The book comprises three short stories featuring tigers, two of them apparently true, and all where tigers and humans share a symbiotic relationship. All the stories are narrated by ‘Dadubhai’ to his grandson, Rohan. The ‘Tiger which Came to the Cricket Match’ is a true story, recorded in the archives of the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club, one of the earliest clubs set up by the British. The tale is well told, with details about the English sahibs’ and memsahibs’ clothes and picnic hampers, as well as the mild disdain in which their Indian bearers and coachmen held their masters. The nice part of the story is that the presence of a tiger does not lead to any dramatic developments, despite the alarm that it generates. The tiger too, which had probably simply wandered in—these parts being very much its natural habitat at the time—simply ambles off after a while. A nice touch of humour is added by the detail that, armed with guns, the cricket captains marched into the jungle to demonstrate their courage, but only once the tiger had gone away!
November 2022, volume 46, No 11