Forest philosophy

(image source: www.fitnhit.com)

What am I  going to say about The Jungle Book? What new? It has become the highest grossing Hollywood movie in India and is still running to packed houses, with adults and kids alike enjoying it.

No, this is not another review of the movie. This is a post on what one can take home from the movie. Movies for kids (this is an adaptation of the famous Jungle Book series by Rudyard Kipling) are those which teach you things, I have seen. A lot of things. And Hollywood, I have seen, is a master in infusing situations and dialogues that make you think. There is something to learn from the movie. A lot, in fact. Can we see some of them?

There is a moment when Sher Khan tells Akela, the wolf -

"Now you know fear."

Indeed. What is fear? Something that disturbs you. Something that occupies your mind. Well, it is just a mind thing. What is to be afraid of? You are to be afraid of something that your mind tells you to. Isn't it? Who tells you to be afraid? There is a point in life where there is something stalking you and you want to desperately get out of it. It ruins you completely and this dialogue just exemplifies that! When one knows fear, one starts to acknowledge it. It is when fear starts to take over life. What will happen tomorrow? The fear is always of a future happening and it makes you restless; ruins your life.

"Ask yourself  how many lives is a man cub worth?" Sher Khan says, cocksuredness and arrogance overflowing in his voice, indicating that it is futile to fight against him.

Baloo the bear, is the character which exemplifies how life is to be lived. He is one who is happy go lucky and is not concerned about life's little frailties.

He is an example of how a boss should motivate his subordinates. He makes Mowgli to get honey from a hillock using his indigenous climbing and tapping skills and gets the work done.

"You are doing an amazing job" 

"Fantastic"

"Believe in yourself"

He keeps motivating him throughout as a lot of naysayers look on. Finally, when Mowgli gets the honey, the naysayers are left flabbergasted while Baloo has his 'I told you so' look! One has to just believe in oneself and not give up to achieve the target.

The way he lives life and the philosophic explanation he gives for living life the way one wants are to be really drilled into our heads. How many times do we go in search of things that we don't want to?

"Rules are not meant to be broken but certainly bent," he says, matter-of-factly. Certainly. Who made these rules? Who? Really, who? Live life the way you want and care two hoots for the others. That's a management lesson. People try to change others. Mowgli is strong, opinionated and learns rules to follow them. Baloo tells him that rules are meant to  be bent, if not broken.

Three little situations in the movie reinforce you to do your own thing, amply demonstrated by Baloo.

"I am a bear. That means that I need to eat my weight." Yes. True. And he just says and starts eating. Why do you need to live the life forced on you by others? I am what I am.

When Mowgli sings the song of the jungle as an anthem and something to be followed, Baloo just says, "That's not a song. That's propaganda!" Yes, think out of the box. Don't take things at face value. Don't take things imposed on you by people.

Iconoclastic? Irreverent? Unconventional? All rolled into one? Maybe.

"There's the wolf way, the Baloo way the Mowgli way," he says. Hold on to your individuality. There is no need to copy or shove down your throat things that have been taught or told to you by others. Live life your way. Yes, your way. Look at the unconventional. There is no one best way of doing things. Do it your way.

At a point of time, there is an argument between Bagheera, the panther and Baloo. Baloo recognises that the argument would go nowhere since both of them are going to hold on to their views. parallel lives never meet, he feels. 

He then says, "Let's get a good night's sleep and we can talk about this in the morning." Ah, how easy!

When two people fight, all that acquires importance is not the difference in opinion, but the tone, perhaps. One starts concentrating on winning the argument rather than trying to find a meeting point in resolving the conflict. The argument stays, but only the tone changes. But letting it go for another day helps. Any argument. Things get clear. You mellow down and are in a different zone. This will help resolve an argument and find a solution to it.

Peaceful co-existence and living life to the fullest is something one can learn from Baloo.

Eat sleep make merry - The toucan, the monkeys, the bats, the deer, other birds see Mowgli frolicking in the water with Baloo. Nothing exemplifies joie de vivre than that!  Ah happiness! Isn't it just a bloody state of mind! you are happy if you think you are!

"The bear teaches you the good life." It does.

You learn perseverance from the protagonist, Mowgli. He just moves on in life. Just moves on. He shows what can be done when one is determined to do. The destruction of the Sher Khan, the tiger (someone the entire jungle fears) by Mowgli exemplifies what a David can do to a Goliath, if he believes in himself and goes about the job. He is unfazed by the multiple challenges life throws at him. The decision he takes to save the baby elephant from the ditch, goes about it and succeeds to everyone's surprise remonstrates that if you put your heart and soul to something, you can win.

One of the fabulous scenes in the movie is when the Sher Khan the tiger chases Mowgli. The picturisation is so realistic that you feel that you are running with him. He gets saved by the bisons who are doing a run of their own. The resultant landslide, Mowgli clinging for dear life on to a broken tree after a landslide and the final jump into the river are ones for the library. This scene inspires you to live, to fight another day.(This chase and the various other chases in the movie were with me the entire return ride from the Palladium Mall, Parel to Thane - I felt like being chased!) 

Being part of a pack, moving out of a cushy existence away from the pack, relocating and living with a new friend - the bear, getting the fire from the human settlement, helping a baby elephant get out of the ditch, refusing to be chased by the tiger and looking him straight in the face and fighting his battle - yes, it is what it takes to fight life and live it. It also tells you that when life throws you situations you don't cow down but fight them. Inspirational. Motivational. 

'We got to pay back'!

Bagheera, the panther, is the ever doting 'parent' of Mowgli, who does everything, pulls all stops to make him live a safe life. At no point does Bagheera give up on his main task which is to protect him at all costs. Just like Bheeshma of the Mahabharata who took it upon him to protect the Kuru clan. He does so at the cost of his life. Is this what a parent should learn? Maybe. Your kids - you brought them to this earth, didn't you? In this case, Bagheera finds Mowgli and brings him to live with the animals of the jungle. But he never lets go of his responsibility. He feels morally accountable for whatever Mowgli is and should be, even after Mowgli has grown up. 

"You were not born a wolf ; but atleast act like one," he sternly admonishes Mowgli, driving home the point that you act the part when part of a pack, a team. When in Rome, be a Roman. 

"I know he is special. I raised him". Ah, the proud parent, whose only agenda seems to be Mowgli's life. Bagheera is one of a few words, so whatever is mouthed is generally of relevance. It makes sense to talk less at times. A lot of times - this makes you put the brain before the mouth, perhaps?

A lot of little nuggets in the form of dialogues exist in the movie -  a credit which I feel like giving to all Hollywood script writers and dialogue writers ; they invariably create magic with their pens -  which you can take home, process, ponder over and apply to your own life.

A lot of places in the movie, particularly when when Mowgli finds the fruit in the middle of the jungle (accompanied by soothing strains on the tabla  -  Mellifluous music, I must say) , I just felt one thing - 

'Ah, can we all be kids again?'

But, as another dialogue goes, 

'Nothing lasts for ever'. 

Four little words, exemplifying the ultimate philosophy in life. Ah, if only I can understand that!