The Sun rose and the morning paved the way for a new day. As the light of the Sun touched the trees of the forest, the daytime life in the forest was set in motion. At night the forest can be a place knocking at our fears but in the morning under the light of the Sun it gains a unique kind of beauty.
People in the village near the forest had risen before the first light of the Sun. It was a village quite far from the cities and their core modernities and thoughts. Although there were some brick houses, most of the houses were still made of mud, beautifully decorated with different artwork painted on the walls. There was no issue with the network or electricity there, this development came after a factory was set up at some distance from the village.
The environment played a major role in fulfilling the needs of the villagers and for the rest of the needs, trips were made twice a week to the cities for supplies or if there was an emergency then immediate trips were also made using the only vehicle in the village, an old mini truck. The truck was also the means of carrying goods from the village.
The villagers were involved in different professions, although none of them was on a large scale but it was sufficient. They reared livestock, mainly for milk and eggs, they did farming, the village was also known for its beautiful handicrafts. Occasionally the villagers wandered into the forest in search of different forest produce such as firewood, fruits, nuts, herbs, bamboo, honey etc.
Some villagers in recent years have shifted to cities to find a different kind of life and profession. While some had found a different kind of life while living in the village itself such as working in government backed reforestation projects or becoming a tour guide as a part of eco-tourism or cultural tourism.
Traders regularly visited the village to buy what the village produced. The villagers also occasionally embarked on planned visits to the cities to sell their goods. There were a few smartphones in the village, one in every household which was used by the rest of the family, not that they couldn’t afford it, they somehow couldn’t see the need of that complex technological leap beyond making and receiving calls yet.
It has not been many years since the importance of education has been realised in the village. The village children have started to attend a nearby school run by an NGO, upon the organisation sending a representative to explain the importance of education six years back.
At night, after having dinner the villagers gathered to talk and sometimes sing and dance before going into sleep peacefully to the sound of the forest.
One morning an angry sound woke up people, and they rushed outside to see Giridhar standing with a stick.
“What happened?” a villager asked
“One of my cows is missing, someone has stolen it,” Giridhar replied in an angry tone
“.. but how do you know it has been stolen?” asked the villager
“It was my healthiest cow.. someone must have seen her and decided to steal her..” replied Giridhar
“Why don’t we look around the village first before jumping to any conclusions..” suggested Mahendra
Thus, the villagers who had woken up and were aware of this particular situation, scattered around to look for the cow, half of those searching didn’t even know what the cow looked like, but who would dare say that to an angry Giridhar.
After more than two hours, most of the villagers who went to search came back.
“I don’t think it’s in the village, let’s wait some more time if anybody else finds the cow,” said Mansukh wiping the sweat from his head.
“.. and by then the thief will get the time to hide my cow,” growled Giridhar as he walked away grumbling
Another two hours went by, and there was still no sign of the cow. Once again, the villagers gathered in front of Giridhar’s house.
“The trader must have stolen the cow,” Neeraj said in a sure suspicious tone
“You always have suspicion on him because he is not of this village and is also a little different than the people here” Mahendra spoke up
“Really? What if I am right? What then?”
“Okay, tell us how he did it then?”
Neeraj looked around, and noticed a few others standing attentively to listen to what he had to say.
“.. so…” he looked again and people were still listening, Neeraj always lost confidence to speak when there were multiple people listening, “he.. must have come.. at.. night with his truck and taken the cow away..”
Mansukh looked completely unsatisfied by the answer, “So you mean to say that, with that clanky truck of his whose noise has become his identity, he drove all the way to Giridhar’s house in the middle of the village, and then he got the cow out of the stable and put it in the truck, all while the village dogs stayed quiet and not a single person saw him even mistakenly?”
Neeraj remained quiet, seemingly out of any sensible argument. The villagers were in a fix about what to think or do next.
“A tiger could have taken it,” said a small boy named Jaipal, “I have heard it in many stories how tigers take away cows and they are very silent about it. Nobody would know if it happened.”
“What nonsense!” said Giridhar “ever since the village and its people have been living here, there has been no sighting of a tiger in the village or in the forest. There have been sightings of dholes but never a tiger.”
“Our teacher tells us as forests are being cut down, animals have started to move to other places to find food and shelter. Maybe a tiger came here in search of food,” said Jaipal
The uneducated adults saw more sense than they should have in an educated school going boy’s words.
“So, lets gather after everyone is done with their chores and then head out to the forest,” said Mahendra
“My poor cow will be dead by then,” Giridhar said in a loud tone
“If a tiger has got your cow, then it has been long dead even before you woke up. It is no longer about your cow but the safety of the village people. If there is a tiger, we have to find proof and inform a forest official,” responded Mahendra
Giridhar’s face sunk upon the thought that his cow might not be alive anymore.
Mahendra, Neeraj, Mansukh, Bibek, Aseem and Giridhar gathered in the evening with sticks and torches.
“Will six people with sticks be enough to tackle a tiger?” asked Neeraj whose mind was already in the zone of fear
“We are not going to fight the tiger, we will just scare it with the sticks,” said Mahendra
“What if it wants to kill us and eat us?” asked Neeraj
“He has fed upon my poor cow, he wouldn’t be hungry,” Giridhar said in a low tone.
Manuskh walked to Giridhar, “Look, you don’t have to go with us, I know this might be too much for you.
“It is all right. I need to see this tiger for myself,” said Giridhar
The six people set out leaving the worried faces of their friends and families.
They walked for about 27 minutes and they stood in front of the forest.
Neeraj shuddered, “I hope everyone is sure about this.”
Giridhar passed an angry glance towards him and Neeraj decided it was best to keep quiet and the six men entered the forest.
They walked with a tense mind. They had grown up playing in and around this forest but never before did they have to be on a lookout for something that could pounce at them and hurt or worse kill them.
There was sound from above and everyone became startled and looked up. It was a troop of rhesus macaques.
“Could they be running from something?” asked Bibek in a low tone
“They are on their way to the side of the forest where they live. What is the matter with you? We have seen monkeys so many times here,” replied Mahendra
The men moved ahead slowly, reacting to every sound around. They were familiar with all sounds but there was a chance the sounds could carry a different meaning.
There was sudden movement of bushes nearby and Neeraj threw his stick towards the bush. The men waited for something to come out but nothing did.
Bibek looked at Neeraj, “I hope you can bring the stick back now.”
“What if the tiger is in there waiting and it attacks me?” said Neeraj
Giridhar scoffed, “What is wrong with men nowadays?” and he walked to fetch the stick while Neeraj watched with a tense expression.
Giridhar couldn’t see the stick, ‘it must have gone deeper into the bush,’ he thought and then he pushed his way in.
As everyone waited for Giridhar to reappear, they suddenly heard Giridhar scream.
“The tiger… it has got him,” screamed said Aseem
“RUN!” screamed Neeraj as he started running followed by Bibek and Aseem.
Fear gripped Mahendar and Mansukh as well but they were confused between trying to save Giridhar and running to save their own lives.
“We have families to look after, we should leave as well,” Mansukh said looking at Mahendra.
“But he is one of us, we should help him,” said Mahendra, tightening his grip on the stick.
“If not for any miracle, Giridhar is gone. We cannot fight a tiger; we haven’t even seen a real one with our own eyes. Let’s go back, we will come back with more people,” Mansukh said, ready to run away.
The bush moved and Manuskh left his stick and ran as Mahendra held on to his stick ready to face the tiger. Fear had blocked off all his senses and he did not know what he was doing or if he was doing it right. He recalled the faces of his family members for the last time before what was coming and out stepped Giridhar from behind the bush followed by a white cow.
Mahendra breathed in relief as Giridhar walked towards him smiling.
“Look whom I found, Mahendra. She was right there. I was so happy to see that she was not killed by a tiger or anything,” said Giridhar
“She must have wandered out of the stable. I am glad you found her,” replied Mahendra
Giridhar looked around and asked, “where are the others?”, and then he saw Mansukh’s stick on the ground and realised what had happened, “those spineless cowards, I am telling you this happy going life of the village has robbed many of the confidence to do something in a crisis.”
Mahendra laughed as he picked up the other stick and walked along with Giridhar and his beloved cow, back to the village.
Early Morning Memories 
2 responses to “Serendipity”
This was a fun story.
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