Geetanjali Krishna: Elephant or cash cow?

PEOPLE LIKE THEM

She was amiable enough when we saw her for the first time, harrumphing and chewing on some branches. But that was before we'd attempted getting on her back. When I put my foot upon the saddle, she got so restive that I nearly lost my balance. Mobin, her handler, hit her smartly behind her ear with a stick, where the skin was already raw. I cried, "you'll hurt her!" "Don't worry," said he, adding a few extra whacks for good measure, "elephants don't feel pain!"

Her name was Champarani, and Mobin had been with her ever since her owner had bought her for Rs 6 lakh, 20 years ago. "She's been very profitable for him," said Mobin, "she gives better returns to him than a piece of land or a shop would have!" For Champarani takes tourists into the jungles in Jim Corbett Park, for as much as Rs 1,500 per ride during peak season, doing at least four two-hour long trips a day. We were the fourth to perch ourselves on her broad back, and I wondered whether she was tired or bored, for she certainly didn't behave like she wanted us there. As she stopped for the nth time to rub herself against a tree, I asked whether she'd become tired with all her exertions. "Of course not!" replied Mobin, "elephants never get tired!"

Swaying gently on her back, I asked Mobin how much Champarani earned for her master every month. "She earns between Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 a day. Her master spends over Rs 500 a day feeding her and has employed me at Rs 2,000 a month to look after her," said Mobin, "even then he gets good returns on his investment!" The other factor which made elephants a particularly good investment, he said, was that they had a particularly long life expectancy, about 90 to 100 years. "Nobody ever buys a calf," he said, "for he won't earn a penny till he's old enough for work. Most people prefer females: they're even tempered!" Usually, people buy elephants when they are about 20 years old. The pachyderms need quite a bit of training before they're deemed ready to carry people. "With Champarani, we first trained her to carry heavy loads on her back. After a few months, when she got used to this, I began sitting regularly on her back," said Mobin.

Champarani stopped to munch upon a branch, and I asked Mobin what else she enjoyed eating. "She likes jaggery with chapattis, fruits and sugarcane. We feed her lots of food through the day to keep her sweet, after all it won't do for her to be in a bad mood when she's carrying tourists! Think of it as keeping one's taxi on a full tank at all times!" he said.

After we got off, Mobin rapped her under her ears, and she obliged by raising her trunk in salute. Then he callously tugged the very ear he'd struck, hung on to it, and jump down to show us how well-trained she was. "I don't know whether she obeys me or this stick," he said, "but I can pretty much do as I please with her!" Before he left I asked him why he never spoke any words of endearment or appreciation to the elephant that was serving him and his master so well. "She's only an animal!" he exclaimed, running up her trunk with astonishing ease, "what good will it do to talk to her? Isn't it enough that I take good care of her?" Then the man and his faithful animal disappeared into the jungle.