A close encounter of the elephant kind

It had been a long, hot day of shopping and Laurie (our guest from Boston) and I were heading back to the hotel by auto-rickshaw from Santacruz station. We were chatting about the traffic when I noticed that the next vehicle in the line was in fact an elephant. You don't see a lot of elephants in Santacruz, and so I took the opportunity to get out of the rickshaw and stroke the elephant (they're a real weakness of mine). I particularly like the hair on the trunks, which is like springy piano wire. Now I admit to being a little heavier than I would like, but an elephant is still quite a big thing and to find myself standing in the middle of a busy street, face to face with an elephant is pretty intimidating (the idea of being crushed like a bug isn't an appealing one).

Luckily, Laurie was also able to stroke the elephant which then followed us down the street. Elephants are, of course, expensive to keep, so it is appropriate to give the elephant money, which it 'holds' in the curled tip of its trunk. My only regret is that I didn't have a piece of fruit (bananas - with the peel on - are apparently favoured). Oh well, such is life...