Editor
Until a few decades ago, the Kalbelias or snake charmers played pungi — an Indian folk music instrument — as they moved from one door to another, showing the snakes carefully kept in their bamboo hay baskets in return for alms and food grain. They mesmerised onlookers with their unique folk dance and songs, dressed in ornate black ensembles.
However, following the enactment of the Wildlife Act, Kalbelias disappeared from the streets as…
