Queen of the Elephants

by Mark Shand

Mark Shand trekked 300 miles across East Benghal and Assam on the back of an elephant with Parbati Barua, the foremost and only female elephant trainer in all India. This book describes the experiences shared during this remarkable journey - joining a government 'elephant squad' together with local villagers to chase a band of wild elephants off a tea estate, and making a stop at Parbati's ancestral home, now a virtual shrine to her father's lifelong work with elephants. The importance of this ancient knowledge becomes clear: if not preserved, the Asian elephant stands an even greater chance of disappearing altogether.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Memoir, India, Autobiography, Animals

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 1995

Reviews

[Daren]

Turns out I have now read all four of Mark Shand's books, most famously about elephants. This book Queen of Elephants follows the making of a documentary about travelling (again) in India by Elephant, this time accompanied by (or should I say accompanying) Parbati Barua, the foremost (only?) female elephant trainer in all India.

Somewhat in fun, Parbati is made out to be a hard taskmaster. Their elephant camp is referred to as the concentration camp, and she makes Shand work hard to for the privilege of riding on her elephant - he has to carry out all the hard work of fodder collection, washing, grooming etc for a short time before moving onto training under her as a mahout.

The journey takes place through a narrow corridor of jungle, flanked each side with tea plantations in (northern) West Bengal and Sikkum - in the knuckle of India between Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The documentary, obviously, revolves around the loss of habitat and deforestation - in this area primarily due to the tea plantations, where the wild elephants cause problems and are regularly killed as a consequence.

It is a very easy read, it spells out it's message in simple terms, and, yes I suppose it is a pretty charming sort of a story. It is little different from Shand's other books, and an easy 3.5 stars, rounded down.

[Federico DN]

Good.

This was nice, very nice.

Interesting, enlightening, and sort of endearing.

Gotta love Elephants and all their little quirks.

RTC.

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1995] [208p] [Memoir] [Not Recommendable]
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Bastante Bueno.

Esto estuvo bien, muy lindo.

Interesante, enriquecedor, y algo adorable.

Hay que amar a los elefantes y todas sus pequeñas peculiaridades.

RTC.

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1995] [208p] [Memoria] [No Recomendable]
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[jedidja]

I wish I could meet Parbati :(

[Sarah Handley]

An enjoyable read but I, personally, didn't enjoy it as much as Travels on my Elephant.

[Ian]

well written, pleasant; but not as good as the first one.

[Leonie]

I struggled a little bit with the tone of Shand's first book about his elephant trek across India and I flinched a couple of times from the tone of this one as well. I found the character of the 'Queen of the Elephants' uniquely interesting enough to persevere readin this book but don't believe Shand really did her justice. Please someone, write her biography rather than a heavily edited trip report by a wannabe mahoot.

[Meli]

I loved this book. I was surprised as his first book had rave reviews and I found it quite boring. This book had far more critics but I found it much more interesting - it focuses far less on his travels and much more on the plight of elephants. Its very well written and kept me absorbed the whole book. Mark Shands love for elephants is obvious and its interesting to read about the path that ultimately founded Elephant Family - his NGO focusing on the asian elephant plight.

[Kim Stallwood]

Different from the prequel, Travels On My Elephant, and not as good as but nevertheless an interesting and worthwhile read. Different in that in the first the author's focus on his relationship with Tara and her interaction with him. It makes for a terrific read. In Queen the subject is broader while focussed on Parbati Barua, who is a celebrated figure and expert on Asian elephants. Both books should be read together as between they are enjoyable and informative.

[Gebanuzo]

Aunque no he leído la precuela, pude disfrutar de la historia, he aprendido cosas sobre elefantes y al parecer es éste una supuesta bitácora real de viaje, buscaré el documtal del qué se hace mención y podré completar esta aventura.

[Jo]

a love affair with an elephant called tara continued from 'travels on my elephant'

[Magda]

had to read it because of "travels on my elephant", but... not as good.

[Pam Boardman]

This is a lovely book, I really enjoyed reading it. I have been to some of the areas in the book, but I didn't realise the problems caused by the elephants and the local people.