VK Babu, a native of Idukki in Kerala and owner of a trading centre for cocoa, thinks Arikomban the renegade tusker brought him luck. To show his love and thanks, Babu paid Rs 2 lakh to create an eight-foot-tall sculpture of the wild jumbo outside of his store in Kanjikuzhi.
Babu used to grow ginger on rented land five years ago. When the rice-eating elephant came through, the ginger fields were demolished. Babu thinks that following Arikomban’s arrival, his farming prospered.
‘Tribal people told me once that if the elephant tramples upon a ginger crop, that part of the farm will get a good yield. I have understood that it’s true from my personal experience,’ he said.
Punnayar native Binu created the sculpture. Babu was able to describe Arikomban’s traits to the sculptor because he got a close-up view of the character. Children in particular from the community are swarming into his store to take pictures with the sculpture.
Prior to being released into the upper Kodayar forest in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district, rogue tusker Arikomban, who had wandered into residential areas in Theni, had been deemed in good health by forest officials. Arikomban is currently wandering around the forest looking for his family and kids, and many people are requesting that he be returned to Chinnakanal.
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