A few days ago, he came to our place for the first time.
It was a dark night. I was asleep when I suddenly woke up to a sound. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again, but then I heard another sound, something like something breaking. I woke up, switched on the light, opened the door, and saw him slowly walking away from the gate.
From behind, the sight of that elephant was amazing. Instead of being scared, I was strangely happy that he had come to me. I went back to bed, but I could not sleep. The image of him walking away kept playing in the back of my mind.
In the morning, I checked the gate. It was broken, but there was no other damage. I smiled and thought, “He was a decent guy.”
I had two different feelings at the same time. First, when he came straight to the gate and opened it, I was happy. Secondly, there was that normal human feeling: what if he came again and destroyed the farm, the house, and everything around it?
Anyway, I decided to wait until the next night.
I waited until midnight, but he did not come. Eventually, I slowly went to sleep. In the morning, however, there were signs of his visit. The gate was open, and a few banana trees had been eaten. Not much damage.
The next night, I decided to set alarms for different times so that I could wake up in between and, hopefully, meet him.
Around three o’clock, I suddenly woke up after hearing a sound.
It was him.
He walked in, but not through the gate this time. He walked through the wall instead. All the lights were broken and, no doubt, a good portion of the compound wall as well. He came in, walked around, stood in front of the house for a while, and then slowly walked towards the kitchen as though it were his own place. From there, he moved towards the farm.
I understood.
He was going to play on the farm and destroy everything soon.
After some time, he finished his food and came back through a different route. I wanted to go to him, but I was afraid after seeing so many videos of human and animal conflict. And, of course, I still looked like only a human to him. He could definitely attack me.
Still, I could not stop myself from going towards him.
Then I decided to gently draw his attention towards me. I made a little sound.
He slowly shifted his enormous ear and looked at me from the side.
For a moment, I forgot everything else and started wondering why his eyes did not match his body. Such a huge body and such small eyes. Only when we look closely can we properly identify his eyes, and yet his ears are enormous.
At that moment, I was proud of being human, a special product of nature, with everything perfectly proportioned, at least according to me.
I smiled to myself and then woke up from my thoughts.
By then, he had started moving.
I made the sound again. This time, it was a little louder.
He heard it and looked at me as if asking, “What is your problem?”
This time, I gathered all my energy and waved my hand.
He stopped.
Then he turned towards me.
He slowly started walking towards me, and I immediately took a few steps back.
He gave me a strange look, almost as if he were saying, “Shame on you.”
Somehow, I cleared my throat and slowly asked him, “You know, I was waiting for you yesterday.”
He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.
“For what? Am I your distant cousin you have been waiting for, or your lover?”
I paused, thought for a moment, gulped, and then said, “No, no. I thought you would come to my place every day.”
He moved his tusk and replied, “Do not worry. If you wish, I will come every day.”
This time, I had no words.
Why did I even ask that question?
I immediately imagined what would happen if he actually came every day. Nothing would remain. I had heard about their habits. Once elephants choose a path, they tend to use the same route regularly. Suddenly, my invitation did not seem like a very intelligent idea.
Anyway, I started the conversation again.
“My heart stopped beating the day before yesterday when I saw you at our gate,” I said.
He looked at me seriously.
“Why? What did you have that night?”
Without realising his taunt, I answered, “Dal and chapati.”
“Then it must have been gas trouble.”
He winked.
“You must go to a doctor very soon.”
I gave him a fake smile.
Then he continued.
“Dear bro, I am damn sure you guys are not afraid of us. Otherwise, how could you mercilessly attack us whenever you get a chance?”
I was about to reply, “You guys attack us, or we attack you?”
But before I could say anything, he continued.
“You guys look at us like some big toy and play games on us. Sometimes, we helplessly seek revenge on you. That catches headlines in the news and becomes a viral video. But does the news ever come when humans attack us? Do videos of people throwing beer bottles into forests become viral? What about breaking our tusks with a pistol?”
I remained silent.
He continued.
“Look at us now. We are both having a conversation. There is no offence from me, right? You have seen me many times before, but you never interacted with me. This time, you opened your mouth. That is it.”
“How did you meet me?”
I could not control the curiosity in my voice.
He looked at me as though I had asked the most foolish question possible.
“What a foolish question you are asking. You keep speeding through the forest in different coloured cars as though you own this forest. I have seen you many times. Sometimes, watching you itself is a joke.”
My face bent down in embarrassment.
He understood that I was hurt.
“Be cool, man,” he said.
“Guy, I am just kidding. There is no need to feel bad. You humans have created a lot of pathetic things like this because you do not know how to live a cool life. Speed is your mantra. But where does all that speed finally take you? You may not have an answer.”
He paused for a moment.
“Interestingly, you guys think our life is boring, do you not? Just eating, roaming around, and simply putting shit everywhere. In your eyes, that is what we are.”
He looked at me and continued.
“No schooling. Not civilised. No proper clothes. Nothing sophisticated. According to you, well dressed and polished people are good and correct, while the rest are a waste.”
Then he laughed at me.
“I do not even know whether you are in a position to understand my jokes about you.”
I stayed quiet.
“But reality is different,” he continued. “You may not bother when we cross paths or bump into each other. You will say it is your road. But we still wait for you to pass. It is not because we are afraid of you. It is mutual respect, and humans never seem to understand its meaning.”
His voice became more serious.
“Humans never bother about other lives. In fact, sometimes you do not even bother about your own species.”
There was no humour in his face now.
“Here, I do not want to prove that we are right and you are wrong. I just want to remind you that harming others without any reason and turning a planet into hell is a violation of the universe. Unfortunately, you have never really been grilled for doing the same.”
He looked at me for a moment and continued.
“And unfortunately, you call yourself a social animal. But let me tell you frankly, you are neither social nor an animal anymore. Today, you are something different. A mixed waste.”
I got furious at his direct attack on my entire species.
For a moment, I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to defend humans and explain everything we had achieved, built, discovered, and created. But then I kept quiet.
Somewhere inside, I thought he was right.
Perhaps what irritated me was not his accusation, but the uncomfortable feeling that I could not completely deny it.
When I lifted my head again, I saw that he had already started moving slowly.
Suddenly, I called out.
“You got angry with me?”
He stopped for a moment.
“Why should I?”
Then he continued walking.
“Anyway, you are also a selfish man. You cannot change your genes. You are talking to me because you want to develop a subject for your writing. Humans are always selfish.”
I stood there without answering.
Then he turned slightly towards me.
“But I do not mind.”
He took another step.
“I can come down tomorrow for more conversation.”
And then he slowly disappeared into the darkness, leaving me standing there, wondering whether I should be happy about his promise or start worrying about the compound wall, the banana trees, and everything else that might disappear before our next conversation.