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INDIAN EXPRESS (New Delhi, India) 01 December 08 She charms snakes to fend for her family (Naveen Kumar Tallam)

Karimnagar: While her peers are busy attending school planning for a better future, eight-year-old Reshma is contributing to her family’s kitty by enthralling people.

A native of Voderragudem village which is located some 15 km away on the Karimnagar- Vemulawada Road, Reshma, who discontinued studies after the third standard, is known for her daring acts of playing with venomous snakes, including cobras and pythons. She not only traps the reptiles but also dons them around her neck like garlands. Reshma hails from the family of snake charmers and her father Ashok Goud, who drives a rickshaw to supplement the family’s income, is a frequent visitor to neighbouring villages where he attends the calls to catch snakes.

Mounting debts forced Reshma’s parents to withdraw her from the Kamanpur Government School and Ashok Goud started training her in trapping snakes.

According to Ashok Goud, his daughter has been attending emergency calls to catch snakes in his absence and defang the poisonous creatures. ``Reshma was courageous enough to accompany me in trapping a huge python in a nearby hillock close to our house,’’ Ashok Goud told `Express’.

But Reshma’s heart lies elsewhere. She wants to go to school regularly and study like her friends. ``But we are poor and cannot afford education,’’ Reshma said in an emotion-filled voice. At times, the snakes attack Reshma’s father and even bit him a couple of times. ``Once we start getting good clothes and enough food, I will to return to the school,’’ Reshma says with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
She charms snakes to fend for her family

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