A Tiger in Bengaluru.

Like any other office day having lunch with my colleague after an enervating coding sprint and cluelessly glaring out of the window, wondering how peaceful Bengaluru looks from here. The sky is, as usual, overcast, and it seems that there will be a good chance of raining at the time of leaving the office.

You heard Itachi, Rahul said. There is a tiger warning in your area, I mean in Hebbal. Stay careful dude, you still owe me five-thousand bucks.

I took a glance at his face, and he is trying his best not to laugh and look concerned. Yeah, I will pay you as soon as my salary credited to my account. But on a serious note, I said after a short pause while adjusting myself in my seat and trying to divert the monetary conversation. You won’t believe me, what happened to me yesterday night.

What, did you saw a tiger? Sakura said while sharing a smile with Rahul.

Yup, I said, trying to be as sober as I can. Looking at there faces, I knew they didn’t believe me. Look, I know it seems unbelievable, but trust me, I have a solid proof. I showed them a call log and also a complaint number message regarding this incident.

Okay, now you are scaring me, Sakura said. Yeah, I know that’s scary but, I need your help.

Help? for what, You already reported this incident to the police. They will handle it, Rahul said.

Agree, but you guys need to hear what really happened yesterday, I said.

So, around two A.M last night…

A sudden urge to pee in my dream woke me up, bit irritated but glad that I haven’t relieved myself in my sleep considering that powerful urge.

Still, in my sleep, I took a glimpse at my cell phone, it flashes 2:47 AM with Wall-E wallpaper in the background and shining as bright as the sun.

I immediately closed my eyes and took some passive steps towards the door. After some struggle, I opened the door and try to figure out where is my washroom. Suddenly my eyes struck at the most horrifying beast I ever saw. Quickly I closed my door and grab my guitar, ready to strike if that thing attacks me. A large orange beast with black stripes, what on earth a tiger doing in my living room. I can hear my heart beating like a drum with fear, and I am breathing like I finished a cross country marathon.

It took a while for me to slow down my breathing and to fathom that my house is raided by a tiger. I don’t have an inkling on how to handle this situation, the only urge I have now is to survive. It’s quite interesting how our body works on priorities. If this situation continues, I can hold it for another day. In other words, it’s just not the priority right now. If I will survive then only I can pee, and strangely this thought experiment at this time make me calm a bit.

I grab my phone and dial 100.

Hello, ya it’s Itachi, and I live in Hebbal. I just saw umm how would say that, a tiger in my drawing-room.

A what, Tiger! a surprising voice scream over the receiver. Are you out of your mind, a tiger in Bengaluru?

No, it’s true. I saw it in my drawing room just a minute ago. It was standing there and staring at me. Please, send somebody here. I am afraid that it can attack me anytime.

Okay, calm down, the officer said, tell me your exact address we will send a rapid task force and someone from the forest department. We will be there as soon as possible.

Please hurry up, I said. Stay in your room, we will be there in five mins.

I waited in front of the gate with the guitar in my hand and assuming all possible scenarios which I can probably face. Suddenly I hear mild foots steps near my door. A cold shiver runs through my body and I start shaking, it feels like death just hovering over me. I lost the grip on the guitar, and it felt on the ground, making a loud high pitch noise.

As soon as I pick the guitar, I heard a barking sound. It continues for three more times and then stops. Now, this puzzled me, what is a dog doing in my flat and that too with a tiger. I try to think, and the only possible scenario I come with is that maybe he chased a dog to my apartment, and when he saw me, he ran away.

Somehow, the presence of a dog in my living room mollifies my fear and convinces me it’s safe to go outside. When I opened the door I saw an orange dog looking at me.

I petted the dog and wondered whether he left or hiding somewhere. But if he is hiding nearby, definitely the dog can sense him. It makes me feels so relieved but still wondering how he had come inside. I checked the main gate, and it’s locked. After that, I move toward the main balcony which is connected to the drawing-room and had a separate door. As I checked the balcony door, it was clear that he comes inside through this door as it was slightly open. Maybe I forgot to close it.

I close the door and cross-checked it, once sure it’s locked, I return to my drawing-room. The moment I enter the room, I was stunned. It’s just hard to comprehend what I see in front of me. Its like sky fell right in front of me, a tiger but it’s not a tiger. Oh my god, such an idiot I am. It’s the same damn dog, the grills from my neighbor’s house cast a shadow on his body through the window, and it’s looking like a black stripe on his orange body.

Don’t tell me you thought it’s a Tiger. Rahul asked. He looks as dismayed as Sakura.

Yes, so what, it does look like a tiger if you are half asleep and stupid like me, I said.

What did you tell the police then, when they asked you about the Tiger? Sakura asked.

I told them about the dog chasing story, and they seem convinced. After that forest department put the area on high alert and from the last twelve hours they are trying to find the Tiger.

After hearing the whole incident, it seems we all run out of words. But the way things happened last night, there is nothing much to say. After a brief silence, I asked, Should I tell the truth?

Such a stupid you are, Sakura yell. There is no point in telling the truth now. You’ll end up in a mental asylum for your stupidity.

Yeah, she makes sense, I thought. Okay then, let’s go back to the work, and let the forest department do their work. We proceed to our respective cabin after a silent nod from both of them.

Thank you.

Follow me for more such interesting short stories.