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Granny! Please don’t feed that
cat! I am bit allergic to it., I plead. Ha! Ha! Aren’t you scared of cats! Paper
tiger!, granny teases me. I try to smile in vain. Wipe
that sweat off your face! Never give in to unwanted fear!, she speaks gently. Do
you know, when I was of your age, I used to play with a cheetah!. This makes me
laughing.
Don’t laugh! This is a fact. My
father was a forest officer in a Himalayan kingdom.
Once he went on a hunting
expedition with royals. There he found a small cub whose parents were probably
killed by some other hunters, Then, did he send it away to a zoo, I ask My
goodness! In those days, we hardly had anything called zoo or wild life
sanctuaries. So, my father took it as a gift to a local rajah who asked him to
rear it on state expenses, granny laughs
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We named it himmat and it soon
became member of our family. What did it eat! You are a staunch vegetarian so it
must have survived on vegetables, I tease Very smart! Those were golden days.
Since Rajah sahib was willing to take responsibility, we didn’t have to worry,
she smiles Did it ever try to hurt you, I ask
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That’s why! I always ask you to
concentrate on your studies. A cheetah is a shy animal. It’s very rare when it
attacks a human being! In past, it was part of a hunting expedition where it
acted as a guard against bigger animals such as elephants . My father kept it in
chains so it was never a threat. She reasons You mean to say, you were never
scared of it ! I still persist
Kid! Have you ever met a man who slaps you without any reason or a woman who
shouts at you, she questions - Why shall some one act that way, I am miffed
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Then, why would animal ever
attack human beings. It is only when we try to hurt them, they reciprocate
,otherwise, animals are far gentle than human race! She laughs heartily What
happened to himmat, I ask He was later sent to Rajah
sahib. Alas, it later died in a hunter expedition. Some wild elephant crushed it
under its feet, Granny takes a heavy sigh!
Contributing Story Teller:
Ashish Dimri
ashishdimri1@gmail.com
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