JUMBOS FOR COMPANY

A life in the estates entailed some extraordinary wildlife experiences. It is with great relish that I choose to embark on this narration. As I mentioned earlier, the location and settings of the estates, fringed by forests and rivers, allowed for some frequent and precious sightings of snakes, peacocks, deer, wild boar,bison, hare, leopards, tigers and the biggest of them all, the elephant.
Often on our way back from the plantation clubs, we would see these creatures ambling across the narrow stretch of tarmac to reach the other side of the forest. The image of a long, winding road, snaking its way through the heart of the forests was quite an impressionable one.
Each sighting was a special one; whether it was the big cat stopping right in the middle of the road to stare back at the headlights with those unforgettable eyes , a glimpse of his striped tail making a statement in the tea bushes or an unperturbed herd of elephants flapping its ears in nonchalance while we contemplated on either of the two options- to give them the right of way or reverse our vehicle with the single minded pursuit of safety! 
More often than not, tea garden settlements fall in the elephant corridor, which essentially means that the tract of land was earlier used as a route by the elephants. It is believed that an elephant never forgets or changes its tracks...in which case, the human trespassers were left to defend themselves from the occasional wrath of the rogue elephants and mammoth tusk bearers.
Wild elephants frequented the estates especially during the harvest season as they came in search of crops like maize and paddy and loved indulging in the rice beer that was brewed by the estate workers ! There still are numerous incidents of elephants going on a rampage in workers' colonies and pulverizing tea garden property, until they are herded back to the woods by the forest officials or the garden workers. If you wish to see what an inebriated elephant can do, a long stay in an estate is a must. Whether it is going to be a frightening or an amazing experience depends purely on your luck! At times a herd of elephants ranging from  just a few to thirty or more would cross the gardens; but they were  destructive only if there was a threat to their young ones.
Victims of elephant depredation, the estates were well equipped to ward off the elephants. Every tea garden office had an elephant squad that patrolled the estates on a tractor, with a monstrous torch called, ' Haathi Batti ' some brave hearts, a few tom toms  and several boxes of firecrackers. The usual drill consisted of a display of pyrotechnics, some screaming and shouting and a vigorous beating of the tom tom drums, until the elephant, disgusted with the mad song and dance of the humans, strode back to the calmer forest. 
Elephants coming up to the bungalow compounds was not a rarity either. They loved feasting on corn, jack fruit and bananas from our 'maalibari' !!
Contrary to what most people may think, the elephant has great speed and only gifted humans have the ability to escape a chase ! My father recounted a personal experience when he was chased by an unpredictable rogue elephant; he ran with all his fuel and leaped over a huge drain as if with some divine intervention. The image of the charging beast halting abruptly near the large drain and  trumpeting furiously at my father, will always be an unnerving one.
One evening when my parents and I were returning from the neighboring estate, our jeep halted as the headlights landed on a jumbo waving its large ears  and almost piercing us with its vision. The jeep's engine failed to start and the elephant took a step forward. God was kind yet again and the vehicle started just in time for my father to reverse steadily with the headlights focused on the magnificent creature with huge tusks, till we were at a safe distance.
On another occasion, we were heading to the nearest town for some provisions and it was just after sun down. While crossing a forested area , we saw a man lying helplessly on the road; his legs were mutilated as they were trampled upon by an elephant. It was a test of conscience; we did not have the heart to leave the man there to be torn into shreds by the elephant again. My father decided to get the man some medical help, but for that, he would have to get off the vehicle himself and lift the man up into the rear part of Gypsy. While we prayed fervently and the elephant trumpeted somewhere in the vicinity, my father summoned courage to do the needful. The traumatized man was put into the vehicle and driven to the nearest primary health center. The man's leg had to be amputated but his life was saved by his good fortune and my father's large heartedness. It was a risk taken to save a stranger's life but it gave me a valuable perspective into the dignity of human life.....  
Shall be sharing more such adventures that I have witnessed from ground zero.