Elephants learn Hindi in two months… Read the interview of Mahout Irshad Ali who understands the language of elephants

Question: Tell us about Durga and Gauri, how was the experience of raising them?
answer: The forest department found these baby elephants separated from their herd in Najibabad and handed them over to us. We found Durga in 2018. She was three months old. She had been badly stung by bees. She needed constant treatment to compensate for the pain of being separated from her mother. In such a situation, the female elephant Rupkali from our elephant sanctuary proved to be very helpful. She treated Durga like a mother. Durga was so big that she could be fed soft fodder. But Gauri, who came in October last year, was very young and was also very weak, so she had to be raised on milk. She is fed a mixture of cow’s milk and lactogen eight times a day and five times at night. Like Rupkali, this time Durga also keeps her with her. Still, see that when these babies are grazing around the elephant sanctuary at night, Durga may sleep but the elderly Rupkali is always awake and guarding Gauri. Elephants are very intelligent and sensitive animals, so I feel that while raising them, it is necessary to take all the precautions that are taken for our own children at home. They are also children, so sometimes they become stubborn and naughty. In such a situation, their tantrums have to be tolerated and explained to with love.

Question: How do you train them to make them capable of jungle life and other tasks? How much time does it take to teach them?
answer: Well, the elephants learn the art of living in the jungle by watching the other elephants. Just like Durga is raising her trunk in the air and shooing away the flies, Gauri is also slapping her trunk in the same manner. Apart from the elephant house, the elephants also live together while grazing in the jungle. They get used to the presence of other animals and their reaction to different sounds by watching the elders. They are mainly used for patrolling the jungle and taking tourists on a tour and for this, training is required. It is enough that they become capable of understanding the commands and signals of the mahout. During training, as a token of appreciation for executing a command, we definitely give them something to eat, jaggery or roti or something else. The elephant is very intelligent, so it does not take much time to teach it.

Question: You explain your gestures in Hindi. Then how do you control those ten elephants brought from Karnataka?
answer: We did not have to put in a lot of effort. Initially, we did face some difficulties, but very quickly those elephants learnt Hindi. The gestures of the Kannada-speaking mahouts had to be changed to Hindi gestures. They say ‘sarak’, we say ‘peech-hat’. For sitting, they say ‘baithi’ and we say ‘sambaith’. The gesture for stopping in both languages ​​is ‘dhat-dhat’. To express displeasure, we scold in a loud voice, the Kannada mahouts say ‘aak thu’. It took about two months and they learnt the gestures of the Hindi language.

Question: And how important is the spear that the mahout carries with him/her?
answer: It is only meant to scare. It is mostly kept with those elephants which are naughty. Elephants are afraid of spears, but nobody uses it here. A signal is enough. With innocent elephants we only carry a stick. Rupkali is 68 years old. She has been with me for twenty years, but I have never had to use a stick. Elephants respect their mahouts a lot. They understand their voice and roar very well.

Question: How did you yourself learn to take care of elephants?
answer: Our elder father Abid Ali was a mahout in Nainital division. After retirement, he/she started living with us here. I learned a lot in his/her company – the nature of elephants, their food habits, diseases, medicines and much more. Besides, knowing the elephant is not enough, it is also very important to know the forest. There are doctors in the forest department, yet identifying wild herbs for treatment when needed, the tricks to protect oneself and the elephant in case of encountering animals like tiger or rhinoceros come only with experience. But its basic preparation is done from the advice of the elders. Obviously, they have seen more of the world, are more experienced.

Question: When did you come here? How much time do you spend with the elephants? Tell us something about your family too.
answer: My father Mukhtar Ali was also a mahout here. After his/her death, I was recruited in 1994 and have been here since then. Days and nights are spent with my family of elephants. I have never been able to give much time to my family and children. Sometimes I reach home in the evening, rush home in the morning or sometimes I go during the day and meet them and return. Now the children have grown up. One is doing a job in Bangalore after doing B.Tech, the other is still studying. I believe that I got a chance to raise these children, it is a matter of great luck for me.