I had wanted to travel north of Wagah, near Amritsar, and wander along the course of the Ravi River, one of the five Rivers of Indus. This river meanders in and out of India and Pakistan, and it is one of the most fascinating countrysides of our Subcontinent. The villages are desolate, and time seems to stand still in this border region. There are "High Speed Internet Cafe" establishments, alongside small community kitchens attached to local gurudwaras. This is the only obvious activity at high noon along the Ravi River. There was no other traffic, well, almost.
The only other moving 'transport', if you may, apart from our vehicle, on the road near Ajnala, was this lone elephant and its mahout, walking along. It was an absolute surprise, for one would expect such a scene frequently in Kerala, but here, in parched border areas of Punjab, it was out of nowhere. I asked my driver to slow down, and we followed the elephant for some distance, taking photographs, of course. My driver's guess was that the elephant belonged to some local sadhu or 'dera' in the vicinity, and was traveling to a location elsewhere, in time for the sadhu who would reach later to deliver some local sermons.
I was tempted to ask the mahout, but thought the better of it, for it was hot, extremely hot. At least in the upper 30s deg C, and I wondered about the torture for the elephant. We looked about if there was any other traffic on the roads, and there was none nearby. This must indeed be one of those happenstances, where you tumble upon something so tremendously different, unexpected and absolutely out of place. I had to drive past to reach the city of Beas and the River. So, it was goodbye to this lone elephant on the border roads between India and Pakistan.
The only other moving 'transport', if you may, apart from our vehicle, on the road near Ajnala, was this lone elephant and its mahout, walking along. It was an absolute surprise, for one would expect such a scene frequently in Kerala, but here, in parched border areas of Punjab, it was out of nowhere. I asked my driver to slow down, and we followed the elephant for some distance, taking photographs, of course. My driver's guess was that the elephant belonged to some local sadhu or 'dera' in the vicinity, and was traveling to a location elsewhere, in time for the sadhu who would reach later to deliver some local sermons.
I was tempted to ask the mahout, but thought the better of it, for it was hot, extremely hot. At least in the upper 30s deg C, and I wondered about the torture for the elephant. We looked about if there was any other traffic on the roads, and there was none nearby. This must indeed be one of those happenstances, where you tumble upon something so tremendously different, unexpected and absolutely out of place. I had to drive past to reach the city of Beas and the River. So, it was goodbye to this lone elephant on the border roads between India and Pakistan.
