The summer holidays start on a bad note. 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, sets the tone for a very elephant-oriented holiday at Kalalgarh. At the hub of it all is Gitanjali, the twelve-year-old girl who seems to share an unusual bond with the big gentle creatures.
That Summer at Kalagarh is a gripping tale set in the lush forests of the Kumaon hills – Corbett country, brought to life with naturalist-author Ranjit Lal’s photographic eye for detail. Excitement is tinged with dry humour as the children find themselves face to face with close encounters of a very strange kind.