Figure 1.--Here we see Chendru and his tiger that he raised from a cub.. |
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Another boy character created by a foreign author is Chendru. Actually he appears to have been a real boy with an actual true-life story built around him. The book was written by Astrid Sucksdorff, wife of Swesish filmaker Arne Sucksdorff and the daughter of Sten Bergman, a noted Swedish explorer. She wrote the book while with her husband who was filming a movie in central India.
Arne Sucksdorff is a Swedish film maker. He shot "A Jungle Tale" about 1959 in Central India. The film is apparently the story of "Chendru and His Tiger" which his wife tells in book form. Arne Sucksdorff says of his film: 'My great hope is that when the film ends, these Murias will no longer seem exotic strangers to you but your friends - fellow human beings.' In the same spirit, each time the reader opens this lovely book, he will feel that he is sharing in the adventures of Chendru and his tiger."
We have noted a book written by his wife Astrid Sucksdorff who is the daughter of Sten Bergman, a noted Swedish explorer. She apparently wrote this book while her husband was in India making "A Jungle Tale". An Indian boy Chendru appeared in the film. He and a tiger became the center piece for her book. The authir lived with her husband on location for 2 uears. The book jacket explains, "This true story of Chendru and his tiger is taken by Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff from the film that her husband, Arne Sucksdorff, the great Swedish director, created during a two-year stay in India, where they lived among the Murias, a primitive tribe in the middle of that vast country. [The] beautiful photographs and William Sansom's distinguished English version of the text together make an outstanding book, which will be appreciated by child and adult alike. Arne Sucksdorff says of his film: 'My great hope is that when the film ends, these Murias will no longer seem exotic strangers to you but your friends - fellow human beings.' In the same spirit, each time the reader opens this lovely book, he will feel that he is sharing in the adventures of Chendru and his tiger."
The photographs for the book were taken by the author. The book is beautifully illustrated with 60 color photographs taken on location in central India.
The book was first published in France with the title Chendru et Son Tigre. It was subsequently published in the United States as Chendru: The Boy and the Tiger (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1960).
I thought that Chendru was a fictional acoount, but apparently he actually had a tiger. The book is the story of Chendru and his young tiger. Chendru rauses the tiger from a small orphaned cub,
Chendru belonged to the Muria people. The auythor apparently met him because he was in her husband's movie. The book jacket describes Chendru, ""Chendru is a young Indian boy of the primitive Muria tribe, a laughing, singing people from the jungle in the middle of India. The Murias know that the tiger is lord of all the jungle beasts; they call him their beloved enemy, for while they fear him, they worship his great beauty. One day Chendru is given a tiger cub; he calls it 'Tambu.' And in the story of Chendru's amazing friendship with the beloved enemy, we are given, in picture and word, an unforgettable impression of this isolated jungle community."
The Muria are considered by Indians to be a primitive tribal people. They are a sub-caste of the Gond tribe living in the Naraysanpur and Kondagoan Thesisls Plains in the Bastar District roughly situated in central India. They speak Muria Gondi. The Muria are perhaps best known for the noted for the ghotul. This is a dormitory-like facility where boys and girls sleep, work, mingle and experiment with sex--al before marriage.
A reader writes, "This is very interesting and there are other true stories of a boy exotic animal relationship. The film "Dumes" is based on a Kenyan boy who had a pet cheata of that name.
I came across this family when I worked in Kenya. The book and the film soon part company."
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