My Encounter with Tiger

I am a little girl living in a crowded town. In the northern end of the town lies a dense forest. The forest invites me every evening with its comforting bed of leaves. The fragrance in the air pulls me as escape from the rush of the day gone by. Walking through the wild grasses towering trees reflects its abundance. Blending in the exotic canvas, breaking the silence birds sing lullaby. The streaming sun embraces the forest with gold. Forest beckons me in its pulsing heart.

Like every other evening reaching to the wilderness, today I could hear the scampering animal behind the bush. The feel of whose breathe reflected of strength. His shadow covered my legs and pushed me back to the artificial world. We have come across each other many times. Eyes have met, yet we remain as acquaintance.

I have not been disconnected due to his fearful eyes. Neither because of his padded strong claws which leaves me spell bound nor because of his love for blood and flesh which makes me numb. But I have been driven away from him feeling his tenacious nature. I have been doubting my ability seeing his courage that lets him raise his face high. Today he called me with a ‘Grrrr’ lending a hand of friendship. But my fear dubbed it as his defensive call. Giving myself an excuse of it being an invitation to death, I didn’t give him a chance. I was not kind to him.

Years have passed, I still go to the forest. It remains a mystery whether the fear inside me wants to face the reality and leave, or whether the mystery of the forest is what pulls me there. Trying to stop my anxiety to know the reason, I have constructed it to be nothing but a routine. Stuck in the ladder of growth I have formed a closed defined path from home to forest and forest to home. I have destined myself with boundaries. I have learned to live my life with fear.

But, it was different today. I dared and went for ‘Tiger Hunt’. I went to search him all around the forest. I shouted his name with dedication. Though deep inside I had a fear of losing the most important character of my life, I continued my search. He was nowhere to be found. The shrubs were silent with no movement. The aroma of forest had an unusual smoothness.

Then suddenly in the rush of destroying my fear, I found a red ribbon lying on the grass. Looking at it, an image of an accident that took place when I was young, came to my thoughts. It was blur but I could see black stripes on golden body. Coming to my real state, I started processing my thoughts. Maybe it was just a rare species of a squirrel which was cute but fast enough to leave me with a sprain on my leg. Maybe it was a bee, which left me with red mark on my hand with his sting. Maybe it was a beautiful flower which died leaving me with tears, blaming myself of not taking an extra care.

The fear I had learnt to live with now seems to take a different shape. In my new world of realizations, now I am kind to my memories. I am kind to myself. I am kind to the tiger. I am a ‘Tiger Hunter’.