An elephantine problem, courtesy British Indian

Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 20:30 IST
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LONDON: A large-hearted Indian who owns a nursing home in Britain has presented the local council with an elephantine problem, literally. Rao Kodali, the owner of a nursing home in Skegness, has a reputation for generosity. But his plan to donate an elephant to the seaside town to say thank you for its hospitality has left the local authority in a quandary and alarmed animal protection groups. He wants to give the town one of the finest elephants in India. He envisages spending 10,000 pounds to get it there and hopes it will become a tourist attraction. Kodali, a native of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, arrived in Britain in the mid-1990s and moved to Skegness after an unhappy time in Blackburn. "I was astonished at people's kindness. This is a gesture of my appreciation to the town. I have been treated so well here," he said. But the town council is believed to be worried about how it could house such a gift. It has received a letter from the Captive Animals Protection Society saying that elephants in captivity live miserable lives. But Kodali is not put off. "I don't actually know where it could be kept. They may need to sort out quite a lot," he said. "I will leave that to them." Elephants were once common in the town. Harold Fainlight, a local historian, says several regularly played cricket on the beach in the 1930s to publicise a travelling circus. "They all wore cricket caps of their own team colour," he says.
Source: IANS
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