Back in 2016, as I was wading through high school with books, homework, board exams and Taylor Swift (because let’s admit is, we all had that phase), I remember this one song that I often had on repeat owing to its chorus, which seemed to resonate with my then precarious state of affairs,


Of course, the woods in my life were the looming board exams ahead and the desperate need to make it through those terrifying few weeks. Somehow, it was easy to picture myself as Taylor Swift - running through the dark forest in a pristine blue dress with wolves chasing her is exactly the kind of metaphor that can accurately sum up my board exam experience.

For the longest time, the forest metaphor has successfully been used to evoke images of fear in the minds of hundreds of generations. And yet, this is not the blinding fear of being pushed off a cliff. There is an angle of mystery to it. On the one hand, you are scared of a tiger springing onto you from the nearest bush, but on the other hand, there is an all-pervasive sense of mystery and enchantment around it, because if the forest is the home of the wild, it is also the seat of fairies and elves and all their mischief.

Since time immemorial, anybody venturing beyond civil society has always somehow wound up stranded alone in a forest (think about Mowgli, or Red Riding Hood or even Snow White!). But while these beloved characters have always been rewarded with a return back to reality, the reward today is walking deeper into that forest. With the harrowing cruelties that reality showers us with, now more than ever, we find ourselves aching to return to a world where everyday concerns can take a back seat- a world where embracing our “inner crazy” is the itinerary of daily life.

Think 2013 and think Katy Perry and finally, think “ROAR”. With more than a billion views worldwide, this song simply talks about how a shy and unnerved girl gets plane-wrecked on an island where she rediscovers her ‘wild’ side. In fact, so fierce is this undiscovered side that it overpowers and tames a tiger who is then given the most docile name possible – Kitty Purry (honestly though, we totally saw that coming). While we know none of what is shown is true, during the four and a half minutes of the song, it is as if she really did paint an elephant’s toenails and rub cherry extract to redden her lips, although what need she has for lipstick in a forest, is a question we are yet to answer.

If you shift closer home, you’ll see how item numbers evolved not only in terms of visuals, but also in terms of lyrics that are designed specifically to capture the ‘untamed’. For instance, take a song like ‘Chikni Chameli’ , and you’ll realise that the entire song is basically composed of references to animals found in the wild- you start with a bichchu (a scorpion) and move right up the hierarchy to the sher (a lion). In fact, the lion has always been a very popular device to capture any aspect of a character that is particularly daring. A universally feared predator and rightfully known as the King of the Jungle, this title is conferred upon anyone who dares to do something extraordinary- be it sensuous, (as in the case of the aforementioned Chameli) or otherwise. Hence, we have MC Sher from Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy whose introductory song ‘Sher Aya Sher’ immediately sets him apart as a powerful character and leads the audience to perceive him as being a leader of sorts- much like the animal he is named after.

Today, music industries around the world are reimagining the concept of a forest. For choreography intensive industries like K-Pop, depicting the wild does not simply mean a fairytale enchantment where all is well. Instead, with steps imitating claws and other animal postures, the forest metaphors are often used here to talk about more overarching important concepts. An example that immediately comes to mind in this aspect is TXT’s “Puma” which stands out owing to its powerful choreography and lyrics that use the imagery of an escaped Puma from a jungle to inspire messages about self-confidence and walking alone.

The forest then, is no longer an image that solely inspires fear. Instead, it has grown and stretched now to encompass all possible aspects of our existence, starting from our very carnal, physical instincts to finer qualities that we hope to imbibe in ourselves. From leopard prints to fingers curling into claws, the forests of today have spilled beyond the conventional flora and fauna of storybooks. Like Groot, they have jigged and vibed to the tunes of music to create enchantments more suited to the 21st century, and while the fate of our actual forests remain uncertain, we can always count on these forests of enchantment to retain their well-loved and versatile magic.