How Tigers Got Their Stripes

This is the story from the times when Tigers did not have stripes and when they were just plain bright orange.

Once upon a time, Mr and Mrs. Tiger and their son, Little Timmy were travelling far and wide in search of a new home. They came across a big forest. The forest had lush green trees, tall and soft grass, fresh blue water, cool breeze and delicious food to eat.

In it lived many animals-little ones, big ones, not so little and not so big ones, short ones, tall ones, not so short and not so tall ones, long ones, stout ones, not so long and not so stout ones, slow ones, fast ones, not so slow and not so fast ones, wriggly ones, crawly ones, winged ones and scaly ones.

The three Tigers loved the forest and decided to make it their new home. When Little Timmy went to the forest school all the other kids marveled, “Wow. You are so bright and so orange!” Soon Little Timmy had made friends in his class-Jim the elephant’s kid, Henry the Giraffe’s kid, Zazoo the alligator’s kid, Trippy the pythons’ kid, Billy the hornbills’ kid and everybody else.

The kids’ favourite game was hide and seek. Henry the Giraffe would hide behind a tall tree, Billy the Hornbill would go behind a big leaf, Zazoo the alligator would slide into the water, Trippy the python would slither in the tall grass and Jim would pretend that he is a big rock. There was hardly anyone who could seek anyone. The kids loved the game as they would all hide and giggle till the seeker found them.

Little Timmy would always be found first. It was so not difficult to see Timmy who was so orange. Poor Timmy would dive into the water yet everybody could see his orange coat. When he would hide behind the leaves the seeker would say, “I had never seen a flower so orange. It’s not a flower, it’s Timmy Tiger!” and then Timmy would have to come out. When he would pretend to be a rock everyone knew no rocks were orange in colour. They all would have a good laugh. Little Timmy didn’t know what to do, “I always get found first. Oh! What do I do?” Little Timmy would feel very sad.

One day his father found a sad Timmy in his bedroom. “Son, why do you look so sad? Why aren’t you out playing games with your friends?”, asked Mr. Tiger. “Why are we so orange and bright? I can’t hide anywhere and I always get caught” cribs Little Timmy.

Mr. Tiger exclaims, “I know what we can do!” Mr. Tiger goes into his workshop and gets a tin of black paint. He then paints long stripes over Little Timmy’s coat and says, “Now, this will do the trick!”

That evening when Little Timmy went out to play hide and seek no one could find him. When Zazoo the alligator saw an orange flower on the tree he said, “I know it’s you Little Timmy.” But it wasn’t!

When he checked behind the trees he couldn’t see Little Timmy. Instead he found Trippy the python. Soon Zazoo the alligator found everybody but Little Timmy. They all called out, “Little Timmy, where are you? We all were found. You won!” Out jumped Little Timmy who was hiding behind his black stripes and the dark green grass.

From then on it wasn’t easy to find Little Timmy anymore. He could hide and play hide and seek without being found. He was the happiest and so were his friends.

Now you know how tigers got their black stripes. But if you see an orange tiger without any stripes, oh please do be kind to paint some for him :)

Comments

The Ghost in the House

“This house is just how you had described Mr. and Mrs Kruger!”, said the house broker. Kris and Kate walked into the apartment and stared and stared. The house had everything they had ever wanted- a living room just adequate enough to house Kate’s small library shelf in the corner and Kris’ editing machines and still have enough space for the seating when some extra friends came over to stay, a cozy bedroom with just enough light coming in, the perfect kitchen where they would cook together not too big not small, a bathroom good enough to fit a tub, a balcony perfect to fit two chairs where Kate could make a tiny garden and where they could sip their morning coffee or have a glass of wine at night. Kate whispered in awe, “This is it! This is just like a dream.!” The house broker smiled and added, “Surprisingly its just a little more than the half of what you had decided as your budget.” Kate turned to Kris loo...

Choti Nalu

N of #AtoZChallenge Nalu म्हणजे Nalini, my Aaji. My Aaji has a played a BIG role in my life. My Aaji (Mum's mum) and we lived together till she passed away. I got her, all for myself till the time I was twenty-one years old! She was not just my Aaji, but my roommate, my sister, my friend, my Guide, my Teacher! All rolled in one! My Aaji would often tell me stories. And some of these stories would be memories about her childhood. Whenever she narrated I would immediately be transported back in time, to the Mumbai of the late 1920's and early 1930's! My imagination would turn sepia and I would see my Aaji as a दोन वेण्याची छोटी choti Mulgi (but with my Aaji's face)! Aaji grew in the heart of Dadar. Her father taught my Aaji everything! He put her in the best school of Dadar (King George semi-English), he helped her in her studies through school, he encouraged her to sing and learn the harmonium, he taught her to cycle on the f...

The Cute Coffee Boy

It was raining. I entered the cafe disgruntled. The stupid rain had wetted by library book. And my date was running late. So here I was drenched with murk and water expected to dry off and sit in some corner reading a wet book as my date would make a late entrance. I headed straight to the counter to order a coffee. I saw no one. I yelled, “Will I have to make my own coffee?” A boy got up from under the counter and smiled apologetically, “Sorry. I will make one for you. What would you like?” I forgot what I wanted. He had twinkling puppy eyes and his lips wore a warm smile. His words seemed like a song that I didn’t want to end. He looked into my eyes intently waiting for me to speak. I wanted him. I wanted him to keep on talking to me. “I would like one hot chocolate.” “And would you like some toasties to go with it?” I wanted to say, “Whatever you say.” But I said, “Yeah cool.” Okay now keep talking. I asked, “Will you get ...

First School

F of #AtoZChallenge My first school was Yashomandir. At age four. It was a Nursery school in Mulund East. The uniform was a red pinafore with a white shirt. My mum would fold a handkerchief in a triangle and pin it (with a safety pin) on the left-hand side. My school name-badge would be pinned on top of it. The Principal of our Yashomandir was Teacher-Aaji. I never made an effort to know her real name because for me she was Teacher-Aaji. Whenever I meet her, I still address her Teacher-Aaji. She was a tall, pathicha kana taath (spine-straight) woman who had the looks of a commanding yet a kind Principal. My class teacher's name was Rita Teacher. My memory of walking down the street to Yashomandir is fresh to the extent that I still remember how the sunshine felt, how I hopped and skipped to school holding my Aaji's hand, the warm breeze that flowed, the hide and seek the sun played through the shady trees. I even ...

Hugging the Himalayas

*Crump* *Crip* *Kudum* The leaves and the twigs broke under my shoes. I was panting and puffing and sweating. Ashu dada called out, “We are almost there!” I put my head down and kept climbing until there was no more to climb. “Guys, you got to see this!” I raised my head and lost my breath. We were standing atop a hill overlooking the the magnificent snow mountains. The Dhauladhar range covered in white swept across our eyes. The sky was a true ‘sky blue’ and the sun shone on the tallest of the peaks. I was in heaven! And to prove that the cities lay on the other side cramped up like little ants. At Triund and Photograph by me :) Once I had gotten my bag in my yellow tent I sat outside and lay on my back watching the soft fluffy white clouds breeze by, taking in every bit of the snow wonder. The snow mountains looked no less than a bowl of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with choco chips...

The Yellow Butterfly

Search This Blog