A village dentist from Palgudi was driving a cart on his way to his
in-law’s place in a nearby village. He took his son with him. There was
a forest between the two villages. Circumventing the forest was a
twelve-hour ride on the bullock cart. A ride through the jungle was only
a two-hour drive. It was a verdant forest with carnivores.
He had safe journey through the forest often. For protection of
the travelers, there was a clearing in the jungle housing a Durga
shrine. The travelers believed that worshipping Durga in the forest
protected them from the carnivores.
The village dentist stopped at the roadside shrine and offered worship
to Durga. He threw a slab of meat by the temple building as further
insurance against tiger attack. As he finished up his worship, he and
his son were walking towards the bullock cart. A tigress suddenly
appeared from the shadows and sat on the forest ground. No growl. Her
mouth was agape. Her tail was flat on the ground. Surprise: there were
two cubs by her side.
The boy made one dash to the cart, jumped on and sat inside. The bullock
loosened itself from the yoke and ran away. Now the dentist was alone
with the tiger family. Something told him that the tiger was not to be
feared. The tigress moved towards him in a suppliant manner and opened
the mouth wide. The dentist noticed a carious tooth on the lower jaw.
The dentist always carried his instruments with him if his services were
ever needed on his travels. He brought his dental bag, opened it and
held in hand an extractor. He stood there for two minutes to make sure
the tiger was passive.
The tiger stood up with a gaping mouth. He saw the rotten tooth and
deftly extracted it with ease. Before
extraction, he put a sturdy steel pin across its mouth not only to make
extraction easier but also prevent the tigress from clamping its mouth
down. The tigress gave him a grunt, stood on its hind legs and licked
the dentist on his face, as his son watched it with amazement from the
safety of the cart. Meanwhile, the cubs were licking their chops. They
nibbled on the slab of meat and left the bone bare. The dentist went back to the Durga shrine and offered his thanks for saving his life and those of his son and the bullock. As he turned to get back to his cart to look for the bullock, the tigress with the cubs lay behind him in prostration to Durga. The dentist ventured out looking for the runaway bullock. He found it on a hillock. The tigress and the cubs disappeared in the thick of the forest.
He thought the tigress was people too.
|