The Wild Friend : A Story

Shakti was on a jungle safari. Ever since his childhood, he had a great liking for the forests, as his house was located at the edge of the forest. His father was a village landlord, but he never allowed him to go into the forest. Once long back, when he had expressed his desire to go in the forest, his father had said, "I can allow you to go in the forest only when you have realized your dream."

So, he passed his childhood and adolescence looking at the forest from his fields and house. Whenever he wished to see wildlife, he was taken to the zoo in the city. The only exception was Bholu, a little bear cub, which was brought in the house by his father, a great hunter. When his father brought the bear cub in the house for the first time, he said, "I found this cub near its dead mother; I took pity on it and brought it with me, else it could have died there in the forest."

Shakti had read several stories and biographies in which experiences about the forest had been mentioned, but having a real experience was something different, so he was now in the middle of the forest; of course, only after he had realized his dream. He was now a lieutenant in the army. His military training also comprised a substantial part of jungle training, so he had practical experience of the forest, though not very elaborate.

Shakti was in the forest with his servant, Malu and had planned for a week-long safari. They had arrived just the previous day and had pitched the tent on a mound. His jeep was parked on the jungle track. The entire area was thickly covered with trees, vegetation and undergrowth. It was early in the morning. He was sitting on the folding chair cleaning his rifle. He never wanted to kill a wild animal, but you don’t know, when you might need a gun to scare away the wild animals. Malu was making tea. He had much experience of the forest as he had accompanied his father on several forest excursions.

By the time Malu brought tea, Shakti had already cleaned his rifle and kept it against the small table.

"Baba," said Malu addressing Shakti. He had been with his household for more than two decades and had seen Shakti grow from a toddler to a handsome young man. "Better load your rifle, you don’t know when you may need it. I've heard about a maneater leopard in this part of the forest."

"Yes, Kaka," said Shakti. 'Kaka' was a term of respect for the old servant. "I'll load the rifle before we start. Bring the cartridges, they are in the tent."

His military training had made him quite confident. He sat on the chair comfortably with the cup of tea in his hand. The forest was serene. He could hear some animal calls in the distance. Perhaps two groups of monkeys were fighting not very far chattering loudly.

Shakti sat lazily sipping tea while Malu was inside the tent gathering things that they needed to carry with them. Today they had planned for a ten-kilometre track on foot. And then the keen eyes of the trained military man turned to a side, in the same action, he kept down the cup and his hand moved to the rifle. The first thing a soldier does on perceiving a danger is to reach for his weapon, this was what Shakti had done precisely. He had heard the leaves rustle; he was sure there was something behind the bushes in the front. He breathed in deep; he could sense some strange smell. There is certainly a large animal around. The birds on the trees too were screaming by now. It confirmed there was a large animal around.

Shakti was now fully alerted, but his rifle was not yet loaded. He called Malu to bring cartridges. He sensed some danger somewhere very near.

As he looked around carefully, he found two eyes staring at him. It was the uninvited guest, it was the leopard. 'Is it the maneater that Malu was talking about?' this was the first question that lurked his mind. The problem with him was that his rifle was not yet loaded. He was trying to remember all the tricks that his military training had taught him how to face the enemy physically. An empty rifle was worse than a stick, he knew, so he threw it down.

Shakti was weighing his options, and Malu was yet inside the tent. Maybe he had not heard his call, so he called again, louder this time, "Bring cartridges, Kaka!"

Malu emerged from the tent carrying the whole box of cartridges. He said, "Its latch is entangled, it cannot be opened."

"There is a danger, I think we have the maneater right here," said Shakti pointing to the bushes with his glances.

"I'll bring the jungle knife," said Malu before entering the tent.

Just then the leopard sprang in the air and leapt on Shakti who had spotted it in the air. He ducked swiftly to a side; still, its paws rubbed against his back, but bruising him mildly, but it was not the time to look at his wounds. Before Shakti could turn, he found the leopard on his back. He fell face down shrieking loudly. He turned on the ground and found that the leopard was on him. He could feel the hot, stinking breath from its fearful mouth. He knew there was no rescue from the deadly paws. Death stared in his eyes.

The desire to live on reigned supreme in his mind, but the situation was terrible, he needed outside support to survive, and Malu, where was he?

The leopard looked here and there, and then opened its mouth showing its long, sharp teeth giving out an angry growl. In the leopard's open mouth, Shakti saw his opportunity to survive. Remembering the swift movement of catching snakes he was taught in his military training, he decided what he ought to do. Giving a jerk, he raised his shoulders and caught with his right hand the tongue of the beast as hard as he could and pulled it hard. The leopard was bewildered at this sudden movement; it tried to free itself with all its might, and in the process, the two rolled over and under each other.

Shakti felt that all his energy was deserting him, he was already bleeding from a couple of places. He knew he could not go on like this for long. He eyes were getting closed, he felt his hands squeezed of all energy, he knew he could not keep his consciousness for long; he was still holding on to the tongue, but not as strongly as before.

And then he saw some shadow leaping on the leopard from one side, and fell away taking it with it. Shakti was losing his senses. He thought it was Malu who had leapt upon the leopard. And then dark eclipsed his vision; he was unconscious now. He did not know what happened then. He did not know whether he was dead or alive, or whether he would die or live.

When Shakti regained his senses, he found himself lying on his cot in the tent and Malu was sitting near him, massaging his chest.

"Thank you, Malu, for saving my life," said Shakti with a feeble voice.

"Not me, Baba, I didn’t save your life, it was a bear," said Malu.

"Bear…?"

"When I came out of the tent and was thinking how to attack the leopard, a bear emerged from behind the grove," Malu narrated, "and it immediately attacked the leopard. It was so furious that the leopard was unable to face it. In a flash of a second, the bear caught it from the neck and shook it wildly. It left its neck only when the leopard fell dead. I had never seen a bear in such a frightful form."

"Then…!"

"What the bear did then is still more perplexing," said Malu. "It first ensured that the leopard was dead, and then it walked to you. You were lying senseless on the ground. I was scared that it could attack you. I was really frightened. But it walked to you, sniffed all around you, licked your face with its large red tongue, and then moved away disappearing behind the bushes."

"What…?" Shakti tried to sit up. He said in an excited tone, "I'm sure he was Bholu."

"Who…Bholu?" Malu was bewildered.

"Don’t you remember the bear cub that we had in the house?"

"O yes, that was a great friend of yours."

"I am sure it was he, he had come to repay the debt of our friendship," Shakti sat up and walked out of the tent. He could see the leopard lying dead on the ground. He could also see two shining eyes behind the bushes. He walked towards them.

"You must take your rifle with you, it is loaded now," called Malu from behind.

"I don’t need any weapon to meet my friend," said Shakti.

Seeing Shakti coming near, the bear rose to its great height and growled as if telling that he had done what a friend should, and then walked away. Soon, it disappeared into the dense forest.

"Good bye, friend!" said Shakti waving his hand from behind. He found Malu looking at him intently. He then said, "Friends will come and friends will go, but a friend like Bholu would never be found."