Nagpur: тАЬDonтАЩt you get scared while catching snakes?тАЭ, President┬аRamnath Kovind┬аasked┬аVanita Jagdeo Borade┬аwhile conferring the prestigious тАШNari ShaktiтАЩ award 2020 on the gutsy woman. тАЬNo, snakes are more scared of humans when we catch them,тАЭ was her reply.Borade, popularly known as тАШSaanpwali BaiтАЩ (snake woman) in Buldhana district, has rescued and released more than 50,000 snakes into their natural habitat in her 25-year-long journey as a тАШsnake friendтАЩ.Recognized as тАШIndiaтАЩs first woman snake friendтАЩ, she is a self taught person who has contributed significantly not only in rescuing snakes but also in spreading awareness.тАЬI was overwhelmed after receiving IndiaтАЩs highest civilian honour for women. I consider myself fortunate that the government of India has recognized my efforts. Snakes are a very different species. They never interfere with humans and neither do they like us interfering with them,тАЭ said Borade, adding, snakes are an important part of the environmental cycle and food chain.тАЬKilling snakes due to fear is common in India but it creates a major environmental imbalance. Snakes are silent creatures. Most of them are non-poisonous. They bite us out of fear,тАЭ Borade said.Borade said creating awareness about snakes is her mission. тАЬI want our generation next to develop skills to identify poisonous and non-poisonous snakes. This will save the lives of many snakes. I keep on visiting schools and creating awareness,тАЭ added Borade.The тАШNari ShaktiтАЩ award comprises a cash prize of тВ╣2 lakh and a memento. The women and child welfare department confers the award every year.Her mission is to create scientific awareness about the reptiles among the young generation. She has trained more than 25000 girls to become sarpamitra.
As a young girl living in Naigaon (Deshmukh) village of Mehkar tehsil of Buldhana, Vanita Borade used to see fishermen fearlessly sorting. out water snakes from their fishing net and throwing them back into the lake. While wandering in the hills and forests with the Gond, Bhill, Korku and Banjara children, she used to observe them catching snakes, crabs and many other creatures fearlessly."I realized that all these animals are scared of us, the humans. If you are fearless, you can easily handle them," said Vanita, fondly known as 'Saanpwali Bai' in the district. On Women's Day, she received 'Nari Shakti' award, the highest civilian honour for women in India.When she started catching and rescuing snakes some 30 years ago, Vanita was the only woman snake friend or 'Mahila sarpamitra' in India. Today, she is credited for having rescued more than 51,000 snakes and releasing them in their natural habitat.She has trained more than 25000 girls in this skill and made tens ofthousands of students in the state aware about snakes and theirimportance in maintaining environmental balance and food chain.Vanita observed that tribal people who live in forests are hardly scared of snakes. "While catching crabs from lakes, these kids sometimes find snake in waters. They simply throw them away as if it's nothing but a simple rope. Very rarely they kill snakes. Only thing is that they don't have scientific knowledge about them," said Vanita, who studied scientifically about snakes and made it her mission to make others aware about the reptiles."A snake is a non-vegetarian reptile. It can't digest milk. Drinking or sucking milk is not possible for it. Thousands of snakes used to die in India after Nag Panchmi when snake charmers used to visit households and make them drink milk. Fortunately, this practice has now stopped by law," Vanita, who studied forest and criminal laws and started working along with Forest department, said.According to her, being a snake friend is a big responsibility. "You are not a stuntman or snake charmer. Instead, you need to be a conservator. protector and rescuer for snakes. We follow each and every protocol of forest laws while handling snakes. Our trust has presence in nearly 30 districts of Maharashtra. My people will never take any money to rescue snake. Our mission is different," she proudly said.Vanita's work has been highly recognized in the wildlife lovers' circle For her, being a woman snake rescuer is challenging as well as fulfilling too. "Creating awareness becomes easy when villagers see a woman. catching a snake. Most women in villages work on fields and forests and they get inspired. Men, who believe they are superior, feel if a woman can handle the reptile then why can't we? And they also try their hands on snakes," she said.5,00Her husband D Bhaskar is a lyricist and a performer along with being a farmer. He has written several songs, slogans and created awareness material for Vanita. "Often we visit schools and recite these songs, slogans with students. They get knowledge about poisonous and non-poisonous snakes," she said.It's not that she has never been bitten by a snake.┬аDr Prakash Amte came to visit me at Mehkar his visit remains most Marvellous moment┬аfor me," she said. She also shares her chat with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ramnath Kovind as she received the Nari Shakti Award. "I told. Modiji about the difficulties we face as snake protectors. He said we need to form a policy for it," she said.In her own words - "Killing snakes requires no skill, but saving and protecting them need skill, talent and character too. So, let's do a tough job and protect them."on the global level.