Читать книгу Shakespeare on a Train - B. NAIR - Страница 3

The mahout moved towards the elephant slowly and carefully. He was so close to the huge animal that he could touch its body. The elephant looked at him with its cold eyes. It suddenly made a violent move with such force that the mahout had to jump back. As the mahout was steadying himself, the elephant shot its trunk forward in its attempt to strike at him. The mahout parried the strike, but he slipped and fell on the ground. The elephant took a step forward, raised its front right foot and placed it on his head. The pressure of the elephant’s foot crushed the mahout’s head like a pumpkin. The muffled sound of his cry wafted through the air and his body lay still.

Neelan was a domesticated elephant. He was gentle and friendly. Everyone in the village loved him. Neelan was special. He was never used for hard labor, unlike most domesticated elephants. Neelan’s only official duty was to carry the idols of the deities of nearby temples on his back during the annual festival season and display them proudly. During such occasions, he would be decked with ornaments and colorful decorations including an elaborate gold-plated caparison covering his entire trunk. A priest sitting on his back would hold the idol during the procession. The mahout would walk alongside Neelan proudly holding his tusk.

Neelan loved temple festivals. When he was leading the procession around the temple bedecked in jewels and the heavy caparison, he would hold his head high, feeling proud and important. In smaller temples, Neelan would be alone, but in larger ones he would occupy the central position, leading groups of five and sometimes fifteen elephants. In any group of elephants, Neelan would stand taller than all the others. That was a sign of superiority and Neelan enjoyed that status. If Neelan was anywhere near Trissur, the temple city of the famous Pooram festival, he would be occupying the central position among seventy bedecked and gold-caparisoned elephants, all of which would be standing in a row. Without doubt, Neelan would be standing taller than all other elephants.

At temple festivals, there were large crowds which swelled by the minute. People would mill around Neelan with an admiration bordering veneration. Temple festivals were noisy. There would be several traditional drummers and a host of musicians playing different types of instruments, walking in front of the elephant. All the instruments were used at the same time at their loudest. At the end of the procession and ceremonies, there would be elaborate fireworks, sometimes, lasting for hours. The success of the festival was measured by the intensity of the sound and light. Many of Neelan’s counterparts had one time or another misbehaved due to the stress created by the milling crowd, constantly touching by people and the ear-splitting sound of drums and trumpets. Even if some of them withstood those trials, they would break down during the fireworks.

Every year, people would be injured or maimed by attacks from frustrated elephants. During each festival season, one or two people would be killed by an elephant goring and tossing around their bodies and throwing them to the ground. If the elephant was still angry, it would stamp on their bodies several times. Notwithstanding this, each year the crowd grew, the frenzy around the elephants was built up and history repeated.

That day, Neelan was not at any festival. It was a serene afternoon. Neelan was standing idle and swaying in contentment under a coconut tree in a large farm of coconut, mango and jackfruit. He loved to spend time there in the afternoons. There was a large heap of coconut leaves in front of him which he would pick up and munch idly. Earlier in the day while at home, Neelan had eaten a huge heap of cooked rice, which the mahout had made into huge balls and pushed into his mouth. His owner fed him with jaggery and banana. Children from the village loved to spend time around Neelan, bringing bananas and coconut which they fed him by themselves while the mahout sat chewing betel leaf and tobacco, a short distance away.

One of the boys asked the mahout ‘Can you give me a hair from Neelan’s tail?’ This was a request the mahout and his other two fellow mahouts faced every day. Everyone wanted a hair from the tail of the elephant. He was reluctant to remove the hair from Neelan’s tail. There were very few left and a hairless tail would diminish the grace of the elephant. On very few occasions, he obliged by carefully plucking out a hair. He knew the superstition surrounding the elephant hair. Many people believed that if they kept an elephant hair with them, they would be fearless. Grown-up men made gold rings with the elephant hair inlaid which they would wear all the time. Children kept the hair in their books and proudly showed it to their friends. After some thought, the mahout replied, ‘As you can see, Neelan is resting. Let us not disturb him. I will give a hair next time’. The boy did not press his demand.

After playing around Neelan for some time, the children left. The mahout was lying idle but he was not sleeping. He knew that even with an elephant as gentle and well-behaved as Neelan, it would not be wise to leave the animal unattended. Therefore, his eyes never left Neelan. As he was looking at his ward, he observed a sudden and unusual change in its demeanor. The elephant seemed agitated. It shook its huge head several times in quick succession for no apparent reason. Until a few minutes before, the elephant had been playing with the children, accepting banana and coconut from their hands.

The mahout got up and came closer. With horror, he noticed the trickling of a thick fluid from either side of the elephant’s head. He shuddered. He realized that the elephant was entering musth – rutting season, when the male elephant is prone to heightened aggression and erratic behavior. The mahout knew that the elephant’s behavior could change at any time and violence would follow. Neelan had no chains tying his legs. The other two mahouts including the senior mahout were not around.

During normal times, Neelan posed no threat to anyone. There were abundant stories of his courage and compassion. Neelan knew everyone in the village. He would not harm anyone. No one feared him. But, while in musth, the behavior of an elephant was unpredictable.

The mahout’s immediate thought was to somehow direct Neelan to his usual resting place where he could be secured to a tree with iron chains. When the elephant was in musth, it would not be safe to go closer. But he had to take Neelan away and secure him so that no harm was done to anyone. He gave Neelan the usual command to move forward. The elephant did not seem to hear him. He raised his voice and repeated his command several times. Neelan did not move.

The mahout felt a chill down his spine. He was alone and he had to take Neelan away. He could not leave the place with Neelan in that condition, even for a few minutes, to alert the senior mahout whose house was just a small distance away. He realized that his long stick and hook were lying at Neelan’s feet as was the usual custom. Neelan had never given the mahouts a reason to use those weapons on him. But the mahout knew that he needed the stick and hook now for two reasons – he needed something to hold on to gain confidence and if Neelan behaved violently, he needed those weapons to control him. Therefore, he moved towards Neelan slowly and carefully still repeating his command. The mahout did not realize that Neelan was already in extreme agitation and was aggressive. Neelan did not give him the time to reflect on what was in store for him. The mahout’s senses stopped the moment Neelan placed his leg on his head and pressed it down.

After Neelan was certain that the mahout was dead, he made a loud trumpeting sound that woke up the senior mahout who was taking a nap on his veranda. The sound also alerted the assistant who was sitting idle in the village square chatting with his friends. Both men walked quickly to the place where they had left Neelan under the care of their colleague. Both carried with them the long sticks and the hooks which were their weapon. Both arrived at the place almost simultaneously. They saw the inert body of their colleague lying on the ground with the head turned into pulp.

By this time, several villagers had gathered there. They were all in shock. No one spoke. Several minutes passed. When they came out of their shock, they realized that Neelan was nowhere to be found.

After killing his mahout and trumpeting, Neelan took off in the direction of the village temple. A villager, who had just arrived at the scene of the killing, told others,

“I saw Neelan running towards the temple”.

The senior mahout told his colleague,

“Let us go after Neelan. With god’s blessings, we can catch him at the temple.”

He told the villagers, pointing to the inert body of the slain mahout,

“Take the body of our dear friend to his house. We will join you later.”

The two mahouts ran in the direction of the elephant.

Neelan stayed at the gate of the temple looking inside for a few moments. An elderly devotee, who was present in the precincts of the temple told the mahouts,

“I saw Neelan coming running towards the temple. He stopped at the arch gate and stayed still for a few seconds. He then disappeared.”

Neelan had evaded them.

The entire village was in turmoil. The news of Neelan on the run, spiced by popular imagination, spread like wildfire. No one knew the entire truth.

“Neelan killed his mahout”

“Neelan killed all three mahouts.”

“Neelan is hiding in the temple.”

“Neelan has run away from the village.”

Most people had heard only some parts of the incident, but that was sufficient to frighten them. Many of them, particularly those with children, locked themselves up in their homes while several others set out to find the facts.

Neelan, after leaving the temple, turned to the left and took the narrow road lined with houses. Some people saw him passing by. He was swaying from one side of the road to the other, stopping at places, moving forward, turning back, returning and again moving forward.

It was dusk and the light was fading. Darkness was descending on the village rapidly. The village had no streetlights. While the mahouts were still searching for their ward, the villagers were afraid to come out in the dark since they would not know where Neelan was. If they came out carrying their hurricane lamps, they were afraid that the elephant would spot them and kill them.

One of the villagers ran a cloth store in the town, some three kilometers away. Every day in the early morning, he would leave his home for the town and return after dusk. As was his custom, he entered the village at nightfall on that fateful day and made his way to his house. He lighted his path with a small battery-powered torch. He was not aware that Neelan was on the loose. He was close to his house when he sensed something strange in front of him. He stopped. He raised his torch and flashed the light, slightly upwards. He froze. Directly in front of him was a dark shape, as huge as a hill, with two powerful reddish glows on either side in the front.

Before the trader could comprehend what was in front of him, a powerful blow came across his body propelling him upwards. He hit a tree and fell lifeless to the ground. Even if the trader had not hit the tree, he would have still died from the force of the blow from Neelan’s trunk. His family and the neighbors found his body the next morning near the tree.

The mahouts could not make any progress in tracking Neelan. They knew that it was not wise to try to locate the elephant in the darkness. They were aware that the elephant had an uncanny ability to hide silently. Only when someone was very close and had no chance of running back or otherwise escaping, the elephant would show up in front of him. Even a trained mahout would not get a chance to defend himself.

The mahouts went to their employer, the elephant’s owner and made a report of the entire happenings of the day. The owner had heard about the unfortunate events, but he had refused to believe that Neelan killed one of his mahouts. He was waiting for the mahouts so that he could learn the details of the incidents of the day from them. On hearing the facts, he was crestfallen. The trader’s death was not known to anyone at that time.

“It will be impossible to track Neelan during the night,” The senior mahout said,

“We will resume our search early morning tomorrow.”

The owner agreed with him. His only prayer was that Neelan would cause no further harm to anyone and Neelan himself should be safe. He did not have the courage and confidence to spell out his wishes and therefore those wishes remained in his prayers.

The next day was a day of fear, excitement and curiosity for the villagers. At daybreak, many men started climbing tall trees and taking vantage points on the branches. They had carried food packets and water bags with them, hoping to see Neelan in action.

As the day progressed, stories of Neelan’s acts during the night began to trickle in. In one place, a banana crop was completely vandalized and destroyed by Neelan. Two small shops were pulled down. Part of a house with a thatched roof was damaged. Several small trees were uprooted. Many people heard Neelan moving around, running, striking at the fencing and even entering their courtyard, but no one had dared to come out.

At around seven in the morning, the mahouts spotted Neelan. They were scouting the streets, studying the telltale signs of their ward’s nocturnal activities. They were also careful to avoid being surprised by the elephant. Neelan was at the far side of the village, running through the narrow streets. The area was completely deserted as people locked themselves up inside their homes. Several men were on the top of the trees witnessing Neelan’s rampage – some enjoying the spectacle, some frightened and yet others depressed by the rampage.

The mahouts moved towards the elephant. They knew that it was not safe to go near Neelan in his condition of musth. Yet, their conscience would not allow them to not try to calm the elephant. It was their duty. It was not easy to approach Neelan since he was always on the move. At one time, he was in one part of the village, at some other time in another part and all of a sudden, he would turn around and run through the street in the opposite direction. The mahouts had a lasso made of thick rope with them apart from the sticks and hooks. Neelan knew that his keepers were pursuing him and played tricks to confuse them.

By noon, someone had informed the authorities about the grave situation in the village. The police were asked to investigate and take necessary action to prevent the elephant from further destruction of life and properties. A lone policeman riding a bicycle came over to obtain a brief on the state in which the village was. He met with a few individuals.

“You say that the elephant is mad?” He asked.

“Actually, he is not mad. He is in musth. In a few days, he will return to normal.” A community member informed the policeman.

“That means he is mad now,” said the policeman, as if he knew better.

“How many people the elephant has killed so far?” The policeman asked.

“A mahout and a trader”, came the answer.

He himself was afraid to stay any longer in the village and quickly returned. After an hour or so, a jeep carrying four policemen and an inspector entered the village. One policeman was carrying a gun with him and he was said to have shot a violent elephant at a temple festival some time back.

The inspector decided to meet with the owner of the elephant before taking any action. He was not keen to stay in the village, fearing the unexpected. The gunman also knew that shooting an elephant in musth in a village was not as easy as his previous feat of shooting an elephant in an open place. The owner was extremely distressed about the destruction and fear Neelan was creating, but at the same time, he did not want Neelan to be shot.

“It is most unusual for Neelan to harm anyone, let alone kill,” the owner said.

“In a day or two he will become normal,” he added.

“Your elephant is mad. It is killing people. It will kill more people if we allow it to run around unrestrained,” the inspector said.

“The government has to protect the life and property of citizens. I am ordering the gunman to shoot your elephant and kill it before it kills more people,” the inspector stated his position.

The owner pleaded with the inspector to allow him one more day. He said he was sure that Neelan would calm down. A few villagers who had gathered there also did not want Neelan shot. Despite the fear and destruction, they all loved Neelan as a member of their families.

“I will compensate for all the losses. I will ensure that the families of the two people who lost their lives will be looked after,” the owner stated. The police team left quickly after giving stern instructions to inform them about the elephant’s activities regularly.

Neelan continued his move from one street to the other for the whole day. No one saw him drinking water or eating food. His regular food was coconut leaves apart from cooked rice and jaggery. There were plenty of coconut trees in the village. But Neelan had no appetite or time. He ran around without aim. He was in extreme pain or distress due to musth.

The owner himself was in distress. If Neelan continued his run, the police would return the next day to shoot him. He wanted to avoid this at any cost. The only way to avoid that was to immobilize Neelan unless the elephant itself calmed down.

“How will we immobilize Neelan?” asked one of the villagers.

“Cones,” answered an elderly person.

A plan was drawn up to mine the places, which Neelan would pass through most, with iron cones. Several iron cones with heavy bottoms and sharp needle-like upper part, would be buried in Neelan’s path so that only the sharp needles protruded out. When Neelan passed that way, he would step on one or more of those needles. The needles would pierce through the soles of Neelan’s feet and the resulting injury and pain would immobilize him. The owner was reluctant to implement this plan because he knew the disastrous consequences of such injuries. But he had no choice. He gave orders to open the underground store and retrieve the cones. Early the next morning, the paths would be mined with iron cones.

Well before dusk, the villagers who were on the top of the trees came down after making sure that Neelan was nowhere near and went home. Even at home, they kept vigil and hardly slept.

At dusk, in the twilight, Neelan approached a small hut made of thatched palm leaves and pulled down part of it. He looked inside. A young woman was lying on a mat on the floor. By the side of the woman was a newborn child. The woman saw the elephant, but did not realize the danger she was in. Neelan would not harm her. Neelan was a friend of everyone in the village. She had no idea of the happenings in the village during the past two days. She did not know that Neelan was in musth and that he was running wild.

Neelan stood there for a few seconds. He looked at the mother and the child once again. Slowly he retreated. He returned to the road. But he did not move further. He stood there for several minutes. Then, Neelan came back to the hut and again looked inside. By now, there was a small kerosene lamp burning by the side of the woman and child. Neelan lifted some of the thatched palm leaves he had pulled down earlier and put them back on the hut. The palm leaves slid down. The woman heard the sound of the palm leaves falling on the hut and sliding down.

The woman lifted the kerosene lamp and carrying it, came out. There she saw Neelan standing still. She saw streams of tears coming out of his eyes. Neelan was crying. The woman lifted a pot filled with water from the hut and placed it in front of Neelan. Neelan lifted his trunk, drew the water from the vessel and pushed it into his mouth. The woman touched Neelan with compassion and affection. At that time, the child woke up and the woman went inside.

The next day, early in the morning, the owner passed by the tree under which Neelan usually spent his night. There, he saw Neelan lying down, at peace with himself and composed. The owner heaved a sigh of relief.