Nurungukal………….

     

Their first visit to our neighbourhood, a densely inhabited area, was sudden, short and unexpected. The pair of pachyderms  tusker surreptitiously trespassed into our locality under the cover of darkness, consumed a stretch of banana plants and retraced their path eluding an angry mob. The damage was costly and the target land resembled a war torn ground. From the size of the foot prints one can easily imagine the size of the animals. A boy on his way to collect the bundle of news paper from the nearby town had a glimpse of their long tusks as they were retreating in hurry at the first streak of twilight in the eastern horizon. The incident virtually hurt the otherwise peaceful locality. For the next couple of days the topic filled the air and all and sundry activated their social groups with the evidences of havoc done by our animal friends. Some even tried to mould a make belief contention that the pair are the descendants of a forgone herd who would have been reigning the hillock known as ANOMKUNNU and they have just activated by instinct an elephant path frequented by their ancestors many  years ago. As usual the memory of the invasion slowly vanished from our minds. But contrary to our wishful thinking, the pair appeared exactly after a month. A lady on hearing an unfamiliar sound peeped through her window  to witness them uprooting her plantain, a scene which will remain in her with a shrill. But to her surprise they moved slowly and left her premises placing the plant just in the porch of her little house, without causing any damage.  This time they refused to return, but remained in the vicinity for two days as if to establish a right on their ancestral domain and right of way.  Again they returned without much persuasion although this time the officials were ready to meet any eventuality. I heard today that the same pair is stationed in a coffee estate near to us. That means they are very serious about their intention of retrieving their lost ground, something precious and essential for the existence of their tribe. So far there is no loss to life or property. But how long they will hold their patience is to be seen.

       The episode has not attracted any intense media attention as in the case of Ottaplam sojourn on the banks of NILA. May be that ours is comparatively a low profile village.

       This conflicts between man and animal  on territories are to be dealt case by case. But in general the main issue is survival. The depletion of healthy forest systems denies sufficient food and water to our fore runners on earth, due to our encroachments to their territory and the lack of effective management of forest wealth. Let us hope that a day will ultimately dawn when a better harmony will prevail and till such time we would love to bear with the frequent visits of THEIR MAJESTIES… dum, dum, dum, pee, pee,pi……