The Elephant Whisperers (2022) - full transcript
I am Kattunayakan.
Kattunayakan means "Kings of the forest."
This is my home, where I belong,
where the wild animals roam free.
This is also the land
where my ancestors lived for generations.
Oh, my dear. Did you sleep, my child?
How are you?
Come, come here.
Come closer.
Come here, my dear.
Come, come here. Come closer.
Oh, my dear.
Raghu! My baby.
Come.
Hey, come.
Hey, lie down here.
Bomman. Bomman!
I am trying to light the fire!
I am not going to marry someone
who's going to be covered with ash.
When I arrived,
the baby elephant was in a very bad state.
He was in a lot of pain, his tail had been
bitten off by stray dogs
and his open wounds
were infested with maggots.
Raghu's mother got electrocuted
and died instantly.
Due to a prolonged drought,
his herd had wandered into a village
in search of food and water.
They tried to reunite Raghu with his herd,
but they were not successful.
Before this baby elephant,
I wasn't officially a caretaker.
When I first met the baby,
he was tugging at my clothes like a child,
and I felt his love.
I decided I would give
this motherless baby a chance.
I am very happy
that the Forest Department assigned Bellie
to work with me to care for Raghu.
She is the only woman currently assigned
to care for baby elephants in Tamil Nadu.
Look over there
beneath the tree, there it is.
There is one more walking down there.
When Raghu arrived here,
he was in bad shape.
Everyone thought he wouldn't survive,
but that is what
gave me faith that he would.
No one knew if Raghu would even survive.
He was in such a bad state.
It was a long
and difficult process to cure Raghu.
But now it feels great to see him healthy.
We've been looking after our baby Raghu
for almost three years now.
This place is an elephant
rehabilitation camp.
Orphaned, abandoned and displaced
wild elephants are brought here.
And we take care of them.
My grandfather looked after elephants,
my father looked after elephants,
and I became an elephant caregiver
the day my father died.
Raghu! I've been looking for your bell.
How did you lose it?
You dropped it in the water?
Luckily, I found it in the river!
Don't lose it again!
They wear a bell
so we can hear them
if they get lost in the forest
because we would lose them and they
will not be able to fend for themselves.
Raghu has a friend called Krishna.
Look, Raghu is going over to Krishna!
Raghu can't pluck grass on his own,
and is learning from Krishna.
Raghu got a thorn stuck on his tongue,
and Krishna took it out.
Elephants are meant to be wild.
Watching him with Krishna
brings us much happiness.
There is only so much we can teach them,
and there are things they can only learn
from one of their own kind.
Are you eating soap?
Haven't you tasted soap before?
Hey! You are putting water on me.
Don't splash like that!
Oh, my dear.
Who is it?
What do you want?
Oh, my dear child.
Who is the best elephant? Is it you?
Oh, whose darling is this? Who is this?
We have become a family around Raghu
and we think that's why he survived.
While bringing up Raghu,
we forget about all our other worries.
I have experienced many losses in my life.
My ex-husband was killed by a tiger.
This left me
feeling scared of the forests.
I get scared when I see a tiger.
I am a tribal woman, and our people
come from the heart of the forest.
For us Kattunayakans, the well-being
of the forest is all that matters.
We walk barefoot within it.
This is our way of showing respect.
We're going to climb down that rock there...
We live off the forest,
but we also protect it.
We only take what we need.
Our people do not fear elephants,
that's why we've been
working with them for generations.
I have learned over the many years
of working with elephants
that they are very intelligent
and emotional beings.
But working with elephants
is dangerous in so many ways.
I got stabbed
by my big tusker a while ago.
I cannot work
with large elephants anymore.
There it is. Open it!
That is why I feel getting Raghu
was a gift from God.
I want to do my best for him.
I feel like I am his mother.
Drink from here...
Everything about him is like a human,
except that he cannot talk.
He does everything else.
Recently, my daughter died.
Losing a child... the pain is incomparable.
When I cried,
Raghu wiped my tears away with his trunk.
And this small gesture comforted me.
I feel he really understands everything.
I remember what my daughter
was like at Raghu's age.
Taking care of Raghu reminds me of taking
care of my own daughter in so many ways.
It's like she has come back into my life.
Look how naughty you are today.
See how naughty you are.
Bring all the sugarcane here.
I don't think he wants
the millet ball today.
But we have to first give him the millet.
If you give it to him like that,
he will eat it.
He has his eyes
on that dried coconut and jaggery.
I really don't like your habit
of putting your hand in the bucket!
He's not going to eat any more
because he's only looking at that coconut.
This is what he was like
when he was young,
both of us had to take turns to feed him,
only then he'd eat.
Come here, try to feed him,
he isn't eating.
Aye, why aren't you eating, naughty boy?
Why didn't you eat properly
when she was feeding you?
The rains have come.
This will make the grass grow for you.
Raghu will get so much grass to eat.
Come.
Raghu, come here under the umbrella.
Tomorrow when I receive my salary,
I'll go buy some fruits.
You feed me and I'll feed you.
What if while I am feeding you,
you bite my fingers?
Don't talk like that.
Raghu, my child.
Wait, I will give you some, I am coming.
I am so full.
Let's light the fire
and bring the water to boil.
He is sleepy.
Wait, it is almost ready!
Don't try to pull the tube, it will break.
Are you sleepy?
Stand still!
Are you trying to eat the garland?
Stop eating all the flowers!
Let go of them!
On a special ceremony day,
elephant calves are taken
to seek their blessings
from Lord Ganesha.
I am proud of being
both a priest and a mahout,
both bring me immense happiness.
We pray to Lord Ganesha.
Seeing an elephant, to us,
is equivalent to seeing God.
God and elephants are one for me.
The way I serve God
is the same way I serve the elephants.
We take care of Raghu every single day,
which in turn puts food
on my table every day.
This is God's presence in my life.
Without him, we'd have nothing.
Early morning, 5am, Bomman got a call.
The Forest Department asked me
to come to the camp immediately.
When I went to see it,
it was a tiny thing with a snotty trunk.
The camp managers said
we have to take charge of baby Ammu.
They said,
despite everyone else's efforts,
all the other elephant babies died.
"You successfully managed to raise Raghu."
For a whole week, Raghu was very upset.
If Ammu was standing close to us,
he would come and push her away
so that he could stand beside us.
Slowly, he got used to Ammu's presence.
Hey, wait.
Now, we are all a family.
By working together with Bomman,
the bond between us has grown so much.
Look at all of you dancing without me.
Here I come.
Come! My dear ones, run and come!
Run a little faster to me. Come!
Hey, stop eating the flowers!
Sanjana is my granddaughter.
Ama, I'll wear that dress!
She loves me so much
and helps me in everything.
Sanjana has always
loved elephants very much.
Even now, as she is growing up,
she loves them.
I take Sanjana along with me
to help take care of the elephants.
I want her to learn from me.
We are their parents.
We do whatever it takes
to provide for them in all their needs.
Looking after two elephants
means giving them milk,
cleaning out their room, bathing them...
Alongside all the hard work and care,
elephants also require a lot
of love and affection.
It's just like raising human babies.
- Hey.
- Take it.
The cup is empty now!
Water.
Sanjana, let me tell you a story.
Three blind men went to the jungle
and they came across an elephant.
One of them touched the trunk
and said it felt like a serpent.
Another touched the ear
and said, "It's a sieve!"
The third touched the tail
and said, "It's a broom!"
In the same way,
many believe that elephants
are dangerous and they raid crops.
But only people
who live close to elephants
know about elephants.
That they show love when you show love.
Just like Ammu and Raghu.
Shortly after our wedding,
we got a call from the Forest Department,
telling us Raghu would be assigned
to another caregiver.
We begged the forest rangers
not to take Raghu away from us.
Raghu hesitated a lot
while being taken away.
He kept turning around,
looking back at us and Ammu,
and walked very slowly.
Then Ammu cried out to him
and he came running back to touch her
and they came back to take him away again.
My wife and I couldn't even
eat properly for a few days.
We had put in everything
into raising Raghu.
We've been through so much.
There wasn't a single God left
who we didn't pray to.
After all the difficulties we faced
in raising Raghu,
it brings tears to my eyes.
No.
I feel the same intense pain I felt
when my daughter died.
I took as much care of him
as if he had been my own child
because I had to ensure his survival.
We love them so much.
We have brought them up
as our own children.
It was so painful for us and also Ammu.
Ammu was very upset and didn't even
drink her milk for a few days,
because she was separated from Raghu.
What are you searching for?
I don't have any.
Lie down here.
If you lie on me
then you will get a spanking.
Lie down here.
Ammu. Do you want your milk?
What?
Do you want milk?
Leave me, let me go and prepare milk.
From being scared of the forest,
now I'm not.
I had so much loss and sadness,
but now I've found my way through it.
I've found my voice.
I have raised two baby elephants.
Now everyone knows me
as the mother of elephants
and that makes me very proud.
It is the actions of us humans
that is causing elephants
to enter villages these days.
Our mistakes are very harmful,
both for us and for elephants.
We were able to save Raghu and Ammu
because they were brought to us.
Baby Ammu!
But we are not able to save all of them.
Every time I see Raghu, I feel great joy.
Even today he still comes
running to me when I call.
Aye, here, come to me, come!
I see the love he has for me,
and I feel love for him too.
This is me when I was a young boy.
These children are our future.
We want the younger generation
to learn from us.
They learn by watching
and helping us work.
After me, this younger generation
will carry on the tradition
of working with elephants
and they will do it well.
I cannot imagine a life without elephants.
Kattunayakan means "Kings of the forest."
This is my home, where I belong,
where the wild animals roam free.
This is also the land
where my ancestors lived for generations.
Oh, my dear. Did you sleep, my child?
How are you?
Come, come here.
Come closer.
Come here, my dear.
Come, come here. Come closer.
Oh, my dear.
Raghu! My baby.
Come.
Hey, come.
Hey, lie down here.
Bomman. Bomman!
I am trying to light the fire!
I am not going to marry someone
who's going to be covered with ash.
When I arrived,
the baby elephant was in a very bad state.
He was in a lot of pain, his tail had been
bitten off by stray dogs
and his open wounds
were infested with maggots.
Raghu's mother got electrocuted
and died instantly.
Due to a prolonged drought,
his herd had wandered into a village
in search of food and water.
They tried to reunite Raghu with his herd,
but they were not successful.
Before this baby elephant,
I wasn't officially a caretaker.
When I first met the baby,
he was tugging at my clothes like a child,
and I felt his love.
I decided I would give
this motherless baby a chance.
I am very happy
that the Forest Department assigned Bellie
to work with me to care for Raghu.
She is the only woman currently assigned
to care for baby elephants in Tamil Nadu.
Look over there
beneath the tree, there it is.
There is one more walking down there.
When Raghu arrived here,
he was in bad shape.
Everyone thought he wouldn't survive,
but that is what
gave me faith that he would.
No one knew if Raghu would even survive.
He was in such a bad state.
It was a long
and difficult process to cure Raghu.
But now it feels great to see him healthy.
We've been looking after our baby Raghu
for almost three years now.
This place is an elephant
rehabilitation camp.
Orphaned, abandoned and displaced
wild elephants are brought here.
And we take care of them.
My grandfather looked after elephants,
my father looked after elephants,
and I became an elephant caregiver
the day my father died.
Raghu! I've been looking for your bell.
How did you lose it?
You dropped it in the water?
Luckily, I found it in the river!
Don't lose it again!
They wear a bell
so we can hear them
if they get lost in the forest
because we would lose them and they
will not be able to fend for themselves.
Raghu has a friend called Krishna.
Look, Raghu is going over to Krishna!
Raghu can't pluck grass on his own,
and is learning from Krishna.
Raghu got a thorn stuck on his tongue,
and Krishna took it out.
Elephants are meant to be wild.
Watching him with Krishna
brings us much happiness.
There is only so much we can teach them,
and there are things they can only learn
from one of their own kind.
Are you eating soap?
Haven't you tasted soap before?
Hey! You are putting water on me.
Don't splash like that!
Oh, my dear.
Who is it?
What do you want?
Oh, my dear child.
Who is the best elephant? Is it you?
Oh, whose darling is this? Who is this?
We have become a family around Raghu
and we think that's why he survived.
While bringing up Raghu,
we forget about all our other worries.
I have experienced many losses in my life.
My ex-husband was killed by a tiger.
This left me
feeling scared of the forests.
I get scared when I see a tiger.
I am a tribal woman, and our people
come from the heart of the forest.
For us Kattunayakans, the well-being
of the forest is all that matters.
We walk barefoot within it.
This is our way of showing respect.
We're going to climb down that rock there...
We live off the forest,
but we also protect it.
We only take what we need.
Our people do not fear elephants,
that's why we've been
working with them for generations.
I have learned over the many years
of working with elephants
that they are very intelligent
and emotional beings.
But working with elephants
is dangerous in so many ways.
I got stabbed
by my big tusker a while ago.
I cannot work
with large elephants anymore.
There it is. Open it!
That is why I feel getting Raghu
was a gift from God.
I want to do my best for him.
I feel like I am his mother.
Drink from here...
Everything about him is like a human,
except that he cannot talk.
He does everything else.
Recently, my daughter died.
Losing a child... the pain is incomparable.
When I cried,
Raghu wiped my tears away with his trunk.
And this small gesture comforted me.
I feel he really understands everything.
I remember what my daughter
was like at Raghu's age.
Taking care of Raghu reminds me of taking
care of my own daughter in so many ways.
It's like she has come back into my life.
Look how naughty you are today.
See how naughty you are.
Bring all the sugarcane here.
I don't think he wants
the millet ball today.
But we have to first give him the millet.
If you give it to him like that,
he will eat it.
He has his eyes
on that dried coconut and jaggery.
I really don't like your habit
of putting your hand in the bucket!
He's not going to eat any more
because he's only looking at that coconut.
This is what he was like
when he was young,
both of us had to take turns to feed him,
only then he'd eat.
Come here, try to feed him,
he isn't eating.
Aye, why aren't you eating, naughty boy?
Why didn't you eat properly
when she was feeding you?
The rains have come.
This will make the grass grow for you.
Raghu will get so much grass to eat.
Come.
Raghu, come here under the umbrella.
Tomorrow when I receive my salary,
I'll go buy some fruits.
You feed me and I'll feed you.
What if while I am feeding you,
you bite my fingers?
Don't talk like that.
Raghu, my child.
Wait, I will give you some, I am coming.
I am so full.
Let's light the fire
and bring the water to boil.
He is sleepy.
Wait, it is almost ready!
Don't try to pull the tube, it will break.
Are you sleepy?
Stand still!
Are you trying to eat the garland?
Stop eating all the flowers!
Let go of them!
On a special ceremony day,
elephant calves are taken
to seek their blessings
from Lord Ganesha.
I am proud of being
both a priest and a mahout,
both bring me immense happiness.
We pray to Lord Ganesha.
Seeing an elephant, to us,
is equivalent to seeing God.
God and elephants are one for me.
The way I serve God
is the same way I serve the elephants.
We take care of Raghu every single day,
which in turn puts food
on my table every day.
This is God's presence in my life.
Without him, we'd have nothing.
Early morning, 5am, Bomman got a call.
The Forest Department asked me
to come to the camp immediately.
When I went to see it,
it was a tiny thing with a snotty trunk.
The camp managers said
we have to take charge of baby Ammu.
They said,
despite everyone else's efforts,
all the other elephant babies died.
"You successfully managed to raise Raghu."
For a whole week, Raghu was very upset.
If Ammu was standing close to us,
he would come and push her away
so that he could stand beside us.
Slowly, he got used to Ammu's presence.
Hey, wait.
Now, we are all a family.
By working together with Bomman,
the bond between us has grown so much.
Look at all of you dancing without me.
Here I come.
Come! My dear ones, run and come!
Run a little faster to me. Come!
Hey, stop eating the flowers!
Sanjana is my granddaughter.
Ama, I'll wear that dress!
She loves me so much
and helps me in everything.
Sanjana has always
loved elephants very much.
Even now, as she is growing up,
she loves them.
I take Sanjana along with me
to help take care of the elephants.
I want her to learn from me.
We are their parents.
We do whatever it takes
to provide for them in all their needs.
Looking after two elephants
means giving them milk,
cleaning out their room, bathing them...
Alongside all the hard work and care,
elephants also require a lot
of love and affection.
It's just like raising human babies.
- Hey.
- Take it.
The cup is empty now!
Water.
Sanjana, let me tell you a story.
Three blind men went to the jungle
and they came across an elephant.
One of them touched the trunk
and said it felt like a serpent.
Another touched the ear
and said, "It's a sieve!"
The third touched the tail
and said, "It's a broom!"
In the same way,
many believe that elephants
are dangerous and they raid crops.
But only people
who live close to elephants
know about elephants.
That they show love when you show love.
Just like Ammu and Raghu.
Shortly after our wedding,
we got a call from the Forest Department,
telling us Raghu would be assigned
to another caregiver.
We begged the forest rangers
not to take Raghu away from us.
Raghu hesitated a lot
while being taken away.
He kept turning around,
looking back at us and Ammu,
and walked very slowly.
Then Ammu cried out to him
and he came running back to touch her
and they came back to take him away again.
My wife and I couldn't even
eat properly for a few days.
We had put in everything
into raising Raghu.
We've been through so much.
There wasn't a single God left
who we didn't pray to.
After all the difficulties we faced
in raising Raghu,
it brings tears to my eyes.
No.
I feel the same intense pain I felt
when my daughter died.
I took as much care of him
as if he had been my own child
because I had to ensure his survival.
We love them so much.
We have brought them up
as our own children.
It was so painful for us and also Ammu.
Ammu was very upset and didn't even
drink her milk for a few days,
because she was separated from Raghu.
What are you searching for?
I don't have any.
Lie down here.
If you lie on me
then you will get a spanking.
Lie down here.
Ammu. Do you want your milk?
What?
Do you want milk?
Leave me, let me go and prepare milk.
From being scared of the forest,
now I'm not.
I had so much loss and sadness,
but now I've found my way through it.
I've found my voice.
I have raised two baby elephants.
Now everyone knows me
as the mother of elephants
and that makes me very proud.
It is the actions of us humans
that is causing elephants
to enter villages these days.
Our mistakes are very harmful,
both for us and for elephants.
We were able to save Raghu and Ammu
because they were brought to us.
Baby Ammu!
But we are not able to save all of them.
Every time I see Raghu, I feel great joy.
Even today he still comes
running to me when I call.
Aye, here, come to me, come!
I see the love he has for me,
and I feel love for him too.
This is me when I was a young boy.
These children are our future.
We want the younger generation
to learn from us.
They learn by watching
and helping us work.
After me, this younger generation
will carry on the tradition
of working with elephants
and they will do it well.
I cannot imagine a life without elephants.