He slowly opened his eyes. His head was hurting, the vision was blurred, the muscles were aching and his mind just refused to turn on. The grass bed he was lying on was an ethereal sleeping pill which he could not shrug off. He then looked around. There was a dense forest cover. Tall bamboo trees, Kinos, Rosewood and Sandalwood blocked his view of the horizon. The noisy birds and the rodents were adding to the cacophony which more or less magnified the pain in his head. He slowly turned his head around, through the small cracks between the trees to see the morning sun rising behind the silhouette that outlined the tall mountains near by. The sight of the mountains startled him. His survival instincts kicked in and the information slowly sunk into him. "THIS IS NOT HIS HOME". He had never seen something that was that tall. He wanted to run as far far away as possible. He, summoning all his energy, got up and started to run. He slowly gained momentum, inspite of his frail health and non-existent stamina. But "BOOM" and he fell down. He hit a iron railing which was the barricade. The pain was excruciating and involuntarily he fell down giving up to the pain. His eyes closed and he started floating into the past.
The past looked secure and beautiful. There was the warmth of his mother,protection of his father and the security of his kinsmen all around. The bright autumn afternoon after rains is always a sight to behold. He was happily cuddling on his mother's lap. His father had returned and it was the dinner time. Playing with his brother was one of his favorite pass times, the pressing problem he encountered was how could he outrun his nimble brother who was older than him. As soon as he saw his brother he leapt off his mother's lap and started running behind him like his life depended on it. This was hardly part of the evening plan, but his parents were enjoying the fun their kids were having. After letting them run around for a few minutes, his mom with an authority only parents can have, stopped them on their strides and asked them to come for dinner. The food was ready to be consumed and the brothers in no time started to quarrel about who will get the first bite.
Everything was so surreal, and the reality was like a dream, but his brother was getting the better of him in this fight also. If only he could do something about it. Then as if some soothsayer had heard his plea and sent down a prophecy, his brother fell down like a heap. His eyes lit up when he saw this and went ahead to gorge the food available. Little did he realise what was happening around. His parents' protection radar was full on and were trying their best to protect him. His smile slowly started fadding when he saw his father fall down just like his brother in front of him. His mother roared at him to run as fast as he could. He started running at pace to take cover. Then he saw his mother who was running just behind him fall as well. He stopped and turned around to run towards his mother. He felt it then. Initially it was like a thorn pricking him. Then it was like a big log striking him in his head. The whole world was turning dark and was closing on him. And then it all went black.
He opened his eyes once again. His head was spinning, hurting and his legs were trembling. He was far away from home and all the people he cared about were nowhere to be in the vicinity. Where are his parents and brother? Are they together or are they also confused and alone in some place? Will he meet them? He wanted to let his brother take all the food. Alas it was too late. He ran in all the 4 directions and everytime he hit the railing.
Behind the railings there was a small girl standing and looking at him with her mother.
"Mama, why is he so agitated?"
Her mother looked at her and asked her to look at the board near. "Tiger cub rescued from poachers. Will be temporarily kept in the zoo. Be careful, could be ferocious."
"Poor cub, he is agitated because he is yet to realise that he is safe."
The past looked secure and beautiful. There was the warmth of his mother,protection of his father and the security of his kinsmen all around. The bright autumn afternoon after rains is always a sight to behold. He was happily cuddling on his mother's lap. His father had returned and it was the dinner time. Playing with his brother was one of his favorite pass times, the pressing problem he encountered was how could he outrun his nimble brother who was older than him. As soon as he saw his brother he leapt off his mother's lap and started running behind him like his life depended on it. This was hardly part of the evening plan, but his parents were enjoying the fun their kids were having. After letting them run around for a few minutes, his mom with an authority only parents can have, stopped them on their strides and asked them to come for dinner. The food was ready to be consumed and the brothers in no time started to quarrel about who will get the first bite.
Everything was so surreal, and the reality was like a dream, but his brother was getting the better of him in this fight also. If only he could do something about it. Then as if some soothsayer had heard his plea and sent down a prophecy, his brother fell down like a heap. His eyes lit up when he saw this and went ahead to gorge the food available. Little did he realise what was happening around. His parents' protection radar was full on and were trying their best to protect him. His smile slowly started fadding when he saw his father fall down just like his brother in front of him. His mother roared at him to run as fast as he could. He started running at pace to take cover. Then he saw his mother who was running just behind him fall as well. He stopped and turned around to run towards his mother. He felt it then. Initially it was like a thorn pricking him. Then it was like a big log striking him in his head. The whole world was turning dark and was closing on him. And then it all went black.
He opened his eyes once again. His head was spinning, hurting and his legs were trembling. He was far away from home and all the people he cared about were nowhere to be in the vicinity. Where are his parents and brother? Are they together or are they also confused and alone in some place? Will he meet them? He wanted to let his brother take all the food. Alas it was too late. He ran in all the 4 directions and everytime he hit the railing.
Behind the railings there was a small girl standing and looking at him with her mother.
"Mama, why is he so agitated?"
Her mother looked at her and asked her to look at the board near. "Tiger cub rescued from poachers. Will be temporarily kept in the zoo. Be careful, could be ferocious."
"Poor cub, he is agitated because he is yet to realise that he is safe."
