I am excited
at the very sight of Elephants. One
day, while standing at our gate Jacob and I saw Narayanan Vappan. He was an old man who used to ferry commuters
to and from Thevara and sometimes even to Nettoor, our neighbouring island. He
was not his usual self, he seemed very pre-occupied. On enquiring he told us
that he was given the task of guiding an elephant across the ‘Kayal’ from Nettoor to Kumbalam. The
elephant was hired for the festival in the Siva Temple at Kumbalam. We were so
energized on hearing this. We got ‘Ammachi’s
permission to go to the ferry to watch the process. We had to wait there for
about two hours. An elderly person at the ferry said that the elephant would be
made to cross over only when the water is still. The ideal situation is when
there is neither ebb nor flow in the ‘Kayal’.
Otherwise he might be carried away by the under currents.
After a long wait Narayanan Vappan started to push
his canoe out of the Nettoor banks with a long bamboo pole. The elephant began
to follow the route of the canoe. They moved at a distance of five to eight
meters between them. We noted the elephant walking through the shallow areas of
the ‘Kayal’. He swam through a short
area where the ‘Kayal’ was deep. Each
time his legs sunk into the muddy waters he trumpeted so loudly out of sheer
fear. I noticed that he kept his trunk always above water. It took half an hour
for this huge, gigantic animal to reach the opposite bank. One marvels at how
cautious even animals can be! While climbing on to the steps of the ferry he
made sure that the granite steps were firm by feeling them with his long trunk.
I persuaded Narayanan Vappan to request the mahout to
bring the elephant to our courtyard. I assured him that “Coconut and Choondal Palm leaves” would be given to
him as was the usual practice. The mahout agreed to this deal and brought
‘Kutti-Sankaran’ (name of the giant elephant) to our court yard. The mahout
placed his ‘Thotti’ and ‘Pulivadi’ on the elephant’s feet. This
is a gesture by which the mahout communicates to the elephant. It signifies
that no movement is expected without further directions from the mahout. After
doing so the mahout gathered the grand meal of ‘Choonda’ palm-leaves we had promised him to give to
‘Kutti-Sankaran’. Shaping of his tusks made him look beautiful. ‘Ammachi’ gave us two bunches of ripe
banana for the elephant. Since he was waving his large pinna I thought he was
in a friendly mood. I was about to go towards the elephant when the junior
mahout cautioned me that he was little naughty. Accompanied by the mahout we
gave the banana bunches to the elephant. The elephant saluted us as if to say,
“Thank you.” We were so thrilled that we gave him a few coconuts too. It was
interesting to watch the elephant break open the coconut husk with its huge
feet by stamping on it. He took the nut in his trunk and then struck it onto a
granite stone to break it open to eat the kernel inside. He scooped it out with
its trunk and ate it up in one gulp. The mahout was very pleased with us so he
put Jacob and me on his back one by
one by asking the elephant to lower himself to accommodate us on his back. The
mahout made us feel very majestic atop an elephant, as if we were kings and
lords on a battle ground.
The mahout asked us, whether we need his hair?” I
said, “No thanks.” The people believed that an elephant’s hair adorned on ring
finger would give courage. Likewise, claw or tooth of a tiger is used as a
pendant would endow a person with ferocity. These things even though powerless
this would help him psychologically to get over many obstacles.
Then a ‘Kuttalam’
(a big copper vessel) of water was filled and given to him to quench his
thirst. He drank almost two fillings of water. When he had enough of it, he
took two mouthfuls and sprayed it like a fountain on his body. Then he started
to eat the ‘Choonda’ palms. What a
lot they eat? He kept on eating most of the time. The elephants require a lot
of calories of food to maintain their massive body. After resting for some time
the mahout directed the elephant to carry the bundled ‘Choonda’ palm leaves on his tusk and holding it with his trunk. He
gently moved out of the courtyard and then lumbered past on his way to Siva
temple. It was interesting to watch the back side of an elephant’s body
swaying. People say that it is a good omen to gaze at the elephant’s back with
a mahout mounted on his back.
One of my favourite hobbies as a young child was
accompanying a caparisoned elephant to many of the houses for ‘Parayeduppu’, an offering to the Gods
or Goddesses made by individual families belonging to a particular caste or
community. All of them had their own temples and different deities. During the
‘Parayeduppu’ each family according
to their financial status gave paddy to the temple and rice flakes, jaggery and
bunches of ripe bananas to the elephant. The children who accompanied the
elephants also get a share of the sweet rice flakes mixed with jaggery and
coconut gratings. I am sure the elephants enjoyed ‘Parayeduppu’ festival because of all the pampering they received.
Jacob and I used to go in the morning to the Siva
Temple pond to gaze at the elephant having a bath. He was made to lie down in
the pond on his side; the mahout scrubbed his body from top to bottom with a
piece of coconut husk after which he would do the same with the other side by
asking him to turn over. My days used to be so hectic with ‘Kutti-Sankaran’ or
any other elephant around in our little village and I never found time for
anything else till Narayan Vappan left for Nettoor with him. Elephants are
highly intelligent and extremely social animals. They have always fascinated me
from my early years and my fondness for this huge animal has grown more over
the years. I used to go for trekking in sanctuaries in Sahyadri Mountains and
hills and other places with elephants. It is an interest grown with the age,
which continues with me even now.
Mahesh Muzhapilly, son of Amminikutty Amma of Chala
Veedu, in Kumbalam is an elephant lover. He takes care of a few elephants on his property adjacent to Kumbalam Siva
temple. He lends them out for temple
festivals in Ernakulam and even to the temples in the neighbouring districts. Kiran, one of the huge and attractive
elephants he rears used to carry the temple deity on his shoulders. Mahesh is
also a veteran in the art of making and supplying gorgeous ‘Nettipattom’ (caparison), ‘Alavattom’ , (a royal fan made of
Peacock’s feathers), ‘Venchamaram’ (a
brush or whisk of a yak-tail which is a royal ensign,) anklets, bell with
chain, attractive umbrellas with golden or silver coloured laces and all the other paraphernalia used in
connection with temple festivals. Occasionally, his mahouts bring the elephants
to Oli Mana. I used to pamper them with ‘Choonda’
or coconut palm leaves. They particularly relish the coconut and jaggery which
I used to feed them with. They always left me in high spirtits when they gave
me the royal salute before their departure.
HORRIFYING DREAMS
I
have seen mahouts who ill-treat the elephants badly with their ‘Pulivadi’, (a stick made of a branch of
the Tamarind tree). I have seen some of
them beat the animal with a long wooden pole. Sometimes they pull his ears with
a ‘Thotti’ (an iron holder fixed on a
stick to pull). This pains him. There was one instance when an elephant
retaliated by hitting the mahout with his trunk. On seeing this, I did not
linger around. In an instant reflex I ran home as fast as I could. I wondered
if it was the pain that made the elephant do so to the mahout or was it the ‘Musth’that he was experiencing. After
that I used to have horrible dreams of an elephant chasing me. It must have
been triggered off by these cruel scenes between the mahout and elephant that I
was a witness to. In my dream I used to try to escape the elephant by running
into the ‘Pumukham’ (a bower to enjoy
the breeze and solitude) yelling out for help. This would stir ‘Appachan’ from his deep slumber in the
adjoining bed-room. He would come in with a torch to find out what was
happening. On hearing my terrific story of being chased by the elephant he
started to search around in the dark for this mammoth creature. It was only
when he looked under the cot did I realize it was only a dream. Then ‘Appachan’ would ask me to say, “The Creed” and the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father” so that I could have a sound
sleep.
Excerpts from
MEMOIRS
by
Joseph J. Thayamkeril
Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.
josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com
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