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Bryn knew early on that some his undercover work was going to require him to blend in with the locals. Hello you beautiful people.
Firstly I am so sorry that it has been so long since my last blog post, I appreciate that you have not all been sat round, wringing your hands, deep in worry for me, but I still need to say sorry.
Ok, so when I left off last time I was heading to Bangalore to meet with my old friend Bryn to work on his thesis for his masters degree in Primatology. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I knew Bryn, so I knew it wouldn’t be dull….
Now then, the truth is I can’t get in too many details about the process for reasons I will explain later but I can tell you about what this has morphed in to and the findings.
What started out as looking at the ritual torture of wildlife has turned in to a weird study in to Black Magic.
So let me explain. Bryn always had some evidence that his chosen primate, the Slender Loris, was being used in Black Magic but this has developed in to a study about the use of both illegal ,and legal, wildlife in Black Magic sacrifices.
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Not a terrible office.... Oooooh and what a strange world it is. It ranges from the relatively harmless things such as marrying two frogs to bring the rains, to blowing up a flap shelled turtle to release the treasure inside. I have so many example of these beliefs it goes on and on….
If you keep a Red Sand Boa snake under your safe it will protect your fortune. The idea is that the Red Sand Boa appears to have two heads, so it can see in both directions and will see folk coming to grab your fortune.
Therefore traders will split the tail of the snake and pin fake eyes in the tail so it appears that the snake has two heads.
And then it gets stranger……….the heavier the snake the better protection it brings. So traders started to force-feed the snake ball bearings to increase the weight.
Buyers started to work this scam out so they started to feel for the ball bearings in the gut of the snake.
Traders got wise to this…..so now they force-feed the snake liquid mercury so that buyers cannot detect the artificial weight increase. It doesn’t really matter that the snake
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Would you pick him out in a crowd? will die within a few hours, once the money has exchanged hands it is too late.
And more……
Legend has it if you see a Jackal when you wake up it gives you good luck. So some folk will keep Jackal captive at home and when they wake up they will head straight to the cage (without seen anyone else) so the first thing they see in morning is the Jackal.
During the recent elections a pot containing the head of a Jackal was found outside the parliament building. This suggests (as do our interviews) that this sort of stuff is far more prevalent then you would have thought. It certainly is not just restricted to “uneducated” rural areas.
No, these beliefs permeate the political and legal classes.
Now I would love for you to think of me as some sort of Indiana Jones type, but the truth is most my work as a research assistant is pretty dull, typing up notes and referencing documents, in a clean and safe apartment in Bangalore.
It really is not that exciting. And for good reason. The truth is that if two white faces turn up to
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We found a second hand bookshop in Bangalore, it was like a journey through my childhood. interview a poacher or a practitioner their suspicion will double. These guys already realise they are on the wrong side of the law and are only talking because of the promise of money, we can’t spook them even more.
There is a serious aim to all this study. Every time a Jaca is captured or a Flap Shelled Turtle is blown up, there is one less. When there are no more Hyenas or Flap Shelled Turtles left poachers and practitioners will start to use other similar species until they are decimated too. This study could be used to try and convince religious and spiritual leaders to turn their back on these practices. This will not be easy though, there is a huge amount of money involved in this trade. Others have tried and failed. But it could help.
Anyhoo.
I am going to support Bryn in this venture until around the 25
th of June and then I am going to take off for a while. Still not sure exactly what I am going to do. I am going to stay in India until the 26
th of July (when my Visa expires). I am thinking about heading over
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The farm we were staying at had four lovely dogs. It was nice to have canine company again. One day I decided to give them a wash. One was a St Bernard. It took over an hour. to Thailand for a holiday.
Everything is easy in Thailand……….unlike India….which is a struggle… Our favorite phrase at the moment is “wither the challenge”. You set off to achieve something on a day but within an hour you feel withered.
So, all my biggest love to you for reading this, I appreciate it more than you will ever know.
Loves
John Jo.
PS Sorry for the miserly amount of pictures.
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