Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

 Did you know it?? 

“Polo was probably introduced to India from Persia by the early Mohammedan invaders in the 13th century. From India, the game spread to England through mostly military channels. The first recorded game in England was played in 1869.”

 

Then, since apparently the British military stationed in India was pretty bored, they developed a variant to spice up the sport: At the turn of the 20th century they launched the elephant polo in India.

 

Speaking of (Asian) elephants, its natural habitat is tropical forests rather than the desert of Rajasthan. The first traces of domestication date back to the third millennium BC on the engraved seals of the civilization of the Indus Valley. But the Asian elephants (of which 50% live in India today) have difficulties (and take it as an understatement) to reproduce in captivity so the elephants found today in Rajasthan come from the capture of wild elephants in other regions of India and Asia.

 

That said, I tried in Jaipur  (apparently the only place in the world where the novice can practice) elephant polo (a still too little known sport;)) for you and it is not easy at all! The stick is very heavy and it is difficult to calculate the distance to the ball as well as the strength required to guide the ball in a certain direction. 

Fortunately, the elephants are ready to help and when you need a hand they don’t hesitate to shoot themselves in the ball! (True)

 

 

 Sources : 

http://www.elefantasia.org/spip.php?breve48 

http://www.polomuseum.com/history_of_polo.htm 

http://www.aanemane.org/FR/elephant-asie/nation_elephant.php 

http://www.universcience.fr/fr/science-actualites/enquete-as/wl/1248126422766/les-elephants-d-asie-se-reproduisent-en-laboratoire/

 

 A story that still makes me laugh…

We all have this ball-breaking customer. The one that always nit-picks, who calls ten times a day but that you can not send to hell because 1. he is a customer and 2. he is a good customer.

But anyhow, every time you go see him, you need to get ready to have your brain chewed for one hour… Call me a masochist, but I go there every month. 

He is about sixty years and ninety kilos.

Last time, when my colleague saw him arriving from far, he whispered “here comes the elephant” (he REALLY is a ball-breaker!).

And there followed a crazy dialogue:

- Me: Hello Sir, how are you?

- He (with a great smile): “Ah? you think so??

- Me: ?????

- He: “Yes, perhaps you are right, maybe I have reduced!”  

- Me (starting to understand that he heard me commenting on his weight): “Ah ben yes of course, it is quite visible!”

  That put the guy in the best of moods for the whole meeting!

 We spent the following hour listening to all his grievances and my colleague concluded: “he was in a good mood today” (when he is in a bad mood, you listen to the same complaints but you feel like murdering someone when you get out!).

  This is huge!! I should use this trick again…