India | Human Stories | Travel the world with us

India

Elephants and my family

My name is Farhaan Khan. I am 19 years old. I was born in Amer, India. I have four brothers and three sisters. All of my brothers are married, and we live here as five families all together. 

My family has been raising elephants for the past 35 years. The five elephants that we have are used to entertain tourists with short rides. 

Elephants are family-oriented; intelligent, very emotional and faithful animals. As long as they are treated well, they will be loyal to their owners, they will serve and show gratitude; never misbehaving or showing anger. 

Asian elephants are calmer and more harmonious than African elephants. Therefore, they can be domesticated and used for various purposes. 

These animals are heavy - the male elephants weigh around five tons, and the females weigh around three tons. We feed them seven times a day with bread, sugar cane and banana. Each elephant eats nearly 50 kg of food for a day. 

Elephants usually have a lifespan of around 80 years; the females can give birth at the age of seven, after having 22 months of pregnancy. In their lifetime, under free/relaxed conditions, one of these animals can give birth up to six or seven times. 

In India, it is legally forbidden to buy or sell elephants. Therefore, we cannot have a new one unless our elephants give birth to new babies. 

At festival times, we decorate our elephants with traditional painted patterns. Living here in Amer, we feel fortunate to own these lovely animals and happily earn our living as a big family with peace. 

Farhaan Khan 
Jaipur, India, 16 March 2019

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more stories.
 

More About The Photographer

Read More

I want to expand my business

My name is Amarjeet Singh. I’m 42 years old. I live in Amritsar. I live here because my parents and all my memories are here. I’m the chief and owner of the Charming Chicken Restaurant. I love my job very much. I have been working here for 27 years, and we are the second best restaurant in Amritsar.

I had a shop before opening this restaurant, but I closed it in 1984 because of my mother's demise and my father's health problems. I spent all my money on their healthcare. I was very sad because of these problems. After that, I worked in different jobs for a while. In 1991, I opened my current restaurant. My favorite food that we serve is "ras malai".

I want to expand my business, not only in India, but also in other countries. I have some certificates and awards from a chefs’ competition in 1997. I regret that I couldn’t open more restaurants in Amritsar. I want to have more franchising.

I like traveling to other cities, touristic places and to meet with new people. I invite the people who I have met to my restaurant. I hope to develop my business this way. 

I have a daughter, and I love her very much. I have been very happy since she was born. I want to see her graduate from university schooling.

I want to increase customer satisfaction in my restaurant. I want to diversify my menu so that everybody can find something that they want to eat. I have a YouTube channel called “Chicken Charming Restaurant”. I made videos for this channel. I have a Facebook page too. All companies that take food from my restaurant share photos in this page.

Amarjeet Singh
Amritsar, India, 12 March 2019

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more stories.
 

More About The Photographer

Read More