Whenever I see elephants being used in temple festivals, I feel sorry for them. They also have feelings like us, but can’t express their emotions in words. We are really cruel toward elephants by making them stand under the scorching sun, poaching them for their long, beautiful tusks, or pricking them with sharp hooks when they disobey.

When they run amok, they kill innocent people and destroy property. I feel that there should be a law preventing the use of animals in temple festivities. Elephants belong in the dense forests, where they can live leisurely, mingle with their own kind and relish what bountiful nature offers them. Instead of exploiting them, we must respect them and let them live happily in the forests.

The writer is in VIII A, KV No.1, Palakkad