Kerala

Loving the elephant in many ways

Anand Haridas

Akshay, a young elephant lover. — Photo: Vipinchandran

KOCHI: 10-year-old Akshay wants to become a mahout. His love for elephant brims on a craze. Even to the extent of having photographs of famous elephants on the walls of his house.

This Class VI student of Bhavan's Vidyamandir, Eroor, is a representative of the passion that elephant evokes in a Malayali. And it is this passion that proved to be the doom for the gentle and intelligent animal.

Akshay talks about Mangalamkunnu Karnan and Puthrukovil Ganapathi as if they are his friends. Only that these are animals who are favourites at festival grounds. This is not all — his list of favourite elephants includes nearly 15, starting with Guruvayoor Valiya Kesavan. He wants to become a mahout to be with the animal throughout the day. But he seems not aware about the other side of being a mahout. That was what the Thamaramkulangara Ayyappa Seva Samiti did by dedicating the annual magazine in 2005 on elephants of the State.

"That was a team work, and fortunately we knew someone with rare photographs of famous elephants. That was a real advantage to begin with," said S. Hari, the then secretary of the samiti. That issue of Makarajyothi was a real hit, with 2,500 copies not enough to meet the demand.

The articles did not just cover myths and legends about elephants like Guruvayoor Kesavan, Pumully Sekharan and Guruvayoor Padmanabhan. There were articles on woes of a mahout, circumstances under which the animal become violent and snippets of ancient wisdom and science on handling elephants. It was a commendable effort to document the fascination that Malayali has for domesticated elephants.

Elephant, for filmmaker and mediaperson P. Balan, is a metaphor. "It is a symbol of the negative influence that human beings have on the world around us." The result of this realisation was his award-winning film The 18th Elephant — Three Monologues.

The documentary on the plight of domesticated elephants went on to win much acclaim, including three national awards. It was also screened at many international festivals like the prestigious biennial environmental film festival at Bristol, the U.K., often termed as `Green Oscar'.

"I have screened the film in more than 100 venues since it was made in 2004. The feedback I got shows that even though the fascination for the animal is increasing, awareness about its plight is also on the rise," he said.

The film continues to be screened at schools, "because we believe that awareness should be created among younger generation." The effort might be silent and stops short of being activism, but the message is definitely spreading.

Both Akshay and Balan, and many like them agree that elephants are true wild animals, best to be left alone in natural habitat. But the fascination overcomes this realisation for elephant lovers, who prefer not to miss a chance to see it in close quarters. And admire its beauty.

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