Fan Clubs for film stars are not strange in Tamil Nadu. Starting from the days of MGR (the film actor-turned-political leader-turned Chief Minister) to new generation actors, there are fan clubs named after the actors. There were reports that even forest brigand Veerappan boasted of such bodies. But what has caught the attention over the last few weeks is Chinna Thambi Fan Club operating from Thadagam valley in Coimbatore.
Chinna Thambi is neither a film star nor an aspiring politician. His name is not at all associated with any social organisations or sporting activities. Chinna Thambi is a 25-year-old wild elephant who is loved and adored by the people of Thadagam, a region close to the reserve forests of the Western Ghats.
The tusker was part of a gang of 20-25 elephants which frequently raided the villages in the periphery of Thadagam forests. Farmers in the villages had to bear the brunt as the raiders devoured the banana and coconut plantations to the hilt, according to G Ramakrishnan, Forest Range Officer, Coimbatore. When the ‘stealing of the crops’ exceeded the limits, the villagers complained to the forest officials who lost no time in scaring away the gang.
“But times have changed. The pachyderms are not bothered about the drum beatings and bursting of fire crackers which used to scare them away once,” said a forest official. So the decision to translocate the trouble makers to a ‘far away’ spot was taken. A team of veterinary surgeons was summoned and they tamed Chinna Thambi with tranquilisers. Chinna Thambi had established a good rapport with the villagers and was the least troublesome of the gang.
The forest officials trans- located Chinna Thambi to Anamalai Tiger Reserve , 80 km away in the early hour of January 26. But the cure turned out to be worse than the disease, according to Ramakrishnan. The elephant found it difficult to acclimatise with the new surroundings and stared a “padyatra” in search of his roots. “But it has to be accepted that he did not attack anybody whom he came across in the walkathon. When he felt hunger, he made use of the agricultural fields and resumed his journey,” said Ramakrishnan.
By this time, the villagers in Thadagam had split into two camps, one group demanding Chinna to be brought back to the village while the other opposing the move. The fact that the counsel of three Ministers of the Tamil Nadu Government were sought point to the importance of Chinna Thambi. Forest Minister Dindigul Srinivasan while addressing a public meeting on Saturday said that Chinna Thambi would be caught and trained as a kumki (an elephant trained by professional trainer to tame wild elephants). This evoked wide protest in Thadagam village with the residents demanding that Chinnan ( as he is called now) should be brought back to the forests and set free in his “ancestral home”. The last two days saw a dozen forest officials equipped with all gadgets including public address system, a sound synthesiser walking along with Chinna Thambi who has lost his way while retracing the road to Thadagam. Members of the Chinna Thambi Fans Club who have joined the caravan were heard playing the John Denver song “Country Roads Take Me Home…”
Ramakrishnan and other forest officials are hopeful of Chinnan reaching his home in another two days. Last year The Pioneer had reported about Ganeshan, nicknamed Nadodi (Gypsy) Ganeshan, a wild elephant in O’Valley Range in neighbouring Ootty district who had a deep friendship with the villagers till he breathed his last.
