The Tiger's Hound- Part 39b

Sheru barked at the tiger. He wanted him to wake up. But it was no use. The tiger seemed to be in deep slumber. Sheru was frightened to nudge the tiger. He didn't want to be easy prey for the tiger while trying to help him.

Sheru walked towards Prashant. He jumped at him as usual for attention. Why did his master stand still? He bit a part of his cloth when jumping around him didn't work. He was tired. He had been pulling his uniform for long time. Oh! Why doesn't Prasun ever listen to him? 

Prasun thanked himself after he saw what had happened next. As soon as tiger fell into deep sleep, the squad cut the net open and placed the heavy tiger on the wooden plank. Later they checked whether the tiger had some injuries. Shyam Babu lead the medical team during the check up. It seemed as if he knew the tiger from inside and outside.

Prasun didn't stay for long. He was asked to go home. He got the news of the tiger safely sent back to the wild when he had arrived for his next shift. He was happy and hugged Sheru. Sheru understood the news. He jumped with happiness.

But this episode didn't get over very soon. Saving a tiger lead to investigation of  the poachers. The environmentalist like Shyam Babu was trying to find out who were culprits. It was tedious work. The culprits weren't easily found.

However it didn't take suprisingly long to get the poachers. But it was shocking when they found who their kingspin was. It had shook the whole village. News spread like fire. No one in the village wanted to face the bitter truth.

(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound- Part 39

This was ridiculous! He had bought them to help the poor animal. They were trying to kill the animal. He walked towards the man who was pointing his rifle at the tiger. The man was trying to get the aim. He shot on the bark of the tree as Prasun had pushed the man.

The man got angry. " What are you doing? Why did you push me? Have you gone mad?", he scolded him in their native language. " Yes! But not me! You have gone mad. Why are you killing that tiger? He is not a threat.",he said in their native language.

"He is not killing the animal. He is trying to save the tiger. If he doesn't put the Anastasia, he wouldn't be able to help the tiger .", Kimberly said from no where. Shyamlal translated it to him .She had arrived now to analyse the situation. Prasun was still not convinced. He wondered what was Anastasia.

The man tried to aim again this time. He shot the target. The tiger stood for few minutes, feeling the pain for few seconds. He relaxed again. Within half an hour, he felt drowsy. Until he was completely unconscious, no one walked closer to the tiger except Sheru who had been barking at everyone.


Prasun looked at the tiger. The tiger wasn't responding. What did they do? Did they kill the innocent tiger? But Kimberly had said they were putting some Anastasia. What was it? Was it poison to kill the animal?  He felt helpless.

Sheru walked up to his master. He nudged Prasun many times. Why did Prasun stand there? Why was he not helping the tiger? Was the tiger sleeping or dead? He didn't understand what was happening.Why did anyone want to kill a helpless tiger?


(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound-38d

The tiger was whining and growling for help. Once upon a time his eyes had devilish desires. But today those eyes were filled with pain. He wanted to be free and run away to the wild where he would feel safe. He promised lord that he would never venture out. However God bought a human and his pet to add to his miseries.

Prasun got out of his shock. This was purely poacher's trick to trap the tiger. As per what he had learnt from Kimberly, poaching was crime. But it wasn't given in the book that what was supposed to be done during this time. He was confused whether to inform Kimberly and squad about the poaching or walk back home.

Sheru barked tensely. He wanted to help the tiger. He knew how it was to be trapped and lose your freedom. However everyone was not lucky like him. He was scared that tiger may end up being in the zoo like other tigers he had seen. He didn't want this tiger to be in that state too. He wished Prasun could do something.

Prasun remembered about the walkie talkie he had. He sighed and was relieved. He took it out from his right pocket of his pant. Later he switched the walkie and talkie on. He spoke loud and clear, " There is a tiger trapped. It must be poacher. Come soon."  He had also given the direction where he was waiting. He walked close towards the tiger. It growled while raising his paws to protect himself.

Sheru barked incontrollably. Prasun asked him to keep quiet. He watched the tiger. He thought about how he could save the tiger. He knew it was impossible for one man to release the wild tiger. This was a tiger and not some pussy cat he could save. He waited for some time , watching closely for a way he save time for the Kimberly and her men to save the tiger.

The squad had come within few minutes. Prasun showed them the tiger. The squad member took out the rifle and pointed towards the tiger. Prasun was shocked. What was he doing? Why were they shooting the tiger? Who were they? Did he call the wrong guys? Or where they were involved with the poachers? God knew what was happening! He looked at the man who was mercilessly pointing the rifle on the poor animal.


(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound- Part 38c

Sheru was acting weird. He was walking inside the woods deeper and deeper. Prasun followed him. He couldn't understand where his dog was going. Did Sheru pick up some scent? Was there a tiger somewhere? Prasun wondered.

If there was a tiger, he had to turn back to village. As per the rule book, the handler and his dog shouldn't approach the tiger on  their own in the jungle. Instead they should only face them when they arrive at their place.

Prasun tried  to drag Sheru back. But Sheru resisted and walked forward. Sheru was rigid about his sense. He knew there was a tiger. He wanted to get hold of it and drive it away. There was no way the tiger could enter the village when Sheru was around. Hence he took the initiative to follow it's sense of smell to spot the tiger.

He was close. The tiger was somewhere close by. Prasun was frightened. He had almost came too close to be eaten by tiger. He wasn't ready to face another one. His heart was beating louder. He wished this nonsense dog just stopped and realised where he was going. This was forest for christsake. Tigers ruled them. Humans were strangers just like the tigers when they arrived the village.


" Oh! Come on! Sheru! Let's go back. There is nothing here.", he scolded Sheru in his local language. He pulled him again through his leash. But Sheru resisted again. He gripped his torch while dragging Sheru. Sheru still continued, ignoring all the efforts of his dog.

Sheru stopped suddenly. He barked at Prasun. Prasun didn't seem to understand until he pointed his torch at something that was rattling on the ground few distance away from where they were standing. It was a tiger. The tiger was caught in a net we call a trap set by poacher. Prasun stood standstill.

(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound- Part 38b

The task of protecting the whole village from a ferocious animal who seems to think he's the king wasn't easy as it seemed before. Before it was food and money that attracted so many like Prasun to take this job.

Now it seemed like he got himself tempted towards the offer. Now he understood the real underlying value of money and food they had offered for this job. You had to sacrifice sleep, life and safety for food and money.

What will be food and money useful when your soul or body is not alive to enjoy the fruits. He wondered the irony of life. He should be happy.  But that happiness was short lived. It had been two weeks since he was placed instead of Ramlal. He was missing home.

Though he had no job, he constantly worried that he hadn't missed any rule of  Tiger's hound's handler. He never wanted to be in spotlight. It was scary when he thought about forgetting even one rule from the rule book. He would read the rule book before he would start his shift.

Anyway the tiger had not ventured into the village side. Sheru opened his mouth, smirking while thinking about the reasons why the tiger had not come. Maybe they didn't have courage to face mighty himself or Maybe they were getting more supply of food in jungle itself.

It was useless drinking coffee. It didn't keep him awake. He would fall asleep for an hour until he would realize that he was on duty. He would pinch himself , slap himself , wash his face every few minutes or go for walks with his dog. As usual he went for walks today also, he was on his walks. But today he felt uneasy like as if he was going to face some unfavorable situation soon

(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound - Part 38

Ramlal had ideas... ideas that could break Prasun into pieces. But he had no courage or belief to execute these ideas. His other brilliant ideas had failed to work. So he left it. He convinced himself that being a dog handler was not his thing and it didn't quite suit his image. He was rich man in the society and it wasn't good for his image to be the watchman for the village.

Prasun fitted best. Prasun wasn't rich like Ramlal and this role was perfect for small man like him. Ramlal always felt that tiny roles was perfect for Prasun kind of person. Tiny people like Prasun needed this job to give small push to make oneself known. Ramlal felt it was small charity which is

The useless Prasun had almost proved his worth. When Kimberly had called out his name, he couldn't believe it. He felt that he wouldn't get any opportunity again to prove himself. He thanked Kimberly in mind. She was too sweet to forgive Sheru and him for their mistakes and give them another opportunity to proove themself.

Prasun was excited. So was Sheru. But Sheru had no idea of where they were going. It was first time that Prasun would get to eat full fledged meal offered by the villagers. However it was not only food that excited him, it was also the chance to show his worth to the society that excited him. Wow! His dream was coming true at last.

It still seems like a dream. He pinched himself twice to make him come out of this dream bubble to reality. He thought that if  he opened his eyes , all these beautiful things would disappear. So he blinked many times. But the image in front of him was real.

Kimberly had explained him the rules of being Tiger's hound with help of Shyam Babu. Shyam Babu made him comfortable and advised him to be calm and cautious. Prasun had listened carefully. He didn't want to make the same mistakes like Ramlal. He had bought several packets of tea and milk. He had made sure that he never fell asleep.

Being watchman of the village wasn't easy task. He had lot of responsibilities. He had to make sure the man eater never step his foot on his village. He had to partner with Sheru to protect the village. It wasn't Sheru or his only task.

(To be continued)

The Tiger's Hound- Part 37b

The search team looked for the dog everywhere. He wasn't there. Ramlal had prayed that his dog was safe. He didn't worry about the dog safety. He worried about his image. His luck had just started now. He wanted to enjoy the sweetness of his success. But he didn;t know it would end so soon.

Life was strange.Sometimes it is bright, sometimes it is dim. But sometimes the dark night remains for long time until the first light of sun falls on earth. Till then we are never at peace. Prasun was in state where he didn't know whether it was night filled with miseries or daylight.

As soon as he heard the news, he felt pinch of happiness though he felt bad for Ramlal. It was  his adorable dog. However he was suspicious whether Ramlal loved his dog as he always showed off to people how much he adored his dog. Maybe he was just a show off.

After 10 long hours, when everyone dispersed home, Ramlal found his dog waiting at home. Everyone was at peace when they reached home. The little dog was playing chase game with Ramlal's six year old son. No one knew how the dog came home unscratched.

It was rumored that maybe Ramlal was not there on duty. He must have created some story to hide his real story. Whatever it is , he was at loss. He had lost an opportunity due to his laziness. Kimberly had taken Ramlal out of the project. She had decided that replacement of Ramlal's position would be notified next day.

Kimberly announced the results next morning. The replacement had shook Ramlal. He couldn't believe that his stupidity could cost him something big. His pride broke into pieces. He couldn't watch someone like Prasun take his place. Hence he tried to break him.

(To be continued)