Reminiscing Childhood - II

Encounter with Madness

We are two brothers, separated by a period of 4 years. Being the eldest, I would take the lead while venturing into the forest with other village boys to collect wild berries and elephant apple with which mom used to make delicious sour daal and sweet aachaar My brother was too young to accompany then. The boys from the village were well trained since childhood to spot any unusual movement in the bushes or thickets and the animal that would lurk behind.

It was in one of the evenings that we spotted an elephant screaming and coming towards us. 

Sensing trouble, we hurried back to our homes as fast as we could. The animals are too fast to outrun humans, being on 4 feet. Their running was a double engine scenario.

The screaming of the elephant could be heard well within the home as it was uprooting banana plantains and trying to fell trees with might. That alerted the villagers who approached the headman to kill it.

It was a double-barrel rifle that the head of the village (gaonbura as he was called), flaunted all the time he would go on a round. He used to make his cartridges by proportionately mixing a concoction of metal with gun powder.

A team was formed to capture the elephant first. On initial inspection, it was found that it was a bull in great pain as someone had shot it earlier. The area on the forehead, where the bullet hit, had developed a highly infected bruise over passage of time. Tears were also seen rolling the moistened skin below the eyes. 

The bull had full grown tusks for which poachers might have taken a shot at it. Perhaps its less known that killing an elephant or a rhino wasn't easy due the high strength of bones and hide. There are specific areas where it can be hit to kill. Wouldn't focus on that here.

In those days, forest officials and their governance was too far away and was based out of district headquarters. This elephant in pain had to be killed most immediately to prevent danger of destruction to the standing crops and vegetation apart from human property. The question of whether it was morally right or wrong, to eliminate the bull in pain, was beyond anybody's question as the headman had already decided after discussions with his village council. Use of tranquilisers along with the delivery equipment were not known then. Time was less as it was on a rampage destroying crops and plantation. It was on a smashing spree in that discomforting pain. The villagers called it the pagla hathi (mad elephant).

A bait was laid after consultation with the village governing council. To lure the bull, a female elephant was tied to a nearby tree with chains. Ropes were encircled atop the 

elephant and a bamboo bed made under the belly, well secured by the ropes that came down from the top. The gaon bura made himself comfortable and an aide de camp. He loaded his gun with cartridges and kept two ready in the event of any failure. The aide was armed with spears that had poisoned tips for the big kill. Both had a sumptuous meal and as dusk fell, they were in position for the rendezvous. They applied a plant sap on themselves to not let the scent of a man travel to the nose of the bull that could smell from a distant 15 kilometres away. Strongmen from the village were positioned not far, but at a safe distance , avoiding any distraction, lest their smell or commotion would alert the bull not to come near the cow. Howl of wild animals and the chirping of crickets were the only sound while the moon shone bright in the yonder aiding visibility. The patient wait was unnerving but the thrill to serve mankind rose above that. It was almost midnight when we all heard a loud bang, followed by cries of ecstasy by the village men, that heralded the death of the bull.

Prior to the colossal victory, uneasiness was gripping the Bravehearts who lay under the belly of the cow. It was already 5 hours that they lay still with bated breath, waiting patiently for their catch. They looked at each other when the cries of the angry bull in pain reached their ears after ominous silence. Readying the gun for the ultimate shot with scarce resources, they kept their equipment full in readiness. There was then, utter silence and, they looked at each other again with the presumption that it went to another direction sensing human smell despite the camouflage.

On the spur of the moment, a huge dark figurine loomed out of the thicket behind them with loud thumps. Startled and taken aback, they waited patiently with profundity holding their breath for the opportune moment. The giant bull slowly trudged by the side of the cow and shook his head vigorously with a deafening scream. They took their position and aim. The expert gunman, that the gaon bura was, killed it in a single shot.

The entire village was in pompous celebrations by then. Apong was flowing free and with sharp machetes, they carved and sliced huge chunks of meat that would sustain them in the days to come; a veritable feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds.

The village chief was already a hero. The villagers carried him back to his home in their traditional formation holding him high.

The tusks adorned his living room. I was amazed to see how big it could be.