The way of the Jogis
Karachi:Kabeer Jogi is a 47-year-old snake charmer who hails from Rukin Burira, District Sanghar. Jogi originally hails from a gypsy settlement located at Umar Kot, District Tharparkar, which was built on the special directives of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founder (late) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Hundreds of nomadic families were housed in this settlement, however, Jogi’s family shifted to their current abodes some twenty years ago, and have been residing there ever since.
“According to our centuries-old tradition, a mother in a snake charmer’s family does not feed her male infant for a day during the first week after his birth. Instead, the baby is fed with a small piece of cooked cobra, and that very day, the newborn rests the entire day. It is believed that this acts as a tonic for the baby in his early age, and makes him follow our traditions without any fear,” Jogi narrated.
According to Jogi, the particular ritual at birth later enables a snake-charmer to smell and detect any snakes hiding in a certain vicinity. Snake charmers then take out their traditional self-constructed instrument, known as Murly, and play it to draw out the reptiles out of their hide-outs. Villagers usually call for wandering Jogis to trap snakes they may have spotted in their bushy burrows.
Jogi recognises some 170 species of reptiles, and is able to name them all. Similarly, he can distinguish the reptile poison during sucking. He now treats snake-bite victims through sucking its poison, and is among those rare few doing this job using ancient methodologies at a time when major hospitals lack costly anti-snake bite vaccines to save precious human lives. Jogi stated that scorpion poison is not fatal, but momentarily people feel as if they are going to die due to the insect’s bite. According to him, he feels blessed with the ability to treat victims of snake and scorpion bites free of cost. Some pay him back in cash or gifts, but he doesn’t demand anything for himself.
Talking about the dozen snakes of four different species that he houses at his residence, he stated: “Traditional Jogis cannot keep these reptiles for more than four months, as the community becomes revengeful. If anyone keeps these reptiles for a long period for performances or for breeding purposes, he becomes a community outcast.”
According to Jogi, using a Murly is a unique skill which is dependent on practice because Jogis employ different rhythms for different snakes. Snake charmers believe that the tune of this music instrument attracts cobras to perform in their vicinity, and they catch the reptile when it comes out of its hiding. Murly is the only instrument that they use for entertainment through dancing snakes.
Jogis can frequently be seen wandering around amusement parks and picnic spots to attract visitors. They start playing their Murlys, and after a moment, the snake emerges from the basket, sashaying about in a way that the Jogis refer to as dancing. The crafty Jogis start conversing with reptiles to create a centre of attention for the crowd, portraying that the reptiles are refined and are following their conversation.
Customs may vary for these gypsy tribes and each adheres to its own. The to-be groom stays with his in-laws for at least a month to prove that he is capable enough to feed his bride. This custom is a must in the community. Owing to their tough lifestyle, Jogis have never really thought about enrolling their children in schools or to demand basic human rights. They have always been harassed, believing that they are somehow not entitled to basic human facilities like other people around them. This sense of deprivation has compelled them to live a miserable life in the wild, far away from the human settlements. Thenews
