The last Shikar
Apr 21 2008 | Views 638 |
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Tags: semi fiction indian tiger poachers compassion business as usual
Tags: semi fiction indian tiger poachers compassion business as usual
Arjun Singh moved soundlessly across the edge of the glade , in camouflage clothing making sure he was not seen . He had been waiting for hours. Finally the tigress emerged from the cave and lay down ,
Two cubs came from behind and jumped on her in mock attack . Arjun took his shot , several of them with his Cannon EOS digital and slowly backed away .
The pictures would make the front page in Life magazine .
Arjun Singh was the most famous wildlife photographer in recent years . A scion of a royal family from Rajasthan, his family was famous for its hunting prowess .
With a deep shame Arjun remembered his grandfather bragging about shooting down three tigers in one day from the back of his favourite elephant .
And yet with all the hunting the Maharajahs and the British Viceroys did ,there used to be over a 100,000 tigers left in India one hundred years ago .
.
There has been a plague upon our tigers in the form of unending appetites for their tiger parts by the Chinese .
The advent of Viagara has changed nothing . The money is so tempting that poachers have been multiplying faster than Al Queda .
Arjun was about to turn 45 and quite wealthy , From a very young age he had sworn to work for the tigers of India , to let them survive and multiply .
No one on earth knew or suspected that he had an alternate mission in life ,. Only his childhood servant Vishwanath knew . The secret was well kept .
For Arjun Singh was a hunter of men . Because of his profession , he was always seen with his big backpack and camera equipment . Nobody suspected that the backback carried a case within which was the most sophisticated rifle with silencer , ..in four parts.. which Arjun by now could assemble with eyes closed .
Arjun Singh hunted the poachers . For many years every time news of tigers disappearing from certain regions leaked out , ..the very next week the responsible poachers would be found crippled or permanently incapacitated for the rest of their lives .
There were rumours of some ghost or phantom ..rarely seen except in a silhouette who had become the scourge of the criminals .
Often it was the local officials who were the culprits . Often it was the entire village in league with the authorities .
The People’s Republic of China openly broadcast their intention for tiger parts . It was their tradition and their right and none could stop them . The Indian government did their usual passive protest …but no matter… it was like taking two steps backwards for every step forward .
Arjun knew there was a mastermind at work an Indian who was the brains behind it all …somebody high up within the government passing on the information of the tigers to the poachers .
Finally a break through . He had located a warehouse in Chandni Chowk in New Delhi , a furniture storage house which served as front for the illegal trade . Arjun broke into the huge warehouse during Diwali celebrations when no one would be around .
What he found not only shocked him but brought tears to his eyes . There were hundreds of tiger skins , tiger bones, tiger penises in jars , leopard parts , ivory tusks , rhinoceros horns and what not .He vowed to send them anonymously to CNN first thing in the morning .But it was the hard drive in the computer that he was looking for .the treasure .which would expose all the dealings ..and lo and behold ..he found it !
His name was Ramcharan Gupta ..the Home Minister …one and only who had organized and benefitted from the illegal trade .
Arjun realized that exposing this man or handing him over to the authorities was futile ..no action would be taken . He would have to take matter into his own hands …and he did .
That night there was a fire as the entire warehouse with thousands of animal parts worth millions of dollars went up in flames .There appeared a vague statement from the owner ., regretting loss of furniture .
A month later , high up in the hills of Darjeeling , a alone hunter patiently spent all night in the darkness waiting for the sunrise . It seemed all his life Arjun had waited for this day …. to destroy the brains…. the mastermind ..behind the massacre of thousands of tigers killed over two decades..which would slow down or stop the trade long enough perhaps to give the tigers a chance to procreate nd multiply .
Arjun had found out that the Home Minister would be at his haveli in Darjeeling that weekend and that he took tea in the garden each morning ,
He quietly assembled the rifle and fed one bullet in the chamber . he would need only one .
He saw the Minister emerge and sit in his chair .
As he looked through his scope , the chubby middle aged Ramacharan Gupta appeared as harmless as anyone ,…not the evil , corrupt and ruthless devil that lay behind the façade .
Arjun lifted his rifle and focused on the one inch between the eyebrows . His finger slowly started squeezing on the trigger .
Suddenly he froze . His heart almost stopped .
Two little girls , probably 4 to 6 years old came laughing and hopping into the garden and flopped on the lap of the Minister .
No ! It could not be happening . Arjun lowered his rifle as he lay in anguish . But no ..he told himself… he must do it or the last tiger in India will be lost before these girls grew to adulthood .
He lifted his rifle for a head shot .
As he watched, the devil took the two children in his arms and started singing to them .
Five times , Arjun focused his rifle for the one shot he had waited most of his life for , and five times he laid the gun down.
After the last time , he mechanically disassembled his weapon , slowly backed down from the hillock the way he had come and with his head bent ,started the long journey back home .
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