It was summer time. All the animals in the forest were resting during the afternoon and gathering strength to go hunting in the evening.
In the evening, Father Wolf went to hunt for his family. He suddenly heard a sound in the woods. Looking around, he noticed a strange creature in the bushes. He was completely naked and could barely walk.
“A human cub!” exclaimed the Father Wolf in surprise. He took the baby home. So, the man-cub arrived at the home of the wolves led by Akela. Watching from a distance, Shere Khan, the tiger, got very upset and unhappy because he was the one who had stolen the baby from the human settlement.
Mother Wolf and her little cubs loved this little creature and decided to accept him. “We will call him ‘Mowgli’ from now on,” said Mother Wolf. From that day on, Mowgli started living with his wolf siblings in the woods. Mother Wolf took good care of him as if he was her own cub. In a short time, Mowgli became friends with all the animals. During all that time, Shere Khan kept watching Mowgli from a distance. He was waiting for the opportunity to grab and eat the man-cub.
One day, the wise wolf Akela, Baloo the bear, and Bagheera the panther, came together and discussed about Mowgli, the man-cub.
“Let’s bring him up like a jungle boy. Baloo and Bagheera, you will protect him and teach him the rules of the jungle,” said Akela.
Years went by. Mowgli grew up happily with the wolves. Baloo was very attentive to his new student. He taught him how to look for nuts and honey. He also taught Mowgli the languages of different animals.
Mowgli also learnt to hunt and to climb up trees. Bagheera taught Mowgli how to identify traps humans set up for animals and how to avoid them.
One day, a wolf cub ran into one of these traps. Shere Khan wanted to catch this cub and make it his meal. But Mowgli saved the cub from the trap. Shere Khan lost once again and had to lick dust.
Baloo also taught Mowgli the magic words to use when there was danger in the jungle. In a very short span of time, Mowgli learnt these words by heart. None of the animals in the jungle could harm Mowgli. Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to catch Mowgli, Shere khan decided to take help from Bandar-log, the monkeys, undoubtedly the most dangerous animals in the entire jungle.
One day, when Mowgli was making a shelter to protect himself, the Bandar-log were watching him. At sunset, Mowgli was kidnapped by two monkeys and brought to the hill where the jungle was at its thickest. Mowgli wanted to reach Baloo and Bagheera and let them know; all of a sudden, when he noticed Chil, the vulture, flying in the sky. He remembered the magic words Baloo had taught him, “We are the same blood, you and I.” Hearing these words, Chil realized that Mowgli was not a stranger and was in trouble.
“I am Mowgli. Will you tell Baloo and Bagheera that I am kidnapped?” Mowgli said.
“Of course, I will,” said Chil and he flew off to deliver the message to Mowgli’s dear friends.
Bandar-log brought Mowgli to the Monkey Town. Finding about Mowgli’s kidnapping, Baloo and Bagheera asked Kaa, the giant snake, for help.
They all reached the Monkey Town and hid themselves. From their hideout they could see Mowgli and hundreds of monkeys around him.
At the right moment, Kaa said, “Now, it is the opportune time; let’s go and save Mowgli!” Bagheera started to punch the monkeys with his powerful claws. The monkeys ran around, screaming in fear.
Suddenly, Bagheera was surrounded by lots of monkeys. The other monkeys grabbed Mowgli and put him in a closed room. He now remembered that monkeys are afraid of water and so, he shouted, “Bagheera, jump into the water!” Bagheera acted upon his advice.
The monkeys also attacked Baloo. Finally, Kaa appeared on the scene and started hitting the monkeys with his giant tail. All the monkeys ran away, scared. Baloo was finally free. Bagheera jumped out of the water. Kaa swung his tail and managed to break the walls of the room where Mowgli was trapped. Mowgli was freed.
After being released by the monkeys, one day, Mowgli wandered up to the edge of the jungle and saw a human village. He entered and was taken in by Messua, a woman whose own son was kidnapped by a tiger long back. Mowgli stayed in the village, and was asked to watch the village herds. One day, one of Mowgli’s wolf brothers informed him that Shere Khan planned to kill him. With the help of his wolf friends, Mowgli lured Shere Khan into a canyon, where they brought about a stampede of buffaloes and the Shere Khan was trampled to death. Soon after, the villagers accused Mowgli of being a sorcerer, and sent him out of the village. Mowgli returned to the jungle, but not without some Red Flower, the fire!
Mowgli grew up to become a young man. After the death of old Akela, feeling sad, Mowgli left the jungle to travel to another area. On the way, he met Messua again. She had realized that Mowgli was her son who was kidnapped by the tiger many years ago. She told him the story and Mowgli decided to stay with her.
Mowgli lived happily thereafter with his human family but never did he forget the ones who had raised him–his family in the jungle.
