Calcutta, March 1 :     They trumpeted like on cue and swung their tails as they tasted freedom from fetters and caught their first glimpse of chief minister Jyoti Basu today. The patriarch smiled wryly as only he can ? the pachyderms of Alipore Zoo, it seemed, had him floored. Basu came calling at the zoo to inaugurate the open-air enclosure for elephants. At 4 pm sharp, the wail of a siren was heard and in minutes the chief minister alighted from his white ambassador. He marched up to the enclosure, unveiled the foundation stone and then stood among his entourage waiting for the elephants to be let out of the shed. The mahouts unlocked the paddle-gate and out barged Mumtaz and Phulwanti. They trumpeted in delight and ambled to a corner, far from where the patriarch was standing. The mahouts scurried after the two female elephants, caught hold of their ears and like chastised children, they were led before grandfather. Basu smiled and stared dotingly. But the fun had just begun. It was Mumtaz and Phulwanti?s day. Long years ago they were robbed of their freedom and childhood and brought to the Alipore Zoo from the forests of Jaldapara. In Alipore Zoo, their legs were tied in chains and they raised their trunks to every third gawking visitor who popped a coin on their snouts. Every day was the same. Until today ? when foster home became a bit like home. Ten-year-old Phulwanti and seven-year-old Mumtaz gazed back at Basu and then turned around and presented their credentials. They trumpeted again as they stuck their tails high in the air, rubbed their backs on trees and flung mud on themselves. ?I?ve seen this kind of an enclosure only in London. It?s a good thing they have done by releasing these elephants into an open-air enclosure,? Basu said. He, however, did not remember when he last came to the zoo. ?It was to name some animal. I can?t remember which one,? he added as the pachyderms pulled down a branch of a tree in their excitement. Basu seemed quite taken-in by the antics of the elephants who went on to uproot a tree. Minutes later he was gone, but forest minister Jogesh Barman said two more open-air enclosures would be built, one for white tigers and the other for monkeys. The Rs 32-lakh elephant enclosure was built on what was once director A.K. Das? quarters. It also has a pool so that the elephants can spray themselves with water from time to time. That helps to beat the heat and keep themselves cool ? specially when VIPs come calling.