THE GENTLE GIANTS

In this deeply fascinating and inspir ing personal journey, conservationist Pamela Gale-Malhotra, co-founder and trustee of the SAI sanctuary (the only pr ivate sanctuary in India, in Kodagu, Karnataka) recounts how she connected and communicated with elephants, both at a physical and spir itual level

- Pamela Gale-Malhotra

Back at the towering love-posts, I find it so poetically appropriate that the giants of the canopy are one of the main meeting and eating places for the gentle giants of SAI’s forests – the elephants.

The river’s bamboo-lined edge, as well as the abundance of jack, wild mango and other fruits promise them a banquet of delicacies, along with easy access to cool, clear water. And sure enough, the family herd has indeed been here, their huge footprints in the sandy soil evidence of where they have recently crossed the river to reach here, the prints being quite fresh.

More signs are the countless bamboo pieces snapped and bent along the river’s bank. The area is right above the elephant crossing and in line with the same camera. So, the camera has captured plenty of elephants, too. I call this place the ‘bamboo salad bar’ because of the way the elephants eat here – the entire family group in a perfect line, heads and trunks buried in the bamboo, happily eating, with the rest of their bodies sticking out, tails swishing away as a youngster runs about in play, the whole scene reminiscent of a human family at a salad bar.

Another funny video captured two young tuskers getting ready to cross the river. The first hesitates to go in, like a reluctant human swimmer not wanting to get into the cold water. As the second tusker’s patience wears thin, he starts pushing the first – gently but firmly – into the water with his head and tusks, as if saying, ‘Come on already! Move, would you?! Enough is enough!’