Children Of The Enchanted Jungle

The scene is set and the antagonists identified right at the beginning. On one side is the forest — brooding and enigmatic — bordered by a wide river. It is an arbour for all kinds of life, including human. On the other side are Bhask, “a round, short man with a bald head”, his son Rhask, “with the face of a spoilt child’ and Varang, impatient, masterful and mysterious. They have some here for one thing alone, to cut down the forest.

The motives are different. For Bhask it is about money to be made from the timber and real estate development, for Varang it is something entirely other under the guise of greed and gold. “In the minds of two of the three persons, the jungle was already razed and they were calculating their wealth from such destruction. They would become multi-millionaires from selling the timber and exploiting the cleared land. But for the third person, who stood slightly apart from the other two, and had no interest in the money, the jungle held a secret that she had searched for many years.”
What Varang is seeking is a talisman of extraordinary power, a thing that makes this part of the forest unique, the enchanted jungle, in short. She also knows it has something to do with the children as well and is determined to find out.
Pitted against her is the jungle and its creatures. The animals are troubled, apprehensive and also perhaps resigned, a fatalism that is probably part of the animal burden. When the world changes you change too or fall. That’s the best they can do. But then there are the children as well, the foundlings who have survived and thrived against all the odds. There is something different, something magical about them, though all are human and mortal. “The youngest was around one summer old. None of the children knew their exact ages because they never aged beyond fourteen and remained children always. Time and the passing seasons were meaningless in their safe jungle world.”
They live in the Glade, “a large, almost perfect circle, surrounded by trees so close together that only a child could slip through between the massive trunks.” The Glade holds everything that one could require, but not all that one might desire. In fact, this motif seems to inform most of the book. It is not exactly a morality tale, but there is no doubt about what the writer prefers. It is an aesthetic of elegance rather than excess.
The true secret of the Glade is Latrommi. “It was about the height and thickness of a child and was made of a cold green-gold stone that shone with an inner light. It had always been at the centre of this Glade.” Latrommi is the guardian of the children, parent, healer, teacher and dispenser of largesse in general. It is responsible for maintaining the balance between the children and the other denizens of the forest. In a way, it is the keeper of the entire ecosystem. It is this that Varang has been searching for all these years. Indeed, Latrommi has been a central obsession for many generations of her family
This is the reason why she has got Bhask to cut down the forest so that she can find Latrommi in the resultant desert. She is also aware in general that the children hold the key to the finding, because they are the ones in most frequent contact with Latrommi. The plan then is to trap the children and force the truth out of them. As to what happens after, both Bhask and Varang are indifferent.
This time, however, things turn out a bit different. The children succeed in rousing the entire forest to an awareness of what awaits them from the other side. The result is a stiffening of sinew and general resistance. The fact that the children, with their nimble brains, Latrommi’s instructions, and their own knowledge of the forest, are around, make a crucial difference.
At this point, the book could have slipped into the vacuous happy ending formula that is such a staple of Hollywood (and Bollywood) tales. Fortunately, this is the work of a writer and there’s no such easy comfort for the audience. There is a price for everything, and it is exacted in full. The end is magical, but it is also surprising and one is left with a sense of regret and loss and, at heart, perhaps even a sense of appropriateness. NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS

Imagine an enchanted world where children coexist happily with creatures of the jungle and even speak the same language! Here wild animals—panthers and snakes, leopards and deer, elephants and bears and countless birds and insects live in harmony as friendly neighbours should. Tigresses allow children to play with their cubs, and the fruit trees give them plenty of mangoes, guavas, papayas and berries all the year round, according to the seasons.

However, these children are not what we would call ‘normal’ children. All are orphans and not one can remember his natural parents. Each child has an imperfection or handicap—a deformed leg, a blind eye, or else is very sickly. This is why all these children have been abandoned by their parents, the Big People of the Crowded Place, to be brought up by older children in the sanctuary of the jungle.

What follows is a gripping tale of adventure and intrigue as the inhabitants of the jungle get together to checkmate their cruel enemy—the Man Animal, and to save their home.

Is Planet Earth then doomed? Can we not be trusted to look after the earth’s priceless treasures? Can we not even look after our special children? Is there no hope left then for humanity? These questions are bound to cross the young reader’s mind as he closes this absorbing fantasy. The future ahead does look grey and bleak. GOOD READS

PAROMITA PAIN

These kids live in a jungle… an enchanted one and are kept safe by a mysterious force.

This story Children of the Enchanted Jungle is based on an interesting concept by author Tim Murari. Some children live in the forest. They eat fruits, live on water from streams and are friends with the birds and beasts. When they need money, they smear themselves with something that resembles blood and waylay cars. But they aren’t bandits like you know bandits to be. They are protected by a mysterious force that keeps them safe. And the story really starts when this idyllic paradise is threatened by forces that will stop at nothing.

Charming life

It might seem like magic but it’s magic that you might not have encountered anywhere else. It’s fun to live on your own, isn’t it? It may seem there is no end to the adventures and possibilities. But being abandoned to fend for yourself doesn’t sound like fun. Ask the children who live in the Enchanted Jungle and they will tell you how they have managed to make their life charming. How they have turned what might be unacceptable in the prosaic everyday world we inhabit into something that is a unique ability and an identity.

Forest land is valuable and certain forces will stop at nothing to get it. When one of the children is captured and it is then that the threat seems closer than comfort. Meant for young adults, the details might confuse very young children.

Pioneer, Redflogren and Coolclear aren’t names you will remember easily. Nor is it easy to identify with them. It’s a book that doesn’t really capture attention. You will have to read carefully and pay attention to get the story. THE HINDU

CHILDREN of the Enchanted Jungle, Timeri N Murari’s latest book, rests on two beliefs: One, there is an active child in every adult. Two, every child is capable of understanding the layered messages conveyed in his seemingly simple plot.

“This is my first book for children. I’m actually yet to grow up,” began Tim, as he took questions from the public, largely consisting of students. “I believe the child inside everybody is alive. And this book is for them,” he continued, even as eager children put forth questions to him on the book’s plot and characters. The book launch was followed by an hour of book reading by children from different schools.

The book is inspired by a story the author heard in Brazil about orphaned children living in a jungle and robbing passengers. “In Children of the Enchanted Jungle, the children are those who have been abandoned by their parents, or have deformities in their body and so on,” he explained. The children are protected by a mysterious force that doesn’t let them age beyond 14.

While the book takes on a genre explored by authors like Alexander Dumas and CS Lewis, Tim seems to have peppered the story with strong messages as well. Serious subtexts, condemning deforestation and the needless killing of animals find a place in the book. So do a few hard hitting statements about death being natural and children being friends to animals. But that doesn’t make the book preachy, assures its author, who has spiced it by making the animals relatable to the readers: having them indulge in normal human activities from painting toe nails to snacking on plants or gossiping within their ilk.

Giving a few animals names in Tamil, calling the tiger, Periyathala, or the monkey, korangu, was a deliberate attempt, the author explained. “This is keeping in mind the non-Tamil audience. As someone living here, I thought I’d use Tamil words and let the rest of the world learn them,” Tim revealed.  EXPRESS FEATURES

ONCE UPON A TIME

Mysterious forces, talking animals, evil witches, a river of action and a treacherous maze. Add a dose of courageous and spirited children in action and Tim Murari’s latest offering ‘Children of the Enchanted Jungle’ has all the ingredients for a perfect chronicle of adventure.
The world of a child is often black and white where good must always triumphs over evil. ‘Children of the Enchanted Jungle’ adheres to this ideology. Here the author paints an enchanted world dripping not just with the intoxicating scents and colours of the jungle, but also thrills with a fierce battle here and there in addition to a few unexpected heroes. What you are left with is an astonishing tale of magic, adventure and innocence.
In a dark, impenetrable forest lies a mysterious, outer-worldly power. In true Peter Pan style, a band of orphans also inhabit the magical jungle, co-existing in peace with their animal neighbors. Protected by the strange force, the children live in harmony. Like the animals of the jungle, they learn the game of survival and accept the realities of life and death with grace.
A great evil threatens in the form of a ruthless woman who will stop at nothing to capture the mysterious power. Using flashes of magic and some very clever technology, the woman captures one of the children of the jungle. With her diabolical plans in place, the enemy gains a foothold into the enchanted forest. It is now up to the animals, birds and the band of children to unite and prepare for the fierce battle to save their jungle home.
A charming host of well-rounded characters makes this book a gripping read. As writer Elizabeth Lawrence put it, ‘There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.’ AT A GLANCE