Parbati Baruah

Parbati Baruah has been around elephants for as long as she can remember. In Assam she is known as “Hasti Kanya”, the daughter of elephants, and she is widely recognised as India’s first woman mahout ^[2][4]. Her surname is also spelled Barua ^[2][3].

Raised among elephants

Parbati grew up in Gauripur, in Dhubri district of western Assam, in a family whose elephant stables were well known ^[2][3]. Her father, Prakritish Chandra Barua, was a famous elephant catcher, and she spent much of her childhood in the forests with him ^[2][3].

She went on to earn a degree in political science from Gauhati University, but her heart stayed with the elephants ^[2].

Learning the old ways

At the age of 14, in the Kochugaon forest of Assam, she caught and tamed her first elephant ^[2][4]. Between 1975 and 1978 she tamed 14 wild elephants using mela shikar, a traditional Assamese method that uses a rope noose instead of tranquilliser darts ^[2]. She is also described as India’s first woman phandi, someone who catches elephants with a lasso ^[3].

Over the years she has trained more than 500 elephants, according to her official citation ^[2].

Calming conflict

As forests shrink, elephants and people come into contact more often, sometimes with tragic results. Parbati has spent around four decades helping to reduce this conflict ^[4]. She has helped forest officers care for newly tamed elephants, including with herbal treatments, and has trained mahouts and forest staff in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh ^[2]. The governments of Assam, Bihar and West Bengal have called on her to handle dangerous or injured elephants ^[2].

She has also argued for a training school for young mahouts in Assam ^[3].

Known around the world

Her life drew international attention. British travel writer Mark Shand wrote a book about her, Queen of the Elephants ^[3]. In 1989, the United Nations Environment Programme placed her on its Global 500 Roll of Honour for her work with wild and captive elephants ^[2]. She has also been a member of the IUCN’s Asian Elephant Specialist Group ^[2].

The Padma Shri

On 25 January 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs named Parbati Baruah for the Padma Shri, under Social Work, from Assam ^[1]. The previous year, the Assam government had given her the Asom Gaurav, its highest state civilian award ^[2].

Her story is one of patience and respect: for animals that are often feared, and for traditions that took a lifetime to learn.