Most of us take on our heels when we come across snakes mainly venomous and dangerous in nature such as cobras and pythons. For Gururaj Sanil, they are like pets and more the venomous they are, he befriends them with ease.
Gururaj Sanil in different moods with his ‘passion’, the snakes
He picks snakes like rose buds and he holds the flexible garland (the snake which twirls in his hand) effortlessly. It’s a rare sight when the deadly venomous creatures listen to his ‘sermon’ before they creep into the dense forests.
Sanil, father of young Akshay was a school dropout due to poverty. He became an auto driver to eke out a living, and is now a resident of Kolambe in Udupi Puttur.
Sanil’s science teacher Damodar Acharya used to nurture a python in the class room when he was five year old. Fascinated by the attractive creature, Sanil captured one on his own when he was just a 10-year-old. Since the last 30 years he has caught around 16,000 snakes of different species from different locations. He has captured 54 of the most venomous species, King Cobras (Ophiophagus Hannah) and remembers 13 deadly bites on his body till date. Once he entered coma and remained in that state after a venomous cobra bite, before getting back home after four and a half months stay at a hospital.
“Due to urbanization, snakes enter human habitat”, he says. He has guarded snake eggs and helped in their breeding process and even saved snakes from dying in rare situations by giving them adequate treatment.
He has won many State awards to his credit which include ‘Karuna Animal Welfare’ award in 2004, ‘Arnaya Mithra’ award from the State forest department in 2013 in the presence of State Forest Minister and ‘Karnataka Rajyotsava’ award from Karnataka Labour Forum. He is the recipient of many awards from Jaycees, Lions and Rotary clubs too.
He has not only educated people about the creatures he loves the most, but also has held live demonstration and lecture sessions to inform the curious audience about his long standing association with snakes which most fear. He has also written many books and one of them won an award in 2014. He is also actively involved in Bonsai cultivation where he has hundreds of Bonsai plants in his collection. He is also the leader of an environmental friendly people movement called ‘Our Tree Our Home’.
He enjoys photography as a part time hobby and has captured rare moments of the wild in his camera which has won him accolades from different quarters.
We at NewsKarnataka appreciate his efforts and hope his ‘unique adventure’ in conserving the environment continues with due recognition for his rare feats from the government and private organizations in the future too.
