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On the night of the devastating landslide, Sujatha and her family faced a series of unimaginable events that would forever alter their lives. Sujatha while speaking to news outlet Mathrubhumi, recounted seeking refuge in a coffee plantation and finding themselves in a heart-stopping encounter with a wild elephant.
Sujatha pleaded with the elephant, saying they had just come from a terrible disaster and begged it not to harm them. She explained that they were scared, surrounded by water, and had managed to swim to safety. The elephant, towering above them, seemed to comprehend their distress. Sujatha recalled how its eyes appeared to well up with tears. She and her granddaughter sat at its feet, and it remained still until dawn, with two other wild elephants standing nearby.
Sujatha was still reeling from that night when everything collapsed. She expressed her disbelief at having been saved, attributing their survival to a "divine intervention." Her face and words revealed the terror of the night. She had escaped from their collapsing house, holding onto her grandchild for dear life.
Sujatha described the water as being like the sea, with trees floating by. When she looked outside, she saw her neighbor's two-story house collapsing, which then fell and destroyed their house. As she tried to escape, she heard her granddaughter, Mridula, crying. Sujatha grabbed her little finger, covered her with a cloth, and began swimming through the flooding water.
Her son Gigeesh, his wife Sujitha, and her grandson Suraj were in another house nearby. Gigeesh had dragged them one by one through the water. Sujitha's back and Suraj's chest were badly injured. When they finally reached the shore and moved through the coffee plantation, the elephant appeared in their path.
Sujatha cried for help while swimming, but no one could hear her. Instead, she heard screams from every direction. The others lay in the coffee plantation, while she and her granddaughter huddled beneath the feet of the elephant. The situation remained unchanged until dawn, with no one left in the town to come to their rescue. Eventually, someone from outside arrived and took them to a house, where they were given clothes to wear.
The night of the landslide was a night of terror and survival for Sujatha and her family. Their encounter with the elephant, a moment of unexpected compassion from a wild creature, provided a brief sanctuary amidst the chaos. The memory of that night, the cries for help, the struggle through the water, and the silent guardianship of the elephant, would remain etched in their minds forever.
Additional Chief Secretary Health & Family Welfare Dept Govt of Tamil Nadu, shared the news on her X handle and said: "I am speechless after reading this true story. Gentle giants are gems on our planet."
The reactions to Sujatha's story illustrate how people can interpret such unusual events in different ways.
X user Ravikanth S viewed the elephant’s actions as a divine gesture, seeing it as a sign of hope and kindness in a world often marked by despair.
On the other hand, another user Amarendra Samantaray suggested that the incident should not be overanalyzed and that the survivors were simply fortunate.
Another user Aarthi Sakthivel’s comment addresses the ongoing tensions between humans and elephants in Wayanad. She suggests that Sujatha’s encounter with the elephant underscores the need for better coexistence and understanding of wildlife, contrasting with the common calls for controlling or removing elephants due to conflicts.