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