Travels On My Elephant

We aren&rsquot usually excited about a reissue. But then this is a classic, recounting Mark Shand&rsquos 800 km journey on elephant back from Konarak in Odisha to the Sonepur Mela in Bihar, the largest elephant market in India. The journey converted Shand from an aristocratic playboy to a high-profile conservationist. And, in the end, Tara, the elephant, settled down in Kipling Camp, Kanha, where she found a lifelong loving home (but not without a tearful parting). We checked in with Kipling Camp to see how Tara was doing and received this detailed dispatch &ldquoTara is flourishing, particularly now the monsoon has arrived. She had a scary moment on the evening of June 12 when a ferocious storm cut through Kipling Camp... Tara remained amazingly calm. She moved to one side of her huge stable and stood close to her trembling charra cutter while trees and branches crashed down on her roof. The storm passed through in less than 10 minutes, and with a generous handful of gur she was soon back to her cheerful self&rdquo