The elephant whisperer

 

Parbati Barua, the first female mahout of India, has won the Padma Shri for 2024 

By Shevlin Sebastian 

On the night of January 25, 2024, Parbati Barua had switched on a news channel on the television at her home in Guwahati. She felt her body tremble when the anchor announced she had won the Padma Shri (Social Work) for her career as the first female mahout in India. 

A few minutes later, she got a call from a central government official who confirmed the news. But her neighbours did not come, because they knew she went to sleep at 8 p.m. And got up at 4 a.m. 

“My work has finally received official recognition,” she says. “This was also a recognition of the enormous amount of work mahouts put in. It is a 24/7 job. People will not understand unless they see it first-hand. My heart is always with the mahouts.” 

In 1989, Parbati had received the ‘Global 500 – Roll of Honour’ award from the United Nations Environment Programme for her work in the welfare and management of wild and captive elephants. There was also a BBC documentary. 

Parbati’s elder sister, the legendary folk singer, Pratima Barua Pandey (1934-2002), had also won the Padma Shri in 1991. She had a tie-up with the legendary Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika.

As Parbati drifted off to sleep, a memory came to her mind. 

When she was ten years old, one day her mother Bina said, “Do you know when you saw an elephant for the first time?” 

As Parbati narrowed her eyes and tried to remember, Bina said, “You will not be able to recall. When you were one month and 17 days old, your father placed you on the back of an elephant. You had a smile on your face. You fell in love with elephants instantly.” 

Parbati belonged to the royal family of Gauripur, in Dhubri district in Assam. The family lived near the river Gadadhar. Her father, Prakritish Chandra Barua had a stable of 40 elephants at the back of the house. Because of Prakritish’s immense love for elephants, Parbati also developed a similar affection. “Baba was my guru,” says Parbati. “He taught me how to look after and care for elephants.” 

Every day, Prakritish would go to the stables. Parbati accompanied him. One day Prakritish told Parbati, “Give them love. They will love you in return.” This simple statement remained etched in Parbati’s mind. 

Parbati has eight brothers and sisters. But it was only she who has dedicated her life to looking after elephants. After observing the work of mahouts for several years, she became one in 1972. “The best way to learn is through practical experience,” she says. 

Because she is 70 years old, Parbati has only one elephant, Lakhimala, with her. Lakhimala stays in the village of Kalpani, around 123 kms from the capital, Guwahati. 

As for the food she gives the elephant, it includes banana leaves, green grass and branches of trees. Because the village is near the jungle, it is not expensive, as everything is available. “But in the town where natural materials are not easily available, it can get expensive,” she says. Sometimes, when it is freezing, she gives Lakhimala boiled rice and rum because it helps to keep the elephant warm. 

Asked how elephants show love, Parbati says, “It is through the eyes. And you get a feeling that they love you. You can gauge it only when you spend time with them. It is a silent language.” 

Elephants have similar characters like human beings. “Each has a unique personality,” says Parbati. “There are introverted and extroverted elephants. There are leaders and followers. Some are very social. Many are benevolent and kind-hearted. They have enormous patience. Only when they reach the limit of their patience do they get angry. They love children, be it human beings or any other animal like tiger or deer. Elephants will never harm children.” 

And they usually get along with each other within the herd. “They are very co-operative,” says Parbati. Once in a while, there is a quarrel. Then it can be a fight to the death between two elephants. “Sometimes the fight can last for three days non-stop,” says Parbati. “It is painful to watch. But it is wise not to interfere.” 

Asked whether elephants are better than human beings, Parbati says, “100 percent. Human beings can be so cruel.”  

Whenever elephants are sick, injured or become rogue, the authorities in Bengal, Orissa and Assam call Parbati. So she is on the road often. “This is my destiny,” she says.

Elephants become rogue for various reasons. It is when human beings oppress them, or they get injured. “There is no proper treatment inside the jungle,” says Parbati. “When the pain becomes unbearable, they can get angry. They will attack people at that moment.” 

The forest department has no option but to eliminate them. “They become like man-eating tigers,” says Parbati. 

Professor Aloke Kumar, Professor of Communications at the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata, who has closely followed Parbati’s career, says, “In an incident in Bengal's Medinipur district, a herd of over 50 elephants, went off course and were wandering towards human habitation. When the authorities couldn't get the situation under control, they turned to Parbati. With her team and four elephants, she guided the tuskers back to the jungle.”

The good news, she says, is that the elephant population has remained stable. According to the 2017 elephant census, the nationwide population stands at 29,964. Karnataka has the highest number, at 6395, while Parbati’s home state of Assam has 5719.  

Asked about her most memorable experience, Parbati says it was when she lassoed an elephant in the Kachugaon forest for the first time. “I was only 14 years old,” she says. “I am the only lady, not only in India, but perhaps in Asia, who has achieved this feat. Our family later sold the elephant. Since it was over 50 years ago, I don’t know whether it is alive or passed away.”  

(An edited version was published in The Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)