5 acres containing more that 600 varieties of plants with medicine value.
His dream is to construct a library in order to provide both the live specimens of snake as well as complete information about them under one roof. The cost of making this dream come true would be more than Rs 15 lac which he says is a lot considered his free treatment to poor patients and other works of charity.
His other wish is to bring out a book containing all the information he had gathered in his 23 years of fieldwork in snake conservation and collection of this priceless experience of working with the reptile. The book however will be in Kannada language first as the local Kannada readers would require this book.
The epitome of his service has been recognized and has been rightly rewarded by the Rajiv Gandhi Parisara Prashasthi by the state government.
The disgusting thing is that several ‘renowned’ personalities in the field of snake conservation and research had offered to provide financial assistance to fulfill Aithal’s dream projects, but none kept their word. Instead they always misused the gentle and serviceable nature of Aithal. Left with only his profession to bank on and some like-minded friend donors, Aithal is determined to fulfill his project, which indeed is a great service to the society.
Snake! It is one word that evokes terror in most people, second only to Cockroach. But a chat with Aithal and a visit to his Sarpaloka will surely change ones frame of mind. Those who visit here come with fear but return after they have handled a snake or two.
To know more about Aithal’s work visit www.sheshavana.org
‘Snake Doctor’ of Karnataka