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Book Review: The Tiger in the Tunnel by Ruskin Bond

The Tiger in the Tunnel by Ruskin Bond is a short story about doing duty with courage and valour. In this story, we see Baldeo and his son Tembu. They hail from a tribal village in North India, where Baldeo’s wife and daughter lives. Baldeo and his son live in a small hut nearby a tunnel where the overland trains pass by. In the village, they have a small piece of land on which they grow some crops but it is never suffice to fill their bellies. So as to lessen the burden of financial constraint on the family, Baldeo has taken a job of a tunnel guard. His duty is to make sure that the tunnel is clear off the obstacles before trains pass through it. He is stationed at that tunnel which is located in the hills and surrounded by dense forest from both sides where wild animals often create havoc.


At the same time rumours have that a man-eating tiger has killed many humans in and around the tunnel. Like every other night, one night Baldeo picks up his lantern and a small axe in his hand and moves out of the hut to pass the signal for the late night train. The train is running late tonight. When he is moving out of the hut, Tembu wakes up and urges to accompany him. Baldeo refuses his help. As he is walking along the railway track towards the tunnel, he hears a sharp crackling sound from the undergrowth. All of sudden his mind filled with all fears that could possibly happen to him. Also the fear of tiger keeps him alert. He checks the tunnel – it is free from the obstacles. The train is running late.

The light he is carrying for the signal is low and about to dim down. He sits down and reignites it for the proper signaling. Just a few yards before the tunnel, he hears the mild roaring of a tiger. The tiger leaps at him. Baldeo realizing the situation sways the axe at the tiger. The axe hits the shoulder of the tiger. By the time train approaches the tunnel but the tiger does not heed at it. Its trembling wakens up Tembu. The wounded tiger attacks again and this time Baldeo again strikes the axe at the shoulder of the tiger. This time the axe sticks to the shoulder of the tiger, leaving Baldeo defenseless.

The tiger this time jumps at Baldeo and rips him apart. But the tiger does not see the approaching train, as it’s so fiercely busy killing Baldeo. The train running fast passes the tunnel safely and at the next station the driver sees the corpse of the tiger attached to the front of the engine. On the other hand, Tembu comes out in search of his father. Upon finding his father dead and torn apart, Tembu cries all night at his dead body and also protects it from the wild animals like hyenas.

The family remains grief-stricken for two days. After a few days, to carry forward the responsibilities of his father, Tembu joins the duty as a tunnel guard. For his protection he has that legendary axe.

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