Travels On My Elephant - Hardcover

Shand, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224026313 ISBN 13: 9780224026314

Publisher: Random House UK, 1992

Synopsis

There is no better way to see India than from the howdah of an Indian elephant. This is exactly what Mark Shand discovered as he set out on a thousand kilometer journey on Tara, a thirty-year-old female elephant. Their destination was the Sonepur Mela, the world's oldest elephant market. What began as an adventurous whim soon developed into an unlikely romance. Tara, the scrawny and ill-treated begging elephant which Shand had acquired, was transformed through tender loving care on the journey into a star attraction. Everywhere they went -- into communities that had not changed in millennia or along new arterial roads where trans-continental juggernauts thundered past -- the western mahout, trained by Tara's minder, and his five eccentric Indian companions drew inquisitive crowds to admire their elephant. This account of the trials and tribulations of the journey is told with charm and wit, and is illustrated with captivating photographs in colour. Yet, in the best tradition of all good travel writing, there was an inward as well as an outward journey. Merely arriving was not the end of the story, and finding a good home for Tara was to present the greatest challenge of all.

About this title

Review

A few years ago, British writer Mark Shand cut an 800-mile swath across southern and central India atop a 30-year-old elephant named Tara. What he saw along the way makes up the heart of this entertaining memoir. His reminiscences of the good food and warmly hospitable people of the nation make you want to head out the door and find the nearest mahout, but the real star of the show is Tara, who has a sweet personality and a penchant for mischief, such as shoplifting fruit from vendors' stalls and lifting prostitutes' saris. However, Shand sadly notes, "The Indian elephant is running out of living space." His sort of adventure may thus be harder to come by in the future--so find that mahout now. If you can't, as vicarious experiences go, following Shand across the subcontinent is tough to beat.

About the Author

Mark Shand is a travel writer with a playboy past which has been exchanged for the life of a fund-raising conservationist. His travel books include River Dog: A journey down the Brahmaputra, Queen of the Elephants, Skullduggery and Travels on my Elephant for which he received the Travel Writer of the Year award. The latter journey directed led to his foundation of Elephant Family - a charity specifically established to protect the environment of the Asian elephant, tiger and orang-utan, and is currently engaged in the creation and acquisition of half kilometre wide jungle corridors that connect together the various different forest reserves.

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House UK
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0224026313
• ISBN 13: 9780224026314
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224