The elephant who walked her own path
written by Asawari Mathur
It was a sunny afternoon in the forest. Arvi sat by the river under a big shady tree thinking deeply. Staring at the river flowing, she remembered her innocent childhood days as a baby elephant swimming in the river, having conversations with the fishes, skipping stones with her trunk and having a lot of fun.
She let out a loud sigh! Life was simpler as a young elephant. Arvi had now come to age, she was a mature and responsible adult elephant. When elephants came to age, they had to participate in a fight to prove their worth and place in the elephant herd. Arvi did not want to participate in the fight but she did not know what she wanted to do in her life. She sat completely confused and lost.
Arvi recalled last evening’s conversation with her parents. Her mother had asked “Arvi you have now come to age and it is time for you to participate in the herd fight, It is time you began preparing for the fight so you can pass. What do you think?”
“I don't wish to participate in the fight, I think it's an unfair way to figure out my place in the herd. I don't see value in spending time and effort over some stupid fight,” replied Arvi
Mother replied “That's completely fine, I support your decision to not fight. I am happy that you are thinking about your life. However I have a question, what do you want to do then?”
“I don't know” was Arvi’s reply. “ I know what I don't want but I don't know what I want. I want to explore how to live a worthy elephant life”.
Hearing this Arvi’s father suggested “How about taking a trip, travel to the ocean which is on the far end of the forest, stay there for some days, explore, I am sure you will figure out what you want to do in life”
Arvi had come to the river to spend some time alone to think. She had declared her decision to not participate in the fight and do something different but she was worried and scared, was it the right decision. Arvi was clear about one thing, she did not want to live like a normal elephant. She just did not know what it looked like or what her purpose in life was.
She thought about her father's suggestion to travel, it sounded very scary. She had always lived in the comfort of her parents and had never travelled or lived alone. Everything looked new and difficult.
While she was sitting wondering, a wild dog came to the river to drink water. The dog saw arvi sitting sad and approached her and asked what’s wrong. When Arvi shared her problem with the dog, he asked in wonder “ Why are you scared to travel alone, Did your mother not teach you to live in the forest?
Arvi shared “ No, my mother did not teach me anything. When I was born, my mother decided she wanted to raise me differently. In the elephant herd, she saw all the baby elephants being taught everything by their mother, how to find food, to bath, swim, to communicate, to survive in the forest, everything was taught. She felt this was stopping the elephants to blossom and live life fully, she felt this way of growing up killed the joy of learning so she separated from the herd to raise me and my brother differently. Even my father decided to live with us instead of living in solitary as tuskers do in the forest. My parents together created an environment of open learning for me and my brother. They did not teach me anything, they let me learn by myself. For instance, I learnt to swim in this very river by myself. I spent days in the river playing and exploring and even falling and then I learned to swim.
Hearing this the dog said “ wow that is so interesting! I don't understand why you are worried then. If you have always lived differently and learnt by yourself, then why worry about not fighting and why be scared to travel alone, you can learn that too”
Arvi felt reassured after her conversation with her new friend the wild dog and set out to the ocean, it was a scary trip but she managed it.
The ocean was amazing, The big vast ocean filled arvi with hope and possibilities. Arvi spent many days at the beach, exploring, learning new things, making new friends with the other animals living on the beach and having a lot of fun. The days on the beach gave many new experiences and perspectives to Arvi. Travelling and then living alone, gave Arvi the space to be independent and to stand her own feet. This gave her confidence and courage to be who she wants to be.
One evening Arvi was sitting on the beach watching the sunset. It was a breathtaking, wind on her face, the sound of the waves, the sun, the trees, just everything around her. Arvi understood at that moment that she loved the forest, she wanted to work on protecting and caring for nature.
Arvi returned home with a newfound passion. She decided to work on her passion to find success and her place in the elephant herd instead of fighting.
She decided to share about the importance of nature and how as animals we can care for it. She began with her herd of elephants but they did not want to listen. They instead said “ Why are you wasting your time, why don't you just fight. You are ruining your future”. Arvi then went to talk to the other animals, very few listened to her. Her plan wasn’t working. She decided to try some other way to care for the earth.
She decided she would plant trees. She set out with determination. She began digging holes with her feet, but they were too big and she just slipped and fell. She tried digging with her trunk but it would just fill up with soil and after a lot of hard work, Arvi barely managed to plant a few trees.
Tired and defeated, Arvi once again felt lost. She had found her passion yet she couldn’t find success, she felt empty within.
She went to her parents and said “ I don't know what to do, I don't know how can I find my place in the forest”
Arvi's father asked “ Why are you trying to fit into the herd? To whom are you trying to prove your worth? Why are you chasing success defined by others? Think Arvi,
what is that you want? What is your dream Arvi? How will your life be worthy for you?
This got Arvi thinking, she remembered her childhood, when she was a baby elephant all she wanted was every day to be happy. Arvi realized that happiness every day was what will make her life worthy and successful.
And that’s what Arvi did. Instead of fitting into her elephant herd or their definition of success, Arvi created her own path. The wild dog helped her dig holes to plant trees, her parrot friend helped her talk to other animals, her deer friend taught her more about plants. Likewise, Arvi created her own herd with different animal friends and worked on fulfilling her dream of caring for the forest. Doing what she loved every day became Arvi's new path for living a joyful elephant life.
