“Pari will help capture the wild elephant and win the battle, because he has a good heart,” says 11-year-old Venkateshwaran from Navakkarai. Even as there are four Kumki elephants, the children have certainly taken to 37-year-old Pari, a Kumki brought from the Chadivayal elephant camp in Coimbatore.

They even bring food from their homes and feed the Kumki with their little hands. Obviously not enough to fill the mammoth appetite of the animal, but the adoration shown by the kids has, beyond doubt, brought about a huge smile on the face of Pari’s mahout, Vijayan.

“I’m happy and proud that my elephant is allowing kids near him. It is very unusual for a Kumki elephant to allow people near him, but Pari is different. He is a good boy and would never attack a human being,” says Vijayan, who has been with Pari since 2006.

Pari has been trained by more than four mahouts in the past. Vijayan has also trained over three elephants, including Anaimalai camp leader Kalim, who is currently stationed at Navakkarai. However, the trust shared between Pari and Vijayan is immense, with the mahout having to make very little efforts to make the elephant listen to him, and he rarely uses the ankusam (a stick with a curved blade on the edge used by mahouts).

Tasks like boarding the transportation truck and standing up to wild elephants during capturing operations, which other elephants find inconvenient, are done with ease by Pari with his mahout in company. He has attended numerous successful operations, since being captured from the wild near Kavalur, around 15years ago.

Kalim, the seniormost Kumki of the four, is another elephant which has a clean record. It has successfully completed more than 40 operations, with 100 percent success. Yet the elephant has not been a handy customer after losing its former mahout. He would not allow others near if its mahout is not close by.

Things are different with Pari though, as even Vijayan’s wife handles him. She approaches the elephant without any fear even when Vijayan is away.

Cherishing the many happy moments with Pari, with his increasing popularity with the children wherever he goes, Vijayan has also a haunting moment which resulted in the demise of a six-year-old girl. “The girl was happy to see Pari and rushed to the terrace have a better look at Pari. Unfortunately, she fell down and died on the spot. The memory haunts me even now,” grieves Vijayan.

Having been stationed at Chadivayal for more than five years, Vijayan and Pari have started a liking for the place and are afraid of any further transfers. “We both love the place and do not want to leave it,” Vijayan says. Unfortunately, for the kids of the Navakkarai, Pari will not be available once the mission ‘Madukkarai Maharaj’ is over.

But the elephant already has its own punchline – “Twinkle, twinkle little star, Pari is a superstar!”