The Story of Shikara

"Wake up!", hollered Bikhu. Fraidy Cat stumbled to his feet as his father hovered sternly over him. "I'd like to discuss last night's hunting episode." Uh-oh, he thought, there was just no way of avoiding the subject. "What frightened you this time?" "It was -- the moon. It was so bright -- it startled me." Bikhu rolled his eyes. "Suppose we practice a little now, then. There's no moon in the day time."

Fraidy Cat crouched down, ready to leap, the pug marks of his hind paws covering the pug marks of his fore-paws, just as Bikhu had told him. He saw something moving in the thicket, and without hesitation, he sprung, catching a peahen in his mouth. As the bird spread its feather plume, Fraidy Cat stumbled about blind. "Drop it", Bikhu told him. "Peahens are not very filling, and besides, they're a pain in the butt." Finally, Fraidy Cat gathered the nerve to ask him, "What is my name?" Bikhu shook his head, and explained that he would find out when he'd earned it. "Do you know what Bikhu means? 'Wise One'. Now, when I was young like you, I was anything but, so you know what they called me?" Fraidy Cat shook his head. "Nimble Knees! So you're not alone." Bikhu's smile was betrayed by his weary eyes. "You'll find that the more you know, the more mysteries there are." "Such as?" "Well, to start with, if the Great Felis Tigris created you and I, did He make the Shikara too? And if he did, then why?" Bikhu looked up and saw Colonel Rammington gazing down from atop his rock. "I say there, Bikhu -- Fomenting revolution?" he thundered. "Just teaching my son to hunt." Rammington snorted, "For which side?"

Devi screamed as she awoke. She had been pursued across the forest by a fearsome creature, only to be rescued again by Bahadur, the Courageous One. The trouble was, nobody believed her. The others called her Delerious Devi. Being Colonel Rammington's daughter was of no help whatsoever. He and Meena had already promised her to Madinlal, who claimed to have once saved her life; she remembered things differently. That is, if she remembered at all. She found it all very confusing. It was while she was in this confused state that she happened upon Fraidy Cat, still practicing his stalking techniques. Leaping out of a bush at her, she screamed and he ran up a tree. "You're not supposed to be scared!" she cackled. Jumping down, he approached her cautiously. "My name is Devi", she told him, extending her paw. "I've never heard that name before", he declared. She sighed. "Mmm -- that's what my father said to my mother. Do you know what Devi means?" He shook his head. "Godess! Have you ever heard anything so pretentious?" He didn't answer. He just knew she was going to ask him his name, and he couldn't think what it might be. "Nevertheless," she continued, "it is my name, and so I have to make the best of it." Just then, a gang of young tigers spotted him and began to bait him: "Fraidy Cat! Fraidy Cat!!!" He wanted to climb back up the tree. "Fraidy Cat?" Devi protested. "Fraidy Cat?!! Imagine -- a strong tiger like you -- strong and brave." "Th-that's me!" he stammered. "Why, you're just the sort of tiger my father's looking for. Recruitment is at the hollow stump in one hour. I want you to be there." "B-but --" "The hollow stump in one hour. Be there!"

Bikhu and Kasturbai had seen it all before. Years earlier, he and Rammington had established the Tigers Corps, thinking that they could head off annihalation. But the Shikara kept on coming, and all the valour in the world didn't put a dent in their progress. Colonel Bikhu brought Kasturbai and their young son to the Melghat Forest in hopes that they could stay one step ahead. This caused a rift in the Tigers Corps, and he was branded a "pacifist" by Rammington. Knowing it was only a matter of time before the Shikara caught up with him, he was not surprised when he and Kasturbai found a young tigress huddled next to the mauled remains of her mother. "Look, I'm not frightened, okay?" Lakshmi howled as they tried to move her. "You have to stay somewhere, don't you?" Kasturbai suggested. She resisted, until they offered her a piece of meat. She hadn't eaten in days.

Noon at the hollow stump. Just as Devi said. Fraidy Cat stood before Colonel Rammington, the other tigers sneering at him. Bikhu stormed in and pulled him away by the ear. "What do you think you're doing?" he shrieked. "I thought you told me I had to learn how to survive", protested Fraidy Cat. "That's right", replied Bikhu, "and the first rule of survival is not to get killed!" Rammington spotted Bikhu, and his mouth curled into a wide grin. "Oh dear, I think I feel the 'P' word coming on -- Sounds like a profusion of Pacifism in our very midst." Rammington tromped right up to Bikhu's face. "For those of you who couldn't fight a possum, never mind a Shikara, there is an alternative -- you can go off and lie in the grass with Colonel Bikhu -- and await your fate. Now, shall we move on to the 'C' word?" Fraidy Cat shifted timidly away from his father. "They're in our midst, Rammington" growled Bikhu, "the Shikara." A young recruit emerged from the assembly and took his place at Rammington's side. "What do you think is out there, sir?" asked Gopal. Bikhu introduced a tired and beaten Lakshmi, as Rammington shook his head in disgust. "Lounging and luxuriating in the face of death. If there are any more weasels among you --" Rammington's eyes surveyed the recruits. Nobody moved. He rose to his feet and barked: "So! This is all I have to choose from? A pack of scurvied river rats! Let me tell you, we're going to make tigers out of you, one way or the other!"

"Last night, I was all alone in the forest, when this giant bird came swooping down on me. He was going to carry me away in his claws, when Bahadur appeared and frightened him away." Fraidy Cat listened earnestly as Devi described her recurring nightmare. "Bahadur?" he asked. "The one who comes to my rescue!" she explained. "Can't you see him?" "Oh, yes. Absolutely. Well, sort of. Actually, no." She sighed. "Now you'll think I'm a whisker short too." Fraidy Cat thought for a minute. "Just because you see him and I don't, doesn't mean you're a whisker short." "What other explanation can there be?" "I don't know, but I'm sure there is one." Just then, the same pack of desperados came down to the stream to wash, and found Fraidy Cat and Devi sitting together. "Fraidy Cat and Delerious Devi! This is too much!" Summoning what courage he had, Fraidy Cat threw himself at the attacking mob, but was knocked unconscious. Thunderstruck, Devi blurted "My Bahadur!"

"The Shikara! We've seen them!" cried Nathuram. The tigers gathered around him amid much commotion. "Where? How many?" "It was a small group of beaters. We scared them away. We beath them!" Some were not so convinced. One of the elders shrieked, "You wouldn't know a Shikara if one skinned you!" Another demanded, "Has anybody seen Colonel Bikhu?" A few of the tigers decided it was time to search the forest.

Meanwhile, Fraidy Cat lay by himself in his thicket, trying to sleep. He was suddenly startled by a solid white tiger. "Wasn't it Churchill who said, 'There's nothing to fear but fear itself'? Or was it Lloyd George? Oh, pardon me, it was Roosevelt, and he's not going to say it for another eighty years..." Fraidy Cat looked at him quizzically. "What's a Roosevelt?" Then it occured to him: "Are you the Great Felis Tigris?" "And the Great Felis Leopardus, and the Great Felis Pantherus, but... you've got the right idea. What can I do for you?" "Do... for me?" "Of course! You don't think I came here for a vacation?" "Well, you see..." "You're in love." Fraidy Cat looked at him in awe, as he explained "To you, the world is a great mystery. To these eyes, things continue as they have for eternity. Nothing changes. You see the world from the ground up, and I from the sky down. The perpective is very different, that's all." "I'm not sure I can see the world at all." "Well, we'll have to lift you up to my level for a moment then. Now you will see yourself as I see you." The Great Felis Tigris disappeared, and Fraidy Cat found himself transported back in time to when he was a kitten. His mother was cautioning him, "Don't wander away. We're just about ready for dinner. And stay away from the Iron Road." "Yes, Mother," he replied. He heard Devi come up behind him. "Isn't the moon pretty?" she exclaimed. "It's so bright, I can hardly see when I look at it!" Fraidy Cat suggested that they try to get closer to it. "What is the moon?" she queried. A voice said menacingly, "It's a monster." They looked behind them. Madinlal appeared suddenly from behind a tree. "No, it's not," Fraidy Cat explained, "It's just a hole in the sky. And who invited you, anyway?" "It's a free forest. Besides, haven't you ever heard of the Moon Monster? My uncle and I saw it once when we were out hunting. It has fangs the size of your whole body, and it can swallow you in one bite." Devi started to shake. The children followed the moving beam of light. Suddenly, they heard a ghastly wail. It seemed to be coming from the moon itself. "He howls when he's hungry." Fraidy Cat countered, "That's nonsense. It's just the moon." As it appeared to be getting closer, they could see that this moon had a tail that snaked behind it and glowed in the dark. A whispy beard of steam bellowed from its face. The children were standig directly in its tracks. Madinlal seized up in fear and stood motionless. Fraidy Cat threw Devi ad Madinlal out of the way, but caught his foot in something on the path. The monster kept getting louder and closer. Then everything went black. The last thing he heard were the voices of Rammington and Meena claiming "The coward led them off down this trail and -- Look, he just stood in its tracks -- It's a good job Madinlal had the wits to rescue Devi -- Such cowardice! Coward! Fraidy Cat!"

Fraidy Cat opened his eyes, and saw the Great Felis Tigris looking down on him. "And everybody thought it was Madinlal who saved Devi. You should have know that I don't make cowards, and I never did." Fraidy Cat looked up wistfully. "So what do I do now?"

Twilight. As the tigers prepared for the hunt, there was a sense of foreboding in the air. The moon loomed ominously in the sky. Devi was sitting atop Rammington's rock, trying to sleep, but tossing and turning. Fraidy Cat could see her gazing at the moon. He was so fired up excited that he could hardly contain himself, but Madinlal, with Rammington's unwitting co-operation, saw to it that he got nowhere near her.

"You owe Madinlal your life!" Meena declared. Thumping her tail against the ground, Devi spat "Well I'm sorry, but you're not giving him my life!" "And Fraidy Cat just stood by and let this thing --" Devi's heart stopped. "What did you say?" Wondering what the relevance could possibly be, Meena continued: "He passed out. He was so scared, it was weeks before he even spoke..." This was an outrage, thought Devi. "You mean it wasn't just Madinlal..." "Dear, you should have seen him -- he just cowered..." That was it. As far as Devi was cocerned, the charade was over.

Veer carried a wounded Gopal in, with the entire pride gathering around them. "The Shikara! They've struck our own!" Gopal cried. "I found Colonel Bikhu. He's dead." Fraidy Cat remained motionless, in shock, then fell to the ground sobbing. The tigers ceremonially paid their respects to Bikhu and their condolences to Fraidy Cat and Kasturbai. "What do we do now, Colonel?" asked Nathuram. "We must prepare for attack!" "Attack them? How?" "No. They will attack us. I know the Shikara. They are cunning beasts. They do things to distract us, and then attack when we are not ready." "That sounds cowardly to me." "I hate to break it to you, Nathuram, but the world doesn't survive on nobility alone. We shall confront the Shikara head on. Don't be distracted by the beaters. The fire sticks are the heart of the beast, which we shall rip out from its chest..." First, they heard the soft beating of drums which built to a cresciendo, then stopped. Then they saw a burst of fire from the tree-tops. Veer was struck in the chest. The tigers were losing badly until Fraidy Cat rose, exclaiming "Hold it! Wait! This is all wrong! We should be confronting the Shikara's weakness, not its strength!" To the others, this was cowardice, but Rammington had to face the fact that they were losing. He also knew that Fraidy Cat's father engineered some of their greatest victories. Reasoning that the beaters were only there to frighten them toward the Fire Sticks, perhaps if they were to charge the beaters...

The Shikara scattered, but not before firing one last shot toward Fraidy Cat. Madinlal jumped in the way, and fell instead. The Shikara retreated, and Meena nursed a wounded Rammington. The rest watched silently as a crowd began to gather around Fraidy Cat. As he lay dying, Madinlal revealed at last that it was Fraidy Cat who saved him and Devi from the "moon monster". He also told that he once overheard Bikhu saying his real name -- Bahadur, the Courageous One.

As the others celebrated, Fraidy Cat began to slip away. At last, he had what he'd been seeking -- his honour, his name, his girl -- but what does he do now that there are no more creatures to slay? The Great Felis Tigris re-appeared, telling him "What makes you think all this was for your benefit?" "All your life you've been looking at the world. Now it's time to begin living in it. Think of your mother. She only wanted you to grow up and take care of yourself." "And now I have", said Fraidy Cat. "What more is there?" "What about Devi?" "Let devi decide her own future. I'm not going to fight for her." "What about me?" said Gopal. Fraidy Cat looked around and discovered that several tigers had followed him. "What's it like? The wonder? I need to know." Then he saw Devi, sitting alone. He walked up to her. Without looking at him, she said "Why did you say you wouldn't fight for me?" "Because I'd like someone to fight for me for a change." She began to lick some of the blood stains off of his collar. "How do you think you would adjust to my father?" she asked him. He replied, "Do you think he could adjust to me?" She laughed. "He never adjusted to me!" They curled up together, the moon shining down on them through the trees.