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by Sangita Iyer (Author)
With a foreword by Jane Goodall, this moving memoir follows a successful journalist and filmmaker who felt like something was missing in her life as she finds her purpose in advocacy for the Asian elephants in her childhood home town of Kerala, India.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi Elephants are self-aware, conscious beings. They can feel and grieve the loss of both elephants and humans. But despite all empathy that elephants shower on humans, we continue to inflict pain and suffering on these caring, sentient beings. In 2013 Sangita Iyer visited her childhood home of Kerala, India. Over 700 Asian elephants live in Kerala, owned by individuals and temples that force them to perform in lengthy, crowded, noisy festivals, abusing and shackling these animals they claim to revere for tourists and money. When Sangita found herself in the presence of these divine creatures and witnessed their suffering first hand, she felt a deep connection to their pain. She too had been shackled and broken for too long-to her patriarchal upbringing in India, to the many "me too" moments in her work life that were swept under the rug, to the silence. Now she would speak out for the elephants and for herself. And she would heal alongside them. This sparked the creation of her award winning documentary of the same name and a new purpose in this life for both Sangita and the elephants.Author Biography
Sangita Iyer is an Indian Canadian broadcast journalist, writer, biologist and documentary filmmaker. She is known for her advocacy on wildlife conservation, especially for wild elephants, and for exposing the atrocities against Asian elephants by religious institutions. She is the founding executive director and president of the Voice for Asian Elephants Society, which was created in 2016 with the aim of protecting wild and captive elephants of India. Iyer's debut documentary film, Gods in Shackles, was based on the treatment of captive elephants in Kerala and was nominated at the United Nations General Assembly, featured at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). She is also a National Geographic explorer and has produced a 26-part short documentary series about Asian elephants, using the National Geographic Society storytelling award.
