The other side of Life…

“Ezhu, Ezhu”, "Pull" Pull”-- shouts a rider. 5 tones of muscle strain forward dragging a huge log. This ‘living vehicle’ understands 28 commands. It is an intelligent, indispensable laborer of Kerala's forests for hundreds of years. This is the elephant the Friendly beast.

Deep in a jungle where motors fear to tread, a mighty bull elephant drives his tusks, trunk and forehead against two tons of felled teak, sending the log crashing down a steep riverbank. Nearby, three other elephants power their way through the forest, flicking aside thick branches, shoving logs into clearings and hauling them away with chains.

This was the scene long ago at the river banks of Calicut where timber trade once flourished. Today, the timber trade is almost over. Once the Elephants were in timber logging and hauling as a necessity but now it’s more of exploitation in small timber saw mills.

“Exploitation” may be a very harsh word as it may not be correct to say that these animals are not taken proper care or they are not given enough food. But these words are mentioned for the sake of few animals who are exploited by few narrow-minded men who frustrate the animals with insufficient food and improper care.

The elephant has played an integral part in the history and culture of Kerala. Though they are still respected and revered, life is hardly a bed of roses for this magnificent beast. The main problem elephants face today is unemployment. In today’s fast-paced and mechanized society, elephants have lost one job after another: first as battle "tanks," then beasts of burden, finally as loggers. Now a dramatically shrinking elephant population is relegated to tourist rides and carnivals. Still, the elephant plods on….