We were now only around ten yards from the tree. My friend’s father had picked up an abandoned bamboo stick. I wondered what good that would be against a very angry tiger!! Suddenly, just as we thought we were about to make it to the tree, came the terrifying roar once again. This time the two of us were more prepared with exactly what to do. We faced straight up to the oncoming tiger, raised our arms, looked the beast straight in the eyes and screamed as loud as our vocal cords would allow. It made no difference whatsoever this time!!! He just kept coming!!!!! He was only some ten to twelve feet from us and I was having visions of meeting my creator, when there was a loud cracking sound to my left. I don’t know how much it shocked the tiger but I know that I almost died of fright before the tiger could have had the pleasure of killing me!! The "useless" bamboo stick had been smashed against a rock at the very last moment. It was a sound that the tiger was obviously not expecting because he deflected off his initial line of attack as if struck by a bullet. This time he didn’t disappear into the bushes but instead stopped near the opposite edge of the clearing and began pacing up and down. We stood perfectly still, watching his every move. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks!! I don’t know whether it was a coincidence but it was exactly the same moment I felt my heart had stopped dead in my chest!!
The sun was now very low and it was very important to move fast. Without thinking twice, my friend’s father tore his T-shirt into strips and using some straight pieces of wood, made a splint for the guide’s leg. He tied two of the strips together and strapped the dislocated arm to the chest. He looked around to try and find something to use as a makeshift stretcher but there was no such luck. So the only other option was for the three of us to walk shoulder to shoulder and carry the man in our arms. This is a difficult enough task under normal circumstances but when you are faced with thick and thorny bushes it is almost difficult to even describe. All of us reached the jeep with torn shirts and trousers, scratches all over with blood streaming out of them. Just as we were moving the guide onto the rear seat, he started to regain consciousness. As he came around, his eyes wildly looked around to check where his attacker was. He was slowly calmed down. I think, that evening, we were all calming ourselves down too with the soothing talk we gave the forest guide. The old man then asked us to undo the strapping around his chest as he was quite used to his shoulder dislocating. To our shock and horror, with a very slight indication of pain, he just popped his arm back in!! His leg was later plastered properly at the local hospital. I don’t think the pain of his injuries even registered in the old man’s brain anymore! He just beamed proudly as we told the driver of our jeep about what all had happened. Since the driver was also from the old man’s village, he knew the tale of his bravery would be etched in the village’s history long before the first person fell asleep that night.
The first part we examined was whatever was left of the hind legs. On these, there were clearly visible straight deep gashes where the tiger had dug in it’s claws to pull down the victim. The second part of the body to be checked was the neck. This was absolutely intact still. On it we were shown the teeth marks where the tiger had implemented the famous choke grip to cut off air supply to the lungs. After showing us these two clear indications of tiger kills and other big cats, we were being asked what else we thought we could look for in case neither of these two were found, when suddenly my friend’s father stopped mid sentence and stood absolutely still. He raised his hand and motioned us all into keeping absolutely silent and still. We were wondering what he was trying to listen for when all of a sudden a deer gave it’s loud warning call around 50 yards from where we were! The sudden call of alarm made us all almost jump out of our skins. The Tiger was in the vicinity and on the move!!
There was not a sound except the chirping of some birds. Some of them on their way back to their nests for the night and others that were startled by our intrusion into their territory.
They were given a decent compensation, if the involvement of a tiger was confirmed. This time, we were also allowed to go along to learn how to investigate a kill. My friend’s father said we should hurry because it was already getting close to sundown and tigers are known to return to their kills once the cover of darkness envelopes the surroundings. So without much ado, we were off in the jeep to find the kill.
