NEW IND PRESS (Chennai, India) 09 September 06 Snakebite: Nagabachas play docs in this e-age
Balangir: Advances in medical science have little or no effect on this obscure village in Balangir district. When a villager of Salepali, 30 km from the town, is bitten by a snake, he heads straight to the Nagabacha and not to the doctor.
A Nagabacha is one who sucks the venom from the victim’s body. Interestingly, the villagers of Salepali observe a Nagabacha festival with the sole purpose of training young men in this ‘skill’.
For the last 50 years, the villagers of Salepali have been observing the festival, more of a ritual. ‘‘We follow the rituals strictly. Primarily, the festival is meant to motivate young people to acquire the skill so they can be of some help to society,’’ said Laba Pradhan, the head of Nagabachas who already has 108 disciples.
Every year, the festival is observed a few days after Nuakhai and Monday is considered a holy day to initiate the rituals. The ‘aspirants’ are first asked to observe fast for seven Mondays. On the D-day, they are made to eat a paste of venom and rice powder, popularly called bisha manda.
The paste is usually given in such a manner that it neither comes in contact with the teeth nor the tongue. The paste might affect the teeth, said Prasant Padhi, a young man who recently became a Nagabacha.
According to Makardhwaj Pradhan, who has already cured 10 persons bitten by snake, if the patient is brought within three hours, 90 percent of the venom can be removed from the body. But sucking venom can be harmful? ‘‘No. It isn’t as our body already has venom and it in a way fights what is sucked in,’’ explained Pradhan.
This unique technique has saved the life of nearly 500 people in 10 years. So there is no need to visit any doctor, claimed Laba. He, however, has a word of caution. In such cases, the snakebite victim should not take water and salty food, he added.
Nagabachas play docs in this e-age