Snake Shyam

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Snake Shyam

Snake Shyam (M.S. Balasubramania) is a snake enthusiast in Mysore, India.

Born to M.R.Subbarao and A.Nagalakshmi Mirle in K.R.Nagar of Mysore , Balasubramania had an inspiring childhood even than eventually turned him into ‘Snake Shyam’. At a young age a snake sneaked into his neighbor’s house. People gathered to kill the snake. But Shyam (Balasubramania) pleaded not to kill the snake. To everyone’s surprise, he caught the snake and left in a garden. And that earned him the name Snake Syham.

Professionally he’s not a trained herpetologist. But he could easily identify the 3 dozen odd species of snakes in the area.

Every time a snake is spotted in the neighborhood, people call him for help. He rushes to the spot in his autorickshaw.

He studies the surroundings and listens to the people before start his action. According to him smaller snakes are difficult to catch. Because they are younger and swift in reaction. Once he catches the snake, he secures it inside a cloth bag and head towards Bandipur or Thitimatti forests. The snake is let off into the jungles.

"I have studied the books of herpetologists like Romulus Whitaker and J.C. Daniel on snakes. In fact, Whitaker sir presented a copy of his book to me recently. I also interacted with the head of the biochemistry department at the Mysore University," he says.

Snake Shyam (in red shirt) with the local people after a 'snake encounter'

He maintains a register from the year 2000 (?) onwards of the snake he has caught. The register has so far records of more than 14,587 snakes. But according to Snake Shyam he might’ve caught more than 40,000 snakes in his ‘career’.

He does this service for free just because of his love for the serpent. For a living he works as a driver.

He has written 3 slogans on his Autorickshaw.