OPTIMUM TELEVISION

The Elephant Whisperer & Maya Memsaab

The crew of this film were busy filming a herd of wild elephants when a young one decided to give them a charge. Trapped in their car in between tall elephant grass on either side and a mammoth female elephant blocking the passage ahead, the crew had few options of escape. Then, when the female elephant came charging, all on the vehicle froze, fearing the worst.

It was at this moment that Debeshwar appeared! The young forester lunged forward from the jeep, one hand holding the vehicle and other outstretched towards the charging elephant. "Go, mother, go!", he urged the elephant.

Incredibly, she listened to him and turned away. Debeshwar, the smiling forester with a diminutive frame, became 'Debu' that day.

During the three seasons that the crew spent in India's Kaziranga National Park, filming a television series on rhinos, there were at least four occasions when they were attacked by wild elephants (and 6 incidents of rhino charges). On every occasion, Debu held them back with the same chant, "Go, mother, Go!". After the first incident, none of the crew feared wild elephants... as long as Debu was around!

The Elephant Whisperer and Maya Memsaab is an amazing story of Debu and his incredible connection with the animal, as well as his life-long fascination for the leader of the largest herd of 40 wild elephants in Kaziranga, Maya. Through Debu, the film enters the world of Maya and the elephant society, and follows them through spring, summer and monsoon.

Episodic Synopsis available here