Serpentine Tales

My Dad has been catching snakes for as long as I know. Not the usual snakes, but the more venomous types like the Krait, Viper and the occasional Cobra.
If you think he's the equivalent of the typical village snake catcher who is called when a snake is spotted in the village, then you are wrong. With a Masters in Zoology he knows the in and out of snakes, or for that matter most animals, birds, flora and fauna found in the Indian wilderness.
I remember during my childhood, his field trips to the jungles with school students whom he taught and I was totally awed when he returned with a catch of a venomous snake at times.
The unfortunate reptile would then most probably end up preserved in formalin solution, its jaws kept wide open with a pair of clips exposing evil fangs; or be skinned of its shiny hide and stretched out on pins hammered into a wooden plank.
He caught a lot of snakes, and surprisingly was never bitten by one.
Fearing that I too might have the idea of following his footsteps, he told me once, to never attempt to try to catch a snake, venomous or not.
As for me I am frightened of snakes, to tell the truth. The sight of a mere rat snake sends shivers through my spine and I can't distinguish a rat snake from a cobra!
Snake catchers are rare, and the fame of my Dad's snake catching skills spread far and wide wherever we stayed especially since we lived in snake infested areas. He was on call whenever a snake was spotted, but Dad only watched out for the poisonous sort. Armed with just sticks, he would incapacitate a snake with one hit behind the head and with another stick kept the snake's tail from flailing back at him in a whip like action.
Though I watched him several times doing this(mostly in semi darkness), the action was too quick for my eyes to discern so I cannot divulge the exact snake catching technique to would-be snake catchers who might be encouraged.
Once I had a talk with Dad about this snake catching business. I told him that snakes, venomous or not never attacked unless provoked (which was of course what I learnt from my schoolbooks :-D ). But Dad was adamant about one thing: snakes were not welcome where humans dwelled; they had to be got rid off.
One hilarious occasion occured on a Nag panchami day. This is the day when snakes are worshipped in many parts of North India and some parts of the South.
A King Cobra was spotted near the front door of our local Doctor's residence. My Dad was on a visit to a nearby house and on coming to know of the perilous discovery, prepared himself for one more serpentine encounter.
When he reached the doctor's house, a strange sight met his eyes. The Doctor's wife (who was also a teacher at the local school) was standing in front of the upright cobra, her hands folded in prayer, and a platter with vermillion and milk on the ready. No, she told my Dad, she wouldn't allow him to catch or kill the snake. It was Nag Panchami day and the appearance of the snake was a miracle!
Later, Dad told this story many a time to his friends,and us, and had a good laugh at the poor lady's expense. Superstition still held, even though the person was a teacher, and that too a Doctor's wife!

The joy ride after the wild goose chase

Recently several media publications were bold enough to expose the sham that lies behind police interrogations involving narcoanalysis. Injecting suspects with a so-called truth serum, before they have been proved guilty, exposes one of the extremely crass and crude methods that the law condones (in India).
On the lighter side why don't these so-called preservers of the law take their suspects to the nearest bar and make them have their fill of the strongest liquors. Surely some of these "guilty" offenders might just spill the beans for all we know or maybe even "sing" for them. Or how about Cocaine or hashish, and if thats too costly for these guys in mufti, they could try good old marijuana.
The interrogators too could have a sniff at the substance on offer just to test whether it truly works. Once both the parties are "high", they could swap truth stories with each other and perhaps the "real" truth would spill out in the bonhomie.
These are the Dr Deaths' of today in the garb of forensic experts. The description of it being "scientific" just makes everything seem very sophisticated to the lay man.
The basic intention is the age old classic manoeuvre. When things go very wrong, and the law enforcers are clueless as to what went wrong they are under pressure to produce quick results - from the public, the politicians, the higher-ups and in order not to lose their credibility they have to produce results fast. What way other than a quick fix(pun intended) for this? In fact, the situation for them would work the other way round if they solved the entire mystery in a short spell- pats and kudos from everyone.
It's high time the law enforcers and others who condone it, recognize narcoanalysis for what it truly is.