MYSORE: When a mahout says bhol, it means he is asking the elephant to blow its trumpet. Or when he says math, the elephant knows it means ‘come’.
All that is changing slowly. With mahouts turning Kannada teachers, the Dasara elephants are now responding to commands like baa (come), hogu (go) and kooru (sit).
This communication is an important factor in the safe handling and care of elephants.
Trainers say elephants understand vocal commands better than picking up visual cues.
Generations have passed and decades have rolled by, but the commands of mahouts remained a mix of Bengali, Hindi and tribal languages. This is because centuries ago, the then rulers got mahouts from the Bengal region to train elephants.
Also during the Tippu Sultan regime, it is said, they employed tribals to handle elephants.
For instance, when a mahout says chai, he is not referring to tea, but is asking the elephant to turn. You have commands like bait (sit), thirae (knee down), chap chap (drink water), mar (chase), barthal (take bath) and shabhash (praise).
But today mahouts from Soliga and Kadu Kuruba communities too have started using the Kannada commands.
The commands of mahouts are universal in Karnataka region — in elephant camps, zoos and in temples.
Says 53-year-old Masti, a fourth generation mahout, “I learnt these commands from my grandfather and my father Masti Sanappa.”
He handles Arjuna, the elephant that carries the golden howdah on the Vijayadashami day.
Masti says shabhash and pats Arjuna after it completes succesfully carrying the howdah for 5 km during the practice run.