The land of Vazhoor in Kerala dipped in peaks and valleys. Curves packed her entire landscape and she was filled with ponds, rivulets, streams and rivers a many. It'll be a long time before the water gets dried up and her topography gets severely altered with rubber trees and closely kept houses. Now, it was all peace with Kondugoor Devi temple the hub of activity for the entire village.
It is 1979 and electricity has hardly set afoot in this village. Entertainment involved actual social interaction and the residents invariably gathered around the temple. Men and women wore mundu or mundu sarees in varied shades of white and lived simple yet hardworking lives.
Vaijayanti arrived. The school boys were in for a surprise. The prettiest girl they thought, as she stood in all her beauty. Only four feet tall with grey complexion, she had sturdy legs, strong nails, and fluttery eyelashes. Her trunk was sniffing the ground endlessly, Vaijayanti was the new elephant calf. The Devi temple trustees had bought her and also hired an exclusive mahout the aged Parameshwaran Cheta to take care of her.
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Vaijayanti was restless. One day she would go on to become a magnificent beauty and pride of the village but right now all she wanted was to play. She waited for the school boys to return home. There was no way they will miss seeing her, for she was tied in the village prime property just outside the temple and adjacent to the playground.
Closer to four o clock, Vaijayanti could hear the sound of their scampering feet. Mani was the first to reach her. She affectionately sniffed him with her trunk. Vinod and Unnikuttan followed next. 'Kalikkamo?" said Mani and got the ball. There was only one ball for the kids to play and it performed multiple roles including volleyball, basketball and football. Today it was football.
They untied her from her rope and took her to the playground. The boys were in one team and Vaijayanti with others. She let a swift kick and the ball went flying in the air. The boys went running and just like she thought they began their squabble. She let out a loud trumpet call saying she had enough and demanded the ball be brought to her again!
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Summer began inching forward and days seemed longer. Annual school holidays had set in and kids were thinking of new ways to occupy themselves.
"I dare you to slide under her belly!" Vinod said. The trio was at the temple. Mani was scared, elephant trampling was something he had been warned about. But the winning prize of Parrotta and beef curry at Vaishali hotel was something that he couldn't let it slide.
Mani always had an innate bond with animals. Vaijayanti was intently listening to the conversation, by then her Malayalam vocabulary had increased and she could understand complex emotions like negotiation, competition and friendship. She wagged her tail signalling him that she was ready. Mani took a deep breath rushed forward and glided under her belly, the smooth mud offering less friction to his movement. And Vaijayanti didn't flinch one bit. The kids were mighty pleased! It became everyone's favourite game, but it was she who enjoyed it the most. She was happy to have become the fulcrum in the kid's lives.
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Dark clouds gathered in the sky, it was the time when rain Gods were kinder and arrived like clockwork. Agriculture was planned around the monsoon season. Rivers and wells overflowed and everyone had aplenty. Vaijayanti needed to be bathed weekly. The mahout took her to a shallow pond for the same. Most days it was a pleasantry sight, she quietly bathing but she had her moods too. She didn't like being forced and on those days, she waited till he finished bathing her. And when he turned his back against her, she lifted him from behind with her trunk and plonked him into the pond!
The mahout Parameshwaran was baffled that the elephant calf had a sense of humour. Viewers gathered around the pond for better inspection and the mahout decided to play along. And it became their routine.
Every time he turned his back towards her Vaijayanti pushed him gently with her trunk. "Plop" he splashed into the pond. He got up with mock horror. He would ask Vaijayanti to extend her trunk and the moment he got his balance, she twirled her trunk around him and dunked in the water again. The routine got over when he decided that he had a thorough bath and need not bother taking one at his house.
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An elephant requires 150-200 kg of food every day, it was the norm at the time for the mahout to take the elephant on rounds and collect food from several households. Every day the mahout took different routes along with her. People were alerted with the sound of her anklets and had an unsaid barter system. Bananas and coconuts were given in exchange for some errands assigned to the mahout. Sometimes villagers were more than happy to feed her for she belonged to them. Grocery shops were not spared either. And Vaijayanti refused to move until she was fed a small ball of jaggery, her favourite snack.
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As promised, Vaijayanti grew up to be a magnificent animal. Majestically tall and exceptionally bright she could recognize all the villagers by face and knew the home route of her favourite people. She no longer played with children after she underwent her temple training.
And she waited impatiently for the festival season for she also got to travel to the temple towns such as Guruvaiyoor, Kottayam and Aranmuzha. But her absolute favourite was when Pooram dawned in Vazhoor. There she was dressed in all finery like a newly wedded bride. She wore Nettipattam from her crown to her trunk and a silk shawl over her body. She looked resplendent with a howdah atop her with Mani and her mahout holding fans over her head. Fire and noise did not scare her. She walked majestically head, no longer taking bananas on the sly but blessing all the people who came to visit her.
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Time flew by, and Mani went to try his luck in Mumbai. In the concrete jungle, his eyes searched for the emerald greenery of his village, home food, family and friends. While all or some could be replaced with STD Calls and friends and family dropping over. It was Vaijayanti whose absence he would miss the most, a vacuum which ached to be filled over.
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A true story, Vazhoor Chronicles tells of the bygone era when man, animals and nature co-existed and benefited from each other. A perfect eco-system in balance can be reclaimed again with better and environmentally sensitive lifestyle.
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VAZHOOR CHRONICLES - VAIJAYANTI
General FictionA true story, Vazhoor Chronicles tells of the bygone era when man, animals and nature co-existed and benefited from each other. A perfect eco-system in balance, can be reclaimed again with better and environmentally sensitive lifestyle.
