V Belli’s years’ of sacrifice and hard work in raising orphaned elephant calves was recognised on Wednesday with the Tamil Nadu Government appointing her as the first woman cavady (assistant to the mahout) of the Theppakadu Elephant Camp in the picturesque Nilgiris.
50-year-old Bellie, whose life along with that of her husband Bomman was chronicled in the Oscar award-winning short film, The Elephant Whisperers, was handed over the appointment order by Chief Minister M K Stalin at the Secretariat here.
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While Bomman is a mahout, Bellie is working as a caretaker on a temporary basis at the elephant camp, which was established in 1917 by the British regime and currently houses 28 camp elephants, including those jumbos captured and rescued by the Forest Department.
The new job means additional and constant income to the family, which has to tend to the couple’s grandchildren. A statement from the Tamil Nadu government said Bellie has been appointed to the post in recognition of her service towards orphaned calves.
Bellie and Bomman underwent numerous challenges in raising two orphaned elephant calves – Raghu and Ammu alias Bommi -- at Theppakadu. Bellie had to tend to the calves even when her daughter was struggling for her life at a hospital after setting herself ablaze as they couldn’t leave them alone. By the time they reached, her daughter had passed away.
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Nilgiris district is home to one of Asia’s oldest elephant camps where every jumbo is taken care of by a mahout and a cavady, who are from indigenous tribal communities.
After the short-film won Oscars, the state government had announced a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each to all 91 mahouts and cavadies in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Anamalai Tiger Reserve, besides eco-friendly and culturally compatible houses for them.
Bellie, who has had a troubled past after she lost her first husband to a tiger attack, married Bomman over a decade ago. In the beginning, she wasn’t very comfortable with animals, but Raghu, who was brought to Theppakadu as a three-month-old calf after his mother elephant died due to electrocution in Krishnagiri district, changed her heart.
The couple, belonging to the Katunayakan tribe, spent years together in raising Raghu, and Bommi, a five-month-old calf orphaned in the Sathyamangalam forests in western Tamil Nadu. Raghu was brought to the camp in May 2017, while Bommi alias Ammu came in June 2019.