Actor Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday took to his blog for a very specific purpose: to make an appeal to contribute for treatment and upkeep of a “gentle giant” called Bijlee, a female elephant.
Bijlee, a 58-year-old female elephant, belongs to a couple who uses it to beg for alms at marriages and other auspicious occasions. On Tuesday last week, Bijlee had collapsed near the Wokhardt Hospital in Mulund, and prior to that, she had fallen into a creek and injured her hind legs, suffering various problems ever since.
In a late night tweet, Mr Bachchan said, “ATTENTION!!! Elephant ‘Bijlee’ lying collapsed in Mulund, suburb of Mumbai..she needs cure..will authorities please extend all help. There is an NGO AMTM working on Bijlee, giving food etc, but she needs to get to hospital. Authority help needed. Equipment to carry. A compassionate appeal to all animal lovers. Please come forward and extend all possible help. I just did. Will you !!? (sic).”
Bijlee has already been moved to a better location and is undergoing treatment. Her diet is also being taken care of by an animal rights group called Animals Matter to Me (AMTM). But they have issued and an appeal for contribution in both cash and kind to meet the needs and cost of treatment for Bijlee.
After tweeting, the actor made a detailed entry on his blog that stated, “After the first day at the shoot for the TV serial, and a two-and-a-half-hour traffic jam drive back from work, I am deeply saddened to learn of the plight of Bijlee. I am not in the habit of putting appeals on the social media for reasons that concern me contractually. But I do believe in this unfortunate incident, and that if something is done for this beleaguered elephant lying on the road in great misery, she will survive and flourish.”
“”But for the moment … think of Bijlee and her plight … lying on the road, with no shed or cover, bearing the lashing rain of the monsoon...(sic),” he continued to appeal.