Tiger Tales – part 6

Contrary to the opinion of my dearly beloved wife, I can now prove that at least two people read my blogs.

One is my friend, Ashok Gulati, who sent one of the tiger tales to his friend, Ronnie Patel, who in turn has contributed the following tale. This was, doubtless, at some ancient time, set to music, and one can imagine the camp fire burning late at night somewhere in the wilds of the Dooars jungle, the cook preparing dinner, the Old Monk flowing freely, and some artistically inclined young shikari entertaining his comrades to this ditty:
Through the jongole I am went
On shooting Tiger I am bent
Boshtaard Tiger has eaten wife;
No doubt I will avenge poor darling’s life

Too much quiet, snakes and leeches
But I not fear these sons of beeches
Hearing loud noise I am jumping with start
But noise is coming from my damn fool heart;

Taking care not to be fright
I am clutching rifle tight with eye to sight
Should Tiger come I will shoot and fall him down
Then like hero return to native town;

Then through trees I am espying one cave
I am telling self – ‘Bannerjee be brave’
I am now proceeding with too much care,
From far I smell this Tiger’s lair,

My leg shaking, sweat coming, I start pray
I think I will shoot Tiger some other day;
Turning round I am going to flee,
But Tiger giving bloody roar spotting Bengalee,

He bounding from cave like footballer Pele ,
I run shouting ‘Kali Ma tumi kothay gele’;
Through the jongole I am running
With Tiger on my tail closer coming,

I am a telling that never in life
I will risk again for my damn wife!!!!

Tiger my prayer hearing, slowly slowing,
His leaps and growls now stopped following,
He’s left, turning other way — I can tell,
I think, he did not like my wife as well.

Mr Patel is the author of the last four lines to this timeless lament for a lost wife who got inextricably mingled with the digestive juices of a tiger, but did not prove too succulent or tasty for the tiger. Perhaps mixed with ginger, onions, garam masala, and cooked in mustard oil over a slow fire……