<p>Forty-year-old Nanhu, a servant at the former princely estate of Suraicha in Sitapur district, about 60 km from here, has so far eaten hundreds of snakes.<br /><br />“The mere sight of snakes increases my appetite...people immediately inform me whenever they spot a snake,” Nanhu says. He started eating snakes 20 years ago. Interestingly Nanhu, who was suffering from some health-related problems, had first eaten a poisonous snake with the intention of committing suicide. <br /><br />“I was fed up with my mysterious disease and wanted to die...I caught a snake and ate it after roasting it, though nothing happened to me,” Nanhu said.<br />He claimed that he began to feel better after eating the snake. Since then he never looked back. <br /><br />Nanhu can catch a snake with a foot long stick. “He (Nanhu) is an expert snake catcher...he holds the snakes by their hood and eats them raw,” said Udai Bhan Singh, Nanhu’s master.<br /><br />Nanhu has become highly popular in the area. Now, people inform him, instead of snake charmers, whenever they see a snake in their house or in the fields, Singh said.<br />The sighting of snakes has lessened to a great extent in Nanhu’s own village of Suraicha. “Some times I have to go without them (snakes) for days together,” he said.<br />Doctors, however, say that eating snakes is a common thing. “People in the north eastern states of Assam, Manpiur and others eat snakes,” said the additional chief medical officer of Sitapur, Dr Sharad Chandra.<br /></p>
<p>Forty-year-old Nanhu, a servant at the former princely estate of Suraicha in Sitapur district, about 60 km from here, has so far eaten hundreds of snakes.<br /><br />“The mere sight of snakes increases my appetite...people immediately inform me whenever they spot a snake,” Nanhu says. He started eating snakes 20 years ago. Interestingly Nanhu, who was suffering from some health-related problems, had first eaten a poisonous snake with the intention of committing suicide. <br /><br />“I was fed up with my mysterious disease and wanted to die...I caught a snake and ate it after roasting it, though nothing happened to me,” Nanhu said.<br />He claimed that he began to feel better after eating the snake. Since then he never looked back. <br /><br />Nanhu can catch a snake with a foot long stick. “He (Nanhu) is an expert snake catcher...he holds the snakes by their hood and eats them raw,” said Udai Bhan Singh, Nanhu’s master.<br /><br />Nanhu has become highly popular in the area. Now, people inform him, instead of snake charmers, whenever they see a snake in their house or in the fields, Singh said.<br />The sighting of snakes has lessened to a great extent in Nanhu’s own village of Suraicha. “Some times I have to go without them (snakes) for days together,” he said.<br />Doctors, however, say that eating snakes is a common thing. “People in the north eastern states of Assam, Manpiur and others eat snakes,” said the additional chief medical officer of Sitapur, Dr Sharad Chandra.<br /></p>
