Dina Sanichar It was one of the most emblematic cases of Feral Childrenthat is, children raised away from human contact, cared for by animals in wild environments. He was found by a group of hunters in the Indian region of Benlandhahr in 1867 When he was about 6 years old; He had grown up with a pack of wolveseating raw meat and learning to behave like them. Dina continued to exhibit animal behaviors even after twenty years spent in an orphanage, during which we tried to educate it with human habits. A characteristic common to all Feral Childrenin fact, it is the acquisition of traits and behaviors similar to those of the species that raised them, which are often maintained even after the reintegration into society. This phenomenon is linked to the extraordinary plasticity of the brain human in the early stages of development, which allows man to adapt to the surrounding environment.
The incredible story of “True Mowgli” – as Dina is sometimes nicknamed – recalls that of the homonymous child protagonist of The jungle book Of Rudyard Kipling Published in 1894 (year of the death of Dina Sanichar) and adapted by Disney in the homonymous animated film of 1967. Due to the contemporaneity of the events and the surprising similarities between the two stories, many claim that Kipling was inspired by Dina Sanichar for Create the character of Mowgli. However, the author never confirmed this theory, claiming to have drawn inspiration from different stories and legends.
Dina Sanichar’s discovery
In the 1867a group of hunters from the district of BULULANSHAHRin northern India, noticed a completely naked child who ran in the jungle, chased by a pack of wolves. The hunters alarmed immediately fearing for the fate of the unfortunate who, perhaps injured in one leg, moved on all fours, exactly like the animals that chased him. Suddenly, the baby took refuge in a cave, followed by the wolves that disappeared in the dark with him.
Convinced that the wolves were to transform the child into their next prey, the hunters cheered on the torches, entered the cave and, after putting the animals on the run, brought him rescue. Once outdoors, however, what they saw left them stunned. The baby, who was about 6 years old, did not seem a normal child: his canines were sharp, his hands resembled claws and his curved back prevented any attempt to make him walk in a upright position. Did not speakbut he emitted howls. That child was not fleeing from the wolves: rather it seemed one of them.
Dina never managed to adapt to the rules of human civilization
The hunters brought the child to the nearby city of Agrawhere he was entrusted to theorphanage of the Sikandra mission to Agra, with the aim of introducing it to human civilization. Since he had been found on Saturday, he was given the name of Sanicharwhich in Hindi means precisely “Saturday”.
His life in the orphanage immediately revealed himself. Because of his animal behaviorDina was unable to adapt to human habits: she walked with difficulty on two legs and categorically refused to wear clothes. He fed voraciously only of raw meat, chasing each other type of food after harassing him carefully. Over time, Dina has difficulty walking on two legs and wearing clothes, but never completely managed to acquire habits and skills typical of human beings, maintaining a animal behavior.
Dina also could not interact with the other children of the orphanage: he was unable to communicate or to behave according to the social norms. Dina managed to get in tune only with Another wild childwho, like him, had spent his childhood in the forest. One of the few human behaviors he learned was the vice of smoking, which worsened his health. He died of tuberculosis in 1895at the age of about 35.
The methods of development of the brain in Feral Children
The phenomenon of adaptation almost perfect for animal behavior that occurs frequently in wild children has an explanation in the extraordinary dynamics of human brain development.
The development of the human brain can be compared to the preparation of the dough of a cake: initially it is a shapeless mass, which can take any form – round, square or star – depending on the mold in which it is cooked. In the same way, during embryonic development, our DNA builds a sort of “scaffolding” of basic neural networks. However, it is theexperience That model and refine these circuits, giving them the definitive form.
For some skills, such as thelanguage learning or of the social behaviorthis process is linked to Critical periodsi.e. limited development phases in which the brain is particularly plastic and sensitive to external stimuli. If in this temporal window there are no right stimulations, the development of certain abilities can be compromised irreversiblely. In the case of language, for example, the critical period is placed in early childhood: without adequate stimuli at this stage, a child will never learn to speak correctly.
Dina’s story is a clear example of this mechanism. Although having never learned human language or social conventions, it was not without communication skills. During his childhood, lived with the wolves, he had learned to imitate their habits and their communication system, made up of ululates and shocks, adapting to the stimuli present in his environment. The reverse process – adaptation to human social behavior – has proved to be much more difficult for Dina, as for many others Feral Childrendue to the reduced plasticity of the brain once the critical periods of brain development has been overcome.
From a certain point of view, this is the truth strength of the human being: not so much the size of the brainbut his extraordinary flexibility and the ability to adapt and respond to the characteristics and challenges of the surrounding environment.
