Return gift for sugar canes

A Story by Joyram

A poor village couple, selling sugarcane juice befriends an elephant which later attacks their village. On seeing this couple the elephant budges. one day it carries them to safety during floods.

The couple, who was traveling in a two-wheeler, stopped by the sugarcane juice stall that was put up in the open adjacent to the main road. They wanted two glasses of sugarcane juice which was served with a pinch of lemon and ice cubes. The couple enjoyed drinking it and appreciated its taste and flavor. Each glass was charged Rs.5/- which was something of a rock-bottom price as felt by most of those patronizing the stall. Saramma and her husband Gopan, the vendor couple, used a manual crushing machine to squeeze the sugarcane juice. Either of the two rotated the crusher manually while the other inserted sugarcanes inside the crushing head. The pure juice served without mixing any water was also served with a little salt and pepper powder, whenever specifically wanted by some customer. Many commuters passing through that route stopped at the stall to enjoy the delight of pure sweet sugarcane juice offered with all warmth by the Gopan-Saramma couple.

The couple did not have any children. They had a small piece of farmland and a small thatched roof house as part of their land. Whatever paddy cultivated there, by the two, barely served their one-time meal for one year. With a view to supplementing their earnings in order to meet and manage their other daily economic needs, the couple had taken to sugarcane juice selling for many years. They used to buy green sugarcanes from one or the other nearby sugar cane cultivating farmers. The sugar canes were bunched up in bundles and loaded on a wheeled trolley which was mounted with the sugarcane crusher. They pushed the trolley and walked 10 km one way to a junction in the nearby small town that was abutting the state highway. They bought a big slab of ice cube from a shop near the junction and kept it in the ice box. They were doing this business five days a week. During the off-season of sugar canes, they paid more attention to cultivation as well as working in other farmlands for making additional earnings.

One day morning, the couple brought the trolley loaded with sugar canes to the town junction. It was about 9 AM the morning. They crushed a few sugar canes and sold about ten glasses. While they were waiting for the next customer, Saramma suddenly noticed an elephant, a big one, silently standing behind them. Gopan too noticed it. Initially, both of them got scared. But the elephant seemed to be very quiet. Saramma took a sugar cane and offered it to the elephant. The elephant took it with its trunk and swallowed it. She offered one more sugar cane to the elephant. After attending to some more customers, the couple observed that the elephant did not move from that place. They offered another ten sugar canes to the elephant. After sometime, the elephant left the place silently.

After about a week’s time, the elephant visited them again but this time with another small baby elephant. The couple cheered on seeing the baby elephant which looked cute. They offered a good number of sugarcanes to both the elephants. Like on the previous occasion, they gave the sugarcanes in two rounds. In between the two rounds, the baby elephant was playing with its mother. After the second round, both the elephants left the place. Although the couple lost some money in this process, they did not mind but enjoyed the presence of the elephants and derived great pleasure and satisfaction. The couple named the big elephant ‘Aana’ and the baby elephant as ‘Pana’.

A month rolled by. The couple did not find the elephants again. They thought that they must have come out from the nearby forests, losing their way, and later traced the route and had gone back to the forests.

One day, the Gopan-Saramma couple set out from their house with bundles of sugarcanes, pushing the trolley to their place of selling. When they reached halfway, suddenly they heard some noises around. They turned back and fount to their shock and horror, two big elephants moving and behaving wildly, running here and there and uprooting everything in front of them. The people in the vicinity ran helter-skelter. Gopan and Saramma, in their shock, did not know what to do and stood on the road, gazing at the elephants. One of the elephants came up to their trolley. It noticed the couple and just moved a few feet away from them and became quiet and calm. Saramma recognized the elephant as ‘Aana’ the one who came to the junction and enjoyed the sugarcanes offered by them. When the other elephant came near the trolley and was about to lift and throw it, ‘Aana’ intervened and pushed the other elephant. Within minutes, the other elephant too became calm and silent. The couple offered the entire sugar canes to both the elephants. After some time, both the elephants moved away from that area without making further trouble. The locals around that area appreciated the couple and thanked them for taming the two elephants with their sugarcane magic. The couple went back home without any business that day. They were glad that they could pacify the two elephants, in their wild state and prevent further damage to the property and safety of the people in that area.

The couple continued with their sugar cane juice in the following days. But they could not spot either ‘Aana’ and ‘Pana’ or the other big elephant that was party to the trouble scene the other day.

Then monsoon arrived. Heavy rains lashed the couple’s village. It rained heavily and continuously for five days that the couple could not set out for their sugar cane juice business. Their village was marooned by the flood-like situation. On the sixth day, the situation worsened. The entire village was severely inundated due to unprecedented rains. Unable to bear the grunt of the damage and consequences, many people in the area started to move out of their houses and waded through the waters to the nearby elevated places. Saramma-Gopan couple too took their trolley and crusher and struggled in the water to proceed to a safer place. At that point in time, they observed an elephant coming toward them. The couple quickly recognized it as ‘Aana’. Aana came to them and bent down beside them. The couple understood its gesture and they slowly climbed on its back. When the couple looked for their trolley, Aana seemed to have understood their intention and lifted the trolley by its trunk and held it firmly. With rains battering, Aana carried the couple along with the trolley and waded through the muddy waters. It moved carefully and slowly, as though it didn't want the couple to fall down. After about an hour’s journey, the couple spotted a hillock. By that time, rains too had stopped. Gopan shouted, “Stop, stop”. Aana stopped at that place. The couple got down. Aana dropped slowly the trolley to the ground. The couple looked at the elephant with gratitude and embraced it. Then they pushed the trolley moved up to a safe place on the hillock top. They watched Aana move away from the place slowly and walk in the direction of the forests.

After a day, the floods receded and the couple was back at their home. Along with other inmates in the village, they got food relief and financial grants from the local authorities. After about ten day’s time, the situation became normal. The couple resumed their juice selling and little cultivation on their land.

The couple eagerly looked forward to, meeting Aana as well as its baby Pana again for offering them as much sugar canes. They wanted to repay their gratitude. The couple used to share with their neighbors about the great attitude of Aana and its adventurous rescue of them during those two life-endangering events.

But neither Aana nor Pana came back again. The couple thought that perhaps Aana was focusing its attention on bringing up its baby ‘Pana’. But the couple hoped faithfully that surely, one day Aana and Pana would come to them and relish as many sugar canes.