The Tiger in the Tunnel
-
Ruskin Bond
Ruskin bond was born on
19th may 1934. He is an Indian author and British descent. He got
Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992, Padma Sri in 1999 and Padma Bhusan in 2014. ‘The
tiger in the Tunnel’ is the story of a tribal man named Baldeo. He was a
khalasi at a small station. He has a wife and two children they lived in a
village. He had a small rice field which did not provide them more than living.
Baldeo was responsible for signaling.
Baldeo heard
many story about the famous tunnel tiger which killed many people. But Baldeo
walked confidently. He carried a small axe like his fore-fathers. Wherever he
went the axe was always in his hand. Baldeo started repairing the signal lamp
as it was not working. The train was late, soon he begin to nod. There was a
low grunt. That sound was made by the tiger. Immediately Baldeo wake up and
became alert. Baldeo saw
the tiger coming towards his direction. The tiger jumped onto him. Marvelously
he escaped the paw of the tiger and struck the animals shoulder. Baldeo was
left without a weapon. The tiger roared with pain, sprang upon Baldeo angrily
and tore his body. All over in a few minutes Baldeo was dead. The tiger
sat down and licking his wounded leg. The overland mail train approached. The
tiger got up and ran as fast as it can. With a roar the train passed through
the tunnel. Silence returned once again. At the next station the driver saw the
tiger’s body on the cowcatcher of the train. But at the tunnel Baldeo was dead. After
three days, Tembu took the charge in the place of his father as a signal man.
There is nothing to be afraid of because his father had killed the tiger. He
had his father’s axe and he knew how to use it.
