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This is a true story from long long ago.
Almost three hundred years ago, in a village called Khejadli, lived
Amrita.
Khejadli village is near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The village got its name
because of the many Khejadi trees that grew there.
The people of this village took great
care of the plants, trees and animals. Goats, deers, hares and peacocks roamed
fearlessly there. The people of the village remembered what their elders used
to tell them. They used to say, “Agar perh hain to hum hain. Plants and animals
can survive without us, but we can not survive without them.”
Amrita would get up early every morning
and greet her friends – the trees. She would choose a special tree for the day.
She would put her arms around the tree trunk and whisper to the tree, “Friend,
you are strong and beautiful. You care for us. Thank you tree. I love you very
much. Give your strength to me also.” Like Amrita, the other children also had
their special trees. They would play for hours in the shade of the trees.
Trees in Danger:
Time went by. Amrita was now grown up.
One day she went to greet her trees. She saw that there were some strangers in
her village. They had axes with them.
They said that the King had sent them to cut
trees for wood. The wood was needed for building the King’s palace.
Amrita was shocked. She went to the tree
that the men were about to cut. She put her arms around the tree and hugged it
tightly. The men shouted and threatened her, but Amrita did not let go of the
tree.
The King’s men had to follow his order.
They had to cut the tree. On seeing this, Amrita’s daughters and hundreds of villagers
–old and young – hugged the trees to protect them.
Many people including Amrita and her daughters
died to save the trees. When the King heard of this, he could not believe that
people gave up their lives for trees. He visited the village himself. There he
learned about villagers’ respect for trees and animals.
The Village is Protected…
The villagers’ strong feelings for trees
affected the King greatly. He ordered that from then on, no tree would be cut
and no animal harmed in that area.
Even today, almost three hundred years
later, the people of this area, called Bishnois, continue to protect plants and
animals. Even though in the middle of the desert, this area is green and
animals roam freely without fear.
The Khejadi tree is found mainly in
desert areas. It can grow without much water. Its bark is used for making medicines.
People cook and eat its fruits (beans).
Its wood is such that it will not be
affected by insects. Animals in this area eat the leaves of the Khejadi. And
children like you, play in its shade.
Nandu woke up and opened his eyes. For a
few seconds he was not sure where he was. It seemed to him that he was
surrounded by a forest of big grey tree trunks.
He blinked his eyes and looked around.
Oh! There was Amma. The grey forest that he had imagined he was in, was
actually the legs and trunks of his family members.
The sun was over head and it was getting
hot. Nani ma trumpetted – made a loud sound. Nani ma is the oldest in this herd
of elephants. She started moving towards the jungle. The other female elephants
saw her and started to follow her. Nandu also went with them.
When they reached the jungle, the
members of the herd started spreading out. Each member went to eat her
favourite leaves and twigs. After they had eaten, the herd moved towards the river.
The baby elephants enjoyed playing in the water. The mothers laid down in the
water and mud on the river bank.
The elephant is the largest and one of
the most powerful and intelligent animals. Even though blue whales are the
largest animals for they grow up to 30 metres, elephants top the list as far as
land animals are concerned. A fully-grown elephant reaches a height of 4 metres
and a weight of 6 metric tons.
The most remarkable feature of the
elephant is its tusks and trunk. The tusks, in fact, are two of its upper teeth
that have grown on the outside and become enlarged. A tame or trained elephant uses
its tusks to support heavy loads while wild elephants use them as weapons of
attack. Tusks are made of ivory which is highly! valuable.
And it is for tusks that elephants are
hunted down and killed. Even though articles made of ivory are banned in most
countries they are available in the black market, and this leads to elephant
poaching.
The trunk is another interesting feature
of the elephant. It serves as an arm and a hand for picking up twigs and leaves
and pushing them into its mouth. The trunk is actually the elephant’s lengthened
nose and upper lip. It is thick and well-protected on the outside but has a
tender inside.
There are two kinds of elephants - the
Asian elephant and the African elephant. The Asian elephant is relatively
smaller than its African counterpart.
While the Asian elephant is 2.75 metres tall
and weighs 3.5 metric tons, the African is 3.5 metres tall and weighs about 5
metric tons, and is darker than the Asian species.
Moreover, the Asian elephant can be easily
tamed or trained and it sleeps lying down while the African elephant is wild
and sleeps upright.
Fun and Games:
Nandu saw his brothers and sisters
pulling each other’s tails. He thought, “I better not go near them. What if
they fall on me? I am still small.” He quietly went and stood near his mother.
Amma gently pushed Nandu towards the
water, as if she was telling him to go and play. Nandu loved to play in the
water. His cousins were already there. Just as he reached near, a strong fountain
of water fell on his head. He got wet. Oh, this was the work of his naughty
cousins. Nandu joined them in the game.
Before sunset, the herd started back
towards the jungle. By then, Nandu was very tired. He settled himself between
his mother’s front legs and fell asleep as he drank her milk.
You have read about Nandu and the
elephant herd. An elephant herd has only females and baby elephants. The oldest
female is the leader of the herd. A herd may have 10 to 12 female elephants and
young ones. Male elephants live in the herd till they are 14 –15 years old.
Then they leave
their herd and move around alone. Nandu
will also leave his herd when he is that old.
Like elephants, some other animals also
live together in groups. These animal groups are called herds. Animals in herds
usually move around together, searching for food.
The basket is the only home I have. I
have forgotten what it is like in the open jungle and fresh air. For me it is
only the basket and the snake charmer!
You see me in circus – dancing and
jumping They make us dance and dance and dance. Even if we don’t want to or we
are in pain. That too, with anempty stomach!
You have only seen how fast I run. Have
you seen my ‘shoes’? Do you know how much pain I get when they fix the horse
shoes to my hooves?
They make us dance and dance and dance.
Even if we don’t want to or we are in pain. That too, with an empty stomach!
Meow! Meow! Meow! I can just roam around
everywhere. Children love me a lot. They pat me and also give me milk.
Gurtargoo! Gurtargoo! Do you know people
specially call out to me to feed grain.
You know very well that ears help us to
hear. In some animals you can see the ears, in some you can not.
We can not see a bird’s ears. A bird has tiny holes on both sides of its head. Generally, the holes are covered with feathers. If you look carefully, A bird have tiny hole on each side of its head. The hole are generally covered with feathers.They help the bird to hear.
Animals like lizard crocodile etc also
have tiny holes as ears but we cannot see them.
Whose Skin:
Now you know how to recognise animals by
their ears. Let us see if we can recognise animals by their skin. The different
patterns on the animals are due to the hair on their skin.
Have you ever seen an animal without
hair or whose hair have been removed? Imagine how the animal would look if it did
not have any hair on its skin. The different patterns on animals skin are due
the hair on their skin.
So, what did you note? Those animals
whose ears you can see have hair on their body. Then how these animals increase
number.
Those animals that whose ears we can
see,have hair on their body. These animals directly give birth to young ones we
called them as viviparous.
Ex: cow, dog cat….
These animals give birth to the young
ones. Those animals that do not have ears on the outside, do not have hair on
their body. These animals lay eggs. We called as oviparous.
Khejadli village is near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The village got its name
because of the many Khejadi trees that grew there.
