The story of the Tuskers is taken from the chapter Iswaran the storyteller.
Answer:
Iswaran narrates the story of the tusker with remarkable dramatic flair and vivid imagination. He begins by setting the context of his hometown’s timber forest, describing how elephants typically haul logs and can become wild. Then, he launches into a detailed and animated account of an escaped elephant’s rampage through a town. His storytelling is incredibly dynamic – he doesn’t simply describe the scene, but physically acts it out, jumping and stamping to emulate the elephant’s movements, which adds an extra layer of excitement to his narrative.
The story reaches its climax with Iswaran portraying himself as a young hero who single-handedly stops the rampaging elephant. He describes how he bravely descended from the school rooftop, despite the terrifying situation, to confront the elephant. By striking its “third toenail,” he claims to have caused the animal to collapse. His storytelling is full of suspense, dramatic pauses, and heightened tension. He vividly describes the elephant’s menacing stance and the crowd watching from nearby rooftops.
However, the story is far from plausible. Iswaran has a habit of telling impossible stories, which aligns perfectly with the text’s description of his influence from Tamil thriller novels. The idea of a young student stopping a wild elephant by striking its toenail, the exaggerated destruction, and the overly dramatic rescue scenario all strain credibility. Yet, this lack of plausibility is precisely what makes Iswaran’s storytelling so entertaining. As the text notes, Mahendra enjoyed the stories not for their truth, but for the incredible way Iswaran told them. In fact, Iswaran’s amazing narratives seemed to make up for the absence of a television.