The elephant in Dubare
On a trip to Mysore, we met this little fella in Dubare - A frisky baby elephant happy to be let loose for a little while. His mahout was a little kid of about 8 or 9 years and I thought to myself, Well! Isn't this a great pair. They both ran into the Kabini river for bath time accompanied by a horde of tourists wanting to 'bathe' the baby elephant while he just laid there in the cold water , happy as a lark , making gurgling noises and flapping his ears. I was one of the tourists and I was also happy to give the little one a scrub. I like elephants. As do most people. But I suppose humans liking them is not a very good thing for elephants themselves. There is a lot of cruelty involved in making them ' human - friendly'. Have you visited the Mysore Dasara and seen the elephant parade? Or seen an elephant in South Indian temples? And admired them because they look so mammoth, majestic and grand? And felt affection and warmth for them, accompanied by a lit...