The Tiger's Hound - Part 12

Kimberly paused for a minute and said, " Yes we do. But this dog is the best. Haven't you seen the way he fought the tiger. We must include him in our team. He can teach the other dogs his unusual way of protecting villagers." "Hmm. Prasun Dada, get your dog to the ground where we had held our competition.", the panchayat's son said. "That means I am .. my dog selected, Shyam Babu (the panchayat's son)?"Prasun asked.

Shyam Babu nodded his head. As soon as they left, Prasun started building dreams of perfect future. At last he would get good food and warm place to live in. Ah! With money in the hand, he planned to purchase new clothes. The days of raw fish, torn clothes and half broken house would be a passe. Now he could show off his new found status as village guard though it wasn't something great.

While he tried to fool around with his dreams, he didn''t realise that Sheru was missing since morning. When it was time to take the dog to the ground, Sheru wasn't there. He searched everywhere. He had not left single area. He had also looked around at the place where he had found him. It wasn't there. Where had it gone?

His luck was cursed again. When everything was going all fine, the dog was missing. Why? Did God had trouble in seeing him happy? Why does lady luck play hide and seek game? He had almost reached the top and now he will tumble down to deep hole where he wouldn't be able to get up.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't go to the ground without the dog. So he simply walked back home. He was in his own thoughts and didn't realize where he was taking the path to ground. Everything was finished before it could start. He had almost taken vow to stop believing when he realized that he was at the ground where he was asked to come.

He scolded himself for being non vigilant of his actions. He was always absorbed in his thoughts and never cared about his surrounding or actions. He was about to walk back when Shyam Babu stopped him and signaled him to come towards the ground. He pretended to walk away but he saw something that shocked him.

(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound- Part 11

His sound did make an impact. Within few seconds, the villagers had gathered around to see what had happened. Sheru still barked while the petrified tiger searched for a way out to jungle. Seeing humans everywhere, it only wanted to be safe in it's den.

Some villagers tried to scare the tiger with their fire lit sticks. However Sheru was brave enough to drive away the tiger to it's jungle. Looking at Sheru's courage, the dog trainer was impressed. All the villagers praised the dog. He should have been thankful to dog for it's quick action. Instead he saw an opportunity knocking the door.

He had not noticed this until next day morning when the pancayat's son and the dog trainer came to his doorstep. Prasun was excited as well as scared. The future was always filled with mystery. Sometimes when you face too many horrible surprises, you wouldn't mind your boring simple life.

The most embarrassing situation was that he didn't have anything to offer them. He didn't even have glass of water. "Hi, I am Kimberly Jones and you already what I am here for?", the dog trainer introduced herself. However he couldn't understand the alien language.

While she continued, he stared at her with blank eyes, " I was very impressed by your dog's actions. He stood there barking with complete confidence and no fear of the tiger standing so close to him. Wow! I am still amazed that how could this nervous creature could be so brave?" He still looked at her with , trying to understand what she was telling.

The pancayat's son acted as translator between them. "Prasun Dada, she is Kimberly, the dog trainer. She is very impressed with your dog. She is still wondering how your dog could be so brave though it was the weakest performer today.", the pancayat son translated in his local language. " I want your dog to be part of our Tiger's hound team.", she said. The pancayat's son was surprised and said, " We already have eight dogs as per our plan."  

(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound- Part 10

A tiger had sneaked into the area where Prasun resided. He was laying on the muddy ground with hands sprawled all over the ground. He didn't realise the tiger sniffing him.

He did smell of easy prey to the tiger. His flesh could fill him for few days. It was in dilemma. It had learnt years ago when it was a cub that a prey tasted good when it was hunted down .

Well! It couldn't starve for long. It needed food to retain it's energy. It needed energy to fight against the young ones to maintain it's throne.

It was about to bite him. It was going to taste the human blood at last. It's teeth was almost close to his throat. One bite, his life was gone. One second.. One action could change everything.

He woke up suddenly with startle. He looked at the royal animal which was gaping at him. The tiger stepped back and his dog barked at it with lot of courage.

He walked across the dog and took a stick that he had kept slanting on the wall. He knocked the floor and screamed at the tiger while trying to get the attention of the villagers.

(To be continued)

The Tiger Hound- Part 9

He slept after continuous session of revisiting the dreadful past. He hadn't bothered to walk inside his broken shed. The cold breeze monetarily blew on his face, easing all the pain. But nothing put him in ease. His mind painted grim nightmares.

Failures had become his best friend. A fact.. he cannot digest throughout his life. He never really understood why he ever failed. He tried hard like others yet success seems to never shine in his life. Maybe he was destined to never taste success.

He wished the night didn't end. He wished he could sleep forever. He couldn't show his face to any of the villagers. They would mock him for days till they got bored. Now mocking would be their desired past time.

As the villagers slept after the tiresome day, the king of jungle a.k.a tiger got ready for it's hunt. It was used to trespassing into life of human beings. It looked forward for night when it could get easy dinner that could last for a week.

Tonight was the night when it could satisfy it's hunger. It didn't enjoy coming to alien land. Humans were unpredictable. They always attacked in groups. It wasn't easy for the tiger to hunt human prey without gathering any attention.

But it had no choice. The forest was dwindling and captured by humans to make more homes for themselves. With trees being cut, deer population had reduced over the years and this had hit the tigers badly. It needed food and the source came from the human space.

(To be continued)

The Tiger Hound- Part 8

Disastrous ! Horribly disastrous! He had become a laughing stock among the villagers. He could feel his dreams were going to shatter. His future was clear now. He was going to have raw fish and be called as useless by everyone rest of his life. His heart broke. A dream was going to be a dream now.

His dog 'Sheru' failed to impress the dog trainer. Their act was stopped in between and the score was given. Sheru had scored the least. Hence it was eliminated. Prasun held the natural made leash tight and walked back home.

As he walked towards his mud hut, the bitter memories replayed. He was furious at himself as well as the dog. He blamed himself for even thinking about using a stray dog. He should have taken the riskier route of stealing his relative's dog. But he thought teaching this damn stray dog would be easier.

When he reached home, he tore the dog's leash. The dog stayed quiet and stared at it's master. 'Sheru' could realize that his master was disappointed. It wanted to lick it's master's face. But it stayed back. It didn't want to face his wrath.

Prasun sat alone as the dog left him to his state. He cried first few minutes, Negativity flowed in his mind, mocking at his failures. While his mind consoled him to be strong and accept the failure with mind that nothing has ended.

His mind was not strong enough to overcome his heart. He cried hard. He didn't want to settle with plain fish and useless tag. He had one option to remove the tag. Even that was gone. He felt desperate. Nothing was left now. He was useless before. Now he added funny man tag too.


(To be continued)

The Tiger Hound - Part 7

An obsession can be dangerous. But if it is directed through right focus, a dangerous obsession can be turned into desire .. a positive one. Nothing would seem wrong when our actions are right and doesn't affect us from choosing the right from wrong. Prasun was focused on his dream.

The judge a.k.a the dog trainer was called at the center of the gathering. Everyone looked at her with awe. They had never seen a fair and tall lady with strong built. She had fair lines on her forehead. She had slight wrinkles that defined her experience in life. She seemed to be around the same age as Prasun.

Prasun looked around himself. He was surrounded by animated villagers who were looking out for the event. They cheered for the dogs as well as their handlers. Each dog and it's handler were called. Each handler displayed their dog's strength. The dogs were given points based on their performance.

Some performed extraordinary and received only seven out of ten. Some performed mediocre and received four. They were instantly disqualified. The dog handler was very strict when it came to selecting the best. She had selected the best , keeping in the mind that tigers were fearless. 

Prasun was last contender. The pancayat's son a.k.a event organizer asked him the name of the dog. Prasun was blank. He had not thought of the name anytime. He never called the dog by any name except dog in his local language or he whistled the dog to call the dog.

He paused for few minutes and thought about some fake name. He replied in local language," The dog is called Sheru."  His dog didn't respond well when the Pancayat's son called it's name. Prasun had to whistle to call him to stand on the center. It didn't respond even to Prasun's familiar whistle. It was disastrous. He knew the results before it was out.

(To be continued)

The Tiger Hound- Part 6

The dog leaped at him whenever he offered a piece of fish. It offered it's paw whenever he asked him. But everything he asked the dog to do came with a price. It wanted a piece of fish. The dog was very clever. It was like as if Prasun was it's master.

It wanted his constant attention. If Prasun glanced at other side, the dog would runaway to chase small squirrels. It was easily distracted. Prasun had to control the dog and bring back it's focus to it's task. It was tedious. But he had no other option other than running behind the dog.

Twenty fours hour were left for the main event. The dog trainer from US had reached India and the panchayat had gone to the city to receive her. The villagers were excited. They had heard that she was best dog trainer from the place she came from. Their local dogs would be handpicked by her to help them fight the tiger menace.

All the contenders were tough and deserving. They knew the tricks well. However his dog was relatively new to the world of rules. His dog was inexperienced and lacked the qualities of being good dog.

 Ramlal's dog was best among the lot. The tough competition didn't let Prasun sleep. He developed distaste towards food. Maybe as the D day would pass smoothly, he would be relieved. He prayed lord to guard him from all the obstacles. He also prayed that his luck worked this time.

It was afternoon. The sun was burning. The winds blew momentarily , reliving everyone from heat waves.The villagers were called for the gathering. The event was announced. All the contenders with their dogs arrived. Some were confident. Some were nervous. But everyone had their hopes held strong and got ready for the selection.

(To be continued)