SOHINI

Tathagata Mukhopadhyay

(1)

IVAN

Today I am feeling out of sorts…

Given a choice, I would like to sleep the whole day, but I know that’s far-fetched! Muchchar Thomas won’t allow that. After all, our show is the main attraction of Romila Circus! Ours, meaning mine and Sohini’s. Even until a couple of years back, there were few more like us. But the numbers have steadily dwindled, leaving only Sohini and me to hold the fort.

There are, of course, other animals. Three elephants, a lone Alsatian, a single Dalmatian, a Cockatoo-couple, and one colorful macaw. And us...the last two of the tigers.

Sohini was born right here at the circus. A purebred Royal Bengal, she wasn’t as big as me. But she compensated for that with her mercurial temper. Once, he even dared to paw down muchchar Thomas. It’s a different matter that she had to endure a few lashes of that deadly electric whip that Thomas carried all the time. Then, she was put to sleep for one and a half days with some heavy dose of sedatives. Several times, I tried to persuade Sohini to control her temper. She should realize that this circus was her home; she earns her daily bread – or should we say the daily meat – from here. She must be a little more accommodating. Life is all about adjustments, after all.

Unlike Sohini, I was not born in the circus. I was born in distant Siberia. As a cub, when I just started to understand the world, I found myself in the troupe of a Russian Circus. It was a great troupe! The food was awesome, and importantly, Ringmaster Anatoly was a far better human being than this scoundrel of a person – Thomas. Unlike Thomas, he had a very kind heart. He used to caress and cuddle me if I behaved well during the shows, and also treat me with big chunks of beef ribs. But as ill luck would have it, while on a tour to India, I was sold off to Romila Circus. Since then, muchchar Thomas became my boss, and with it, my bad days started. Thomas had a thick, upturned pair of moustache – that’s why we named him ‘muchchar’. He had the face of rouge and, befitting his ugly countenance, behaved like one.  Thomas had a sidekick – Ayappan. He performed as a clown, but his main job was to keep an eye on all the animals and report everything back to Thomas. Even our innocuous mistakes were blown out of proportion and reported. I had heard Thomas was a professional hunter. After the government imposed a ban on hunting, he took a job in the circus. He was our Ringmaster!

Frankly, I quite enjoyed our shows. We performed three or four tricks. Just before our performance, a temporary cage was erected along the periphery of the arena. This, I thought, was a sheer waste of time. Sohini agreed. We had no intention whatsoever to pounce on the audience while performing. Besides, we quite enjoyed the little children who watched our show with awestruck eyes. And when Sohini and I rolled on the ground and assumed a ‘namaskar’ pose, closing our front two paws, they clapped and smiled gleefully… 

Their mirth made our days…

Yet the circus authority – or should I say our muchchar ringmaster – was extra cautious. He never trusted us. What he hadn’t known was that we – the big cats – were more trustworthy than the humans. Every time, before our event, the arena was caged. And then, Thomas, dressed in a shining outfit, entered the arena with a wand in one hand and the electric whip in the other. Sohini and I followed him.

First, we took our positions on two huge stools. As soon as Thomas waved his wand towards the audience, we supported ourselves on our hind legs and offered a ‘namaskar’ pose with our front paws. Ayappan, usually, was already present there clowning around while the temporary cage was erected. After our first act, Ayappan came with a steel ring and stood in front of Sohini. With another wave of the wand from the Ringmaster, Sohini crossed the ring with a calculated leap and sat on another stool placed diagonally across…

Mine was usually the next event. Ayappan got another steel ring. It was slightly bigger in diameter and had cloth wrapped on it. It had a rectangular handle on one side for Ayappan to hold. The ring was then doused with kerosene, and a fire was lit. Upon the Ringmaster’s instruction, I then jumped through the fiery ring. This act was taught to me by my ex-boss, Anatoly. In the beginning, I was scared. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. We canines are very aware of the destructiveness of fire. But slowly, I got accustomed. We canines also have this inherent ability to execute a leap to millimetric precision. For example, we can leap and capture a tiny and extremely agile mouse with an accurate ten-yard leap…

As a matter of fact, if the fire-ring is held steadily, leaping through it is easier than it appears…at least for us…

But today, I’m not in the mood. An unexplained lethargy crippled me since morning. I was told by my four-legged friends in the circus that every evening we were administered a controlled dosage of sedatives…so that we ‘behave’. Maybe last night there was an overdose…who knows?

Generally there were two shows in the evenings, one at five and the next one at eight pm. Mornings were for rehearsal sessions. This morning, while I was blissfully asleep in my cage with my head tucked in between my front paws, Ayappan woke me up with a rude poke of his stick. It wasn’t necessary because even in my sleep, I could sense Ayappan’s presence. I could smell his sweaty body odour. I opened my eyes and saw my cage door ajar and Ayappan signaling me to hop on the stool for rehearsal. What the fools did not know was that we, canines, did not have to perform the same drill over and over again…once trained, we never forgot!

I fought my lethargy and reluctantly sat on my stool. Ayappan shouted at me with some of the choicest expletives. Oh, how I hated this rascal! I protested by flashing my paw around his face and a suppressed roar… That was enough to scare the hell out of the clown. He beat a fast retreat and disappeared in the tent. I thought I’d managed to get rid of him for good…but I was wrong. As I was about to enter my cage to complete my unfinished sleep, I realized that Ayappan was back, along with Thomas and his favorite weapon … the electric whip. Thomas started yelling at me. I had no other go than to come out of the cage again. Ayappan was ridiculing me by exposing his ugly, betel-stained teeth and grinning like a monkey. No sooner had I sat on my stool than Ayappan poked me again on my ribs. Immediately, I almost lost control. I say almost because if I wanted, I could have separated his head from his torso with a single swipe of my paw then and there, but I just wanted to caution him, not kill. Hence, I executed a controlled swipe so that he escaped with a few scratches on his chest. Immediately, muchchar Thomas sprang in action. As Ayappan jumped back and was falling on his back, Thomas’s electric whip lashed on my back. A scathing white pain shot up through my spine. I roared and fell on the ground in agony.

By then, other members of the circus troupe came running. A few of them were carrying rifles. I am well aware of that deadly weapon…

Last year, I saw it being used on Raghav, right in front of my eyes.

Raghav grew old, and with age, became a reluctant performer. He even became a little senile. On that fateful day, Raghav grew a little wild – which was well beyond the tolerance of those cowards! And then I saw the power of a gun! Two consecutive shots through Raghav’s ribs brought him down on the arena. The death groans of Raghav still reverberate in my ears… Raghav died in a matter of two minutes…I still remember every little detail of the agonizing end…

I, Ivan from Siberia, have no intentions of dying a death like Raghav. I know, with firearms in their hands, they would not hesitate to kill if I protested further. I stand no chance whatsoever. I could hear Sohini roar softly, pleading with me to calm down. Easy, Ivan, easy…

I lay down on the arena for a while, breathing deeply and waiting for the numbing pain on my spine to subside…

After a while, I heard Thomas shout, “Up, Ivan, up”.

I got up from the floor and painstakingly took my position on the stool… 

**  **  **   **  **

Tonight’s last event – Ivan’s leap through a fire-ring…

I could see that Ayappan had wrapped more cloth around the ring and clearly doused it with more fuel, making the fiery ring much more lively and dangerous…

I could sense the heat from the lively flames even from this distance…

I saw Ayappan standing with the fire-ring, holding the handle away from his body. I could sense revenge in his eyes. This is another inherent trait that we canines from the cat family have. We can read the eyes of our adversaries… animals or humans…

I was sure Ayappan was up to something. I looked at Sohini. She, too, sensed something. But she also knew I had no choice.  She assured me with a soft groan… cautious Ivan, cautious…

I saw the Ringmaster impatiently waving his wand; I was supposed to leap immediately…

One..two..three…jump. Aiming the fire-ring, I leapt. And as I was crossing the ring, I felt a blazing sensation on the right side of my torso… Ayappan pulled the ring towards his left as I was passing it… I sprang out and spun around in vendetta … 

I made up my mind. Today was going to be the doomsday for Ayappan…

Almost immediately, I could sense a dart filled with a heavy sedative prick somewhere on my neck…

As I was losing consciousness, I saw Sohini looking at me with concern. I saw pain in her eyes just before passing out…

(2)

KUMAYON VALLEY

Jim Corbett National Park – Kumayon Valley. Our new abode was very peaceful and picturesque.

The place was surrounded by the Shivalik mountains and covered with Himalayan subtropical pine forests and various other flora and fauna. And through the hillocks where we lived, the river Koshi flowed merrily. The climate, though not as cold as in Siberia, was very pleasant. On summer afternoons, when it got very hot in the plains, all we had to do was to climb up a hill to chill out in the cool Shivalik breeze..

Late in the night, Sohini and I trudged down to have a drink from the river. The water tasted awesome…

After that eventful evening at the Romila Circus, things happened in rapid succession which ultimately changed our fate…

When I woke up after the effect of dart shot weaned off, I felt a searing pain on the right side of my torso. The burning sensation was unbearable. I was unable to turn on my injured side. Sohini lived in the adjacent cage. From her, I came to know that the vet had attended to my wounds. They also applied a thick layer of greasy medicine on it. I inspected my wound. A large portion of my velvety yellow and black striped skin had peeled off; instead, I could see raw, burnt-out flesh along a long line. I also saw the circus staff moving around with concerned faces. I noticed Thomas and that dastard Ayappan too in the crowd, faking concern on their faces. Nobody suspected Ayappan, for no one understood that my injury was by his devious design. Everyone thought it was an accident – that I had misjudged the jump… that I was petrified of the fire… Fools! They do not know the accuracy with which we, species from the cat family, can execute a leap. We can hit a static target a hundred out of a hundred times.

A few days after the incident, we had visitors. A group of gentlemen and ladies, more of ladies. They were carrying cameras. I was their focus of attention. The group belonged to an association which worked for the prevention of atrocities against animals. Luckily for us, in the show that I got injured, there were people from this association in the audience. So the matter had gone to the press, and the visit happened immediately after…

The group forced the circus authorities to release us into the wild.  All humans are not cruel like Ayappan or Thomas – this we knew. But that a few of them cares so much for animals was not known to us. We were deeply touched…

Soon after, Sohini and I were transported in caged vans and released in the Kumayon Valley. Freedom beckoned!

I must admit, initially, it was really difficult for us to survive. At the circus, true, we were caged, but at least we did not have to fetch our own food. Food was served right in our cages. In the wild, things were drastically different. Hunting was a difficult task. This National Park had no dearth of food… there were deer, rabbits, nilgais, antelopes and sambars in abundance. There were wild ducks in the rivers … and fishes … swarms of them. But their instincts to survive, under living in the wild, gave them razor sharp reflexes. They could sense our presence much in advance and beat retreats. For the first time, we realized that we needed to hone our hunting prowess to survive. The first three to four days were really bad – we could not manage to have any catch. Both Sohini and I survived only on water… But pangs of hunger can do wonders! While moving around on empty stomachs and searching for food, we quickly started learning all the tricks of the trade. For example, we learnt that often, it is futile to chase lighter and agile prey. The antelopes are much faster than us. It’s best to hide ourselves behind bushes and wait till the gullible prey comes close enough for us to pounce.

The other trick was attacking jointly. Attacking from opposite ends gave very little scope for the prey to escape. They also got mesmerized when they saw death from both ends! It’s by this method that we managed to capture four wild ducks on day five… That evening, we had a huge feast and for the first time savored our freedom…we devoured the ducks to their last feathers.

Every passing day honed our hunting skills bit by bit. Then, one day, Sohini did the unthinkable! She pounced on a bison, which was bigger than her. With great skills, she took the bison head on, and even before the bison could pin her down, she dodged and attacked from below and held the beast by its throat… But the bison was far too big for her alone. Immediately, I went for her aid. I pounced on the bison’s back with all my three hundred kilo mass and imparted a huge blow on its head. The force was adequate to break the bison’s neck bone with a clear snapping sound. The jarring impact disengaged Sohini from her deadly bite, and she fell off… We ate the bison for the next seven days…

Slowly, our lives became normal. We got used to our new lifestyle in the wild. From a distant rustle, we could easily make out whether it was a deer or a rabbit. We could judge the distance of the elephant herd from the soft tremors on the ground. We could detect the groan of the visitors’ jeeps from a distance of three to four kilometers…

Oh yes, we had visitors in the daytime.

Humans, scary creatures that they are, enjoy having a taste of adventure in the woods. They derive enormous pleasure in detecting wild animals in the open. Whether to expose ourselves to the gullible visitors depended entirely on our moods. There were days when we obliged them with cursory exposures; on other days, we just lazed in the thick bushes, doing nothing. Those fools never understood we knew all their moves; not for a moment were they out of our radar. But these humans were timid and harmless. They meant no harm. And no one was allowed inside the reserve forest beyond dusk. We were all by ourselves in the nights - or so we thought. We had made friends with many other big cats in the forest. However, rarely did we tread into the territories of other cats. We, Sohini and I, had managed our own territory and were very happy with our little kingdom…

Then one day, things changed…

One morning, we discovered the cadaver of a bull elephant. It had bullet wounds on its head, and its tusks were sawed off… It did not require the intelligence of those cunning monkeys to understand that the elephant was killed. We know that humans were very fond of animal body parts. Elephant tusks and tiger hides were regarded as collector’s items, which decorated the living rooms of rich people. These items fetched high prices. So there were poachers who started to intimidate us by unlawfully entering our territories. There was no doubt whatsoever that a few poachers had arrived to destroy our peace. I looked at Sohini. She understood instantly. Strange! All our lives, we entertained the humans, yet they are our biggest enemies…

These are the only animals who kill only for pleasure…

(3)

SOHINI

The full moon flooded the night with liquid silver. The reflection of the full moon was dancing incessantly on the free-flowing waters of Koshi. Normally, we stay awake at night. After a few incidents of poaching, we were more alert. The night was cloaked with pregnant silence, save for the soft rustle of wind and occasional crackling of night-birds.  Suddenly, we could hear the not-so-distant trumpeting of an elephant. A sole trumpet! This was odd. Pachyderms are gregarious; they like to move with the herd. This fellow has definitely lost his herd…or was he…was he cornered? Or has he detected something amiss?

We sensed a distinct smell brought forth by the northerly wind. It was faint but familiar. I turned to see Sohini’s reaction. She’d detected it too! She sat on her hind legs with her ears fully erect, trying to listen to something…

We were sitting at the base of a small hillock. She got up and softly climbed up the dome. Her canine instinct has sensed something…

Moments later, I saw Sohini on top of the hillock, silhouetting against the new moon, her ears erect and tail taut. The new moon just behind her head like a bright round silver plaque…

She twitched her tail, clearly signaling me to follow, and started descending on the other side of the hillock. Swiftly but silently, I ascended the dome and within a minute, reached the summit. We could see through in dark nights, and tonight it was flooded with moonlight. I could clearly see the ‘machan’ – the makeshift platform on a tree-top, about three hundred yards from where I was. And on the machan I detected three figures. Poachers!

The tree was on the slope of the hillock. The slope continued well beyond and descended to the banks of the Koshi River. The river, a dancing silver ribbon, was clearly visible from here. Those dastards were waiting for the gullible animals to come for a drink by the river bank with loaded firearms, ready to shoot from a safe distance…

Halfway down the slope, I saw Sohini behind a bush. Stealthily, I climbed down to her side. Sohini was clearly very excited. Her nostrils flared up, whiskers taut and tail twitching ever so slightly…The smell of those humans was now much stronger with the breeze blowing upslope …That the poachers on the tree-top are oblivious of our existence, now just hundred yards upslope, was obvious. They couldn’t have detected our body odours, for they were upwind.

There are cats belonging to other species, like the cheetah, the puma or the lynx, which are expert climbers. But Sohini, the purebred Royal Bengal, or I, the Siberian from the Amur region, cannot climb trees. Yet, tonight we were at an advantage! We were uphill, and the elevation of the tree-top was actually slightly lower than our current location. A few more steps ahead, and then we would be within the range of our leaps… We could easily trap a moving target, and there we were, having a static target within a hundred yards downhill… This should be a breeze!

I looked at Sohini. She twitched her ears and moved her whiskers. One moment, perhaps two and I understood her plan…

Sohini descended with stealth and silence and waited about fifteen yards before the base of the tree.  By hunting together, I knew exactly what my role was…our understanding was immaculate!

I retreated three or four steps and crouched. Sohini looked at me and signaled with her tail.

I rocketed downhill, with full speed, and from fifty yards took the mightiest leap of my life, accompanied by a mighty roar that lacerated the husky silence with a rude shock!

The three men spun around. I could see terror and disbelief in their eyes. The mustachioed man wearing a hunter’s hat trained his rifle on me, or so he thought! What he didn’t know was that he was a trifle late! That deadly fraction-of-a-second delay which separated life and death!

I, with all my three-hundred-kilo mass, landed heavily on the makeshift bamboo platform, which immediately crashed to the bottom of the tree, bringing all of us along with it. Just a fraction before it landed, using my cat-reflex, I leapt out, unhurt.

My role was over…now it was up to Sohini to finish it off; it was her plan, after all.  I saw the three men on the ground shivering and groaning in terror and agony…

Sohini knew exactly what she'd do next. It took only two seconds for her to flail her first and only paw on Thomas’s neck. Immediately, his head sagged like a rag-doll as his neck bone snapped.  Sohini then realized that the second man was trying to escape with laborious limps. It took three more seconds for Sohini to maul down Ayappan. He lay there with a ghastly pit of a wound to where his abdomen was once existent… She then yanked out three pounds of flesh from Ayappan’s thighs…no, not to eat… we were well fed… This man had committed a sin a long time ago… Sohini didn’t forget! He deserved a slow, agonizing death…

Then I saw Sohini, with bloodstained paws, slowly sauntering towards the third person. He was unknown to us. He was lying beside a bush pitifully and wailing. Perhaps he had a few broken bones… The man was conscious. Sohini brought her face down, very close to the groaning man and sniffed. The man, instantly, was unconscious! After a few sniffs, Sohini just nonchalantly left him alone and signaled me to move downhill.

Let the man survive…there has to be somebody to tell the story to the villagers!

Sohini and I rambled down the hill to the pebbly bank of Koshi. We needed a drink…

*********