Jangal

Human life should continually evolve through the process of civilized and responsible socialization; the primitive instincts at the animal level should be illuminated and transformed through values, संस्कार, and moral restraints. As we have sought to transform creative sexual impulses into broader life impulses, we have created institutions such as family, marriage, society, religion, and culture. In the creation of love, relationships, marital fidelity, ethical conduct, loyalty in relationships, and systems of trade and social exchange, a process of cultural refinement has always been expected.

But even within this process, must the pursuit of kama and artha—two of the traditional goals of human life—become oppressive, only to bring about the resurgence of a primitive order? Must hypocrisy become the very essence of life? Will we ever be able to reveal our unadulterated humanity?

...Such a series of questions emerges from Jungle.

Throughout Pankaj Kurulkar’s literary work—in his choice of themes as well as in his manner of presentation—there is a subtle yet persistent spirit of conflict and resistance. His literary vision and understanding of life possess an unconventional and distinctive quality. The webs of traditional values surrounding relationships between men and women, between male and female, between individuals, and within families are challenged and disrupted by acts that deviate from established traditions. A powerful inner voice of ethical resistance also emerges through the self-narratives and quests for self-discovery undertaken by the characters.

The subtle conflict between physical attraction, love, desire, sexual longing, and morality becomes a force that deeply unsettles thought, awareness, consciousness, and reason in this novel. Through the characters’ self-absorption and introspection, notions of naturalness, reality, and morality are placed in a continual state of conflict. As a result, the reader is compelled to immerse themselves completely in the world of the narrative...

— Eknath Pagar