NOSE

Next door to the hotel in Madurai was a small temple away from the larger temple complex. Each day, sometimes twice a day, the temple elephant would come swaying into the hotel courtyard and stand waiting until a staff member hurried out carrying a tin tray piled high with rice and vegetables, and the elephant would delicately clean the plate by transferring every grain, every morsel, to its mouth using its trunk. Then the elephant would nod its giant head and slowly leave, probably to go onto another hotel.

After days spent exploring the vastness of the Meenakshi temple area, I decided to visit the little temple next door and found the elephant at home, standing in a corner munching banana leaves. When her minder saw me enter he immediately called ‘Madam, madam, have blessing now.’ I was reluctant, it seemed the wrong thing to do but would clearly cause no harm to an animal which was already living an unnatural life so I took a five rupee coin from my pocket and held it out. The elephant took the coin from my hand with its trunk and passed it to the mahout and at the mahouts direction I bent my head. The elephant then gently and tenderly tapped me on the head before dragging its trunk across my forehead.

Another town, another temple and another elephant, not a seasoned performer but a juvenile hardly taller than me. And this performer was not happy with his lot and why would he be?  Standing all day on concrete, his leg chained, he was rocking from one foot to another and swaying his head. His minder called me over and I was even more reluctant but my friends pushed me forward, the coin passed hands, via trunk, and my head bent. Then thwack, the full weight of the trunk hit my head and I stumbled. And fair enough too.