![Tusker trail](http://media.assettype.com/outlooktraveller%2Fimport%2Foutlooktraveller%2Fpublic%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Ftravelnews%2Ffiles%2F2014%2F01%2F071114114055-Article.jpg?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
Don&rsquot tell the piggies, but the elephant banks, the owl banks and the giraffe banks were rather cute. I almost didn&rsquot spot them at first &mdash the lights were out at the souvenir shop in Amar Kutir in Santiniketan and the staff were indifferent &mdash but when my 20-month-old nephew started making strange harrumphing noises, I figured there were elephants around. The shed across the courtyard that housed the leather craft unit was a friendlier place. A dozen or so women sat at their stations, patiently colouring strips of leather with designs stamped on them, unfazed by the rumpus outside &mdash a bunch of langurs, clattering about on the tin roofs. Anyhow, I found it rather fitting that the leather menagerie had its home in Amar Kutir (literally, My Home), once a refuge for freedom fighters. Not that that stopped me from bringing some of them home (Rs 140 each).