An Elephant Ride
Have you ever ridden an elephant? If you haven’t, then let me tell you what it’s like. A few months back I visited the Kaziranga Wild life Sanctuary. As you know, this is situated in Assam and is famous for the protection it has given to the one-horned rhinoceros. To catch a glimpse of this truly wild animal, our party had to invade the interiors of the park which was only possible on an elephant.
Specially tamed elephants with trained mahouts were kept for this purpose. One of these was made to sit on its haunches and while the members of our enthusiastic group climbed on to the secure, cushioned seat. I stood by, faced by an attack of sheer nerves. I felt terribly scared and refused to get on to the elephant. However, my friends were merciless and laughed at me heartily. After that, of course, I had no choice. Shaking in my boots and miserable to the core of my heart, I managed with a pull from the front and a push from the back to scramble on to the huge animal.
The mahout then ordered us to hold on tightly to whatever we could, and with a lurch we were off. Certain that we were on our last journey on this earth, the only thing which kept me from voicing my thoughts was the apparent enjoyment my companions were drawing from the situation. Gritting my teeth, therefore, I resolved to pretend that I too was having a good time. But, do you know something? I soon began to genuinely do so. As we went farther and farther into the heart of the Sanctuary, waiting for a glimpse of the rhino, I got used to the movement of the elephant, and started to admire the beauty around me.
When we returned to base, after having seen a mother rhino with her two babies, my muscles were aching, but the rich experience gained was worth the discomfort and pain suffered.
