Help for ‘Tiger Boy’

NARAYANPUR/CHATTISGARH: A German national has come to the aid of an ailing tribesman who shot to fame in 1960 for his amazing friendship with a tiger in a forest of Bastar Division. After learning about 78-year-old Chendru Mandavi’s ill health through a social-networking site, Ms Fenco Emmanuili -- who resides in Tokyo -- provided assistance of Rs 1.17 lakh through the district administration. The septuagenarian, belonging to the primitive Muria tribe, was recently hospitalised after suffering a paralytic stroke. Offi cial sources said Ms Emmanuili contacted Collector SR Brahmane to enquire about the health of the ‘Tiger Boy’ whose friendship with the carnivore prompted Swedish fi lmmaker Arne Sucksdorff to make ‘A Jungle Tale’ in 1960. Apart from the fi lm, a photo feature on Mandavi and his tiger was created by Stephen James. Mandavi became famous the world over after Sucksdorff’s wife Astrid, who stayed in the forest along with her husband, wrote a book titled ‘Chendru: The boy and the tiger’.