THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER OF MUMBAI

On 6th World Elephant Day today, BT speaks to Anand Shinde — the man who left his world of photo journalism to communicate with elephants and rehabilitate them
Pallabi.Purkayastha@timesgroup.com

When he was transferred to Kerala back in 2012, Mumbai cha mulga Anand Shinde did not know what to do in a place where the language was alien to him. A call from his ‘guru’ was enough to throw him into the fascinating world of elephants, which paved the path for a strong association with them. “Before 2012, I knew nothing about animals, except for dogs. But when I began work on a photo story on Kalaripayattu (martial art form of the state) and Kathakali (a traditional dance form), my mentor asked me to do a photoshoot with the elephants.”

The same year, he went to Thrissur Pooram — Kerala’s annual temple festival, where elephants play a major role. A chance encounter with an elephant there changed Anand’s perception of them. “It was hot, so the mahout was standing on a piece of paper to prevent his feet from being scalded. When his elephant began to act cranky and wouldn’t move, the mahout beat him and poked him to make him move. A few minutes later, the same elephant let the mahout rest under his stomach even after being treated so badly. It was an eyeopener,” he shares.


In an attempt to study the behavioural patterns of elephants and carry out his photoshoot with them, Shinde approached the authorities. One thing led to another and there came a point where this Mumbaikar was spending 12-13 hours (and even weekends) with elephants after travelling 27 km back and forth, and learning to rumble so that he could communicate with them.

His love for elephants, however, started with baby elephants Krishna and Ganga. While Krishna would play with him all day long and wait for his arrival in the morning, Ganga was a bit possessive and would start rumbling every time his wife Shriya Shinde called. Unfortunately, Krishna passed away while Shinde was in Mumbai to be with his ailing mother. Ganga followed suit, leaving the man who was a ‘friend’ to them heartbroken.

‘EE BRANTHAN PINNEYUM VANNU’ (PAGLA PHIR SE AA GAYA)

After spending more than a year in different elephant centres, Shinde decided to quit his job and dedicate his life to a detailed research on elephants. As it was an unconventional choice to make, many frowned, laughed and even looked down upon him. And it all started with the mahouts. “Whenever I reached the elephant centres, I would always hear the mahouts say in Malayalam — ‘Ee branthan pinneyum vannu’ After asking around, I got to know that it means ‘pagla phir se aa gaya’. Initially, they were uncomfortable with my growing proximity with the elephants. As time passed by, they accepted me.” The elephant whisperer had more than just hostile mahouts to deal with. He had a lot of people to convince, starting with his wife. “She said, ‘Anand I know you live alone there, but this is too far-fetched’,” shares the man.

Shriya, his wife and a photographer by profession, says, “Initially, I didn’t believe that he could communicate with them, and would often ask him to send pictures and videos. But when you see the bond he shares with the animals, it’s worth all the sacrifices.”

HIS MISSION: TO END THE MAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT

“Borders are for human beings, not animals. Elephants are now shifting from Karnataka to Maharashtra. Earlier, they used to come here for a brief period of time — for four to five months. However, they have now made the Konkan and Kolhapur area their home,” enlightens Shinde, who feels that local villagers need to be educated on how to handle the pachyderms.

“The forest officials tried to send them back to Karnataka many times, but they always come back. In Karnataka, the farming sector, human colonies and rubber plantation sector have shot up, because of which these animals are moving towards Maharashtra,” adds Shinde. “In rice season, one can find them in Konkan area and in sugarcane season, one can find them in Kolhapur. That’s how they are managing food and dense forests to live in.”

It is the villagers’ lack of knowledge in how to successfully co-exist with these elephants that scares Shinde. After several interactions with the locals, he learnt that some of them believe that singing ‘bhajans’ or flashing torchlights on their faces and even bursting firecrackers would drive them away, resulting in an never-ending fight between these two worlds that have also claimed lives. “For any animal, attack is the best defence,” explains the man.

‘IF WE HAVE TO FEAR ANY ANIMAL IN LIFE, IT IS HUMANS’

It’s not just elephants Shinde communicates with. He says, “Dr Jacob Alexander, Chief Vet of Trivandrum Zoological Garden, was ready to give me access and my first interaction (outside of elephants) was with Aishwarya — a lioness. After spending time with elephants I realised that if we have to fear any animal in life, it is humans. In the beginning, there were two nets between Aishwarya and me, but eventually she was out in the open. Gradually, she started roaring every time I would visit her and we would interact,” he shares. That interaction gave Shinde the confidence to study the patterns of tigers, lions, leopards and wild cats.

However, he has trust issues with ‘jungli billiyan’. “I have realised that wild cats never trust you and they sit in an attacking position all the time, even after you have fed them and spent time with them.” Shinde has been helping various zoo authorities to understand the needs and wants of ailing animals.