God's Forsaken

As a kid, family trips invariably meant trips to temples in Kerala with the Krishna temple at Guruvayur being the most popular destination. My fascination for elephants probably started there. Stories of Guruvayur Kesavan and the sights of the fully caparisoned elephants during the temple rituals captivated me. I would stand spell bound and watch these giants for hours together, prayers to the gods were almost an afterthought. The sight of an elephant was always the highlight of any trip to Kerala. Until recently a trip to Guruvayur temple to watch the night “shiveli” was my idea of a spiritual reset. The combination of the traditional drumbeats, the wicker lamps and the caparisoned elephants always mesmerized me. The local temple “pooram” was also the high point of my summer vacations at my granny’s place. Twenty plus elephants lined up, with the tallest one carrying the god/goddess, the spectacle was magnificent enough for me to believe that even the gods were having a grand time. The Thrissur pooram has for long been considered the “pooram of all poorams” and it has always been on my mind to witness this event as well. So when I realized that the day of the pooram coincided with my trip home with some friends, I decided to make that trip to Thrissur. Much has been published about this event and a simple web search would provide as much information and photographs as you ever care to see. This post really isn’t about the Thrissur pooram.

I am a self-professed animal lover. I also eat all kinds of meat, I have murdered fishes by the hundreds as part of my tropical fish-keeping hobby, and I have owned and continue to have a fascination for purebred dogs. My life’s ambitions include owning a pet store. I have always sensed the obvious contradiction, but haven’t had the will power to resolve them or question my primary premises. Until now.

I enjoyed the Thrissur pooram just as much as anyone else standing in that multitude of people did. In fact I walked away feeling quite privileged to witness to such a wonderful spectacle. What first set off the fuses in my head was news of one of the elephants collapsing due to sheer fatigue in the middle of the pooram. The next was probably the sight of an elephant on a lorry during the drive back home. I spent the next day looking up the general conditions of domestic elephants on the web. What I found has left me appalled. In truth though, what’s shocked me even more is that I always knew these things existed but did nothing about it. I mean, was I naïve enough to just assume that the temple elephants were just born this way? Had I never seen an elephant being punished by his mahout? Had I never read newspaper reports of elephant deaths at the hands of drunken mahouts? Like all other contradictions in my life, I just chose to ignore inconvenient facts. Mea culpa. Mea máxima culpa.

The following videos are extremely disturbing.

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I am now forced to ask myself what was so spectacular about the sight of elephants lined up pressed to each other for hours together in the sweltering heat, chained with heavy irons and prodded by their mahouts, listening to sounds and noises that distress them and carrying a bunch of people who keep waving some umbrellas and other colorful items. Spectacular perhaps, if the intent was a demonstration of man’s might. Shameful surely, if the intent was to celebrate divinity. Man does much in the name of the Gods, but if a God’s sense of festivities did in fact require activities of this nature, one would have to do a rethink on all matters divine. I am tempted to condemn mankind and its cruel ways. But of what use is condemning myself. I may have not been the prime perpetuator of many of these atrocities, but was I not an essential part of the charade?

I am confused right now. It will be a while before I can make sense of what I feel and decide on what I can do about it. For now I do know that the night shiveli at Guruvayur will no longer be a spiritual reset. They maybe denizens of God’s own country, but for these four legged giants on duty divine, God’s forsaken might be a more apt title.

An animal lover I can call myself no more. At least, not yet.