Growing up in Dalsagar village of Bihar, Hariom Chaubey says he would notice that as monsoons approached, there would be several snakes around his mud home.

As soon as the villagers would spot the reptiles, they would kill them. As he learnt later, every year, 300 people in Buxar, Bihar, die as early intervention is not done following a snake bite.

He decided to spend his youth helping the people of Bihar by performing snake rescues.

Eventually, he went on to set up an animal rescue centre that tended to domestic animals.

“The first time I rescued a snake was when I was 12,” he says. When Hariom’s family got wind of this, they were upset.

They discouraged the young boy from associating with snakes. But a birthday gift from an uncle, in the form of the book ‘Snakes of India’, reignited his passion.

Through the descriptions and pictures, he learnt about reptiles, first aid for a bite, which snakes are venomous, and how a snake could be rescued.

“People had come to know about my fascination for rescuing snakes, and in 2019, when I got my first phone, I began getting calls from the villagers asking me to help them get rid of the snakes near their homes,” he recounts.

Recalling a frightening incident, Hariom says it was the time he rescued 35 cobras all from a single house.

However, he adds that despite his good work, society never understood him and always looked at him as a snake charmer.

Along with performing rescues, Hariom began going to every home, telling people the importance of keeping their homes clean, and thus educating them as well.

Then, in April 2021, he got a call that changed his life.

“The call was from Discovery Channel,” says Hariom. “They were shooting a segment in Siliguri and it involved snakes and someone had told them about my work.”

He was inspired to create a rescue centre of his own in his hometown.

To date, Hariom has rescued 200 animals including dogs, cats, goats and 4,500 snakes.