Bringing Up Kari

Kari was five months old when given to the nine-year-old narrator. They grew together. Kari lived in a pavilion with a thatched roof on thick stumps so it would not fall when he bumped the poles.

Kari the elephant was five months old when entrusted to the nine-year-old narrator. Standing on tiptoe the boy could reach Kari's back; they seemed to grow together. Kari lived in a pavilion under a thatched roof resting on thick tree stumps so bumps would not bring it down.

Kari needed forty pounds of twigs daily. Each morning the boy took him to the river, rubbed him with sand, then left him at the jungle edge while he cut delicate twigs with a sharp hatchet.

Kari ate little but needed forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play with. Every morning the boy led him to the river for an hour's sand-bath until his skin shone like ebony. Then Kari waited at the jungle edge while the boy climbed trees for tender twigs - mutilated twigs would be rejected.

One day Kari called like a baby. In the river his trunk rose - he had found a drowning boy. Kari pushed the narrator into the water, then used his trunk like a lasso to pull both ashore.

While gathering banyan twigs the boy heard Kari's baby-like call. At the river he saw Kari's trunk rise from black water. Kari trumpeted, pushed the boy in, and revealed a boy floating below. The boy could not swim well; Kari darted like a hawk, stretched his trunk, missed once, then lassoed the narrator's neck and pulled both to safety.

Kari loved ripe bananas. He reached through the window with his trunk like a snake and stole fruit from the table. The family blamed the boy until he caught Kari red-handed.

After tasting bananas Kari craved them. When fruit vanished from the dining table the family blamed servants and then the boy. One day a long black 'snake' snatched bananas - it was Kari's trunk. The boy pulled him out, proved his innocence, scolded him, and injured pride stopped further theft.

Elephants learn like children. 'Dhat' with an ear pull teaches sitting; 'Mali' with a trunk pull teaches walking. Kari learned Mali in three lessons but Dhat took three weeks.

An elephant must learn when to sit, walk, go fast or slow. Say 'Dhat' and pull the ear to teach sitting - needed because elephants grow taller than their keepers. Say 'Mali' and pull the trunk forward to teach walking. Kari mastered Mali quickly but was poor at sitting.

The hardest lesson takes five years - the master call, a hissing howl like snake and tiger fighting. When lost in the jungle at night, the elephant pulls down trees to make a road home.

The master call is a strange hissing, howling sound made in the elephant's ear. When you are lost in the starlit jungle you give this call; the elephant pulls down trees with his trunk, frightening animals away, and crashes through until a road leads straight home.

Kari was like a baby - he needed scolding when naughty. Elephants accept fair punishment but remember unjust punishment and pay back.

Kari had to be trained like a child; without scolding he grew more mischievous. After the banana episode he squealed thanks when given fruit honestly. An elephant accepts punishment for wrongdoing but, if punished without reason, remembers and repays in kind.