Scary jumbo tales from Munnar

George N Netto

Stories of encounters with wild elephants are as common in Munnar, Kerala’s picturesque tea-growing hub and tourist destination, as the tea bushes girdling it. For locals it’s an occupational hazard of sorts, with most having had at least one scary experience.

A truck driver transiting through the town took a nap on the outskirts one night and woke up to find a tusker mopping, quite incredibly, the condensation off his frosted windscreen with its trunk! Terrified, he cowered under the dashboard until the pachyderm moved on, having finished its task. Was it trying to get a clearer view of him? He still shudders at the thought.

Meeting an elephant unexpectedly at night on the hill resort’s narrow roads is often an ordeal — and, sometimes, a nightmare — for motorists. One hapless driver once found himself trapped on a deserted stretch with a jumbo right in front of him and another behind. In sheer desperation he sneaked out of his car and quickly clambered up the hillside to safety. From there he saw the pachyderms toy with the vehicle, leaving it badly dented.

Some daredevil motorcyclists have perfected the art of sneaking past an elephant when its back is turned — a risky manoeuvre that could backfire if a two-wheeler suddenly stalls. I've seen this happen a couple of times with the driver hastily grounding his bike and fleeing as the elephant headed towards him.

Then there was a local bus whose horn uncannily mimicked the brassy trumpeting of an elephant. The driver bragged that he could scare off any pachyderm with it. One night he encountered a tusker on a sharp curve and sounded the horn. Apparently mistaking it to be the challenge of a rival male, the jumbo advanced menacingly, stopping just a few feet short of the bus and its petrified human cargo before realising its mistake and backing off. The first thing the driver did on reaching Munnar was to replace the horn with an ‘elephant-friendly’ one.

Another night, two tourists on a motorcycle swept round a sharp bend to find a massive tusker sashaying on the side of the road. Braking, they waited at a respectful distance, hoping it would move into the adjacent eucalyptus plantation. When it didn’t budge for a long time, they decided that discretion was the better part of valour and turned back. Returning next morning, they were shocked to find the tusker still rooted there, looking as menacing as earlier. But they also noticed something that they hadn't the previous night: its rear legs were chained to a tree. It was a captive elephant brought there for logging work!