Fun
The Jungle Prince
Dear Ann,
Do this for me. Sit down, right now or as soon as you can, and listen to The Jungle Prince. That’s what Nell told me to do, and that’s what I did.
Here’s the headline for the podcast, a series of three episodes, each about 30 minutes: “For decades, they lived in a crumbling palace in Delhi, claiming to be the royal heirs to the fallen kingdom of Oudh. Who were they?”
There is so much more to the story. For starters, the family—a woman and her son and daughter—lived in a train station for 10 years as a protest, before the Government gave them a derelict palace to live in.
Experiencing this podcast reminded me of when I fell into a deep, disturbing, and somehow beautiful place listening to the podcast “S-Town.” But “The Jungle Prince” is much more economical in its storytelling. The jolts and twists hit you out of the blue. The story is so…human. It’s such a tangle.
As I listened, I longed for more photographs, to see the faces and places depicted in the story. I guess I wanted to confirm that they were real. Handily, the New York Times published a long-form article, with many images, a video, and much more detail about the story. But please: don’t read it until you’ve listened to the story.
Prediction: “The Jungle Prince” will be a movie. I hope they do it justice.
Love,
Kay
Thank you Kay for your recommendation. I can identify with how you are feeling right now and need to hear something I can grab onto .
I read the NY Times article a couple weeks ago. A very intriguing story. I might just listen to the podcast too.
Perfect for a rainy Saturday when there’s nothing on the calendar but knitting! Just finished “A Very British Scandal” last night and I’m ready for something more.
I listened to this on a long drive recently. Fascinating.
I read the article. It was a mind blower.
I read the NYT story. I lived in Delhi and never knew! Other Delhiites said similar things in the comments. Amazing to think it’s even possible in a city like that. An extraordinary story indeed.
I agree it is perfect movie material.
Such a haunting story. Now that I’ve seen the photos, I’m going to have to listen again.
I look forward to listening to this. The best podcast I have ever listened to is called Bear Brook. It is haunting, intriguing and part of the story is still unsolved. Perhaps they are close – there was one break in this cold case from the 1980s just last fall. It involves genealogy research for crime solving, as well as the sadness of how people can disappear without anyone realizing it for a long while (easier in the years before social media, of course). I recommend it to everyone I know, and even my friends who listen to seemingly every podcast say this one is truly one of the best.
I’ll definitely have a listen as I’m finishing up a pair of socks for the hubs. If anyone is interested, I just finished Cider with Rosie: A Memoir, book 1 of a trilogy. Beautifully written.
So I did, I listened, and I read, and my mind was BLOWN. What a tragedy. Poor Cyrus and Sakina. Humans are amazing.