“Why is it necessary for a princess to simply sing and dance and marry a prince and live happily ever after with him?” asked Ella in exasperation, “Why can’t she feel equally happy bicycling, or climbing a mountain, or feeding elephants?”
“Hmm…,” was the response from Netta who was lying on the sofa reading a book.
“I mean: look at the girls who are able to do so many things in the world! And here I am, a princess, who has to learn to be a princess!”
“Hmm….!” came the response again.
“Will you please stop humming and listen to me!” said Ella snatching the book away.
“Well, all right,” said Netta. “What are we going to do about it?”
“We are going to travel,” declared Ella, “To India where there are elephants. I want to see them.”
“How about Africa? There are elephants too.”
“Too many countries! I wouldn’t know where to start. Let’s try India first.”
And so they landed in India and went to a hot tropical forest in the south, teeming with elephants. The two girls had never seen anything like this before—the heat and the humidity, the forests and the waterways, the food that tasted so different, the smiles flashing from the dark faces, the silence. For a while it was a little scary. Then they started getting used to everything.
It was some time before they met Ranjit, the head of the forest department. He was a handsome young man who worked as hard as his men. Once he realised that they were genuinely interested in the forest and the elephants; he began to show them everything. Ella also fell in love with Ranjit but he was hesitant.
“You are a princess in your country,” he told her, “And I am a forest officer. What will your parents say?”
But Ella had invited her parents to India. They came, for they were anxious about their daughter; but they saw her busy and happy. It was as if she had finally found her true place in the world.
And so Princess Ella married Ranjit and they were so happy together. They had collected a herd of baby elephants that were orphaned and were bringing them up in the heart of the forest. Netta too stayed on to become a doctor of traditional medicines.
