This farmer is so distressed that even his wife is unable to calm him down 46 year old nabindurana lives with his family in a little village near the midnapore district of southern bengal his most lucrative crop is potato but this year’s harvest vanished overnight a herd of elephants raided his crops leaving behind a trail of destruction rana’s 90 year old father demonstrates how the elephants dug out the crops [Music] but elephants outsmarted him and devoured most of the crops today rana’s father is salvaging the remaining potatoes meanwhile rana’s wife is haunted by another close call with elephants not too long ago she explains how one elephant broke the window and feasted on their patty harvest while their children were asleep in the next room things are even more dire in the northern region of west bengal these majestic mountain peaks are deceptively hypnotizing they shield the harsh realities that people and elephants suffer on the other side a quaint little village called jayanthi is home to around 6 000 people they have few comforts compared to the western world even school buses are inaccessible here some kids pedal their way to learn while others walk most villagers are farmers who depend on cash crops like areca nuts and bananas for their survival the problem is these crops also attract elephants as they are nutritious and easily accessible harinat mahali has lived in this village all his life he has inherited this land and house from his parents who had moved here 70 years ago mahali explains how an elephant had recently entered his backyard and destroyed his tomato plants despite all the losses he suffered he says he had never hurt the elephants but a few tea plantation owners are not taking so kindly towards them they erecting blade fences to protect their tea gardens fighting back has sent petitions to the tea plantation association and the forest department but the authorities can do little as the land is privately owned he says he’ll continue to fight the good fight until the owners relent in another village near the jalpaiguri district of northern bengal pool money arrives early in the morning to carry out rituals at this elephant temple the shrine was erected after a national highway was built in the area a few decades back it cuts through the goromara national park a core elephant habitat elephants did a lot of damage they used to overturn cars vehicles kill people then somebody had a vision in his dream that if you create a shrine for the elephant then there won’t be so much damage that’s how the elephant temple there came to be about 50-60 years ago arietak shatri has been conducting social studies to determine people’s attitudes towards elephants he uses the results to foster change in human behavior people also believe that if the elephants are worshipped with flowers and candles and incense sticks they will be satisfied and they won’t cause any damage [Music] to that it’s a contradiction so typical in this complicated complex and culturally diverse country although some people demonstrate extraordinary reverence for elephants the species survival is still under serious threat reporting from west bengal i’m sangeetha iyer [Music] [Music] yes [Music] ah [Music] you [Music] you
