Elephantine extortion

Over the last few years I have been noticing a novel and ingenious method of extorting money from vehicles on Indian highways using elephants. Check out these pics I took on NH6 during my recent drive to Kolkata from Jamshedpur :

The elephant's handlers look out for approaching vehicles (trucks, primarily) and quickly position the huge animal on a collision course with the vehicle

The truck is forced to stop by the elephant and its handlers

The truck is finally allowed to move on after the driver parts with some dough

Now you know how the Indian economy is growing by a phenomenal rate of 8%!