Lizard scare the life out of many, but 15-year-old Navaratan Harsh of Bikaner, Rajasthan, sees them as his best friends.
Nicknamed 'Mowgli', Harsh, a student of standard nine, often rushes back home to play with his poisonous, reptile friends.
"I have been extremely fond of playing with lizards ever since I was a child. I keep lizards with a lot of care. I like playing with them. After I come back from school I feed them, play with them, and then let them go," says Harsh.
Harsh finds lizards wherever he can and looks after them.
Harsh likes to put them all over his body, including hanging them from his face and ears. His long nurtured relation has made him so confident that he doesn't hesitate putting the lizards inside his mouth.
His love for the animal kingdom, however, only stretches to lizards and he can play with as many as 150 of these creatures at one time.
Harsh's family and friends, who earlier used to be awe-struck by the slightly odd antics of the boy, have now got used to his peculiar hobby.
"I used to be very scared to be with him (Navratan) because of his fondness for lizards but now I have become used to them. I never know when a lizard is on my back or in my pocket. I have tried to talk him out of this silly hobby but its no use," said Ganesh Kumar Ojha, Harsh's childhood friend.
{{/usCountry}}"I used to be very scared to be with him (Navratan) because of his fondness for lizards but now I have become used to them. I never know when a lizard is on my back or in my pocket. I have tried to talk him out of this silly hobby but its no use," said Ganesh Kumar Ojha, Harsh's childhood friend.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the doctors in Bikaner remain astounded that Harsh remains unaffected despite being bitten by his pet lizards several times.