Elephant Pet

 

Elephant Pet

Krishu was just 5 years old when her parents moved to a small town in northern part of India. She was admitted in upper Kinder Garten (U KG) there. She had barely learnt to speak in Tamil and in this new land everyone spoke in Hindi. Though, there were two Tamil families in her vicinity and they did bond well.

More than good speakers, she made friends with the one who doesn’t know how to speak in a language. She ran after butterflies. Loved to see peacocks spreading their feathers. Threw fruits to see if the monkey is throwing something else back. Made earthworms to swim in a narrow water channel when it rained. Fed lizards with May flies that scattered on floor near lampposts at night. Followed frogs by jumping like them. Played with street dogs. Tried to imitate chirping birds and so on.

One day, she had to come home alone from school as two of her pals took off. It took a 10 minutes walk to reach the Nursery School. On the way, she saw a giant elephant. She was so amused and wanted to touch it. The moment she went near it, it stood up. She heard the trumpet. It scared her so much that she ran from there with all her might. She was horrified to the core. So much that she made up mind to keep this with herself. Also. thought instead of understanding her fear, everyone will make fun of her act. The elephant was brought to this place maybe for the local Dushehra fair that was held every year in a football stadium.

Next day, she was hopeful to see the elephant again. This time, she was more confident as her friends were there with her. Again, the elephant stood up as she went near. But, she didn’t budge and gazed at it for long in amaze. Then, went on her way to home.

It became kind of a routine to see the giant after school. She started to keep a piece of roti/ dosa, idli or fruit for the elephant. They became good friends. One day, she mustered all her strength and asked Dad if they can have elephant as pet. Now, it was Dad’s turn to be amused. She gave thousands of reasons and all of them fell deaf on Dad’s ears. He can only state in argument that no one raises elephants as pets in home. Krishu was very upset. Finally, Dad thought something and said " with our earnings, we can’t afford to have an elephant pet". Krishu was like “But, why Dada ?” See that poor fellow, with his tattered clothes and limited resources, he is able to take good care of it. Then, why not we? Dad was really at the splits of laughter. He somehow controlled as he didn’t want to upset Krishu.

Now, he tried to explain that elephant is all that poor guy has got to earn his livelihood and we can’t take that from him. Besides after this fair, the elephant would like to be with its family in Jungle like we live in our homes. It made more sense to Krishu and she dropped the idea of having the pet.

As days passed, the elephant was not to be seen. By then, she learnt Hindi and made many friends in school and neighborhood. The other ones also remained with her as usual.

-       Written by: Saranya        Illustrations: Durga Kulothungan

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