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One animal which has a permanent home at Bargang
however, is the octogenarian elephant, Bijli Prasad. Bijli
was bought in 1968 by Mr John Leitch to help in
uprooting old tea bushes and for other heavy work.
Mr Leitch put him on a salary from which his food,
medicine and the mahout’s wages were paid for.The rest
was put into a pension scheme for the pachyderm.
Mr Anand Saxena (Manager 1991–2000) remembers an
occasion when Bijli Prasad gave him and his team at
Bargang a sleepless night back in November 1996. A day
before Mrs Julia Magor and her daughter, Mrs Jennifer
Garwood, were due to visit Bargang the pachyderm
decided to go missing! He failed to return from his
routine grazing trip to the local forest. His distressed
mahout informed Mr Saxena that Bijli had walked deep
into the forest with a few wild elephants. Bijli’s safe return
was a top priority not only because the Magor family
doted on him but also because he was beloved by all on
the estate. Five teams consisting of Assistant Managers,
forest officials and the estate’s workforce searched the
forest for hours.
“Fortunately, one of the teams
spotted Bijli and brought him
back home safely. Mrs Magor
and Mrs Garwood arrived an
hour later and spent a
delightful afternoon with Bijli
(whom they fondly called
‘Shiam’) completely unaware
of what had kept Bargang's
team on its toes for the past 24
hours!” says Mr Saxena.
Two well-equipped central
crèches and several mobile
ones, each with responsible
attendants, are provided for the
care of infants with working
mothers. Older children are
educated in the estate’s three
L.P. Schools – one in each
Division.
JULY 2015 11
Bijli Prasad in Full Regalia
Crèche