The Tiger King by Kalki

 

The Tiger King by Kalki

                                                                    

When Maharaja Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur was born, the chief astrologers had foretold that one day the king would actually have to die. The ten day old Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur  asked them to tell the manner of his death. Everyone stood stunned. An infant born just ten days ago was talking in such a manner .The chief astrologer told the Prince that he was born in hour of the bull. As bull and tiger were enemies therefore his death would come from tiger.

The Maharaja grew stronger and took to tiger hunting. He was overjoyed when he killed the first tiger. When he told the chief astrologer about that, the chief astrologer told him that he may kill 99 tigers but he must be careful with the hundredth one. He banned the killing of tigers in Pratibandhpuram . In ten years he killed 70 tigers. The tiger population had become extinct at Pratibandhpuram. So the maharaja married to a girl from royal family in a state where tiger population was rich . Thus thereby he killed 99 tigers but one was still lef . There was no sign of tigers anywhere. Maharaja could not bear any more . There was a tiger brought later for Maharaj . He shot the tiger but it missed the tiger .Maharaja did not notice that . Maharaja’s men knew it but they feared that if they tell it to Maharaja , then they may lose their job , so they killed the tiger . But maharaja did not know that he still has one tiger left to be killed .

Maharaja had to attend his 3 year old son’s birthday . He gifted him a wooden tiger . The tiger was made by an unskilled man .Its surface was rough , as a result its sharp edge pierced into Maharaja’s hand . Next day the infection spread into his whole hand and Maharaja at last died .

Thus the fateful hundredth tiger though a wooden one was the cause of the Maharaja’s death and proved the prediction of the astrologer correct.

NCERT Book Solution  

Read and Find Out  (Page No: 8)

1. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?

Answer:  Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, the king of Pratibandapuram, is known as the Tiger King. At the time of his birth the astrologers predicted that the prince would have to die one day. The ten-day-old prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The wise men were baffled at this miracle. The chief astrologer said that his death would come from the tiger. The young prince growled and uttered terrifying words: 'Let tigers beware!' He decided to kill one hundred tigers. He thus got the name 'Tiger King'.

Page No: 10

1. What did the royal infant grow up to be?

Answer:  The royal infant grew up to be the king of Pratibandapuram who was obsessed with the idea of killing one hundred tigers. He wanted to do so to disprove the prophecy which said that his death would come from the hundredth tiger. This made him kill all tigers of Pratibandapuram.

Page No: 13

1. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?

OR

Why did the Maharaja decide to get married?        

Answer:  To get the required number of tigers to kill, the Maharaja decided to get married. He asked his dewan to find a suitable girl from a royal family whose state had a large tiger population. As Pratibandapuram had no more tigers left, a province that belonged to his father-in-law would certainly provide him with an opportunity to kill more tigers and reach his aim of killing one hundred tigers.

Page No: 14

1. How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?

Answer:  The Maharaja wanted to be extremely careful while dealing with the hundredth tiger which was supposed to be the reason for his death. On encountering the hundredth one, he took a careful aim at the tiger and shot it. When it fell in a crumpled heap, he was overcome with joy and left the place hastily.

Page No: 15

1. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?

Answer:  The astrologer dies before the king of Pratibandapuram gets an opportunity to kill one hundred tigers. Disproving his prophecy seems to be the sole reason for the king's existence. Except for killing hundred tigers, everything else takes a back-seat for the king.

The prophecy cannot to be indisputably disproved as the king was ultimately killed by a tiger, though neither by a real one nor by the hundredth one. Looking at the weak, old and almost lifeless tiger that was the hundredth one, no one would have thought that it would escape the king’s bullet by fainting at the shock of the bullet whizzing past. It was the “tiny little wooden tiger” from the toy shop that caused the death of Tiger King.

Page No: 17

Reading with Insight

1. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author employ the literary device of dramatic irony in the story?

Answer:  Dramatic irony is a literary device whereby the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the characters. This is the result of the reader having a greater knowledge than the characters themselves. The character acts in a opposite way to the actual circumstances or the fate.

Kalki effectively uses the tool of dramatic irony in the story. Several instances in the story prove this. For example, after killing the first tiger, the Tiger King is immensely pleased. Conceited as he is, he displays it ostentatiously in front of the astrologer. But the astrologer warns him to be ‘very careful with the hundredth tiger’. The King goes on a killing spree and in this manner gets rid of ninety-nine tigers. Having shot at the hundredth tiger, the King believes that now no harm can come to him. But the reader, the King’s officers and his sycophants come to know that the lamb like tiger had only fainted from the shock of a bullet. In jubilation, the King conveniently believes that he had belied the prediction and is willfully ignorant of what lies in store for him. A sliver on the wooden tiger’s body, that is a present for the prince causes his death. Thus, the astrologer’s prediction finally comes true.

2. What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human beings?

Answer:  Through this satirical story the author has rightly portrayed how human beings have subjected innocent animals to untold torture and death, merely to fulfill their own whims and fancies. The maharaja’s indiscriminate killing of tigers led to their extinction in some states, but the maharaja was oblivious to the grave consequences his action was leading to. In order to prove an astrologer wrong the maharaja went on a killing spree proving his dominance over the hapless animals.

3. How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards him? Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order?

Answer:  Maharaja’s minions were subservient, docile and sycophantic. They did not dare to disobey him as his displeasure could mean loss of their job or even loss of their lives.

The astrologer was afraid of predicting his death, till Maharaja told him to “speak without fear”. Dewan who should have advised the king not to kill the tigers did not dare to go against his wishes and aided his marriage to a princess whose father’s kingdom possessed a large number of tigers. Being afraid of losing his job, he presented an old tiger to satisfy the whims of his Maharaja. Likewise, the hunters chose not to inform him of the survival of the 100th tiger and instead killed it themselves fearing that they might lose their jobs. Even the shopkeeper, who sold the king a cheap wooden toy tiger, quoted a higher price lest he should be punished under the rules of emergency.

So, it is evident that the king’s minions were driven by fear rather than any feelings of sincerity towards their ruler.

Today’s political order is no different. We know too well that many of the people in power are not there because of their ability but because of their influence and power. Moreover, others pander to them for their own vested interests rather than for the good of the country.

4. Can you relate instances of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in the present times that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife?

Answer:  There have been some instances of game hunting in the present times. Even the affluent have been involved in instances that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife.

Salman Khan – Black Buck poaching case.

5.We need a new system for the age of ecology — a system which is embedded in the care of all people and also in the care of the Earth and all life upon it. Discuss.

Answer: Ecological imbalance like deforestation, rapid industrialization, soil erosion, etc. need to be addressed before global warming and other climatic hazard or natural calamity takes its toll. For this We need a new system for the age of ecology — a system which is embedded in the care of all people and also in the care of the Earth and all life upon it.

Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while simultaneously sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system.