This Man Was Raised by Wolves and Hunted by Humans
Dina Sanichar — An incredible story of the real-life Mowgli
On a fateful night of February 1867, a group of hunters in the Bhulandshahr, India, was searching for prey in the nearby jungle.
While making their way through the dark and dense forest, they suddenly noticed a clearing. On the other side of that, they saw something strange.
What’s that? Is that a wolf?
Pointing lights and their weapons at it, they started approaching cautiously. Soon, with utter astonishment, they realized that it was not a wolf; it was a boy, around six years of age, standing like a wolf in front of a cave.
The hunters got a little closer. Then, standing at a safe distance, they started asking him questions; Who are you? What’re you doing in the forest? Where are your parents?
But the boy remained unmoved and didn’t answer any of their queries.
The hunters were extremely surprised yet didn’t want the boy to be left alone in the jungle. So they decided to take him back to civilization. But when they neared the boy; they saw a female wolf there too.
Finding no other way, the hunters smoked the cave and killed the female wolf to capture the boy.
There were many incidents like this in history where unwanted human children were abandoned or thrown into the jungle yet they survived and were raised by animals. Those children are known as “feral children”.
According to Wikipedia, A feral child is a young individual who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, with little or no experience of human care, social behavior, or language. The term is used to refer to children who have suffered severe abuse or trauma before being abandoned or running away.
However, the boy was taken to the Sikandra Mission Orphanage near Agra and named Dina Sanichar. In Hindi, “Sani” means Saturday — the very day when he arrived at the orphanage.
Dina had no social skills. He would walk with all four and eat raw meat like animals. Unable to speak or express his needs, he only growled and grunted like the wolf. Even he would sharpen his teeth by gnawing on bones like an animal.
Soon, people at the orphanage began calling him “wolf-boy.”
At the orphanage, Dina failed to bond with others. The only person he bonded a little was another kid reportedly raised by wolves. But that kid died within a few months of his arrival.
Dina Sanichar lived his entire life in the orphanage, where the people tried their best to teach him human language, proper eating, and other social behaviors.
Though he learned a few things over the years, like standing straight, eating cooked food, and dressing correctly, he never learned to speak or establish meaningful communication with others.
He didn’t even understand sign language and always sniffed the food before eating (just like animals).
But interestingly enough, he picked up a terrible human habit; smoking tobacco. In fact, his addiction to smoking cigarettes ultimately cost his life.
Dina died of tuberculosis in 1895, at the age of only 34.
Inspired by this true event of the feral boy Dina Sanichar — Rudyard Kipling wrote his famous book, “The Jungle Book” in 1894. Well, you know the rest of how Mowgli became a household name and all.
But I’m more interested in the real Mowgli — Dina Sanichar. I don’t know why but I think we deprived him of a good life.
What would happen if that six-year-old boy was left alone in the jungle with his wolf mother in peace?
And the more interesting question is — if a man accepts an identity based on how he is raised, should we let him be what he thinks he is — or should we force him to accept what we believe is good for him(especially when he is no threat to us or our so-called civilization)?
Sources: India Times, Brut India, Wikipedia, ati,
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