Comments
When Rana Shaan-Bahadur accidentally catches notorious poacher Khoon-Pyaasa in his own trap, video footage of this fortuitous stunt goes viral and the alpha-male tiger of Sher-Kila National Park climbs to new heights of fame and conceit. While changing his profile photo on Facebook every half hour, Shaan-Bahadur romances all the voluptuous tigresses and makes enemies of all the other tigers in the park. With echoes of Alex the lion from the Madagascar films, Shaan-Bahadur is a tiger thoroughly absorbed with himself.
Soon, his first and main squeeze, Raat-Ki-Rani gives birth to four cubs — the annoying duo of Hasti and Masti, lazy Zafraan and a clumsy Phasti. As the cubs begin to learn to hunt, the butter-fingered Phasti is surprisingly a born-huntress, enemies quickly gather around their idyllic hideout. The dreaded Al-Seekh-Kebab Atankwad Andolan (ASKAA) is in hot pursuit, as are the Giggler hyenas and the vultures led by Diclo and Fenac. Meanwhile, Shaan-Bahadur’s vanity suffers a few blows as worldwide interest in him dips. Replete with a cast of characters from a modern-day sanctuary, the book humorously captures the harsh realities of the wild.
On one hunting lesson, the majestic Raat-ki-Rani is shot by Khoon-Pyaasa, leaving the cubs to fend for themselves. Luckily, Shaan-Bahadur runs into his babies and an unfamiliar fatherly sensation awakens in him. The proud tiger’s transition to responsible fatherhood is a little dubious. Picking them up, he heads to the fearsome Taboo valley with trusted aide Naradmunni, as his enemies continue to look for him and the cubs. As the action shifts to the valley, the plot hurtles towards a final confrontation, spurred on by Ranjit Lal’s superb comic timing.
Lal’s Tigers of the Taboo Valley is highly recommended reading while on any sort of wildlife trip — be it chasing truant leopards in small towns or hunting deadly man--eaters on elephants in jungles. It’s difficult to find an unlikeable character in this rib-tickling animal caper. Lal is spot on in his portrayals of scheming porcupines, oily hyenas, watchful vultures, arrogant tigers and greedy poachers. Can’t wait for Tigers of the Taboo Valley 2 .
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.