Majestic Kumki Elephant Lakshman: A Sacrifice for Friendship!

The DFO was going around the elephant camp accompanied by his deputy and mahouts. When he saw a majestic bull elephant confined to a kraal, he observed to the head mahout of the camp, "What a specimen. When did you capture him? How is he responding to training?"

Mahout Mohan said, "Sir, he is not a new elephant. He is already well trained. His name is Lakshman. Actually, he is one of our Kumkies. Very brave and skilful, he has helped us capture very unruly elephants."

"Why on earth are you keeping him in the kraal?" questioned the new DFO.

"It all happened last week, Sir. When we received information about a wild elephant chasing vehicles on Ooty road to capture him, we took with us Lakshman and another Kumki elephant, Lankan. In an operation that lasted five hours, we managed to corner the troublemaker and tie the rope around the rogue when something happened to Lakshman. He suddenly turned against his fellow kumki, Lankan.

Instead of restraining the captured elephant, he pulled off the rope that bound his head. The captured elephant seized the opportunity and ran away after a brief exchange of low-note trumpets with Lakshman, his liberator.

With great effort, we managed to bring Lakshman back to the camp. We could not understand his strange, defiant behaviour."

The DFO was bewildered. How could this be true? This was like a policeman helping a captured thief escape.

The real story of what happened was known only to Lakshman the kumki and Rudran the rogue. Kumki Lakshman had never let a rogue elephant escape in his ten-year service. He had such trunk-power and tusk-power that escape from him was impossible. He was the king of kumkies.

After the rogue was bound, Lakshman went very close and nudged the wild fellow with his tusks. At that time, their eyes met. Elephants have an extraordinary sense of scent.

Something stirred inside Lakshman. He groped the face of the rogue with his trunk-tip. Then, memories of his days before he himself was captured came rushing back to his mind. He recognized the rogue as his childhood friend. He and his friend were always together. Together, they raided banana farms. Together, they fought and drove away tigers and bears. Together, they brought the vehicle movement on the Ooty-Mysore road to a standstill.

Once both elephants recognized each other, the drama began. The rope that bound the head of the rogue was ripped off. The other Kumki, Lankan, was pushed and pinned against a tree.

Lakshman waited until the escapee disappeared among the jungle trees, and then strode towards his mahout and stood beside him. He was trembling with excitement. The mahout pacified him and brought him back to the camp. On the vet's advice, it was decided to confine him for a week.

Before leaving the camp, the DFO went up to where Lakshman was kept kraaled and kept looking at him. He called the head mahout and told him to release the pachyderm from confinement. "Let us not speculate about his behaviour the other day. Maybe the elephant which he helped get away was his friend. Elephants too have sentiments. They have to be loyal to each other as they are to us."

Turning to Lakshman, which looked at him gratefully, the DFO said, "You are a Kumki; your job is to capture, not to release. Understand?"