Mad Mark
There was a film in the late 1970’s –Mad Max – it was Mel
Gibson’s first claim to fame. Set in the future – with crazy motorcycle action –
it also opened up Hollywood to films from Ozland.
The film came to mind because Kumar and I found India’s
answer to Mad Max.
Tucked away in the sleepy foothills of Mudumalai is a place
called Wild Haven. Its an innocuous looking dirt road turnoff as you drive up
from Mudumalai to Ooty (by the short-cut road – which is 36 hair pin bends and
a quick 20 mt drive up the mountain.. but that’s another story).
So. Back to Mad Mark. Wild Haven is famous because it’s a place
where wild elephants wander into your garden to be fed with jackfruit and
pumpkins. The owner is an eccentric alchoholic
–his name’s Mark and he looks like a cross between a satyr and a faun. Hes all
of five and a half feet, dark, with a thin, wasted frame, bloodshot eyes, a
thatch of salt and pepper hair. He speaks or rather spouts four-letterease – (a
dialect of hinglish where every fourth
word is a four letter word). He owns
about 2000 acres so doesn’t have the pressure of earning a living – but as is
the case with great wealth – it has only succeeded in embittering him from his
family – and hes quick to curse his sister to perfect strangers.
Mark has three elephants – Socrates, Ronaldo and Elvin - all
male, tuskers, lone animals. Wonder if they are also a reflection of him. At any rate these animals wander around his
bungalow and when hungry, which is always, make their desires known by
overturning the odd jeep, or breaking the odd window or roof. Whereupon Mark
will throw them some jackfruit. Since it’s the breeding season, all three of
the elephants are in heat – so they often have 5 legs not the standard
four. In case you didn’t know - the
breeding season makes male elephants extremely aggressive.
Mad max – the movie was all about the quintessential bluff –
and that’s the connect with Mad Mark. The elephants are aggressive and not
above reaching out a trunk to feel your clothes to see what you have for them. When
they get to close for comfort – Mark – all 47 kgs of him – will brandish a thin
bamboo and threaten them with “kucchi” – that’s street tamil for “thorny stick”. Each of these encounters ends the same way,
the drunk stands on a staircase and stares down a 2 ton elephant – which will turn
broody, shake its head a couple of times and then back away.
We spent two hours there – enclosed are a couple of photos –
but they don’t do justice. (The center photo has Mark silhoutted against Ronaldo)
The abiding mental image I have is when Socrates went
for our jeep and Mark charged at him – and it’s the first time, I have seen a 2
ton animal cringe, fold into itself and shy away from one thin, bamboo wielding
maniac. I’ve seen lanky teenagers with the same body language after being
yelled at by their fathers. The elephant side-walked away from Mark and (I
swear) had a sulky look on its face as it moved away to a corner of the
property. It didn’t return for the rest
of our visit.
My take? Besides the fact that Marks a maniac –
fundamentally he’s messing with the man-nature balance. We saw several wild, lone, tuskers during our stay in the forest – but none of them were as aggressive as
Socrates or Ronaldo and I am told that a steady diet of jackfruit can
intoxicate an elephant (Yes – that’s all thats needed here – add alcohol to raging
hormones!).
