Yaanai Doctor

Dr. K, commonly known as Yaanai doctor, is a veteran who previously worked for the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. He spent his entire life working to protect elephants. The Indian Forest Department still follows the rules he developed to safeguard elephants. Additionally, he published numerous study articles in magazines all over the world. He was also interested in poetry and literature. Jeyamohan's book "Yaanai Doctor" immerses us in the life story of Dr. K.

In Tamil Nadu's Top Slip, a newly recruited forest ranger reports for duty after being transferred. On his first day of work, he was informed that all the officers needed to gather for an investigation since an elephant's body had been discovered deep inside a forest. When he arrived, he discovered a large elephant body lying on the ground, split in half. There were worms crawling all around it. An elderly man is standing among them, looking through the items within the elephant's body. He has worms all over his body, but he never really pays attention to them. The ranger became horrified upon seeing this disgusting scene, and he fainted out there.

He was the talk of his coworkers the following day. He discovered that the elderly man standing inside the worm pool was Dr. K, also known as the "Yaanai doctor." He inquired to learn more about him and discovered his work and love of elephants. He longed to meet him and have a good friendship with him. As quoted by Paulo Coelho, "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." The ranger got an opportunity to meet Dr. K when he falls sick, as Dr. K was a famous doctor to humans also. From that moment, his perception of the world began to change.

In one of the chapters, Dr. K addresses how irresponsible and selfish human beings are. People go for a trip inside the forest. While doing so, they would be behaving so meanly, like making sound horns, partying, playing music with high volume, drinking, and above all, breaking the liquor glass and throwing it inside the forest. This is highly unacceptable behavior. Because forests are not just for humans. These broken liquor glasses inside the forest possess a high treat. More than any other animal, it is most dangerous for the elephant. Its feet are like sacks of earth. These bottles would lie broken under the trees. If the elephant steps over it, it will enter fully into its leg because of the animal’s enormous weight. If it walked a little further, it would get jammed inside its feet. The elephant cannot walk after that. It will get infected in two days. Worms would spawn in it. They would pierce into the flesh through the pus. If they could get to the blood vessels or the bone, then the elephant could only die.

 

He also explains how wild animals are patient in bearing the pain. He claims, “Man is the weakest animal. If you witness the majesty with which other animals can tolerate their pain, you will get emotional. Even if the pain was mortal, the elephants don’t scream or writhe. Its eyes would shrink and a few parts of its body alone would shake. It will be so patient that you can conduct delivery without any anesthesia. What a being! God must have created it when he was in a good mood.”

Another instance in the book, which I felt really heart melting was, when the ranger express his wish to get Padma Shree award for Dr.K, the doctor would become furious about it. He would say, “You can do something for this forest only when you understand it. And if you want to understand it, you have to live in it. And if you want to live in it, you have to give up the lust for power, fame, money etc that govern your world and live like the monkeys and elephants here. These should be your kith and kin. Go and have a look outside. Look at Selva (one of the elephants names), do you think you can have a relative as him? If you knew its noble mind and its boundless love, you would know who mattered more to you. If you had felt it was an honor to be acquainted with that elephant, would you have ever thought that a piece of paper written by some idiots was greater than that?”

Similarly, there are so many instances in this book where one would be awe-struck and dwell into deep thinking. This book has so many discussions about wildlife, understanding nature, the importance of preserving forests, and so on. It will show us a different view of forest life.

A must-read for everyone!