Snake charmer Iwan set to break the record

Snake charmer Iwan set to break the record

JAKARTA (JP): If you are a poet, you will probably celebrate
your country's anniversary by writing heroic poems and reading
them in public. But what would you do if you were a snake
charmer?

For snake charmer Iwan Rachmat, who was born in Bandung, West
Java, celebrating Indonesia's 51st anniversary meant breaking the
record for living with poisonous snakes.

Encouraged by the sponsor, the father of six children began an
attempt to realize his dream on June 28.

In an air-conditioned room measuring about 8 by 12 square
meters, Iwan has been living with 1,945 poisonous snakes, mostly
cobras. The room has a bed, a small cupboard with a small TV set
on it and a telephone.

Snakes were seen creeping everywhere. Some were sleeping on
the floor and on the dead trees put in the room. Others were
chasing the frogs made available to them.

"I want to stop on Aug. 17, meaning that I will have spent 51
days in a room with that many snakes," Iwan, 42, said, referring
to the 51st anniversary of the country.

He said the sponsor is cooperating with the Ancol recreational
center management for his record-breaking attempt. His special
room is standing in Gelanggang Samudra, Ancol, North Jakarta.

"I have been promised Rp 4.5 million when I finish everything
well. But it is not for the money that I am here. I'm just proud
to do this for my country," Iwan, now living in Kota Bambu, West
Jakarta said. He is a healer.

"I heard a Malaysian has lived with 500 poisonous snakes and a
man in Bandung with 300 snakes. I want to be better than them,"
the Bandung technical college drop-out said.

He said he hopes advertisement offers will come from companies
after his record-breaking project is completed.

It was the Ancol Recreational Park management who asked him to
live with "only" 1,945 snakes, a reference to the year of
Indonesia's independence. "Previously, I planned 4,000 or 5,000,"
he said.

Problem

He said he found it difficult to collect that many snakes
within a few days before the experiment began. "The money
available was only Rp 7 million (US$3,043), while we need Rp 14
million for all the snakes and everything required for the
project. I had to pay the other Rp 7 million," he said. "But
everything was all right. I love it. No problem."

He said another serious problem that had haunted him during
his initial days of the experiment was the death of some of the
snakes.

He was shocked and very upset upon seeing that many snakes
died in the past week. "I was worried. I don't want the number of
snakes to drop before I finish my experiment," he told The
Jakarta Post who interviewed him in the "snake room".

"Now I'm relieved that the Ancol management helps me to buy
new snakes," he said, pointing to a number of white bags
containing new snakes. Snake suppliers are from West and Central
Java as well as other provinces.

Each bag has an average of 12 snakes, which costs Rp 6,500
each. "The price depends on the type of snakes," he said.

Iwan also buys frogs for the snakes. "This week, I have bought
20 kilograms of life frogs from villages in West Java at only Rp
2,000 per kilogram," he said.

His obsession with snakes started when he was a child after he
was bitten by a snake. His grandfather, a traditional healer,
cured him. Now he cures himself from snake bites. "I use parts of
a snake's body to neutralize the poison."

Iwan, who has been bitten by snakes an uncountable number of
times since then, said he knows much about snakes and loves them
very much as "they are nicer than men."

"Snakes will only attack you in self-defense. But men may rob
you whenever or wherever," he said, grabbing a creeping large
cobra which (likely) wanted to interrupt the interview.

-- Soeryo Winoto