THE HUNT
It was that time of the year in the supposedly dense forests of West Bengal. Supposedly I say,as the forest was not looking dense by any means. Apart from the few golden coloured leaves, the tall trees were looking bald. It was summer time, and the only place to find some water was the lake- The saviour for even the most voracious predators. One such was lurking near the lake.......... This time not for water, but for prey. The prey, whoever it might be, had no choice but to come to the lake for water. So, waiting patiently by the lake was the best option for the Bengal tiger. There were not many left in the forest. And so, for this one, finding a prey was essential, thought mother nature. The yellowish golden eyes were looking expectantly at the lake from behind the bush for quite some time now. And there it was,a pale thin deer, obviously dying of thirst. It was dying for water, and was quite oblivious to the two golden eyes watching it. The tiger slowly moved forward from behind the bush, towards the deer. The tiger was as oblivious to the brown eye watching him as was the deer of the fact that the tiger was on the prowl. The brown eye didn’t quite fit the scene. The reason being simple, it belonged to a human being. The right eye was watching the tiger, the left eye being shut tight. The right eye concentrated right in between the two golden eyes of the predator. The tiger lunged forward, so did the hunter. The deer heard the scuffle behind and looked back. So did the tiger, as it heard the scuffle behind. The deer ran for its life instinctively, but the tiger didn’t. It gazed at the rifle pointing towards it. It did not attack either. It was staring death in the face. Somehow it knew..that it was now inevitable..........Bang!!! .....went the gun, and the mighty creature collapsed right there. Bang went another shot.....but the sound was different this time.....that of an AK-47. The bullet hit the hunter in the knee. A normal human being would have collapsed, but the hunter swallowed the pain and ran for his life.....May be he had done this before. Trying to catch up with him was a khaki clad person, with an AK-47 in his hand.....He shot one more time.This one missed. "This time I’m goin to get you Shubhakar. I’m not going to let this forest loose another tiger till I'm alive!”, the khaki clad policeman muttered to himself. A few paces ahead, Shubhakar ran frantically for his life, the injured knee now hampering his run. He ran uphill. He puffed and panted, but never stopped. He knew the forest like his home. In fact, it was his home.The place where he earned a living, a lot more than a living actually, out of hunting and poaching. The West Bengal police had been after him for quite some time now, and he had twice given then the slip. He hoped that would be the case this time too. And it looked liked that. He almost reached the mountain top, the policeman nowhere to be seen. He had given him the slip. Dead tired and panting heavily, Shubhakar reached the mountain top..............He decided to stay there for a while. His wound was getting worse. Feeling suffocated,he looked around for water. There wasn’t any anywhere. He fell asleep......
It was that time of the year in the supposedly dense forests of West Bengal. Supposedly I say,as the forest was not looking dense by any means. Apart from the few golden coloured leaves, the tall trees were looking bald. It was summer time, and the only place to find some water was the lake- The saviour for even the most voracious predators. One such was lurking near the lake.......... This time not for water, but for prey. The prey, whoever it might be, had no choice but to come to the lake for water. So, waiting patiently by the lake was the best option for the Bengal tiger. There were not many left in the forest. And so, for this one, finding a prey was essential, thought mother nature. The yellowish golden eyes were looking expectantly at the lake from behind the bush for quite some time now. And there it was,a pale thin deer, obviously dying of thirst. It was dying for water, and was quite oblivious to the two golden eyes watching it. The tiger slowly moved forward from behind the bush, towards the deer. The tiger was as oblivious to the brown eye watching him as was the deer of the fact that the tiger was on the prowl. The brown eye didn’t quite fit the scene. The reason being simple, it belonged to a human being. The right eye was watching the tiger, the left eye being shut tight. The right eye concentrated right in between the two golden eyes of the predator. The tiger lunged forward, so did the hunter. The deer heard the scuffle behind and looked back. So did the tiger, as it heard the scuffle behind. The deer ran for its life instinctively, but the tiger didn’t. It gazed at the rifle pointing towards it. It did not attack either. It was staring death in the face. Somehow it knew..that it was now inevitable..........Bang!!! .....went the gun, and the mighty creature collapsed right there. Bang went another shot.....but the sound was different this time.....that of an AK-47. The bullet hit the hunter in the knee. A normal human being would have collapsed, but the hunter swallowed the pain and ran for his life.....May be he had done this before. Trying to catch up with him was a khaki clad person, with an AK-47 in his hand.....He shot one more time.This one missed. "This time I’m goin to get you Shubhakar. I’m not going to let this forest loose another tiger till I'm alive!”, the khaki clad policeman muttered to himself. A few paces ahead, Shubhakar ran frantically for his life, the injured knee now hampering his run. He ran uphill. He puffed and panted, but never stopped. He knew the forest like his home. In fact, it was his home.The place where he earned a living, a lot more than a living actually, out of hunting and poaching. The West Bengal police had been after him for quite some time now, and he had twice given then the slip. He hoped that would be the case this time too. And it looked liked that. He almost reached the mountain top, the policeman nowhere to be seen. He had given him the slip. Dead tired and panting heavily, Shubhakar reached the mountain top..............He decided to stay there for a while. His wound was getting worse. Feeling suffocated,he looked around for water. There wasn’t any anywhere. He fell asleep......
It was almost the end of the day when he woke up. The sun had begun to set. The thirst had now become unbearable. It was now safe to descend the mountain. He scampered downward towards the lake. Only a tinge of sunlight now remained as he reached the lake.............The cool water he splashed on his face felt like oxygen. He drank as if he hadn’t for ages. It was dead calm. The only sound being heard was that of the splashing water........but something was not sounding like water......rather , was sounding like bushes. He froze,and looked behind. He gazed at the AK-47 pointing towards him. He did not attack. Nor did he run for his life. He was staring death in the face. Somehow he knew......that it was now inevitable......Bang!!!........Went the gun, and the hunter collapsed right there. The policeman lowered the gun, and checked Shubhakar’s pulse. He was gone...................”You have to think like a hunter when you are on a hunt”, thought the policeman.
