Mysore:
Balarama carries himself with the grandeur of a 52-year-old used to special treatment.
For the last 11 years, this elephant has carried the 750-kg golden howdah in the Mysore Dasara procession. The weight doesn't bother him. He's a robust 5000 kilos himself.
But that's not the only reason why the 52-year-old from the Hunsur forests is chosen for the pomp and glory. "He has got two beautiful tusks...And a very plain flat back on which the howdah can be safely seated," gushes Dr Nagaraja Sharma, Director, Centre for Indian Studies, Mysore.
Balarama has also never been caught throwing a tantrum. So he's counted upon to take the procession and its crowds in his jumbo stride.
His perques include meals fit for a king. Every day, he gets 500 kilos of banyan tree branch fodder; 200 kilos of green grass; 15 kilos of paddy, 500 grams of jiggery and a 2-kilo groundnut cake. Laced with lavish love from his mahout, Thimma, who says if Balarama's happy, he's happy. "Sometimes, we forget even our wife and children. If he is good, only then will our wife and children get food."
He may be a senior now, but there's no question of retirement for Balarama. He's still the hero of the Mysore Dasera procession.