Inside the dense forests of South Panna in Madhya Pradesh, a young Indian Forest Service officer is finding innovative ways to fight one of India’s deadliest but least talked-about killers, snakebite. Anupam Sharma, a 2018-batch IFS officer currently serving as Divisional Forest Officer, South Panna, has turned World Snake Day 2025 into something truly special, about which he exclusively shared details with Indian Masterminds.
This year, Sharma and his team have rolled out not just awareness pamphlets or routine lectures, but something that children and villagers will actually pick up, play with, and remember. A Snake & Ladder game that could save lives!
The South Panna Forest Division has designed two special versions of the age-old game. The twist? Each ladder lifts the player up with a good practice, like keeping the house surroundings clean, wearing gumboots in fields, or rushing to a hospital immediately after a bite. Each snake drags you down for doing something risky, like sleeping on the floor without a net, trying unscientific remedies, or harming snakes out of fear.
The snakes aren’t just any cartoon reptiles either. They’re real. They represent the deadliest species that claim hundreds of lives in rural MP every year: Cobra, Russell’s Viper, and the Common Krait. To make it even more rooted, the board is decked with Gond tribal art, so it doesn’t just teach; it connects with local identity.
“We wanted to make awareness simple, visual, and something that sticks with kids and adults alike,” says Anupam Sharma. “A simple game can sometimes teach what a thousand instructions cannot.”
THE POWER OF SONG IN THE HEART OF BUNDELKHAND
But Anupam Sharma’s team didn’t stop at board games. They turned to the region’s most powerful medium for storytelling, folk music. Bundelkhand has a rich tradition of ‘Alha’ songs that celebrate bravery and deeds in a narrative style that echoes through village courtyards even today.
What better way, Sharma thought, than to use this powerful local art to warn people about snakebites? And so, the South Panna Forest Division commissioned a special Alha composition, crafted by Dr. Suresh Srivastava ‘Saurabh’ and his team, which narrates the dos and don’ts in simple Bundeli.
The song busts myths about black magic and miracle cures, urges villagers to rush victims to a hospital instead of local quacks, and shares practical steps to avoid snake encounters. The audio is now being played through Village Forest Committees, WhatsApp groups, and local gatherings, echoing life-saving advice across dusty village paths.
“Songs have always been the strongest carriers of wisdom here. When people sing it, they own it, and they remember it when it is actually required.”
TAKING SNAKE AWARENESS WHERE IT MATTERS MOST
On this World Snake Day, Sharma and his forest guards will be demonstrating the new Snake & Ladder games in schools across snakebite-prone villages. Children will play, laugh, learn, and carry the message back home.
Meanwhile, the Alha will reach ears that posters or campaigns often miss: elderly women by a chulha, farmers resting under a neem tree, or young men on their phones late at night. It’s simple, relatable, and in their language.
“Snakebite deaths can be avoided if we tackle fear with facts. It’s about taking knowledge to the last mile, one game, one song at a time,” he shared with Indian Masterminds.
CHANGING THE ODDS, ONE MOVE AT A TIME
In India, snakebites kill more people than many headline-grabbing diseases. In places like South Panna, the victims are often farmers, children playing barefoot, or people sleeping on the floor. Many never reach a hospital in time because myths and panic get in the way.
Anupam Sharma’s approach is quietly rewriting that story by meeting fear with play and superstition with folk wisdom turned into science. One board game and one folk song may seem small, but in villages where snakes and people share the same land, they could mean the difference between life and death.
On this World Snake Day, as the new Snake & Ladder boards roll out in schools and the Bundeli Alha rings through village speakers, the message is clear: learning to live safely with snakes doesn’t have to be scary. Sometimes, it can even be a game.
