Sanjay Kumar, 22, a former snake charmer, talks of being a cultural musician at his home in Naraina gaon, Titana village, Samalkha town, Haryana, India on 15th June 2012. "Only during elections does the government pay attention to us," he says. India's snake charmer communities suffer from a loss of livelihood because of stringent wildlife laws and are forced to resort to begging or working as daily wage labourers. A new program to encourage the snake charmer's children to attend school is underway, to keep them from becoming daily-wage child labourers or joining their parents in scavenging and begging in cities. Photo by Suzanne Lee for The National
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