"O mor hai hastir kanyare (O daughter of the elephant)”--Leena Mahato often hums this Assamese folk anthem about a Brahmin’s wife who is expelled from home but finds shelter among elephants and is crowned the queen of the herd. Leena’s mother comes from the Rabha tribe of the northeast, known for its skilled mahouts, and she grew up on stories of the close bond between elephants and men.
Clad in a grey mekhala-chador (an Assamese saree ensemble), 32-year-old Leena knows that this idyllic world is long gone, as living space runs out for India’s