Whenever I spot a herd of elephants grazing close to the backwaters, I find that they are never really still; there is this constant, gentle movement.

Ever in Action?

They keep kicking up the turf, and then bundle up the grass with their trunks, clean it by rubbing it against their legs before finally eating it.

Apart from that, there is the gentle flapping of ears, a mother caressing her young, two siblings having a bit of fun , an elderly elephant shifting its weight from one foot to the other – you get the picture. Those of you who have seen an elephant herd will know what I’m talking about. If you can imagine about twenty elephants doing this in a group, you will get an idea of what I am trying to convey.

When I am watching such a group, I usually allow my mind to drift a bit and let my imagination take hold. Usually, I mentally add some music to the scene and then what I see before me are dancing elephants!

Dancing to Music?

It is a most fantastic image – a group of wild elephants dancing to music. No training, no domestication, just pure natural and wild. Not a man-made sound – and then, Mozart! Yes, the last is my favourite line from the film ‘Out of Africa ‘. I always recall it when I am in this mood.

Vikram Nanjappa

Vikram Nanjappa likes to be described as an interested and well-informed amateur. He draws his inspiration from the band of men called the Orientalists, most of whom were amateurs. By profession, they were soldiers and administrators. However, today, they are remembered as giants of scholarship. Like them, his field of enquiry is ‘Man and Nature; (with an emphasis on Nature) whatever is performed by the one or produced by the other’. He currently resides in Bangalore and freelances as a writer and photographer. He can be contacted at nanjappavikram@yahoo.co.in.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Herbivores, Mammal, Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.