Victory Over Vipers

“Although I was born and brought up in Mumbai, my native place is at Kankavli, on the western coast,” says the 44-year-old policeman. “And every time I went there as a child, I would roam around in the forest and ghats. So I guess I had some interest in the inhabitants of the wilderness right from my childhood.”

Having joined the Mumbai Police in 1985 as a constable, it was actually during a rock-climbing camp organised by a police officer that he began to learn about reptiles. “I was an avid but amateur trekker. But at this camp in Kanheri Caves at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, I got to learn the technicalities of rock climbing and trekking. And, since snakes and scorpions are every trekker’s enemies, our group of severn or eight trekking enthusiasts began to obtain information about snakes for self protection,” he says. However, while others were content with basic information, Dukhande found reptiles fascinating, and started studying about them in earnest. “I also started attending snake shows, trying to learn more about them.”

Talking about his first snake capture, Dukhande laughs sheepishly. “Somewhere in 1988-89, I had taken a group of youngsters from my neighborhood to the Borivali national park for a trekking camp. We came across a snake near a tree, a pit viper, which can be poisonous or non-poisonous. As I was fairly new to the topic, I thought the snake to be non-poisonous and very calmly picked it up, to the utter awe of others.” When he took the snake home, his parents were aghast, but Dukhande insisted on keeping it. “I was very excited about the first snake I had captured.”

Fifteen days later, at the insistence of family members, he decided to hand over his big catch to the Haffkine Institute at Parel. “I got the shock of my life. A snake specialist, astonished that I’d kept it with me for 15 days, told me it was a very poisonous snake. And its bite would have been lethal.”

After that, there was more—and more in-depth—learning. “Realising that I have lots more to learn, I began to read up on various types of snakes, their characteristics, their natural habitats, etc. I also met up with several experts from the Haffkine Institute to learn more. Now, I can identify whether a snake is poisonous or otherwise merely by looking at a part of its tail,” he says with pride. His son, six-year-old Tejas, adds: “Papa has taught me also to hold snakes, I’m not afraid of them now.”