How Jaluram escaped from jaws of wild cat

By Abinash Chaudhary,Dhangadi, Jan. 21: “The leaning tree had a strange allure.“I did not have to climb it but something pulled me to it. I could not resist.

“But I had merely climbed a branch when it lunged. ‘Grauuu’ it roared as it pounced on my body, frozen with fear.

“I could not run, I did not think. I looked over at my hand which was holding a sickle. I jabbed it into its skull.”

Jaluram Chaudhary, 68, of Tighari, Kailari Rural Municipality–7, still gets goosebumps when he remembers that day. A day that was 25 years ago but one that is still fresh in his mind.

“It was a monstrous tiger,” Chaudhary recounted. “I barely escaped with my life,” he said, showing a scar on his body that he claimed marked a wound made by the beast. “That wound has healed, but the memory is still vivid."

Chaudhary’s ‘encounter with the tiger’ happened around 1998. At that time, farmers used to wear a ‘Chhatri’ (traditional umbrella) to protect themselves from the sun. The umbrella needed to be made from leaves 

plucked from trees in the local Basanta forest. And, on an ill-fated day in May, Chaudhary happened to be at the forest to pluck such leaves from a slanted tree.

Little did he know that a tiger was hiding near a bush there, waiting for its prey. “As soon as the big cat saw me, it pounced with a demonic look in his eyes that I will never forget,” Chaudhary recollected.

“Everyone ran away after seeing the tiger, leaving me alone. I did not know what to do but I managed to stab it with my sickle.”

However, Chaudhary only made the tiger angrier and the partially injured carnivore continued mauling him. “I sustained 65 wounds on my head and body parts but fortunately, its claws did not reach my neck,” he narrated.

He managed to push the tiger away and run out of the forest. By the time he reached the open fields near his house, his head was covered in blood.

His injuries were severe but, thankfully, he recovered after a month of treatment in India. He later learnt that the tiger he fought with died.

The Tharus have a close relationship with the jungle. They depend on the trees for firewood, leaves and fruits and vegetables. When in the woods, they encounter wild animals including ferocious tigers.

But these encounters are becoming less frequent. Chaudhary said that less and less people are confronting the ‘majestic cats’ with each passing year. Good news for people, but a bad sign for biodiversity that worries him. In fact, despite almost losing his life to a tiger attack, Chaudhary ardently believes that tigers should be protected.