Nirmala Toppo, elephant whisperer

National ConfidentialNirmala Toppo, elephant whisperer.

Communicating with ghosts is so passé. Talking to elephants is where it’s at. Case in point: Nirmala Toppo, a 14-year-old girl who saved her hometown of Rourkela, India, by gently telling visiting elephants to go home:

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According to Forest official PK Dhola, “We knew of a tribal girl who lived in Jharkhand, who talked to elephants and was able to drive them back. We called up her father and she arrived along with some other tribal people from her village.”

Nirmala told the BBC that “First I pray and then talk to the herd. They understand what I say. I tell them this is not your home. You should return where you belong.”

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Along with members of her family and her tribe, the elephants were led back into the forest.

Maybe next time Toppo can ask the elephants what they’re gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside their trunks.

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