Under an elephant’s foot – II

Suddenly all hell broke loose!

 

‘RUN!’ I heard someone scream from behind. ‘The elephants are here!’

For a split-second I was rooted to the spot not keen to look back there

 

I turned around to see what would be stamped in my mind for a lifetime

Two enraged wild elephants were charging towards us, covered in grime

 

Their trumpets drowned every little sound I could hear a few seconds ago

Blindsided, we broke off in all directions not knowing really where to go

 

I was far too much in the open without any skill to outlast such ambushes

Searching frantically for our guide, I saw him hiding behind some bushes

 

To avoid the fate of plants getting trampled under their heavy feet, I ran

Heading straight towards the water I wondered, ‘Aditi! Is this your plan?’

 

But even before I could take two steps, it looked like I had lost the race

An elephant trunk lightly touched my back jolting me down on my face

 

I rolled to face up, only to see an elephant foot coming right at my nose

Luckily my lizard brain got me rolling again, ‘Gosh! that was so close’

 

All the tragic elephant stories I had heard were now playing in my mind

While I rolled again in my desperate efforts to escape the 2000 kg grind

 

This time I saw the other pachyderm terrifying the rest towards the ditch

The dry mud pool in Coorg was destined to be our grave without a hitch

 

I rolled for the third time plunging six feet down into a soft mud puddle

Already picturing a massive round foot crushing my ribcage or my skull

 

Knowing that end was just a matter of time, I ceded to the inevitability

Praying fervently to God to make it as quick and painless as it could be

 

        A few seconds passed…

Under an elephant’s foot – I

Etched in my memory is that early morning walk in a coffee plantation

Four of us chatting, brushing past the dew-laden leaves in slow motion

 

Plucking pepper from the peppercorn vines, smelling the vanilla pods

Nothing could be more idyllic than this weekend, what were the odds?

 

Our guide, Prakash was born in these hills so no trail was new to him

nor were the birds or animals; he could sense an elephant and its whim

 

What are our chances of spotting one today? I had tried to think loudly

‘Coorg is a part of Elephant Corridor ma’am’, he reminded us all dryly

 

We were now closer to a watering hole to spot some feathered friends

Only to discover fresh circular footmarks in wet mud around the ends

 

‘Wild elephants often impair the electric fences to cross over for water’

‘Why did we come here then?’ I felt my trust in our young guide totter  

 

But the bird watchers, pros and amateurs were busy with their lenses

And inner peace seemed to have arrived too, suffusing all our senses

                                                                Suddenly all hell broke loose!