DAY ONE

Breaking

Arriving at the Elephant Nature Park, I was taken aback – not by the magnificence of the elephants, or the close proximity to these gentle giants (don’t get me wrong, they were awesome too!) – but it was the brokenness and sheer dejectedness of the elephants that got to me. Broken backs, battered feet and crooked legs, these were not the sights I expected from an elephant sanctuary.

Many of these injured elephants were rescued from abusive elephant farms, circuses and even landmine explosions. Seeking refuge in the Elephant Nature Park, they led better lives under the care of mahouts (elephant caretakers). Even then, the scars from their past lives still remained deeply entrenched; their injuries were testaments of their torrid experiences with Man’s self-serving actions.

As a child, I used to watch David Attenborough narrate the lives these creatures on Nat Geo. They were free and whole, in the wilderness where they rightfully belonged. I remember being so captivated and in awe of these great beasts, but where are they now? Instead, before me, were damaged and broken spirits. These elephants were a manifestation of Man’s ugliness; they were instruments of our consumerism and greed.

Mending

While feeling bitter and upset about the whole thing, I looked a little harder around me and saw that despite all these things, there is still humanity in this world to draw comfort from. In contrast to the exploitation of elephants, there are those who have dedicated most of their lives to restoring the lives of these animals that their counterparts sought to destroy. The mahouts living on site made the decision to leave or forsake the typical city life to a largely isolated area to care for another being – a being that can neither speak nor understand the human struggles. For someone who finds community an essential, the idea of leaving one’s home to live amongst animals perplexes me. Sure, they have the companionship of other mahouts, yet they are still, I dare go as far as to say, living for these animals. The nobility of these people truly show that there is still goodness in this world.

In retrospect, I find it such an irony that the human race is constantly at war with ourselves. We clean up the messes we created, and mend what we broke. We toil and struggle through these tribulations and emerge to only find ourselves back at the beginning, battered but perhaps better.