Tiger & Other Tales: 5. The Tigress Abdicates

The Tigress Abdicates

Mira stood on the cliff and scanned her domain. Secure in the comfort that it was hers and hers only to control and manage. She stood right leg extended and with the other three firmly placed on the dusty earth on top of the cliff. She stood tail extended and waving it once in a while languorously behind her. What lay in front of her were the high hills and deep valleys. The higher hills were dun coloured, the red of the earth coming through since the vegetation did not extend right up to the top. The others were covered with a green carpet of small trees, shrubs and bushes. There were some flowering bushes among them which when in bloom would paint the deep olive green of the background with reliefs of yellow, purple and red. The valleys were deep. The forests in them dense where sometimes even the sunshine was unable to stream down to the ground. The reason for this was that the trees were encapsulated by intertwining vines which would jump from one tree to another making a sort of impenetrable green meshed veil and sometimes a canopy. She could move in these forests in the valley with its gurgling streams and shadowed pathways where the rocks and stones were covered with moss from the plentiful rains that these jungles would get each year. But then human beings would find it difficult and they would have to cut through with axe or machete making their progress slow. Thus they became easy targets for the tigers sometimes. She had not made much of a habit of eating man, since it was a dangerous animal bent on revenge while the other animals never made much of a fuss if you picked off one of them. There was plenty of game otherwise in the jungles since the valleys and hills sometimes opened out on grassy meadows covered with deep grass where you would find deer or bison. The deep, dark undergrowth inside the jungle had the luscious wild boar. Thus Mira for all of her twenty two seasons of the monsoons recalled not having really gone hungry for want of game. She looked out against the setting sun at the craggy hills each with its signature shape etched against the sky being painted yellow, orange and gold with themcollapsing into myriad shades of these colours making an indescribably beautiful alien-likelandscape which many would believe was barren and devoid of animal life. It all belonged to her. It was her jungle. It would take her a day and a half from one end to another in each direction.  And she was Queen here. Her authority was unquestionable. No animal or living being dared to offend her. She had heard tell that the markings on the tiger’s forehead were special. When once she had gone to a stream to drink water, she was at first surprised to see another tiger in the water like herself. But then when she moved that tiger also moved which led Mira to have the comfort that it was only her. Bending down for a closer look she was happy with her face. It was beautiful and at the same time ferocious. After that whenever Mira went to the water she always looked to see how she looked. The female of any species tend to be more vain about their appearances and tigresses like Mira were no different. Apart from how she looked Mira was also keen to see the characters on her forehead which were like three straight lines one above the other and being vertically bisected by a straight line almost down the middle. One end of the horizontal lines was curled up, sort of.  Mira was given to understand by other tigers that she had met that this sign in the language that the human beings of a far and distant land called China would write in, meant being a royal, a king or a queen. Mira was happy that her forehead had the sign. Maybe it was also because of this sign that the animals in the jungle would respect and defer to her as the Queen of the Jungle.  But Mira thought how was that possible since she could not read letters how could the animals read what the mark on her forehead meant. They showed their respect to her because of her brute strength, ferocious nature and the ability to kill. With that thought Mira was content.  

Many were the memories that tumbled through her mind as she thought about them. She was just about two years when she was left alone by her mother who moved out with another tiger she had found. Mira had barely learnt to hunt for herself. In the early days of living alone, there was many a time she thought that she would starve. It was not that game was scarce but that she doubted her own ability to hunt. However, she did manage to get something or other and scrounged along. Mira was just getting to be 3 years old when Bagha happened to her. She still remembered that first day when she saw him. What a magnificent specimen of a tiger he was! He must have been 4 years old standing tall with his stripes enhancing his beauty and Mira, blushed even now, at the thought that she had fallen for him at first sight. She had been resting after the previous evening’s kill near Gagan Bavda deep in the jungle when she caught his smell. Sensing danger Mira got up where she had been reclining against a rock and hid behind a promontory that gave her the opportunity to observe the clearing without being seen. The incline and height of the promontory would allow her to launch a flying attack if the intruder was not friendly. Mira did not want to take chances and followed the teaching that her mother had drilled into her. So she crouched behind the rocks, low on the ground with the front legs stretched in front of her with the head tucked between them and with her nose almost touching the ground. Her back legs were drawn against her stomach in a crouch which would give her the power to fling herself at the enemy. But Bagha seemed to be one of those gallant, devil-may-care types who just strolled into the clearing. Looking this way and that, he trotted into the middle of the clearing with his tail swishing from one side to the other. Bagha could just by the urine smell of a tiger that smelt of buttered popcorn, be able to tell its age, gender and in the event of females tell her reproductive condition. In fact all tigers could do that. In this manner he had caught the scent of the tigress in heat and knew that there was not much danger from her. Again for a beautiful, handsome specimen like him where was the need to be worried since every single tigress worth her salt would fall in love with him at first sight. How true, Mira thought! This braggart that was Bagha was always supremely confident about himself. It passed her mind that there could be none more conceited than Bagha. Mira did fall in love with Bagha at first sight. She remembered how she had come out of the shadow of the rock into the clearing with her head down. Somehow she was not afraid of this male tiger standing in front of her and looking at her coolly. Bagha had looked at Mira and seeing Mira, his heart had pounded a little faster. At least that is what Mira remembered of him telling her later. Bagha had then circled her, looking her over, like a specimen and then with a low, purring growl coming near her. He had brushed past her back haunches swishing his tail momentarily across Mira’s back. That first touch had sent waves of joy through Mira’s body and even now memories of that sent shivers down her spine. They had had sex then, right there within minutes of meeting. That whole day was lost in the delirious joys of sex, exploring each other and finding new ways to excite each other and coming to a climax time and again. For Mira it was the first time and she enjoyed exploring this new world with Bagha as her guide and master. She gave herself up completely to him. After that day for close to two weeks it was like that with Mira and Bagha gamboling around the forest. Playfully fighting each other. Standing on their back legs with their forelegs meeting in the air and their heads locked together, their antics were like a kaleidoscope of black and gold throwing up different patterns at each instant of their play. All this touch and feel was only a prelude for sex and after joining together yet again, they would flop on the ground tired with all the foreplay and the actual act of intercourse. They hunted together and Mira found it easier to get a kill when both of them hunted together rather than she alone. It was also much more pleasurable to share the kill than eat alone. Mira was seeing for the first time the pleasures of being together, opening to her the doors of matrimony. Looking back now she wished how she had wanted that tryst with Bagha to continue forever.  But that was not to be. 

She had just littered four cubs – two each of female and male. After that she found Bagha behaving oddly. Otherwise he was all right. Like when they had a kill he would allow the cubs and Mira to have their fill first and only then come to eat. It was only at other times when he was alone with the cubs that his behavior became erratic. Like he seemed to be resenting the attention Mira had to give the newly born cubs. Mira on her part was thriving in the role of a new motherand enjoying every moment of it. She was finding it very joyful to suckle them, watching them in the first few days, blind for the first week moving around more by feel than anything else and then stumbling along in their new-found feet and slowly getting used to their surroundings.Bagha would give the low menacing growls when the cubs would go near him and Mira would be amused to see them run away quickly from him seeking shelter. They would either come to Mira where she was reclining and hide behind her back or go behind a rock or a tree and after some time raise their heads cautiously to peer at Bagha. He would not be bothered to look at the cubs antics and would nonchalantly look away or stare purposefully at Mira purring at her for some favour. Mira was getting to understand that Bagha did not like the cubs but for the life of her, she could not understand why. After all they were also his flesh and blood. She had expected him to play the role of a father better. With Mira the cubs were freer and she also had a whale of a time with them. The bodily contact of her own creation gave her immeasurable pleasure. The cubs had a free run over Mira’s body and especially her tail was their favourite plaything. They would play hide and seek hiding behind her back or chase each other over her stomach. The best thing they liked was playing with her tail. As Mira lay relaxed and supine the cubs would jump across her tail, play catch with it when Mira swished it around purposely so that the cubs would have something to be entertained with.  When the cubs were teething they would use Mira’s tail to bite into. She did not mind and would move her tail this way and that so that the cubs would have to catch it before they could sink their teeth into it. The bites did not hurt Mira since the cubs had hardly any teeth at that time and it was more the grinding of the gums against the tail. Among the cubs, the boys were the more active and mischievous and they would do the chasing of the girls and put them into all kinds of trouble until sometimes Mira had to intervene. One of the boys, Kiran, who was built better than the others was the most naughty and adventurous and also happened to be Mira’s favourite. It was finally he who had created the rift between Mira & Bagha. Bagha never liked the cubs bothering him but then Kiran never took that into account and in his youthful enthusiasm continued to pester Bagha and take liberties with him as he would with Mira. One day the cubs were playing around the clearing which Mira called home. The cubs were wrestling, playing catch-me-if-you-can and chasing each other when Kiran happened to bump into Bagha who has having a snooze. Bagha woke up snarling and went as if to chase the cub but then Mira came in the way. Bagha sensing that Mira was not liking what he was about to do, cooled down and lay back again. The cubs continued to play avoiding Bagha as much as possible and Bagha was again lost to the world sinking into a nap. What actually happened Mira would never know. But it seems that Bagha had swished his tail ostensibly to swat the insistent flies which hung around the clearing and Kiran whether looking at it as an invitation for him to play or mistaking it for Mira’s tail, bit into it. Bagha woke up in a rage. You could hear his roar for miles Mira thought since apart from the fact that he was disturbed while sleeping, the cubs had grown some teeth by then and it must have hurt. When Mira in alarm turned around while attending one of the other cubs saw that Bagha had Kiran in his jaws and was about to bite through the neck. Without a care Mira knowing that Bagha was bigger than her went after him. Bagha surprised by Mira’s ferocity dropped Kiran and turned around to confront Mira. Mira stood her ground and it must have been a rare sight to see two full-grown tigers standing eye to eye and snarling at each other. Mira had decided by then that it was the cubs that were more important to her and that Bagha if he wanted could move out. Bagha sensing this eased off and started making conciliatory gestures towards Mira rubbing himself against her and caressing her with his tail. But Mira would have none of it and she continued to snarl menacingly. Bagha realizing this decided to back off and went back to his place and lay down. Mira followed him still angry and butted him with her head. Bagha was by then getting a bit bugged by Mira’s attitude and fended her off with a swipe from his left paw. That was enough for Mira to go sprawling to the ground. But then Mira was not the one to give up when she had made up her mind. She went back at Bagha forepaws extended on the ground the back legs hunched ready to spring up and pounce, her tail flat and extended along the ground.  Bagha returned her snarls thinking that she would see reason and not get this thing into a real fight. In the meanwhile the cubs were cowering under the nearby bushes, frightened out of their wits. Mira was angry and did not want Bagha near the cubs at all. Today for a minor thing he had almost killed Kiran. Tomorrow when she was not there, gone hunting or elsewhere, he could even kill the defenceless cubs one by one. She therefore continued her snarling at Bagha and forced him to get up. Bagha thought he would try one last time to make Mira see some sense. He roared and made as if to pounce on Mira both front paws outstretched. His intention was to scare Mira but on the contrary that act of Bagha seemed to get Mira’s back up further. She matched him roar for roar and standing up on her back legs she held on to Bagha’s paws with her own front paws. Again it was some sight, two full-grown tigers standing erect in the forest clearing on their back legs with the front paws clasped together roaring all the while and swishing their tails this way and that. The cubs not understanding anything were almost burrowing their heads into the ground in fear, desperately trying to make themselves invisible. Bagha had realized by then that Mira’s position was non-negotiable. He disengaged from Mira and stood there looking at her, closing his eyes and squinting at her, which told Mira that he understood her position and still trusted her. He also cast a sideways glance at the cubs. It was time to move on, he thought. It had been long enough. He had good memories of Mira and he would like to keep them that way. Bagha came near Mira butted her in a friendly manner with his head licked her neck, then brushed her entire body with his. Mira remained unresponsive and stood still. After that with one last look at Mira, Bagha loped out of the clearing almost exactly like he had come in about a year ago. Mira recalled, after Bagha there had been many tigers with whom Mira had lived with but it was that last caress from Bagha that Mira still remembered. After all he was her first love.    

The cubs – Kiran, Maya, Manjari and Vijay, all grew and then they left. Even Kiran who was so attached to Mira went away. It was heart wrenching for Mira to see them all go but then that was the law of the tigers and nature. Each should show their ability and competence to survive and in that depended the continuance of their species and essentially life. 

Mira remained relaxed after that. Happy in her solitude. Travelling her domain in the Gagan Bavda hills and making sure that there were no irritants to bother her comfort. But then she had been noticing that these human beings were encroaching upon the forest more and more. In some places she had seen that the trees of the forest were being cut. Big clearings were being made and they were planting smaller plants there which they would cut twice a year and carry away. It was their food as she understood since had seen them from the shelter of the trees in the forest. They would beat the plants on the ground, then grind it under their feet and take out the grain inside. This they would then put in large vessels lighting big fires underneath. Then they would put them out to dry. Once dried they would put them into holes in the ground and hammer them with large wooden things, all the while singing. Then they would store these small things now beaten and the skin removed into large earthen pots. It was their food, Mira understood which they again would take out little by little put into smaller earthen pots on a fire. These human beings had been able to control this fire and they would light it up at will and use it for what they wanted to do.  While we tigers were deadly afraid of it since it burnt us. It hurt badly and the hurt stayed for many days. More than the hurt it was the smell of burning fur and flesh that was intolerable to Mira. She had been exposed to the fire and burnt once. Mira did not want that experience ever again. Coming back to the human beings these things they put on the fire in small pots, they would sit around and eat with relish. It was not only that. They also came into the jungle and collected plants and fruits and ate them. And this was not only when they were sick but also in the normal course. They also put these plants on the fire sometimes. All this worried Mira. She ruled the jungle and rarely strayed out. Just like that she expected the human beings to stay outside the jungle and not come in. That they came in to pick at the plants and fruits did not bother her since she and her kind ate that rarely. But the human beings were slowly getting bolder and after first starting with catching wild fowl, they had moved up to killing deer. And Mira did not like that. The deer was hers. It was not only the deer but just the other days she had watched silently in the light of the dawn; a group of these humans come in to the jungle and kill a big boar. They had dug a big hole in the ground, covered it with some branches and grass. Then they were making a lot of noise all over. It was the noise that prompted Mira to find out what was happening. When she came to see, she found that they were guiding a huge, juicy boar towards the hole. Mira’s mouth was watering looking at the size of the boar. She also had become very angry. Just like the deer, the boar was hers and these humans were stealing it from her. When the deer was taken she had not bothered since there were quite a few of them but the boars were far fewer than the deer and more so it was Mira’s favourite meat. Why should they take it away from her? The hunted boar, meanwhile, fell with a crash through the branches and into the hole. That was one less boar for us tigers now, Mira mused. It was not only that the game would become scarce for tigers with the humans competing for it but and then with them clearing the forests and planting food and other things that they needed, in the years to come the game would definitely reduce because the jungle itself was getting smaller. This is what the long years in the jungle had taught Mira. 

Apart from the lessening game, these humans were doing other things in the jungle that Mira for the life of her could not understand. Near the hills and even at other places, they were digging into the hills and the ground. Making big noises which scared all the animals and forced them to run helter skelter. Mira had once stood her ground and seeking a vantage point safe from their eyes, watched the humans. Once they had set off the big noises, the part of the hill would come crashing down or in flat ground the earth would erupt skyward. The humans would then collect this debris and put them on some kind of other animals. These animals would make growling noises and instead of taking steps like all of us, they would have round things on all sides which went round and round, enabling the humans cart away the debris. These animals were controlled by humans Mira thought because at the backs of their heads, she had seen some human sitting there and moving their hands as if controlling the monstrous animal. Mira could not make any sense why this animal should kowtow to these human beings and do their bidding?  As the years went by and more and more of the hills were cut and more of the jungle converted to wasteland, there were more humans coming to get involved in this activity. And they were installing other monstrous shapes that looked like their houses but which made hideous sounds when it was awake and which the humans were feeding the debris that they were getting from the big explosions and it was digesting it and making sometimes smaller pieces and sometimes powder out of it. Then the other animals controlled by the humans which had round legs would take away this stuff away. All this activity apart from the continuous disturbing noise was also generating a lot of dust which would come down and settle everywhere. There was dust on the plants and the trees, in the fields and in the meadows and on the surface of the water in the streams and watering holes. All the vegetation near this kind of human activity was dying. As for the water Mira would find it difficult to drink it then what about the other animals let alone the human beings. Mira had tried to drink the water a couple of times but had found it with a bad and acrid taste. It had also not agreed with her stomach. After that Mira had given a long berth to the water bodies near such human activity in the jungle. But she was sad that yet another part of the jungle was being systematically destroyed by these human beings. Thus it seemed that as time passed the jungles would continue to shrink which Mira had seen with her own eyes during her lifetime. The animals would be hemmed in the remaining vestiges of the jungle leading to pressure on them which would lead to lesser animals in the long run. Thus it was not only that the animal kingdom was being threatened but also the jungle was being systematically destroyed. The human beings would realize the impact of their actions slowly and its effect on them since the earth would become hotter day by day in another ten or twenty years. Mira knew this from her two decades of life in the jungle because she could see it happening around her. But the human beings considered to be the most intelligent of the animals, could they not see that. Or were they deliberately not seeing it! Ignoring these changes would be detrimental to them in the times to come. 

Mira needed to look at human beings closely. Since they were the latest entrants into the jungle and though they were new, they remained the largest threat to the jungle. Human beings were essentially selfish and wasteful. They would acquire things in a hurry like large stretches of forest as explained earlier, that they would clear without thinking about its impact on the jungle and animal life in their selfish mode and then maybe do nothing about it sometimes in their wasteful mode.  But human beings because of their native intelligence posed the greatest danger to everyone including to their own kind. Therefore Mira kept a close watch on the human beings and their activities. 

Talking about forest and game, when it came to hunting Mira preferred the ambush and close combat approach. This had helped her to hunt and kill all kinds of game. But then there was something new that was happening. Man had started hunting the tigers. After starting with the smaller animals like wild fowl, boar and deer, there were groups of men coming in into the jungle and put in big iron traps or holes in the ground like they did for boar. The iron traps would snap instantly closed if you put your leg in them. Mira had seen some of the smaller animals caught in such traps wailing piteously and sometimes you would find animals like deer with their leg broken. Mira was wary of such traps and would avoid them since she could smell the human beings who had laid these out or built these. It was only after the rains that she had to be a bit more careful since the rains would wash away the human smell. Mira had seen some of the smaller animals in the cat family caught by the humans in this manner like leopards. After catching the leopard, they would skin it. Mira was told that skins of the animals of the cat family were highly prized by the rich humans. Sometimes their women would make dresses out of the leopard skins and wear them. Mira reflected on this and felt kind of proud since human beings were actually very ordinary looking and they needed skins from the jungle to make them look better. The humans also wanted to catch tigers as Mira had been told not only for their beautiful and magnificent skin but also for their various body parts with which they would use to make different kinds of medicine. The same feeling of pride coursed through Mira’s veins but she did not want to become a dress for any ugly human woman or contribute to the health and well-being of humankind. She preferred to remain alive and hunt human beings, if necessary, until she died a natural death. 

Mira’s mode of hunting, the ambush, was something that human beings did not find convenient. This was because the weapons they had like the pipes which spewed fire did not work close up as much as they worked from a distance. Human beings also tended to hunt unfairly. They would lay out traps, as explained earlier, which would hurt the animals and sometimes maim them for life.  Then the human beings would dig big holes and catch the animals whole and kill them without mercy when the animal is at a disadvantage. Not for them the fun and thrill of the chase and the fight. Being devious is what the human beings specialized in. Like tying poor goats to a tether and then shooting animals like herself or leopards when they come to eat the bait and that too from a distance. The animals that fell prey to such tactics of the human beings were generally the old and the weak who had lost the ability to hunt for themselves. Not for Mira such easy prey since she believed even now and at this age to hunt her own prey. In the catching and the killing was the thrill and the taste in the meat not when the prey had no option but to lie down and have its throat cut. The human beings thought that they were big trackers. They made a big thing of trying to hide themselves or decorate themselves with grass and other undergrowth so that we would not notice. But what human beings did not realize was that their bodies particularly their feet were not designed for the jungle. We could tread through dry leaves and the jungle trails without making a sound because our paws were padded. Not so much the feet of the human beings and you could hear them coming a hundred feet earlier. By that time we would be ready to attack them in many different ways. They also preferred to remain downwind from us so that we would not get their smell. These were bunkum theories since apart from the fact that our sense of smell remained much more acute and sensitive than that of human beings, we also have what is called the animal instinct. We know when there is any other living being is in the jungle and which intends to harm us. We always know the enemy is approaching well in advance so that it is within our ability to strike it down. This is the God-given ability that the maker has bestowed upon us to protect ourselves. 

Mira remembered one instance of close combat when she had surprised a hunter with his pipe-like apparatus of a weapon.  It was late in the afternoon and the sun would be setting in a short while. Mira after lazing about was returning to her rocky lair. She was ambling along on a trail. Her alertness was at a low ebb. The reason for that was the earlier night she had gorged herself to the full on a deer that she had killed. Also for the last few days deep in the jungle where she wasstaying, there had been no signs of human beings coming in. It was also the end of the day and time to go into her cave and lie down. She was alone those days. All her consorts and cubs having moved on. Turning on the trail that bordered a stream across which were the rocks that she had to climb to reach her lair, what did she see but this man with a gun slung over his left shoulder standing very close, not even ten paces from her. He had two other men with him also looking towards the stream. He was about to bend down to the stream to wash his face or drink some water. By some instinct he looked over his shoulder and saw Mira. And panicked. Letting out a cry to the other men he tried to unsling the gun from his shoulder. The other men were not carrying any guns. By that time Mira having the advantage of surprise with her had started on a slow trot and reaching full speed, jumped on the man with the gun. With one swipe of her paw she smote him to the ground. But by that time the man had been able to aim the gun and let loose a shot. When Mira was in the air in her jump and before her paw had connected with the man’s head, she sensed a sharp pain in her right ear. This was not the time to think about pain, she thought, it was a matter of life and death for her. The two other men had by then taken to their heels and the man with the gun was still with his face in the water. Mira by then could feel the blood coursing down from her ears towards her head. Considering that discretion was the better part of valour she jumped up on the rocks and went away as fast as her legs would carry her. The next day she came back to the scene of the incident and found that no one was there. The man with the gun had thankfully not died, Mira thought. The other men with him must have come and carried him away. Everything happened all for the good, Mira thought. Her right ear still hurt. A few days later when the hurt had subsided Mira had looked at her reflection in the stream and seen a small hole on the top of her right ear. The bullet from the gun must have gone straight through. It proved her premise that in close combat she was better than these human beings with their new-fangled weapons.

Mira also remembered how the human beings interfered with animal life in the jungle. The first rule in the jungle was – live and let live. According to this when anyone who did not belong to the jungle came in, they were treated as guests. The animals made way for them. There was no interference as long as they did not disturb the life of the animals. The human beings did not understand this. For them coming into the jungle being a novelty they would, maybe wanting to be playful, start bothering the animals. There was a limit to the tolerance of the animals and once that was crossed, the other law of the jungle would be called in, that is - might is right. That was there the man-animal conflict issue had started. Take the issue relating to hunting by man in the jungle. They would kill animals like deer or bison, which were the more visible, indiscriminately. The animals killed would be beyond what they could eat and they would then leave the rotting carcasses in the jungle. This Mira felt was not fair. In the animal world, it was the code of – survival for the fittest. And all the animals accepted that. Thus if they were not skilled or clever enough they would be hunted and killed by other animals either for the necessity of food or because of any other kind of confrontation like territorial, adversarial or whatever. In that sense they deserved death. Therefore the killing was limited to the index of necessity or want and nothing in excess. That is how the food chain in the animal kingdom survived. However the human beings seemed to be bent upon destroying this delicate balance, first by reducing the size of the forest by way of encroachment and  then resorting to bringing down the population of animals in the jungle by way of killing or other means. Mira could give one example of this from her own life. It was a couple of years after Mira had the encounter with the man near her lair. It was after a passing male had impregnated her. Mira had littered after that and three beautiful cubs were with her. She was yet again going through the joys of motherhood. Suckling at her teats. Frolicking around her, among themselves and in the rocks near her lair. Mira would watch with motherly pride the cubs at play. They were about six months old now. And then suddenly she heard some noise in the brush on the other side of the stream. She thought it must be another animal or elephants since a group of them had been passing through this side. Mira growled her instructions to the cubs to go into the cave and stay there. She herself slithered across the rocky face of the hill and went behind some rocks from where she could get a better look at the intruders. And then she heard a sound right behind her. These intruders were trying to encircle her. Mira had her hackles raised by this time. She was upset and angry. This could only be man yet again who had come to disturb her peace. She was sure of this and almost immediately she saw behind some men in the rocks above her. They did not have any guns with them but sticks with which they were making a lot of noise beating them on tin drums.  

Looking down towards the stream, Mira saw five men crossing the water and looking up at her cave. In the middle of this bunch was a man with a gun. The other men had sticks and tin drums like the ones above her. The man with the gun seemed to be the same one with whom she had the close encounter and got a hole drilled in her right ear. This man must have led this group to this place knowing that they might find a tigress.  It was a bad time to have this happen to Mira. The cubs were inside the cave, getting restive and baying already in fear of all the noise that was being generated from the tin drums. And she was outside the cave and away from the cubs. She could not do a thing since if she showed herself to the men ascending towards her lair, that man with the gun would take a shot at her. If she called the cubs out of the cave then one did not know if the man would still shoot. Mira did not want to take a chance and decided against asking the cubs to come out. She knew her only route to escape was up the hill away from the man with the gun and keeping herself hidden. The descending group of men had no gun so she would be safe. But then this would mean abandoning the cubs.  Mira knew she had no choice. It was a matter of life or death for her and also maybe for the cubs. It was a painful decision for Mira because she had got so attached to the cubs. They would not know what to do. With the men, she knew they may not be killed but the men would probably take them to some place they called a zoo. Mira understood that in this zoo, man would keep all the animals in cages, so that more of their kind could come and gawk at the animals. The animals would be sometimes well fed but what they missed was the freedom with which they roamed the jungle. For the animals in the cages, it was a slow death. Now her cubs would also go some place like that and maybe end up being the star attraction. A big teardrop rolled down Mira’s face. She really had to go now for her own safety and that of the cubs. If she tarried then it would be dangerous for all of them. Mira had decided already that the best way to escape was up the hill hiding behind the rocks. So up she went quickly without looking back. In a few minutes she could hear the descending men from below her and knowing that she was safe she stopped on a rock which would give her a view of what was happening in front of her cave. The men from both sides had reached the cave and the man with the gun, who seemed to be the leader, was talking to the other men, gesticulating and pointing in the direction of the cave. The cubs were still baying and the men obviously did not know how many and how old the tigers inside were.  After some time Mira saw them unfurl some nets and swing them about in front of the cave. Later one of them lit a big stick making a huge flame and threw it inside the cave. It was expected to scare the tigers inside and bring them out. As expected the cubs afraid of the fire and rushed out. The men holding the nets brought them down on the cubs. While the men were doing this the cubs had decided that they would not go without a fight. So when the men were trying to bring the nets together they lashed out at the men whoever was near. The men screamed upon being scratched. It looked like the cubs had hurt at least a couple of men. Mira was proud of her cubs watching them from afar. But finally the cubs were dragged away. After giving one last look Mira turned and went away. Sad but alive and unhurt to live another day. 

Then Mira remembered her daughter Maya making a name for herself in the jungles of Amboli & near the borders of Goa.  She was a terror in that region and the human beings would quake upon anyone taking her name. She had built up a reputation for killing and killing without mercy. The peculiar thing about Maya was that she had acquired the taste for human flesh. Early on when Maya had just started hunting, she found herself one day terribly hungry. Whatever game that she had been trying to stalk and kill had all escaped her attempts to catch them. Maya was new at hunting and she had to learn quickly or she would starve to death. That was all fine as a thought but what should she do for today. It was getting to be sunset and there was not a game in sight. Maya was near a village and just in front of her was a trail that led to the village. These human beings used this trail to go through the jungle. Maya decided to wait near the trail and see if any human beings would come. She had never eaten man but like they say there is a first time for everything. The sun had almost set and there was no human being in sight. Maya decided to wait a little longer. After some time what does she see but a young boy come running up the trail and go past her. He had seemed to be crying and terribly upset. The young boy had not seen Maya because she was well-hidden in the brush and the undergrowth. Moreover the boy had seemed to be absorbed in his own distress to see anything around him. After waiting for a while Maya decided to follow the boy. She did not take the trail lest someone passing through see her and raise an alarm. She went parallel to the trail keeping it in sight for signs of the boy. The trail after some time passed near a stream. And what does Maya see but this boy sitting under a tree near the stream and still crying. Maya took her position near the stream keeping the boy in sight and waited. The boy slowly was getting out of his distress and the crying was stopping, Maya saw. In a little while, he was picking up the pebbles near the stream and throwing them into the water. Each time the pebbles would hit the water, they made a sound –‘Plonk!’ This seemed to make the boy happy and he would throw all the more pebbles. He was happy now and smiling each time the pebbles hit the water. Little did he know that Maya was watching his every move from inside the nearby bush. She was hardly ten feet away from the boy. But the boy absorbed in his play failed to sense her presence not even by smell. Maya did not want to kill the boy. But her stomach was giving her just the opposite advice. Being hungry, she rationalized it was a choice between either the boy living or her starving. Maya also recollected what her mother Mira had told her that hunting man should be the last resort. Mira had told her that man is a very intelligent animal and is also very vengeful rarely forgetting any adverse incident which may have even happened by mistake. He would come back to seek revenge and that is why Mira told her strongly - it is best to give man a wide berth when you are out hunting. But Maya was in a kind of position that is called between the devil and the deep sea. The choice for her on one side was easy prey in the form of the boy which would give her a full stomach that night while on the other side it was going hungry and taking a chance on getting prey the next morning. Getting new prey meant having to wait, spending energy and effort to catch it while here was this delicious, mouth-watering boy with nary a care in the world throwing stones into the river and right in front of her. Maya came to the decision. She would kill the boy. Without making a noise she came behind the boy who was completely absorbed in his play and with one whack of her paw she broke his neck. The poor boy did not even know what hit him. In a trice Maya was on her kill stripping it off flesh and gorging herself. The boy’s meat was delicious. The bones were crunchy. Maya did not remember when she had had a better meal. After a hour or two at the boy’s carcass Maya had reduced it to just the skeleton. That was how hungry she had been. Now fully satisfied and slurping her lips and cleaning her jaws she lay down beside the stream to rest. The next morning Maya left. It was late in the afternoon the next day that the boy was found. The villagers came and saw what remained of the skeleton and the tell-tale pug marks of Maya all around the carcass and near the stream. That is when the villagers realized that a tiger had killed the boy. Many among the villagers believed that it was a tigress’ job and that is how the legend of the Tigress of Bonigram began.    

Mira recalled that Maya went from strength to strength or from one notorious incident to another until she became one of the most feared tigers in the country. With each escapade Maya’s daring increased and the human beings in the region that she lived, shivered in fear at her name. Children were put to sleep saying that if they did not go to sleep Maya would come through the door or window and take them away.  Maya had become a legend in a few years. She was the Man-eating Tigress of Bonigram. Once at the height of her fame she had come to visit Mira. That was when Mira still had that rocky lair and had not the need to desert it. It was early morning and Mira’s stupor had not fully gone away. She was resting in her cave. The last few days had been good and she had been eating herself stupid on a bison that she had killed about two days ago. There was none to share the kill with her and Mira went for it after a long time to have a feast. It was in that frame of happiness that Mira could hear the low tones of a tiger cub calling. Mira shrugged it off saying that the sound must be in her mind. Since in this the densest part of the jungle from where would a cub come except of her own. And Mira had not littered for a couple of years now. There was the sound, there again! Who must it be? Mira made the effort to get up and go to the mouth of the cave. Looking down near the stream Mira found a full-grown tigress looking up at her. At once Mira’s hackles stood up. It was her that had been mimicking the sound of a cub. A tigress, how dare she come into Mira’s domain? But wait! There seemed to be something familiar about this tigress. Was she not Maya? Mira could make her out from the pattern of Maya’s stripes and the vertical streak on her forehead. Upon recognizing Maya, Mira let out such a roar of happiness that the jungle shook for miles around and all animals stood still for a moment. Something must have happened to Mira they thought. Something must have happened to Mira, the Queen of the Gagan Bavda jungles. But the animals did not know that the Queen was happy. Happy beyond her wildest dreams of being united with one of her cubs again. Maya with that acknowledgement started bounding up the rocks in full flight. That was some sight to see jumping from rock to rock, sometimes crouching to make that impossible gravitydefying leap, sometimes at full stretch across a precipice. She was mewing all the while with the desperate eagerness to get back close to her mother, Mira. While Maya was bounding up the rocks, Mira was doing the same thing but she was coming down to be united with her cub, Maya. How long had it been that Maya had decided to leave her? Maya had said that she would fend for herself and get a domain of her own not far from Mira’s. She had promised Mira that she would come and visit whenever she could. But six long years had passed and it was the first time that mother and daughter were meeting.  Mira and Maya came face to face on what they used to call the flat rock. This was when Maya was still a cub. They would all be together on this flat rock soaking up the sun, Mira, Maya with her brothers and sister. Frolicking for hours on end until Mira would reprimand them, bring them to heel and send them to back to the cave to sleep. Maya remembered those good old days. But times change and one has to move on, she thought. But Mira looked good, Maya thought. Handsome and sleek, as ever.  Mira looking at Maya thought how much she has grown? These six years that had passed had been good to her. She was a beautiful, powerful machine, built to kill and be feared. She had heard stories about the Man-eating Tigress of Bonigram from passing tigers but to see her daughter, in flesh and blood was so stupefyingly happy for Mira! Maya came to Mira crouched low with her forefeet almost flat on the ground as if she was paying obeisance to the Queen. Her eyes were shut and she was blinking signifying to Mira that she was comfortable and happy to be with her. She also made low, mewing noises seeking approval from Mira. Mira did not seek any formality from her daughter. She went to Maya and nuzzled her in the neck, making little crowing noises to her. Maya now more confident got up and cuddled her mother with her right front paw around Mira’s neck and her face hidden in between Mira’s forelegs. Maya nudged past Mira with every inch of her body touching her mother, seeking comfort , seeking assurance of safety, seeking solace in being a daughter in the sheltering kindness of her mother’s embrace. Both were very happy to see each other. And after some more hugs and embraces they lay out on the flat rock their heads near each other and bodies supine and stretched out. It was some sight to see these two full grown tigresses on that flat rock, something only the fortunate would be able to enjoy. But at that moment there was no human being there for miles around. 

They lay around like that enjoying the warm winter sun and then Maya started telling Mira of her life these last six years. It was like a dam burst and Maya did not know how the words came pouring out. She told Mira about the first kill of the boy when she had acquired her taste for human flesh. And after that how she did not like anything else as much as human flesh. Moreover it was easier to kill human beings since they were slow and not very difficult to catch. Her second catch of a human being was again near the trail leading to the village of Bonigram. It was early morning and there was this well built man who was hurrying down the trail. He had a bag slung on one shoulder and was carrying a big wooden stick.  Maya had been hiding there since the previous night waiting for prey. Upon seeing him, Maya let him pass and then tracked him for a while. After making sure that there was no one following him or anyone coming from the opposite direction on the trail, she pounced on him from the back. The poor fellow had no chance since Maya had sunk her fangs deep into his neck. While Maya hung on, the man twitched for a while and then stopped moving. He was dead to the world and hers to eat is what Maya thought. After devouring his flesh to her heart’s content, she found that there was still some more. Now she would have to put it somewhere where neither the human beings who would come searching for this man or other animals could get at it. So hating to work on a full stomach, Maya lugged the man’s carcass or whatever was left of it away from the trail and deep into the jungle at least a mile away from the site of her kill. Maya found some dense undergrowth and pulling the carcass inside and then she went looking for a clearing where she could rest. The next day she finished the rest of the human meat leaving the skeleton behind. There had been no one who came looking for the man and Maya complimented herself for moving the body quite a distance from the kill. The skeleton was eventually found after a few days and the hue and cry increased about the man-eating tigress. Recounting all this to Mira, Maya felt happy. And then there were more other stories to follow. How Maya was gaining courage with each human kill and the efforts of the human beings in the surrounding villages to capture or kill her. But nothing had happened to her and she was still alive and here to tell her tale. 

There was the other time that that she had crept into a village at dusk and near a cattle shed she saw some children playing. Maya bided her time knowing that the children would break off soon since it was getting dark and they would have to return to their homes. It was at that time when they were alone or there were two of them that she could move in for the kill. As luck would have it one of the small girls moved away from the playing group and moved towards the bushes that Maya was hiding in. She came near and pulled down the bottom part of her clothes. Maya assumed that she wanted to attend to urinate. Thus occupied the little girl was intent on her act and also in a hurry to get back to her playing group. It was then that Maya jumped on her. And holding her by the neck she dragged the little girl further into the bushes. By that time the little girl had been able to emit a short-lived shriek. This was heard bv the other children in the group and they raised an alarm – ‘Dekho! Dekho! – See! See! Something has happened to Diya!’ Along with this the cattle in the adjoining shed sensing the tigress’ presence had started lowing loudly.  Hearing this din the people in the huts near where the children were playing came out and joined in raising an alarm. ‘She was here just now and gone to pee and then she disappeared!’ ‘We did not see her go but then we suddenly heard a scream and Diya was gone!’ By this time the girl’s parents had come onto the scene and they joined in the lament. Her mother was particularly pitiful to hear – ‘Where is my little one gone? I had told her not to go out to play today. And now see she is no longer here.’ Someone piped in – ‘It must be that tigress who took her away.’ Others joined in – ‘The tiger did not go after the cattle in the shed but went after Diya. This must be the same tigress that has picked up the taste for human flesh. The one that killed Kashi and then Humbro Bhai.’

The father of the girl was more in control of his senses and was busy organizing a search party. He was exhorting the male members who had collected there to join him – ‘The tiger may not have gone far. We have still time to chase it and see if we can get Diya back.’ ‘But then it is becoming dark and we will need torches.’ Saying that someone ran to get the torches. In a few minutes there was a group of about ten men with their flaming torches ready to set off into the jungle. They had sticks in their hands and some were carrying drums to signal the village and to announce their position while out on the hunt.  But Maya had not waited to watch all this happening. As soon as she had dragged the little girl into the bushes, the first thing she did was to kill the girl and then retreated with the body back into the jungle as fast she could. She knew that this time the human beings would come looking for her and the noises from the village told her that they were getting ready for the chase. The faster she vanished; the better for her is what Maya decided.  Just behind the village was where there was a small valley and beyond that some misshapen granite rocks literally thrown around with lots of crevices and crannies where one could hide without anyone knowing. Dragging the little girl’s body Maya took off at a loping pace for the rocks. She needed to hide and quickly. Looking back when she had reached the rocks she found the flaming torches moving in the jungle behind her adding their glow to the reddening sky of the sunset. The villagers knew that the tiger would make for the rocks. And that is where they were going to try and encircle the tiger. But that would not be possible with just ten of them. The animal would have the whole of the back of the rocks to escape from into the dense jungle. Diya’s father was already losing hope. The villagers were trying to egg him on, move faster so that they could at least catch a glimpse of Diya and the tiger. Maya on her part had decided that she had a reasonable lead over the chasing villagers to afford having a quick meal from the dead girl that she had been dragging all along. She got down to it and upon finishing found that the sounds of the villagers were now quite audible and that meant that they were quite close. These villagers did not have any guns she knew and there was little to fear from the wooden sticks that they carried. Thinking in this manner and with the hunger craving subsided for the moment Maya decided that she should put up a show for the villagers. That would make her legend thrive all the more and propel it with greater momentum across the region. Having decided thus, she came out on a jutting rock from where she knew the villagers would have a grandstand view of her. She went to the edge of the rock, tail outstretched and extended her body fully and roared with all her strength. That roar she knew would be heard for miles around and the fear of the tiger would be instilled in the hearts and minds of all the human beings settled in that area. Upon seeing the magnificent tiger and with its roar reverberating in their ears the villagers were stunned and were frozen where they stood. Maya looking down could see the semi-circle of flaming torches below her and the men with fear writ large on their faces. She looked at them like Mira would, the empress of the jungle, until they had their fill of the sight and could carry the story of the tiger they saw back to the village and their families. Being satisfied with that Maya backed off on the jutting rock a few paces and took off on a jump to her left over one of the villagers holding aloft his flaming torch, awestruck now  and backing off in the process of which losing his balance and the torch in his hand clattering to the ground scattering a thousand cinders. Maya estimated that maybe that jump was the longest she had attempted. The villagers seeing Maya in full flight across the evening sky lit by the flickering flames of their torches and highlighted against the darkening sky still carrying some streaks of orange and red of the setting sun were stunned in both fear as well in awe for they had never seen such a sight before and probably would never see again in their lives. A full grown tiger etched across the evening sky and jumping some ten meters as they had estimated.  Maya landed on the edge of the rocks all four feet hitting the ground simultaneously, corrected her balance and was gone into the jungle beyond. The villagers had been hardly able to move.  It was late by the time Maya had finished her tale. Mira could now understand how the legend of Maya had grown from strength to strength. As Maya’s mother Mira’s heart swelled with pride in her daughter’s achievements. Who would not be proud to have the Man-Eating Tigress of Bonigram come out of her loins? Mira blinked, closed her eyes and purred with pleasure. Reaching out with her tail to make sure Maya was nearby, Mira put her head down to rest. It had been a long day and both she and Maya deserved to sleep, more so Maya since she had also travelled that day to reach her mother’s lair. 

The next day dawned bright and early. It was a beautiful day. Just right for Maya and Mira to continue with their sojourn of familial bliss. Mira knew it was rare of cubs to come looking for their mother. Maya in that sense had done something unusual but then she had always been an unusual child. Maya continued from where she had left off the previous night. She explained her preference in diet for human flesh. She found the flesh of other animals tough and somewhat tasteless. Even among humans she preferred the young whose flesh was soft and easy to chew. The flesh of older humans tended to be stringy and rubbery. Mira listened patiently but then found it necessary to remind Maya that man was a vengeful animal. Also when it came to a threat to their lives or to their habitation the humans would always gang up together and try to eliminate the threat. In the case of animals which were a danger to them they would sometimes take up the killing of these animals in a passion akin to being at war. More so when it came to man-eating tigers. So it paid to be careful with the humans. There were also newer and newer weapons that the humans were bringing and sometimes it was difficult to fight these. An example was the hole in her ear from the gunshot when Mira knew these as pipes emitting fire. It was said that humans had now made guns which they could shoot from afar and which had something by which their target could be brought nearer to them. All this without the tigers or any other animal being hunted, becoming aware that they were at all being targeted since they could not even see these humans with their new guns because of them being so far away. Smaller animals like rabbit or even deer was understandable that the humans could bring with their guns close to them but how could they do this with bigger animals like tigers or elephants which was something that Mira could not at all understand. Maya was listening to all this and nodding her head gravely. But what could she do otherwise? How could she explain to Mira that she somehow could not abstain or give up the taste of human flesh? The best way was not to get her mother worried and continue with her animal instincts once she was back in her own territory. She was aware of the risks and she would live by them. But as long as she was staying with Mira she ate what they hunted jointly together and stayed away from human flesh. Maya recounted more stories of her various escapades to Mira over the days she stayed with her. In about a week’s time Maya decided it was time to return home. More so because the enforced diet away from human flesh with Mira was becoming to be drab and boring. Mother and daughter took their leave of each other. Maya going back to grow the legend of hers further while Mira returned to her lair wondering when Maya or any of her other children would come back to spend time with her.

After Maya left Mira was feeling a bit disconsolate, missing her daughter. But then tigers like to hunt and Maya’s stories about hunting had made Mira go back in time to the high points of her hunting forays. Mira recalled the bison or wild buffalo she had killed. It was big, huge with horns almost four feet long. It must have weighed about four hundred kilos. Mira had two cubs to feed at that time. But even for the three of them it was too much to eat. Because of this Mira was in two minds about going after that young bison. But then like they say the temptation was far too strong. Apart from that the thrill of the kill had already overtaken Mira’s mind and she was moving towards the bison as if propelled by some unseen force. Mira had jumped onto the bison’s back avoiding the long horns which could be lethal if they plunged into her. Getting a grip with her forepaws on the wildly threshing shoulders of the bison Mira lunged with her jaws at the bison’s neck. She could get a bite but the bison was strong enough to shake Mira off. Mira had maneuvered the bison away from its herd and she could see from the corner of her eyes that the bison was moving back towards its fellow animals. There was still some distance remaining between them and the herd and Mira had to do something quickly.  Once the bison reached the herd it would be too risky for Mira to attempt to kill the bison. Normally the bisons would keep to themselves while the tigers or other carnivores moved in for the kill but then you never knew. It was always possible for them to gang up and attack the carnivore. If the bisons gored her then it was keepsakes for her, Mira knew. Even getting tossed by those long horns was not a pleasant experience. She had seen once a small leopard being tossed and stamped underfoot by the bison’s hooves until it was almost in shreds. Mira wanted none of that. If she had to kill this bison then it would have to be done before it managed to reach its herd. There was enough time, she knew. Mira therefore jumped off the back of the bison and started running alongside the bison. She could see that blood was pouring out of the bison’s neck where Mira had bit. That was slowing down the bison. Mira knew that this was an advantage for her and took one running leap and jumped astride the bison’s back. With the claws of the paws from Mira’s back legs embedded into the rear flanks of the bison and the claws from the front legs across either side of the bison’s lower back, Mira with the tail almost vertical was, like they say, firmly in the saddle. She could not now be shook off by the bison’s writhing or jumping or swerving. The bison also was aware of her desperate position but with the loss of blood, it had been weakening. It could not do much. It also now knew that the battle with Mira was lost. Mira in her position of vantage raised her head and then plunged it into the back of the bison. Her jaws crunching the backbone, biting through the thick bone and severing the spine. The bison literally stopped in its tracks. Paralysed. Its legs frozen in midstride dragging through the dirt and mud just from the sheer momentum that it had built up earlier. The mouth of the bison was slack and the eyes had turned glassy.The bison went like that a little bit ahead and then just toppled over. Mira on the back of the bison was thrown off and landing on all four legs turned in one single movement and came back towards her kill. The bison was well and truly dead. Mira was happy with her work. She had succeeded against an animal which was twice her weight and with her immense jaw strength had immobilized her prey. What more could she ask for? Looking around to confirm that she was alone with her kill, she let out a call for her cubs to come and join her. They came out of the brush bounding towards her, happy at the thought of fresh meat and that too stomach-full. For a few days Mira did not have to worry about food. The herd of bison had in the meanwhile taken off at a gallop leaving Mira to devour one of their own! Mira had no complaints!

And then Mira started thinking about her hunts of bears. Just like Maya seemed to like human flesh, Mira had found bears to be very tasty. But in her territory they were few and far between. But for a stray black bear that would pass through, Mira had found that she must have probably killed just about eight or ten bears in her entire life span. But there was a funny story waiting to be told here. Mira liked to mimic animals and most of her prey like deer and boar she could make sounds like they would make. This was also in the case of bears where Mira would be able to reproduce their grunts and growls. It was one of those times when a mother bear along with three cubs had strayed into Mira’s territory. Mira had seen them and had drooled over the chubby cubs. But Mira did not want to get into a scrap with the mother unnecessarily and was mulling ways and means of drawing her away from the cubs. It was getting to be difficult since the cubs rarely strayed away from their mother since maybe they were too small or that the mother was too possessive.  However, one day Mira found that the mother had gone to a tree nearby where there was a large beehive. She probably wanted to get at the honey since that was what bearsliked. Apart from that maybe with suckling three cubs she needed all the energy she could get and the honey was therefore a huge attraction. This left the cubs on their own. The mother before leaving had them well-hidden in a thorny ticket with clear instructions to stay there until she got back. Mira knew that she had little time to get at the cubs. The thicket was a hindrance since the thorns were rather sharp and Mira did not want to get scratched. The only way was to imitate the mother bear. She had heard the mother bear calling out to the cubs in a series of short, sharp grunts and then they would come running to the mother bear. Mira attempted to mimic themother bear. In the first few attempts Mira did not come anywhere close to the mother bear’s calls. But after some time she seemed to be getting a response from the cubs. Once after Mira had given a call she had seen a small brown head peering out of the thicket. The next time it was not only one but Mira saw all three brown heads. The cubs were, however, hesitant to come out since they were still not sure if it was their mother that was calling. But this limited success spurred Mira to greater endeavour in her grunts. And lo and behold after a few tries she saw the cubs one after another coming out of the thicket. Mira was pleased no end and confronted the cubs. They were hardly three to four months old Mira guessed. Seeing Mira the cubs were nonplussed. Where was their mother? And who was this strange creature bearing down on themmenacingly? But these questions were not for Mira since with the cubs having come out she had all the answers that she needed. She also had little time since she had to kill the cubs and eat at least one of them before their mother returned. The other cubs that she could not manage to devour she could carry away for a more leisurely repast.  There was also no question of pity since in hunting it was a simple, straightforward question – it was either the hunted or the hunter who would die and there was really nothing in between.  Moreover, bear cubs were delicious and Mira was already slavering at the thought of getting her teeth into the cubs. Without any confusing thoughts Mira slapped in succession the three cubs dead and settled down to at least have one. The first one finished she found that the mother bear had still not returned and started on the second one. Midway she heard noises and expecting the mother bear to be back, Mira made post-haste to leave the place. Grabbing the half eaten second cub and the third dead cub in her jaws she moved out. The mother bear would have been writhing in sorrow seeing the remains of the first cub and not seeing the other two would have surmised what must have happened to them. But that was not Mira’s concern and she went on her way happy with the manner the hunt had gone. All she remembered from that incident was that she had had a delicious meal. And from that time onward Mira went out of the way in the event that she sensed a bear in her territory and to hunt for it. 

In hunting Mira had realized that the techniques she followed were very effective. The fact that she had rarely gone hungry in her life gave evidence to the correctness of that claim. More often than not she waited in ambush for her prey after checking them out in advance. This approach helped Mira to conserve her energy and use it in the kill if it was required later. Like sometimes deer would slip away from her grip and dart away. Deer were fleet of foot. But then Mira had never had problems to catch them over short distances where she could run as fast as the fastest of the deer sometimes even at forty miles in one hour. The other thing Mira had realized was that she had a very good memory. She recalled an instance that had happened a few years ago. Once out hunting near a village, a boar had hurt her leg pretty badly. She knew she had hurt the boar grievously and that he would not be able to run far. So after she had given up the chase she took shelter in a grassy knoll amidst a clump of trees to rest and take stock of her injury. The grass was high and she could effectively hide herself in it. As luck would have it the boar had veered off towards the village. The human beings having seen it raced after the boar as they sensed an easy kill considering that it was already bleeding. When they finally caught up with the boar and killed it, there were some smart alecks amongst the villagers who presumed that two boars had got into a fight and must have hurt each other badly. So if this boar they had been able to catch, the other boar could possibly be near the place where the fight had taken place. So it was up to them to follow the blood trail and at the end of it they might find the other boar. It seemed that the human beings also liked boar flesh almost as much as tigers did. Thus the villagers followed the blood trail and came near about where Mira was hiding in the grass. Mira hoped that they would not be able to see her. The grass was tall and she was completely covered. If the villagers were to stumble onto her hiding place then she would find it difficult to escape what with the injury to her leg. That damn boar must have bit her. Mira licked at the wound and saw that it was not too deep. Not enough to immobilize her but sure enough to slow her down. Licking the wounds she had had in the past, Mira had found helped in curing them. It was said that there was something in the tiger’s saliva which helped cure the wounds quickly. Apart from that Mira like other tigers liked to lick herself clean and when she had a wound here or there it was all the more fun but for the pain from the wound. But her immediate concern was with the villagers who were coming out around her. And then suddenly Mira saw a human being standing quite close to her in the grass. She was sure that he had seen her. Mira had overlooked his coming because she was absorbed in what was happening on the other side with the villagers making noise. He kept standing there looking at Mira not missing that she was hurt. Mira was sure that he was afraid of her but his face did not show it. He was an elderly man and had some kind of a bag strung on one shoulder. Mira also did not move and kept looking at the man unblinkingly. In this manner they locked gazes for quite a while and then the man raised his hand and kind of gestured to her assuringly. He then passed her and was on his way to the village. While going, with his feet Mira could see him erasing the smears of blood of the dead boar. He must have hardly taken ten steps when the man was accosted by some villagers asking him if he had seen a dead boar anywhere about. The man said that from the direction he had come there was no sign of any dead boar. And if there was no blood trail what were they doing here? With that he asked them to go back the way they had come. The man must have been someone influential because the villagers listened to his words and went back. Mira heaved a sigh of relief. The man had saved her from some unnecessary nuisance. If the villagers had spotted her while they were looking for boar then she would have been forced to make a stand or run away limping with her injured leg. Now that was not necessary and she could relax here for some time and once she was feeling better, she could go on her way. But just as a matter of caution Mira moved deeper into the grass. Mira also thought that what the man had done was nice and she should not forget this favour. After a day of resting Mira felt better and moved out and came back to her lair. Time passed. It must have been about two years later. Mira was out looking around if there was any easy game in sight when she heard the yelping and barking of a bunch of jungle dogs in the distance. These dogs were always a nuisance creating problems for everyone, Mira thought. Nonetheless she went across to find out what was happening. Sometimes these dogs would aim for some big prey confident in their numbers but then after the initial attack and hurting the prey, if the wounded animal fought back they would not know what to do except stand around and pester the wounded animal raising unnecessary din like they were doing now. Mira wanted to take advantage of just such an opportunity and grab the prey after shooing off the dogs. When she reached the place from where the noise was coming, what does she see that on the jungle trail the dogs were attacking a man. They had bit him at many places and had almost torn off the clothes he was wearing. But then this man was not one to give up. He had apart from waving around the stick that he was carryingalso had collected some stones and was furiously throwing them at the dogs. There were eight dogs in all who seeing the unexpected resistance from their prey were keeping their distance except for one or two of the adventurous ones darting in off and on to take a bite of the man. Mira thought after taking in the scene that it was none of her business but still moved closer for a better look.  Wait! Was this not the man who had saved her near that village when she had been hurt? It looked like the same man. Mira knew then that she had to do something. She jumped on to the trail leading up to the point where the jungle dogs had surrounded the man. The jungle dogs seeing movement behind them backed off from the man. And then upon seeing Mira they just took to their heels with their tails between their legs. She did not even have to growl to drive them away. The man slowly turned around to see who his benefactor was. And what does he see but a full grown tiger on the trail walking towards him. When the man turned around to face her Mira knew that this was the same man who had saved her from almost falling into the hands of the villagers some two years ago. She stopped where she was, some fifty paces from the man. She looked at him and blinked. The man unsure of himself stood his ground but again Mira saw that there was no trace of fear on his face. Mira waited until the man had collected himself altogether, taken stock of his injuries and finding that it was nothing major, turned around and went back down the jungle trail. The man had seemed surprised that Mira had not attacked him. Now after taking some steps, he looked over his shoulder, smiled and made that same assuring gesture that he had done to Mira two years ago. Mira guessed that must mean that all is well. She turned around and disappeared into the jungle, thinking that that was one favour returned. 

Hunting apart Mira liked the water. She would go and swim whenever she could. But then the time the great flood had come, and that was only once in her lifetime, she remembered how she had been carried away downstream by the floodwaters balancing herself on a tree trunk and was thrown out on land near where the big water was there. Mira had found herself on sandy soil and when you went near the water the soil would shift underfoot giving you the feeling that you were slipping away, being carried away by the water. Mira had got over that by planting her feet wide and clasping the sand with her claws. And then the big water itself. Mira had never seen so much water at one time. It was going on and on as far as the eye could see. Mira could vouch for that since she had gone up a hill by the side of the big water and looked out and there was only water and water everywhere. And the water itself was different from what Mira had seen earlier. The earlier waters that Mira was used to and would go for a swim in were mostly still. Like a pond or a lake in the jungle. It was only the stream near her lair and the big river some distance away that contained water that flowed. Mira liked that for swimming since you could just relax and float in the water and get carried away some distance and then swim back against the current. But here at the big water the water would come at you aggressively as if it wanted to fight and take you along with it but then stop suddenly and crash on the sands making a mighty sound. It was not just one wave that would do that but there were hundreds of waves like that, one after another, some crashing together and others crashing at different times making a cacophonous crescendo of noise. Mira tried to fight them but by the time the waves became big it was time for them to die and they dashed down onto the sand never to rise again. They then went back to become yetagain big and strong but only to crash again instantly to their death. The waves after breaking near the shore left a calm in the water for a short time and Mira tried to paddle in that and found it pretty easy. She even a couple of times ventured out into the big water a short distance where she found the waves forming near her but they were friendly and would only rock her up and down in their embrace. It was good fun and Mira enjoyed swimming in this not-so-deep water. But she always remained parallel to the shore. She was not comfortable with going further in the big water since she could not see any land beyond so where would she end up but be swallowed by the big water. This realization deterred her from venturing too far into the big water. The other thing about the big water was that it was salty. You could not drink it. Mira once when she was very thirsty having frolicked in the water in the hot sun was desperately thirsty. She tried the big water but then had to spit it out. It was that salty. She had then slaked her thirst by going back to the river where the water was more to Mira’s taste. The other problem was that on the sands near the big water there was no food. Mira had not developed a taste for fish and though she had slapped down some in the big water, they were just not enough. How many could she slap down until she had a full stomach? Maybe a hundred would be required given the small size of the fish that came near the sandy shore. And who would eat it because it was so difficult with all those small bones and also boring to eat so many. There were some fowl near the sands but few and far between. Mira also would have to do a merry chase before she could catch one only to end up more hungry since just one fowl was not enough. It was more like an appetizer than a meal. So she had to catch a number of fowl before she could even fill half her stomach. No proper food and water is what made Mira decide to leave the big water. So one day Mira decided in the morning to go back to her lair. The floods had receded. The river was not swollen any more. She was again peaceful and flowing comfortably as Mira knew her. Mira tested the water. Not too cold. And then Mira started swimming back. 

Looking around her while swimming she could see the devastation that the floods had caused. Just like the tree trunk that Mira had balanced upon and come to the big water, there were many trees which had been knocked down and were hanging half in the water and half without. There had been landslides in other places with rocks crashing into the river bank and still lying there. At such places you could see the gashes these landslides had left in the surrounding forest and on the riverbank where the large rocks had finally fallen. Just before the big flood Mira remembered that it had rained heavily for almost ten days without a stop. Off and on you could hear thunder and lightning crashing down but the sound of water falling incessantly is what predominated. Mira lay in her rocky lair and listened to the sound of the rain. But then she was getting hungry and knew that at such times getting game was easy since there would be deer or boar or even bison stranded in the rising flood waters. All Mira had to do was to locate such a group and pick and choose what she would like to eat and then go for what she had decided to kill. With food concerns at the top of her mind Mira came out of the lair and found that the stream that used to flow through the rocks below was no longer a gentle, gurgling mass of water but a raging torrent. The stream had overflowed its banks and had covered almost all the rocks and was lapping near the tip of the rocky ledge that led to Mira’s lair. And then it happened. Mira had leaned over for a closer look at the water, when her front paw slipped on a small stone that she had thought was firmly fixed to the ground. Mira unbalanced and fell into the water. And then there was little that Mira could do. The raging waters of the stream took over and carried Mira, though she struggled to get back to firmer ground, on and on. There was no fighting the waters which Mira realised after some time since all she would do is lose her energy. The best thing was to go with the flow and see where it took her. What Mira had to do was to look out for floating debris that could hit her in the water and for underwater rocks on which she should not get thrown on hard. Doing this for some time exhausted Mira and she realized that it was not very long before she would also end up losing all her strength and drown in the water like those other animal carcasses that she had seen floating past her. As luck would have it, she saw a big tree trunk with some branches intact coming at her. Mira swam out of the way and as the tree trunk passed she latched onto some of the branches and hung on for dear life. After some time grappling her way to the tree trunk, she climbed on it and balanced herself for a free ride. The tree trunk was not spinning around in the water because the branches stopped it from rotating. No energy wasted and she could also now see the sights as they passed. Mira complimented herself on a job well done. But there were still risks in the gushing waters since the tree trunk would be pushed around in the waters by the flow and would hit other debris and sometimes the river bank. It was then that Mira would get jolted around and once she got almost thrown off the tree trunk. Mira had clung on to the tree trunk for dear life since that joyride was well worth it and safer for Mira than risking herself in the water. That is how Mira had found herself near the big water. Now going back felt good and with all the risk and strain of swimming Mira made it back to her lair in abouta day. The big water was probably just about twenty miles from Mira’s lair. Doing it in a day was good timing at her age. But the more important thing for Mira was that she was alive and as an added bonus had seen the big water. The surroundings around her lair were the same. Nothing much had changed except that some trees were down and with the flood waters receding; the rocks were dirty and muddy. Not much to worry about that since a good shower of rain would sort that out and clean the rocks. So for Mira again it was back to normal.  

Hers had been a long innings Mira reminisced. It was time to go. Time to end her rein over these jungles of Gagan Bavda. The sun by this time was low down on the western horizon. It was painting the skies with various hues of red, gold and yellow. Taking on the colours from the sky the hills and valleys below Mira were also awash with colour. As the sun set the shadows in between the hills would get longer, the colours slowly fading to the black of the night. Mira knew that this was the daily cycle. In the evening the sun would set, only to rise gain from the other side the next day. In its ascent it would early on, colour the hills and the valleys of Gagan Bavda again in the same hues which would fade into the bright sunshine that would be there throughout the day, for the play of colours to start again in the evening. This cycle was unending and inexorable. But not for Mira. Her time was up. With a long sigh, she lay down on the cliff face, never to rise again. Her innings had ended. The tigress had finally abdicated.

THE END