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Mahout Thakkur
Before the first rays of the sun touches the jungle village
hidden by the velvety soft night, the work of the Mahout
Thakkur starts. After washing away the last remains of sleep
with some unfriendly cold water, he prepares for work
without which many a visitor's experience of the jungle
would be poorer or more difficult.
Thakkur shuts the door of his home leaving behind the rest of the family still sleeping. He walks out of the compound surrounded by a tall bamboo fence. The still slumbering sleepy village is left behind. He walks in the coolness of the morning and finds Poornima (which means Full Moon in Sanskrit ) from the edge of the jungle. This still virile 50 year old female elephant is left loose for the night.
The early morning job of the Mahouts and their elephants is to search for tigers. The elephants can sense their presence just as the tiger can sense the presence of an elephant. The Mahouts map the whereabouts of the tigers, panthers, bison and other animals as they and their friends tramp through the jungle looking for droppings and paw marks of these animals. These intelligent human beings who have never been to school know the behaviour patterns of different animals and can determine where the animals can may be found from these tell-tale signs that they have studied from their childhood.
With the early morning work done, they return to the starting point. They confer and decide which tiger they have located is best and easiest to keep under their control for the tourists to see. Four elephants and mahouts are then engaged for this purpose. Two elephants go to where the tiger is resting. Two elephants picks up a groups of tourists and take them on elephant-back to the spot where the tiger is being watched by the two other elephants and their mahouts. Just as one group arrives the elephants on watch return to pick up the next group of tourists. It is necessary to always have two elephants watching over the tiger as the tiger knows that a battle will otherwise be in its favour. This shuttle is kept on as long as possible, not forcing the tiger to remain rooted but yet allowing as many tourists as possible to see a tiger in its natural habitat. To an inexperienced visitor this would otherwise remain just a dream.
Elephant bread
One evening just before sunset when we went for a walk by
the village, we came across an interesting spectacle. The
smoke of burnt wood and the smell of freshly baked bread
whiffed across toward us. We stopped to see where who was
maintaining such a delicious bakery on the edge of the
forest.
A young man, Vishu, was frying extremely large and thick bread in an open fire place. We found that supper was being made for a little elephant by the name of Brahmaputri, a female elephant named after the great Brahmaputra river which goes across the top of India to wind its way down to the Bay of Bengal. A short distance behind Vishu, this young elephant was patiently waiting for its nice smelling evening meal.
The cook told us more about the diet of the elephant. The official meal amount is carefully prescribed by the Indian government. It must include 1/2 kg salt, 1/2 kg unrefined brown sugar and 8 kg full meal grains to make the bread, every day. The remaining nutrients the elephant must find for itself when it is left free in the jungle overnight. As it walks in the forest it collects bundles of fresh grass with its trunk. When the bundle is large enough, it puts it into its mouth. This process is then repeated till it feels it has had enough.
Bearman
We had heard a gruesome story from the villagers about a man
known as the "bearman". One afternoon as we were
waiting for an elephant ride, the bearman was on duty at the
checkpoint. His name was Ramu. He was middle-aged. Unlike
the other villagers, he did not rush to us to be
photographed. After some persuasion by his work mates he
surprisingly also came to stand for a picture. There was no
need to ask him for the reluctance. It was obvious on seeing
his disfigured face at close quarters.
About 5 years earlier, Ramu had been on a routine work trip in the jungle area with his work mate. As usual they had started their journey back to the checkpoint before sunset. His colleague walked a little ahead. He did not know what was happening to Ramu just behind him.
Ramu had been suddenly attacked by two fully grown brown Indian bears. No one heard or saw as Ramu struggled using only his hands to save himself from his aggressors. He did not give up against the apparent supremacy.
The fight against the hairy long nailed beasts of the forests lasted a very long time. Ramu felt that his strength was giving way. He felt he would lose this battle if something radical did not happen fast. His face had been badly mauled and the bears were trying to scalp him as they do to their victims.
Ramu got an idea. He fell to the ground and pretended to be dead, lying absolutely motionless. Seeing the prone individual, the bears looked at him for a while and decided to leave him alone as he was not fighting them any more. They disappeared somewhere into the dark night.
Ramu had lain bleeding and badly mauled at the mercy of the jungle. He knew there would be no help coming from anywhere as after sunset no-one dares to wander around the jungle. Ramu knew he would have to get back to the checkpoint by himself. He dragged himself several kilometres back to the jungle village.
After receiving first aid he was rushed to the closest government hospital in a town called Mandala. There was a lot to be patched up and recovery took a long time. Today he is able to work and continues in a job at the checkpoint.
Elephant ride
We were well in time before midday at the jungle checkpoint
where we wanted to book our jungle ride on an elephant.
Though we did everything as per instructions, it looked as
if we were not going to get our much hoped for ride that
afternoon. The reason was that a group of tourists had
managed to book their place in advance. Technically this was
not permitted as we had been refused permission the previous
day to book our ride in advance. We felt we could not accept
this violation of rules and wanted to meet the Forester to
voice our concern.
We were directed to the centre of Mukki village. Here there were several neat looking houses and gardens. The village was bathing in the hot midday sun. We went to many house doors all of which were open. However, no one seemed to be at home. We felt a bit helpless till we saw a few people in front of a larger building almost in the village centre. We were told that it was the clinic of the village doctor.
A nurse was receiving the patients. She guided us into the cool and shady reception room. There was a friendly looking man in the room. We greeted him and introduced ourselves and he told us he was the local doctor. My husband said to him, he was called Dr. Duhde "We have a problem for which we wish to get a healing medicine from you.": Dr. Duhde was wondering with what sort of medical problem we would confront him.
My husband explained to him how it seemed like we would not get our much desired elephant ride. Dr. Duhde smiled as he was not helpless in this matter. It looked like we had come just to the correct address. He acted immediately. He sent the nurse to search for the Forester while we were talked with the doctor about his work and the patients.
We got to know that his work covered an unusually wide area of patients. This was unique and interesting. It so happened that he not only treated the people of the Mukki village but all the animals in the Kanha National Park were his patients.
Besides being the doctor for the village and its surrounds, he had been appointed by the government as the official veterinary doctor of the jungle. He had enough interesting patients and case histories. By education he was a medical doctor but by experience and the situation he had also become a vet.
His pharmacist brought out some samples. We saw two foetuses of tigers preserved in glass jars. The doctor had treated a mother tiger which had to have an abortion as the result of a too daring jump. In another bottle were preserved big black scorpions. We were shown also the skin of python which had been over six metres long. The doctor had done an autopsy on the snake after it had eaten a deer for a meal. The death had been caused by the sharp hoof of the deer which had pierced through the skin of the python.
The doctor closed his clinic for the afternoon and invited us to his nearby house. He told us that he had worked in the village for 16 years. He had a wife and three sons. His wife presently lived in Nagpur about 200 kilometres away as their youngest son was studying there. Dr. Duhde frequently visited Nagpur to be with his family.
After we drank some refreshing tea, two men arrived at the house. One of them was the Assistant Forester and the other was his colleague. The men had good news for us. After some negotiations at the checkpoint they came to a compromise as a conclusion. All of us would have the elephant ride, but with slightly shortened times.
Later that same afternoon we met the doctor again just as we finished after our elephant ride. We told him how happy we were. He was glad as having remedied our problem but was on the move on his motorcycle on his way to visit his patients in the jungle.
Villagers
The children which we came by were very interested in us.
They smiled happily and on seeing the camera wanted pictures
to be taken. The first child to want to have her picture
taken was a little girl and a little bigger boy. They stood
in front of the house of the Mahout. As we walked further
there were two sweet little girls sitting on a fallen tree
trunk. The sun was setting in the background. After we had
taken a shot of this charming scene, four more children
appeared. We took pictures of all of them and they were
immensely happy.
The village was a peaceful place. Women filled their brass pots with water from the well and carried the shiny pots in a traditional way, balancing them on their heads as they walked, very erect, to their homes. The bright chattering voices of the children certainly enlivened the village scenery. The children looked happy. We got the impression that it was a good place for people to live far from the bustle and pollution of the cities of India.
We wished we too could live here peacefully.
It would also be wise if the Olympic Athletics Committees of developing countries discussed the matter with the veteran athletes that took part in these games and made an official complaint to the International Olympic Athletics Committee. The International Committee should be requested to fully investigate their findings. The IOC, based on their independent conclusions, should take steps to deny any country that behaves inhumanely towards athletes, like Finland did, the right to host any international sporting event.
Finland - the most expensive country in the world
It is without doubt that Finland is one of the most
expensive countries in Europe and probably the world. The
proof is the hotel bill I paid (special summer reduced rate
of Rs. 4000 for one night!) when I stayed at a three star
hotel during my visit to Turku where I had gone to see the
Championships.
In this expensive hotel, as in all the five, four and three star hotels in Turku, were the participants from the richer countries and officials from all the participating countries enjoying hearty five and six course nutritious buffet breakfasts of their choice (fruit juice, tea, coffee or milk, corn flakes, yoghurt, a wide variety of vegetarian salads, preserved fish and meat, bread, toast, or rolls with butter and jam, and finally a fresh fruit as a large juicy orange). They had just descended to the plush breakfast room from their beautiful and tastefully decorated hotel rooms (equipped with telephone, radio, television sets, private shower and bath) after their early morning gratis sauna and swim in the hotel pool. In fact, anything that their money could buy was available to these contestants from the richer countries.
What about the contestants from India and the financially poorer world countries taking part, whose athletes did not have pockets lined with gold. Where were they?
Rude shock
There was a rude shock when I visited the large contingent
of men and women from different parts of India. They had
been crowded into a couple of school rooms with mattresses
spread out on the floor, twenty or more to a room. There
were not even the basic facilities like cupboards to keep
their clothes and sporting equipment. They had to queue to
use the common toilets facilities. There were not even
proper food facilities in line with their limited financial
means (Rs. 200 for a most unappetising meal). They had to pay
extravagant amounts to get anything and even had to pay an
exorbitant bus fare for the seven kilometre trip between
the two stadiums where the meet was being held. They had
paid extremely high fees to take part in the events and were
even made to pay high charges for use of these rudimentary
facilities. These poor cousins were herded and treated like
animals and fleeced like goats.
The caretaker of the school, taking pity on these poorly looked after athletes, gave his personal cooker to the Indian participants to prepare their own food. The participants, instead of training and resting, had to scour the ultra-expensive Finnish supermarkets for cheap products like milk (Rs. 35 per litre), rice (Rs. 85 per kilo) and vegetables (Rs. 160 per kilo of tomatoes) to meet their basic dietary requirements. Meat eaters would have had to pay anywhere from Rs. 250 to Rs. 800 for a kilo - so that was best avoided. Fruits and other basic ingredients of a healthy diet were totally financially inaccessible to these athletes, many of whom have owed their long life to their strict dietary habits.
Less enterprising participants from the neighbouring socialist countries, who shared the same school premises with the Indians, were considerably worse off than the Indians. They took to selling their watches and cameras to the slightly better off participants so as to afford to live.
Was the Olympics between equals
Is any contest between the richer and poorer nations held
under these conditions equal in any respect? What was the
meaning of the Olympic Motto under which this sporting event
was supposed to be Hosted in Finland?
Moaned one Indian participant who had taken part in the
Asian Veterans Championships at Kuala Lumpur earlier that
year - "The Malaysians looked after our every need and
made us feel welcome. If the Finns came to take part in any
event in India they would be properly hosted - not treated
like this - worse than animals!!"
Indians show the way
It was indeed a great achievement that two over-nineties
from India, despite these adverse conditions they were
subjected too, dominated their age-group events and ran
their way to glory capturing all the medals that they could
lay their hands on. Athletic ninety year Narayanamurthy from
Bull Temple Road, Basavangudi, Bangalore, born on 12th
December 1900, was indeed oblivious to the problems around
him.
His colleagues shared their humble food and drink with the sprightly gentleman. Full of beans (metaphorically speaking only) he was!! He captured the hearts of the sparse audience as his sprinted away a full 50 metres ahead of his rival in the 200 metres, as indeed in all the events he took part in. He more than justified the trust placed in him by the Karnataka Chief Minister who had, in his personal capacity, given Narayanamurthy a helping hand to take part.
So also was the case with fit-as-a-fiddle ninety-nine year old Joginder Singh from Patiala in Punjab. Narayanamurthy and Joginder Singh certainly did India proud at this occasion.
Indian hospitality
What was even more surprising was that when we visited the
Indian contingent, never having met a single one of them
before, friendship and hospitality, even under the
conditions that they had been forced into, oozed out of
them. They made us at home on the three wooden stools that
were available for them to be shared between the couple of
hundred athletes that were staying in the school. Even with
their meagre resources, some of the lady athletes from
Kerala produced piping hot cups of coffee for us strangers
who had landed in their midst.
This was a mark of good culture, upbringing and sportsmanship - not what my country, Finland, had forced on these eager contestants who had spent fortunes from their own pockets to come to this country to participate in this event.
Finnish mismanagement
Who was to blame for this shambles? Was it the Sports and
Cultural Ministries of Finland who had obviously ignored the
event. Was it the City of Turku who had not taken steps to
ensure that the event was organised as defined by rules of
fair competition in sporting events.
Or, was it the officials of these Third World Participating Committees who did not raise a single voice in protest at the inhumane conditions that their participants were forced to live with or the gross inequality of the contest? Was it that the officials from these countries were wined and dined by the Finnish organisers so that they would not raise any noise about the arrangements, or rather the lack of them?
Is it any surprise that the medals in the more contested age groups were shared among the richer countries which could pay their way to victory? Is this the spirit of the fair sporting competition or the Olympic Movement!!
No first aid for injured
The numerous organisers and officials visible everywhere at
the athletics stadium sported expensive bright new green
uniforms, were picked and dropped in expensive cars and
vans, and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner, at the expense of
the athletes, in posh restaurants and hotels, obviously
taking care to host the Committee Members from the
participating countries but ignoring the starving third
world athletes.
However, when a 85 year old participant stumbled and fell two yards away from the finishing post, not a single games official was on hand to rush to his aid. It was the oldest participant of the competition, 99 year old Indian, Joginder Singh, who was talking to us just at the moment, who rushed onto the track to lift up the poor injured participant. No first aid was even offered by the officials to the injured man who, crestfallen and bleeding at the nose, angrily hobbled away into the centre of the stadium.
Sensational journalism
What about Press, Radio and Television coverage of the
event? This meet was virtually ignored by the Finnish Press,
except for sensational journalism. The results of the
penultimate day were not even reported in the leading
Finnish papers. On the other hand, the Finns started off
their own National Athletics Championships in Helsinki on
the concluding day of this international event with massive
press, radio and television coverage and totally ignored the
large contingent of foreign athletes, numbering close to
5000, who had assembled in their country for the
international event. A strange sign of hospitality
indeed!!
Is this the correct cultural way to host and promote an event which is designed to enthuse middle-aged and elderly people around the world to live better lives by keeping up their activity level?
Is any contest between the richer and poorer nations held under these condition equal in any respect? What was the meaning of the Olympic Motto under which this sporting event was supposed to be Hosted in Finland?
Atlanta Olympics - July 1996
The Olympics in Atlanta, USA, will certainly be organised
so that all contestants are treated equally and participants
from the poorer nations are accorded the same hospitality
rather than as shown by these indifferent and inhumane
Finnish organisers, aided by officials from the poorer
nations who only looked after their own interests rather
than the interests of the people they represented.
All these amateur participants at future Veterans Olympics should be given the same level of hospitality by hosting countries. They are a finer example to the people of today than the commercialised superstars of the modern day Olympics who can well afford to pay for their comforts.
This article was first published in our paper version of Findians Briefings in 1992/93. It is even more relevant 4 years on.