As he grows, he learns the all important “Law of the Jungle”- which amongst it’s many tenets states: Mowgli is abandoned in the jungle and is raised by a wolfpack, led by the wise Akela – aided and guided by the wise animal archetypes – the bear Baloo and Bagheera the black panther. Of course, this is The Jungle Book viewed through adult eyes – for the child reader, it is a much simpler tale, concerning – for the most part – the story of the abandoned child Mowgli and his adventures in the jungle.

Most of the native hunters in India today think pretty much along the lines of an animal’s brain and I have “cribbed” freely from their tales. The really fascinating tales are those that the Bodhisat tells of his previous incarnations ending always with the beautiful moral. The idea of beast-tales seems to me new in that it is a most ancient and long forgotten idea. Kipling drew on his own experiences as a child and later as an adult in Raj era India to mould a story that owes it’s genesis to ancient Indian fables like the Panchatantra. The Jungle Book serves as a metaphorical exploration of the notions of law and freedom – with the “animal” world acting as a an analogue for a world outside the restraints of Human Society. Now better known through its enchanting – yet rather sanitised – Disney adaption, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book deserves a deeper study and understanding as a classic of children’s literature.

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