This morning, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, I followed an elephant down the narrow street from the guest house. His mahut had loaded him up with branches, both dried and fresh. He was painted with white paint on his back sides with immense flowers that looked like daisies. I was surprised at how fast he walked. As he lumbered by one of the many stands of fruit one of the owners grabbed, what looked like a lemon, and offered it to him and he took it, without so much as skipping a beat, ate it and continued to lumber on. Then a man from across the street beckoned to the mahut, he turned a slow right, stopping traffic in all directions, accepted the offered coin in his trunk and raised it up to the mahut. All traffic stopped, no horns (for a brief moment in time) honked and then everyone went on their way. I finally had to turn onto my street to go to the market and lost track of them both as they briskly lumbered along. I had to work a little harder than most at just accepting this as a normal part of everyday life, the experience widened my heart, ever so slightly and made me smile.
Namaste, Phyllis