Monday 8 June 2015

The Tiger Hound- Part 1

It was foggy midnight when Prasun Babu had decided that he would join as village watchman of  his tiny village near Sundarbans. It was the only source of income with guaranteed benefits. He had tried other sources but he failed miserably. His last job was as henchman for wealthy merchant's horses. Unfortunately he had forgotten to latch the one of the horses in it's stable. The horse took the opportunity to enjoy the freedom and fell in his death trap when a tiger hunted it down.

Prasun was fired the next day of un-fateful event. He had spent all his earnings on local alcohol drink. He was frustrated. The only way to clear his mind was alcohol. Next few days were spent on meagre diet of leftover rotten fish curry followed by many days of hunting fishes from nearby pody. His body got accustomed to it until he was tired of  having bland fish.

He looked out for jobs. The big ones were difficult to get. Hence he got used to working tiny jobs that didn't pay anything. Luck was always too bad for him. When he was born, his family had lost a fortune of their wealth. His father blamed him for all the misfortune. His mother supported him until she was eaten by a tiger on summer day. He married his childhood crush. But the marriage wasn't successful. She had run away with her lover on the day of wedding. As soon as his father died, loan sharks took away his family house and left him with the farmland that had turned into wasteland.

Friends dwindled. Enemies were none. People treated him as useless barking dog. He was going to change that after he got himself recruited as the village watchman. He had heard while he was walking by, some people were discussing about how the village panchayat who was taking heed of the his son a.k.a wildlife conversationalist's advice of using pet dogs to protect the villagers from the constant tiger attacks. The pet owners were rewarded royally with food and accomadation facility.They would also be paid fifty rupees every night. He was overwhelmed with this option.

Ah! At last his dry fish curry days were going to end. He would get proper food and housing if he gets selected. As he thought about the benefits, something rang in his head. He had no dog. He had no money to buy one. He needed a dog to take part in  this job fair. Selection was a distant dream. How was he going to get a dog?

. He thought about stealing a dog. He knew a distant relative who had a dog. He could easily steal it and ... train it ! Even if he had bought one, training it was difficult job. How shall he train one? The trainer was coming within a week. He didn't have enough days to train a dog and stealing was tough.
He didn't have sufficient resources to steal a dog. He thought deeply. He needed this job by hook or crook.

(To be continued)

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