Six Blind Men And An Elephant Poem by Shankaran Kutty

Long time ago in Hindustan
Six wise men of a single clan
Set out with a single goal in mind
To know an elephant, and they all were blind

The first was their leader and he walked out in pride
He approached the elephant that was on its side
He declared on feeling the elephant’s large ear
“The elephant is like a fan, all ye hear”

The second approached right from the front
He felt the animal’s trunk and declared so blunt
“Trust me and let me conclude for all your sake
The elephant is an animal so long like a snake “

The third ran up as he wasn’t convinced
Hit the elephant’s body and in pain he winced
He told his friends “you have quite a gall
To say this animal is anything but a wall”

The fourth caught the tail as he came from the rear
He declared the truth, grinning from ear to ear
“You all are wrong and will believe me I hope
The elephant is nothing but built like a rope”

There was some confusion the fifth one could see
As he walked up to the animal and held it by its knee
“It is strange”, he said “that you all couldn’t see
The elephant is huge and built like a tree”

The last one trudged in as the evening turned to dusk
He walked in straight and held the animal on its tusk
“The elephant”, he declared “is one you must fear
For I dare say, he is built like a spear”

So the six men of Hindustan, each so blind
Thought they found out, what they came to find
But the argument about the elephant was there to stay
As they fought over what they had “seen”, all along the way