A bus driver's encounter with a wild elephant in Kerala is gaining traction on social media. The video has been shot by one of the passengers on the bus and shows the windshield of the vehicle cracking as the elephant just “touches” it.
Many Twitter users, including IAS officer Supriya Sahu, have shared the video of the incident, which took place on Tuesday.
“Don't know who is the driver of this Government Bus but he is certainly Mr Cool. The way he handled the supervision check by Mr Elephant it was like business as usual between them. video shared by K.Vijay,” Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment Climate Change and Forests in Tamil Nadu, said in her post.
According to local media, the encounter took place at around 4pm when the bus was on its way to Munnar. As seen in the video, as soon as the driver takes a turn on the road, he sees an elephant standing there. The driver stops the bus and passengers onboard take out their cellphones to click photos and videos of the wild elephant.
The locals keep talking enthusiastically till the elephant notices the bus and starts moving towards it. As the animal came closer, the noise reduces.
The elephant inspects the bus lifting its trunk to the roof of the vehicle. In the process, its tusks touch the windshield of the bus and it cracks.
The driver remains calm during the entire process and as the elephant moves away from the bus, he drives ahead. His calmness is being lauded on Twitter.
“Driver has guts really! I wouldn't have done this … scary!! But beautiful to watch!” a user tweeted.
Many people who commented are from Kerala and claimed that the wild animal is called “Padayappa”. They also used the same hashtags in their comments.
The video posted by the IAS officer has been viewed more than 15,000 times.
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