Last month I visited Kerala, a south Indian state, with my friend and rescuing partner Axy (Akshay Parhalkar) and our teacher Mr. Iqbal Shaikh (a legend of Indian herpetology and holder of the title “snake man of India” during the 1970s) in search of King Cobra. We weren't lucky enough to find one, but still had some great experiences.

It was the last day of our trip so we decided on a riverside jungle herping adventure. For the first two hours we were not able to find anything. Tired and exhausted, Axy and I decided to have a quick bath in the river. I still remember the lines said by Sir, "Don’t go too far, as I have a strong feeling that we’ll get something at the river bank only."

Keeping that in mind, we were swimming close to the riverbank and suddenly we heard some villagers shouting, "Snake snake." Hearing that word, Axy and I ran and jumped between the huge river rocks towards the direction of the crowd. After reaching the spot we realized that both of us forgot to wear our clothes and we were just wearing our boxers/underwear, but we didn’t let it bother us and continued with our task.

It was a fat and healthy 8-foot Indian rat snake trying to hide under a rock, so I pulled it out gently. It didn’t take much time for the snake to turn into an aggressive creature, so we decided to do a head catch. It was a strong snake so it was a bit difficult for head catch and Axy got bitten while doing the head catch. After making the snake calm we got dressed and clicked some photographs.

The most embarrassing and funny part of this incident was that we were watched and clicked by more than 20 villagers during the task when both of us were "almost naked." This incident still makes us laugh and it adds an unforgettable experience to my life.