Gitanjali is furious with her cousins—Ajay, Ajit and Aveek—who call her ‘Hathni’, she-elephant, to tease her. But the nickname sticks and curiously enough seems to set the tone for their holiday in the jungles of Kalagarh. A dangerous face-off, cries of distress at night, an eerie ride through the jungle…turn out to be elephant encounters of a very strange kind! And at the hub of it all is Gitanjali, who seems to share an unusual bond with the big, gentle creatures.

Ranjit Lal is the author of over 40 books, both fiction and non-fiction, for children and adults who are happily still children. His interests include natural history, birds, dogs, automobiles, photography and cooking. He has been honoured by IBBY for his contribution to children’s literature and in 2019, he was awarded the Zeiss Lifetime Service Award for promoting the Cause of Wildlife especially birds, through exceptional literary skills.