Forgotten by capital-dwellers, Hathi Basti clings to its elephant legacy

There was a time when elephants roamed the streets of the capital, dressed in regalia, and the cars would slow down to admire their majesty.

New Delhi: Time is rarely kind, but it has been particularly cruel on Hathi Basti. The now-desolate enclave still stands on the bank of the Yamuna near ITO, forgotten by capital-dwellers as they rush about their day.

The once-fashionable elephant-keeping tradition that endowed the locality its name fell into decline after 2019, when the Delhi High Court ordered the relocation of privately-owned elephants from the capital.

A 35-year-old Amir, a sixth generation out-of-work mahout, now sits at his father’s tea shack near the Yamuna bank at ITO, just like so many others who have taken up odd jobs for a livelihood.

Amir’s father, who goes by the name of Chunna ji, is the last of the mahouts from that forgotten generation.

“Those were the days,” the 85-year-old Chunna ji says as a distant memory flashes before his eyes, lighting up his pale, wrinkled face.

“There was a time when elephants roamed the streets of the capital, dressed in regalia, and the cars would slow down to admire their majesty,” he reminisces.

Chunna ji stays at the shack on the Yamuna bank, which doubles up as his makeshift tea shop during the day.

After losing his elephants in 2019, when they were relocated to designated wildlife rehabilitation centres in Haryana and Gujarat following the court order, Chunna ji did whatever he could to make a living for himself and his family, the old man says recalling those desperate times.

Another resident of the locality, 32-year-old Zakir resorted to rearing camels as a source of income.

A former mahout who lost his dear elephant Hiragaj, Zakir now rents out camels for marriage ceremonies and other events.

While its residents endure poor sanitation, irregular electricity supply, flooding when the Yamuna swells during monsoon, and the constant fear of eviction, Hathi Basti is left to grapple with a fleeting past and a shifting identity.

For the people of Hathi Basti, the relocation of their elephants was not merely the loss of livelihood, but the departure of a way of life that once defined the locality.

Even as residents take up new occupations, the forgotten enclave endures, a quiet reminder of Delhi’s elephant-keepers and generations of mahouts who once made a living on these capital streets.