Some mistakes can never be undone. Not remorse, only time can heal the fathomless grief borne out of such errors committed unwittingly. This is what happened to the jumbo named 'Bharath Viswanathan' in Kottayam. Nevertheless, the tusker persistently kept displaying his deep regret for killing his mahout, accidentally.
Arun Panicker had come to take care of the elephant a year ago. Soon they developed a close friendship and enjoyed each other's company. They easily understood the language and gestures they exchanged. However, it was a strange turn of fate when on Sunday the elephant accidentally literally came down on Arun, killing him on the spot.
Arun was instructing the elephant to lie down as part of giving him a bath. But at the same moment the mahout slipped and came under the whole weight of the jumbo. Though another mahout came running to Arun's rescue and forced the elephant back to its feet, the damage was already done.
The tusker came to know about the accidental mistake only a little later and since then it was unstoppable in expressing its insurmountable despondence. The pachyderm picked up one of Arun's sandals with its trunk and kept it close to its tusks. It relentlessly picks up the sandal whenever it fell down. He didn't allow anyone to take the sandal away from him. The tusker's antics broke the hearts of the onlookers.
The visual of the accident, that took place in Karapuzha in Kottayam, were captured in the CCTV installed in the vicinity. A native of Eramaloor near Cherthala, Arun was employed as the substitute mahout of the elephant named Neelakandan of the Sree Dharma Shastha temple in Shasthamkotta 10 years ago. He was preparing to move into his newly constructed house in Chennithala. The visuals of the repenting tusker is now getting viral on social media.
