AN ELEPHANT WITH HEART...........
A young planter and his wife had just had a baby. One night,they left him at home in the care of the maid when they went to a company dinner. Returning late, they drove up the last hairpin bend to their mist-covered bungalow, only to find a huge fallen tree lying accross the road. Elephant dung was everywhere!
Shekhar and his wife dare not make the last stretch on foot. An enormous tusker stood on the right, 40 feet away, and right behind him a young calf, its mother and atleast ten more. The tusker, a deep rumble in his throat ( this is a low, threatening 'growl' and very scary for those who know what it means! ) He smelt the air and did not budge. After 10 agonizing minutes with engine running, and headlights on low beam, the tusker walked in lumbering motion across the road, his family following him.
Shekhar and Prema waited patiently for them to leave the scene, engine humming softly. Another 30 minutes, but the tusker still hovered in view. It would have been too dangerous to make a sprint to the bungalow. Neither was there an axe to cut the tree in two and make space for their car. Tense now, it had become obvious that Shekhar would have to reverse the car and head back for the club, leaving their tiny baby with the maid for the rest of the night.
Just as he began to ease the car into reverse gear, he heard a scrunch. The tusker had quickly and silently returned to the road, just 20 feet from the car, and with one powerful sweep of his trunk, he lifted up that tree. They watched openmouthed, as he carried it off to one side and dropped it there. Then he walked away into the deep jungle, his herd behind him. Ten minutes later the planter and his wife walked into their bungalow, breathing a sigh of relief.
To this day Shekhar tells this story with awe in his voice. He vows the elephant had a sixth sense and knew they needed to get back to their baby!
ANGRY MOTHER ELEPHANT......
One misty December morning, a brash young planter zipped along the winding and misty main road of the estates, towards Head Office. He drove a bit too fast. Whizzing round one sharp corner, too late to stop himself, he slammed straight into the back of a huge mother elephant!
An earth-shattering trumpet echoed in those hills, and the entire labour force stopped in their tracks. Sounded like disaster! Sunil G, as we shall call the thoughtless planter,had little time to collect himself. The elephant trumpeted holy terror for 2 terrifying minutes, and to this day Sunil hasnt a clue how he survived.
He just remembers flying off the bike, and jumping up to find the mother elephant turning round to lunge for him. As quick as lightening, and narrowly missing her wildly swinging trunk, he made the race of - and for - his life! And he didnt stop running till he reached the office, some two km down that road! Through thick mist, biting winds, and a thin film of cold rain, he ran and ran, and he never looked back. Ofcourse, everyone in the office collapsed in glee when they heard the story from the horse's - uh, planter's - mouth! Secretly, they all knew he deserved that horrid fright! Nothing worked quite so well as that terrifying experience, and Sunil G was a changed man after that elephant episode!
A young planter and his wife had just had a baby. One night,they left him at home in the care of the maid when they went to a company dinner. Returning late, they drove up the last hairpin bend to their mist-covered bungalow, only to find a huge fallen tree lying accross the road. Elephant dung was everywhere!
Shekhar and his wife dare not make the last stretch on foot. An enormous tusker stood on the right, 40 feet away, and right behind him a young calf, its mother and atleast ten more. The tusker, a deep rumble in his throat ( this is a low, threatening 'growl' and very scary for those who know what it means! ) He smelt the air and did not budge. After 10 agonizing minutes with engine running, and headlights on low beam, the tusker walked in lumbering motion across the road, his family following him.
Shekhar and Prema waited patiently for them to leave the scene, engine humming softly. Another 30 minutes, but the tusker still hovered in view. It would have been too dangerous to make a sprint to the bungalow. Neither was there an axe to cut the tree in two and make space for their car. Tense now, it had become obvious that Shekhar would have to reverse the car and head back for the club, leaving their tiny baby with the maid for the rest of the night.
Just as he began to ease the car into reverse gear, he heard a scrunch. The tusker had quickly and silently returned to the road, just 20 feet from the car, and with one powerful sweep of his trunk, he lifted up that tree. They watched openmouthed, as he carried it off to one side and dropped it there. Then he walked away into the deep jungle, his herd behind him. Ten minutes later the planter and his wife walked into their bungalow, breathing a sigh of relief.
To this day Shekhar tells this story with awe in his voice. He vows the elephant had a sixth sense and knew they needed to get back to their baby!
ANGRY MOTHER ELEPHANT......
One misty December morning, a brash young planter zipped along the winding and misty main road of the estates, towards Head Office. He drove a bit too fast. Whizzing round one sharp corner, too late to stop himself, he slammed straight into the back of a huge mother elephant!
An earth-shattering trumpet echoed in those hills, and the entire labour force stopped in their tracks. Sounded like disaster! Sunil G, as we shall call the thoughtless planter,had little time to collect himself. The elephant trumpeted holy terror for 2 terrifying minutes, and to this day Sunil hasnt a clue how he survived.
He just remembers flying off the bike, and jumping up to find the mother elephant turning round to lunge for him. As quick as lightening, and narrowly missing her wildly swinging trunk, he made the race of - and for - his life! And he didnt stop running till he reached the office, some two km down that road! Through thick mist, biting winds, and a thin film of cold rain, he ran and ran, and he never looked back. Ofcourse, everyone in the office collapsed in glee when they heard the story from the horse's - uh, planter's - mouth! Secretly, they all knew he deserved that horrid fright! Nothing worked quite so well as that terrifying experience, and Sunil G was a changed man after that elephant episode!
