Story by Moutushi Ghoshdeysarkar

Tibu the little fawn was grazing alongside his mother. The whole herd had spread out and were happy munching on the juicy grass. Tibu was the only fawn in this herd and everybody loved him. He ran to an uncle a little further than his mom then to an aunty then another, all giving him a little nod or a nudge playfully. Soon he had reached the deer uncle who was at the edge of the herd but Tibu didn’t notice that. Tibu saw a lovely bird and ran after it. He followed for it for a long time until he could run no more then turned to see his herd.

But there was no one. There were tall trees around him and a path lined with bushes but no open grassland. Tibu was very scared. He turned back and started walking on the path and soon came to a crossroad where he could see three more paths.

Tibu was wondering what to do when he saw a little thing coming towards him. He had never seen anybody smaller than himself and was very curious. He too went towards the little thing. Soon they met and started playing with each other. The little one became very tired and sat down with all four legs spread out.

“What is your name?” asked the fawn. “My name is Poi. I am a tiger. What is your name? What are you?” asked the little one. “I am Tibu and I am a deer,” answered Tibu. They were sitting under a large tree and the day light was fading.

An owl hooted from a hole in a branch of that large tree and asked, “What are you little fellows doing in the middle of the jungle without your parents?” The two were too scared to answer. The owl came down to them and asked, “Are you lost little ones?” Tibu and Poi nodded with a sad face. “Oh! Little darlings don’t worry; we’ll find your mothers. But it is dangerous for you to be out at night. You two follow me. I’ll put you somewhere safe for the night and tomorrow morning I’ll arrange for someone to find your mothers as I can’t go out in the daytime.”

The fawn and the cub followed the owl. She took them into a nearby cave to keep them safe for the night. The kids played for a while then slept off as they were very tired. With the first light came the crow and the owl told him all about the kids. The crow immediately agreed to help the kids.

The Hungry Babies Are Fed

The owl called the kids but they were fast asleep. The crow said, “Let me create my magic.” “Crawwwwww!!! Crawwwwww!!!” called the crow on top of his voice. The kids woke up startled. “Works every time and with all,” said the crow with a wide grin, “Except of course that little brat called Raspy who lives in the village.”

“Okay kiddos your crow uncle will fly and you’ll follow on the path below. He will warn you if there is any danger and you should immediately hide. Right?” said the owl.

“But am hunggy!” cried the tiger cub. “Me too!” said the fawn. Now that was a real problem. How would they get milk for the cub, it was too young to eat anything. The fawn however could feed on his own and plenty of grass was available around. The crow said, “Come babies follow me, lets get you something to eat.” So they bid farewell to owl aunty and started following crow uncle.

The crow led them to the nearby village at the edge of the forest. It was quite early in the morning but village life starts early so people were going about their business. The crow asked the kids to hide behind a big tree and wait for him. He went straight to Raspy’s house. He was sleeping. The crow flew in through the window and held his nose with his beak. This had worked before and it did this time too. Raspy was unable to breath and jumped up and sat wide awake. “Do you realise that if you had been a human I would have died?” said a very angry Raspy. “But am not human and this is the only way I know to wake you up,” said the crow in a matter of fact way. The two had been friends for some time, since Raspy loved the forest and the crow helped him navigate through the confusing paths, initially in lieu of food crumbs and thereafter just because they had become friends.

“Listen man I need milk for a little tiger cub,” said the crow. “What? Cawy you snatched a tiger cub from his mother?” screamed Raspy. “Don’t be silly boy, don’t I love my life?” “The tiger cub is lost and hungry. He is so small that he can drink only milk. After he is fed we’ll go on a search to find his mother,” explained the crow.

Raspy ran to the kitchen got a bowl of milk and slipped out of his house. He followed the crow till the tree and was awestruck to see the two kids. They were so cute and cuddly. He put the milk in front of the cub but the baby hesitated. The fawn on the other hand came hopping towards Raspy. Raspy pulled out some grass nearby and fed him. Seeing Tibu and Raspy petting each other Poi came to them too.

The crow was concerned since the cub was not able to drink the milk. He was so small that he didn’t know how to lap up with his tongue. He only knew how to suck. “Raspy the baby is not able to drink, what to do boy?” he said, very worried. Raspy thought for a while then asked them to wait there.

A little while later he came back with a feeding bottle, poured the milk into it and held the suckling end into the cub’s mouth. This time Poi happily sucked the milk.

The Expedition Begins

The trio set out to find the mothers. Raspy went home to get ready for school. The crow promised to visit him as soon as the kids found their mothers. The crow flew slowly and steadily, the children followed on the path below. The crow swooped down on something and there was a squeaking sound.

It was a rat. The crow wanted to use the rat network, as rats were a plenty and had access to all parts of the forest. They would definitely be able to tell where the tigress or the herd was located. Presently the rat was shivering as she thought the crow would gulp her down.

“Could you stop shivering my lady so that I can talk to you like a gentle man without holding on to your hind-side?” said the crow in a deep voice. The kids were looking at the rat with wide eyes. They had never seen such a tiny thing. They wanted to play with it thinking it was another baby. “You catch us little one, and we run” said Poi.

The rat laughed at this and seeing that she was relaxed the crow said, “These little babies are lost. We need to find the tigress mamma and the herd that the fawn belongs to.” He gave a pause to see her reaction. She was listening intently, so he continued, “I think you can help. The rat network is spread all across the forest. Will you kindly find out the location of their mothers please?”

“Oh sure thing!” she said and scuttled away. Poi and Tibu were happily playing all this while with the crow keeping a watchful eye or eyes rather. He was joined by a few more of his clan who showed surprise on his venture. One said,  “Why do you get into all this bro? Always helping others; why don’t you just marry a nice girl and have a few lovely chicks of your own. After all many crow girls are your fan due to your heroic actions.”

“Well I do what I feel like doing. This gives me happiness. End of story,” said the crow politely.

Soon the rat came back with a mischief (group of rats) following her. She said, “A tigress has been seen looking for her child at the north western end of the forest and a herd has been seen looking for a fawn on the eastern shore of the river. Both are about the same distance away from here but they are in opposite direction.”

The mischief was looking at the fawn and the cub in disbelief, the two were huddled together, scared to see so many rats. One of the ancient looking rats could not hold his tongue any longer and started, “In my long long years of living on this earth, in this forest, since my birth and in all the stories that have been passed from generations, all the things that I have seen and all experiences I have lived through” “Could you please cut it short and come to the point great grandpa,” said a young fellow who had lost his patience.

“Ahem Ahem I mean I have never seen a tiger cub and a fawn huddled together,” said a rather embarrassed great grandpa and a little annoyed too, “This is why we do not like these youngsters, a hasty generation, takes the fun out of a feeling, incapable of savouring a sight.” “As if we like you and your beating around the bushes,” said the youngster rolling his eyes.

The crow intervened the ongoing heated exchange of words and glances. He said, “My dear mischief can we please focus on the problem. Since the two mothers are in the opposite direction we should make teams and lead the two separately.” He formed two teams and suggested the fawn to go with one of them and the cub with the other, while he would keep a bird’s eye view on both of them from time to time.

“No no no no, I go with friend,” screamed Poi. “Yes, with Poi I go,” said Tibu.

Now that was quite a problem, as they discussed. If Poi goes to the herd there was a danger of death from stampede and if Tibu went near the tigress then he might get eaten. Yet it was decided that going to the tigress first would be safer as she is a single person and might be reasoned with, Tibu being Poi’s friend.

So the whole party set out towards tiger mamma’s direction.

Meeting The Matriarch

A little way down the path, a bull elephant was found standing. The crow was terrified as he knew what raging bull elephants can do. The rats were also terrified. The rats told the kids to hide behind the bushes and move very slowly. But the kids were so mesmerised by the giant size of an elephant. “Look at the teeth, it is shoooooooo big. I want to play with that thing in front of his face,” screamed Poi as he ran towards it. The fawn followed Poi.

The bull noticed them and started to move with every intention of stamping his feet on them. Just then a large elephant came in front of him from the side and blocked his way. It was the matriarch. A matriarch is a female elephant who have had many children and was the leader of their pack. This pack consisted of 6 females and a calf. All of them joined the matriarch slowly and stood by her side. The bull slowly moved away. He had to. The matriarch was his mother. He and other male children are driven out of the group once they become adult. The adult males become very angry at times and then attack the young and the week females.

Once the Bull was out of sight, the crow landed on the matriarch and told her the whole incident. The matriarch agreed to take the kids to the tigress as she felt her presence might stop Tibu from being eaten up.

The matriarch picked up the two kiddos with a sweep of her trunk and placed them on her back; which was way wide for them to sit comfortably.

Once again the party started to march forward.

Poi Finds Mamma

The pace quickened as the kids were now being carried by the matriarch. One her strides were longer and second every now and then Tibu and Poi were unable to stop having got distracted.

Before long they reached a thicket where the matriarch stopped sensing something; and out came the tigress with a sudden jump and roared. But as soon as she saw Poi she was all too eager to lick her baby.

The matriarch put Poi down slowly. It was a scene to behold as the mother and child embraced each other. The tigress has been looking for the baby frantically but in all the wrong places. Her happiness knew no bounds.

When the initial excitement subdued the party was ready to leave for the delivery of the other baby to its mother. But Poi started crying profusely. The matriarch put Tibu down and the two played for a while. The matriarch told the tigress about how the children had found each other when they were lost and thus a deep bond has formed between them. The crow added his bits and mentioned the wise owl who had kept them safe for the night.

Poi’s mom somehow made him understand that Tibu’s mom would be as worried and sad as she had been so he must let him go. She promised to take him to Tibu as often as possible to play.

The Sudden Storm And A Surprise

As the party of the matriarch with Tibu sitting on her back, the 6 other female elephants, the calf, the crow and the mischief reached the spot from where they had decided to first go in search of Poi’s mother, the tigress; a sudden storm engulfed them.

The huge trees were shaking like twigs; dust was flying at random and with great speed making the vision blurred. The wind was howling like demons as they went rumbling past. The party came to a stand-still.

The matriarch had brought Tibu down and all of them huddled together in the fear of being flown away. The elephant calf was himself scared but was giving shelter to the tiny little creature he understood, had been lost and was desperately in need of company.

Tibu was shaking with fear, he had never seen such a dreadful time in his tiny lifespan, he tried to think of all good things he could remember; his mother always said, try to remember happy things when you are scared. Never before had the need arrived; but this storm was really too scary. He felt good to be in company of so many kind hearted uncles, aunties and friends who were standing by his side and he was not alone.

After what seemed like a very long time the storm stopped; and right in front of them was the herd. The herd had rushed into the jungle from the river side to take shelter from the storm; it was devastating in the open.

For a few moments everyone froze; and then there was an unbelievable scene of jubilation which all those present cherished for years to come.

Crow Meets Raspy By The Lake

With a contended heart the crow flew back to the owl’s den. The owl knew it has been done. He said, “So old friend! Another mission accomplished?” “Yes dear, but in all my missions till date I would say this was the most beautiful one. I have never seen such dedication and passion come over so many beasts together to materialise a union,” said a visibly happy crow. Raspy was waiting by the lake eagerly for the crow. All day he could not concentrate on anything but thinking about the two kiddos. Just as the crow swooped down and sat on the rock beside, Raspy started, “Tell me Cawy, what happened? Did you get the mother? Were they together? Oh silly me, how can a tiger and deer be together unless the later is being eaten or is already in the belly of the former. But tell me how it all happened? Did you at all complete your mission or just gave up? It was difficult anyway. Did you get caught in that storm? It was going to be catastrophic had it not passed. My grandma said some very good deed must have been done to negate the wrath of the demons, but all that later, will you tell me the story or not?” Raspy having said all that in a breath was exhausted and the crow rolled his eyes. “I will now, as you have stopped using your mouth, give it some rest and let the ears work,” said the crow with a smirk.

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