Ganesh, Kartik and Brahaspati were led into one of the male elephant enclosures. The Vasudev led them directly to one of the animals that he was personally proud of. As he reached the enclosure he called out to the mahout, instructing him to bring the elephant out of his shelter. The mahout immediately did so, sitting proudly on top of the beast, just behind its head. To Ganesh’s surprise, the elephant’s eyes had been covered by its head gear. The Vasudev Kshatriya clarified that the covers could be removed easily by the mahout from his position. It was used when they wanted the elephant to act solely on the mahout’s instruction and not based on what it saw. A metallic cylindrical ball was tied to its trunk with a bronze chain. The Vasudev then proceeded to set up a round wooden board as a target. It was roughly three times the size of a human head.

‘You may want to step back,’ said the Vasudev to the assemblage.

As the visitors stepped back, the Vasudev looked towards the mahout and nodded. The man gently pressed his feet into the back of the elephant’s ears, in a series of instructions. The elephant stepped languidly up to the wooden target and shook his head, acknowledging the orders. Then all of a sudden, with the speed of lightning, it swung its mighty trunk, hitting the wooden board smack in the centre with the metallic ball, smashing the target to smithereens.

Kartik whistled softly in appreciation.

Ganesh looked towards the Vasudev. ‘Can we make the target a little more interesting?’

The Vasudev was so confident of his elephant that he immediately agreed. Another wooden target was brought in, but placed on a board with wheels at the bottom, as Ganesh had instructed. He painted a smaller circle on the wooden board as a target; it was the size of a human head. In addition, Ganesh asked for the metallic ball tied to the elephant’s trunk to be painted a bright red; thus they’d know exactly where the ball would hit the target. The mahout was tasked with ensuring that the elephant struck the smaller circle with his metallic ball, even as two other soldiers moved the board around with long ropes. The target simulated a man trying to avoid the elephant’s blow. If the elephant could be used to kill a specific man rather than for mass butchery, then one could target the leader of an opposing army, rendering it headless.

Everyone stepped back. The mahout kept his eyes pinned to the board as he issued instructions through his feet, making the elephant move slowly towards the target. The soldiers with the ropes were alternately pulling and releasing their lines, keeping the target in constant motion. Suddenly, the mahout dug in deep with his right foot and the elephant swung his mighty trunk. The metallic ball hit the centre of the wooden board. It was a killer blow.

Ganesh smiled and swore in the name of the legendary Lord of the Animals. ‘By the great Pashupatinath himself, what an elephant!’