There are many poignant accounts of orphaned elephant calves being rehabilitated by tribal mahouts in the Theppakadu Camp at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris, a hill district in Tamil Nadu. One such tale is that of Raghu and Bommi, calves orphaned in the years 2017 and 2019, respectively, who were assigned to K Bomman, a tribal mahout, and Bellie, a tribal assistant in the elephant camp. The Oscar-winning documentary short film, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ celebrates the dedication of the mahouts and the calves and the subsequent human-animal bonding.

It was a joyous moment for India when Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ bagged the award for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards.

Film director Kartiki Gonsalves thanked the Academy, producer Guneet Monga, her family, and dedicated the award to her motherland. She said, “I stand here today to speak for the sacred bond between us and our natural world, for the respect of indigenous communities, and empathy towards other living beings we share space with, and finally, for co-existence.”

She thanked the Academy and video-streaming giant Netflix for believing in the power of the concept, and Bomman and Bellie for “sharing their sacred tribal wisdom”.

It is not an easy task to take care of elephants when they enter the camp as a wild adult or a calf. “It was, however, easier for me when I took charge of Raghu in 2017 and Bommi in 2019 because I had grown up with elephants,” said K Bomman, the hero of the film.

Normally, when an abandoned calf is brought to the camp in the nursing stage, the forest department assigns a mahout couple to rear it. In 2017, Raghu, an abandoned one-and-a-half-month-old calf from Hosur Forest, was handed over to Bomman for caretaking. His wife Bellie was roped in by the forest department to help Bomman as the calf had to be fed milk.

Thus began the journey of Gonsalves and Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’. They hadn’t imagined winning an Oscar when they started the short film inspired by the native wisdom of the mahout couple taking care of the two abandoned calves. The short film was produced by Netflix and it was widely watched and applauded.

Tamil Nadu additional chief secretary and environment, climate change and forest secretary Supriya Sahu told TOI, “The film brought the spotlight on the state government’s conservation efforts and on the unsung heroes. In wildlife conservation we need to recognize our foot soldiers. In this connection, the Tamil Nadu government took the initiative to send a group of 13 mahouts and assistants to Thailand as part of an exchange programme to imbibe conservation skills.”

She said the conservation process should become bigger because it is directly linked to climate change. “Winning an Oscar for this kind of short film is an incredible feat,” said Sahu. She earlier tweeted, “As ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ wins the Best Documentary Short Film, it also tells the world of the great strides being made in India and in Tamil Nadu in elephant conservation. It’s also a celebration of our unsung heroes.”

All the 28 mahouts in Theppakadu Camp are capable of training wild elephants and taking care of abandoned calves, MTR field director D Venkatesh told TOI. Bomman yet again proved himself, a few months ago, in the exercise of reuniting a baby calf with its herd by displaying his own special and gentle approach, said Venkatesh.

“Now, Bomman has been assigned to take care of an abandoned calf in the process of joining the baby elephant with some herds in Dharmapuri Forest,” he said.

Asked about the Oscar win, Bomman said matter-of-factly, “I’m happy to hear about the award the film fetched. I was informed by forest officials.”