Fundraiser for the Elephants of India

Art & Deal Correspondent

Elephants are folk divinities in three major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Gautama the Buddha descended in the form of a white elephant, mothers of Jain Tirathankars saw elephants in their dreams and Ganesha, the elephant-God is widely worshipped by the Hindus as the remover of obstacles. The elephant, considered a friend of man is a symbol of friendliness, help, sacrifice, dignity and majesty, prosperity and luck and obtains a special position in the puja room of every household but, the point to ruminate is that we ignore the plight of the elephants on our streets and in our temples.

One serious problem of our natural habitat is that there are only 22,000 elephants left in the country and their condition is precariously pitiable. Of these, at least 6000 are in brutal and illegal captivity. 600 elephants are killed every year, by starvation, beating, ill-treatment, and drowning. Many of them are killed for security of the people. They are taken out to festivals several times a year, in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mysore, Jaipur, walking dozens of miles on the hot tarred roads in the most terrible heat, without food or water poked with a severe iron prod on the most sensitive parts of their head. Most elephants are used for begging and many are hit by trucks and buses.