Some say the story is all about British Imperialism in India, with Mowgli representing the British.
While some say that he got inspiration fromother peoples books and photographs.
Lucky for us, we get to see what Kipling saw in India more than a century ago.
An illustration from The Jungle Book (wiki)
First of all, I live in India.
So, I know.
Secondly, we have proof too.
Snake charmers can be seen around many places in India, usually on the side of a road.
They get paid for making the snake dance to the movement of the musical instrument calledpungi.
Although snakes can hear sounds, they do not have an outer ear to listen to music.
And there are some places in India where snakes are worshiped.
While doing theNag Panchamirituals, devotees offer milk to snakes.
Somemonkey trainersare cruel to the poor animals, training them via beatings and food deprivation.
You Have Goat To Be Kidding Me
People in India domesticate goats mainly for meat and milk.
But most of the families do not have enough land for creating a grazing area for these animals.
So they usually let goats out during the day and they return by evening.
Oh Rat!
They can bite you, scratch you, and spread disease.
But theres a place in India where rats live heaven on earth.
The Mighty Elephants
Elephants can be found mainly in the forests of India.
Wild elephants as well as temple ones roam onto the streets sometimes to cause havoc all around.
It usually happens when male elephants are inmusth.
Below is a wildelephant wandering around the streetsof Siliguri, in India, destroying public property.
It happens occasionally in the country.
Indias Camels
The picture below shows a man with his camel.
He is walking on the river Yamuna beside the beautiful Taj Mahal, one of theNew7Wonders of the World.
But in some other states in the country,cattle slaughtering is banned.
To the Hindus, cows are sacred creatures.
There are many festivals in the country related to the cows.
An example is the Govardhan festival.
It involves a ritual that allows cows to trample over devotees.
Its a regular thing to see cows on busy roads and at bus stands in India.
It involved hundreds of men chasing a bull to get hold of a prize from its horns.
The horns, by the way, used to be sharpened.
Good thing its been banned in todays India.
Stray dogs, cats and other creatures
Okay.
Dogs can be found in a lot of places around the world.
But we have stray dogs everywhere in the country, including places like railway stations.
Or at the beach, surrounded by crows.
Or in front of a burning car.
Or with its head on a cycle.
Or as a bridegroom.
This happens only in some parts of India.
Theres a state in India called Nagaland where people eat dog meat.
We decided not to post any photos related to that story.
In India, it is quite common in some places to see parrot astrologers on the streets.
They carry with them a wooden box with a parrot inside.
The parrots are trained to pick a card from the deck of astrology cards in front of them.
In a few villages in India,frogs get married.
Yes, you read that right.
It is done to just the rain gods the people believe in.
So, what do you think?
