He used to lie in the sand as Nazroo – helped by tourists and their kids – scrubbed him clean with coconut husks and seawater. They raised money to buy him from his owners, and set him free – along with his lifelong mahout Nazroo – in the dense Havelock jungle where we was to spend the rest of his life.Įvery evening Rajan used to walk down to the beach. Rajan’s owner was about to sell him off to a temple in Kerala, which would not only put him through a perilous journey but also condemn him to a life of confinement and drudgery, when a dive resort on Havelock Island stepped in. It was this film, shot in the year 2004, that brought him to Havelock Island. Shortly after that Rajan shot to fame, starring in a Hollywood film called The Fall. His career in logging ended in 2002, when the Indian Government banned the practice. Here they were put on ships to the Andaman Islands where they were used to drag timber from the deep forests of the islands to the ships that would export them away. They were taken from Kerala and Karnataka and walked to the coast of Chennai. His is a story where the dive community came together to give him back a freedom that had been snatched from him young, and he in turn became the perfect muse.Įlephants were first brought into the Andaman Islands when India was still under British rule. Rajan – the beloved swimming elephant of the Andaman Islands – is the rare exception. Most stories of large animals in captivity are sad ones – they speak of miserable animals – magnificent lives sacrificed for entertainment and pretty pictures.
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