Huge cauldrons sit on a three-pointed stone platform fuelled by fire from large logs of wood. Inside the cavernous vessel a thick gravy of millet is boiling. Soon the millet will be spread out on a large slab of stone to cool off. And then expert tribal hands turn the entire concoction into ball-shaped mounds, almost the size of a football. It's snack time for the working elephants at the camp.
As the mahouts bring in their wards every day at 9 am and then again at 6 pm, the sight of the huge creatures being fed their snack is amusing. The elephants stand in a row, resting their trunks on wooden poles patiently waiting for their turn. No sooner than the mahouts begin to walk in their direction with the millet balls in their hands, that the trunk shoots up skyward and the mouths grow wide open. Pop go the balls one after the other, disappearing at once into the large cave that is their tummy. Why this diet? Just to drive away the boredom of having to eat leaves and grass and bark for 18 hours a day!
The star attraction at Balle used to be Drona, the world famous elephant who carried the golden howdah during the Dasara procession in Mysore consecutively for 18 years. A handsome creature, he would be the cynosure of a million eyes every time he walked imperiously at the end of the 2-km long procession. As terrible fate would have it, he died tragically a few years ago after being electrocuted by a high-tension electric wire passing through the Kakanakote jungles. The whole of Mysore grieved for him.
The elephant camp at Balle can be reached from Karapur in less than half an hour. Drive back to the Mysore-Mananthavady Road, turn left for Balle Camp, which is 7-8 km or 15-20 minutes down this road. This stretch, though an interstate highway, is full of pot holes.
Entry Free; Timings 7 am to 6 pm, closed April-May.