Sangita Iyer joins Anitha to talk about how an encounter with a captive bull elephant in Kerala India grew into a lifelong mission to help these magnificent begins.
Sangita shares memories of being very young and creating a friendship with an Asian bull elephant whose feet were shackled. Despite the cruelty he endured by humans, Sangita tearfully remembers how he gently placed his trunk around her.
She and Anitha talk about the dichotomy of the relationship South Asians have with elephants. On the one hand, many worship Ganesha—an elephant-headed Hindu God, yet they subject actual elephants to cruelty. Sangita, an award-winning wildlife filmmaker and author, depicts this abuse in her film and book, both titled GODS IN SHACKLES.
During the making of the film, Sangita realized that raising awareness alone wouldn’t be enough to help stop the abuse, so in 2016 she founded Voices For Asian Elephants. VFAE has a dual mission—raise awareness AND take direct action to improve the lives of endangered Asian elephants.
Sangita shares some of positive strides VFAE has made for improving the lives of elephants.
A truly remarkable woman going to remarkable efforts to save these remarkable beings.
To learn more about Sangita, click on the following links:
As a thank you to Sangita for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Voices For Asian Elephants.
To hear the full episode, click here:
Anitha Rao-Robinson 
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