My bookshelf some years later… I read everything about elephants that passed my way – old books, new books, children’s books and I watched many films about elephants. There are more books in my studio. I especially loved Mark Shand’s book about his travels with his elephant Tara. He traveled with his team along an old elephant road in Orisha, India. Ever since reading it, I wanted to take part in a trip with elephants. I was fire and flame!
I wanted to learn the ways of the mahouts in Asia, because of my yearning to know as much as possible about elephants. As the mahout lives with his elephant, he has a close relationship to his animal – they know each other inside out. In the traditional mahout families the elephants are treated like family members, and their knowledge was collected through many generations. But I do not have an elephant to care for nor I have money to incorporate a foundation, so I asked myself what I can do.