1 THE TIGER KING BY KALKI
1. What was the miracle that took place in the royal palace? When the Maharaja was a 10 day old infant, he spoke and asked intelligent questions about his death. After knowing that he would be killed by a tiger he uttered the challenge- “Let tigers beware.”
2. How was the Tiger King brought up? As a child the Tiger King was brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman. He was given the milk of an English cow. Like many other Indian crown princes he watched only English movies as the royal families were influenced by the British. The author satirizes the attitude of Indian royalty during the pre partition days. The kings wanted to impress the British and believed that all things connected with the British were good. The author ridicules the upbringing of the princes by making this statement.
3. What did the State astrologer say he would do „if the hundredth tiger were also killed‟? The State astrologer was so sure of his prediction that he announced that he would cut off his ceremonial tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent in case the king was able to kill the 100th tiger, too. He was sure that the Maharaja‟s death would be caused by the 100th tiger.
4. What did the high-ranking British officer wish to do? Was his wish fulfilled? The high-ranking British officer wanted to kill a tiger. When he was denied the permission for hunting, he sent a word to the king that he would be happy if he was allowed to get photographed with the dead body of a tiger killed by the king. However, his wish remained unfulfilled.
5. How did the Maharaja manage to save his throne? The Maharaja had annoyed the visiting senior British officer over the issue of tiger-hunting and stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself‟. So, the Maharaja and the Dewan decided to pacify the officer through bribe by sending gifts of expensive diamond rings to the „duraisani”, the wife of the British officer. Thus he managed to save his throne.
6. How did the „duraisani‟ behave on receiving the gifts? Some fifty samples of expensive diamond rings were sent to the duraisani and it was expected that she would select one or two and return the rest. But the lady proved to be greedy as she retained all of them and merely sent a letter of thanks.
7. Why did the Maharaja‟s tiger killing mission come to a sudden still? Within ten years Maharaja‟s tiger hunting had resulted in the killing of seventy tigers. However his tiger killing mission came to a sudden standstill because the tiger population became extinct in the forest of Pratibandapuram.
8. Why did the Maharaja suddenly decide to marry? Whom did he wish to marry? The Maharaja suddenly decided to marry because firstly, he was of marriageable age and secondly, he wanted to kill thirty more tigers in his father-in-law‟s state in order to complete the tally of hundred tigers .For this reason he wished to marry a girl in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population.
9. Why did Maharaja order the dewan to double the tax? The Maharaja called the dewan and ordered him to immediately double the tax of the villagers who had informed him of a tiger in the forest because despite his best efforts he was unable to locate the beast. This infuriated/ angered the Maharaja.
10. What did the Maharaja buy as a birthday gift for his son? The Maharaja wished to give his son a very special gift on his birthday and he bought a wooden toy tiger as a perfect birthday gift for his son.
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11. How did the king‟s arm become seriously infected? The king‟s arm had got infected from a prick caused by one of the slivers on the wooden tiger. In one day, the infection got flared in the Maharaja‟s right hand and in four days it developed into a suppurating sore which spread all over the arm. Though he was operated yet he died.
12. How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his death? The wooden toy tiger the king had got as a birthday present for his son had been carved by an unskilled carpenter. It had a rough surface with tiny slivers of wood standing up like quills all over it. One of those slivers pierced the Maharaja‟s right hand and although the king pulled it, his arm got infected. In four days, it developed into a suppurating sore and spread all over the arm. The king died while being operated upon. Having „killed‟ the 100th tiger, the king is jubilant for he has fulfilled his vow and disproved the prediction of the royal astrologer. He is now at ease for he thinks he cannot die of a tiger‟s attack. No wonder, he orders the „dead‟ tiger to be taken in a procession through the town and gets a tomb erected over it. All this while he does not know that the 100th victim was not killed by him but by other hunters. That is indeed quite ironical. Death is lurking around him and the king is unaware of it. Again, it is ironical that a king who has killed 100 tigers and is bold and fearless dies of a mere „sliver‟ on the body of a wooden tiger. Thus, ironically death does come to him from a tiger.
13. What is the matter of vital importance that the author wants to disclose in the beginning of the story? Why? The author wants to disclose in the very beginning, the fact that the Tiger King has reached the final abode of all living creatures. The author wants to clarify this matter because he is sure that everyone who reads about him would naturally want to meet this man of indomitable courage face to face.
14. What did the astrologers predict about the child when he was born? The astrologers predicted that the child would grow to become the warrior of warriors, hero of heroes, champion of champions. They also foretold that the child born under this star will one day have to meet its death.
15. What reason did the astrologer give in support of his answers? The astrologer fixed his eyes upon the little prince and explained that the prince was born in the hour of the bull. The bull and the tiger are enemies; therefore, death comes from the tiger.
16. What did the Maharaja do to realize his ambition of killing hundred tigers? The State banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. Anyone defying this order would lose all his wealth and property. The Maharaja vowed that he would attend to all other matters only after killing hundred tigers.
17. Why did the Maharaja not agree to the proposal of the British officer‟s secretary? The British Officer‟s secretary had brought the proposal that the officer (durai) could only take a photograph of himself holding the gun and standing over the tiger‟s carcass. The actual killing could be done by the Maharaja. The Maharaja did not agree as if he said yes to him, what would he do if other British officers turned up for tiger hunts.
18. What did the dewan do on hearing the threat of losing the job from the Maharaja? The dewan and his wife took the tiger which had been brought from the People‟s Park in Madras, and dragged it to the car and shoved it into the seat. They left the tiger with great difficulty and ensured that it should wander into the Raja‟s presence. Everything happened according to their plan. The Maharaja took careful aim at the beast and killed it.
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19. What were the two outside forces that restricted the kings in those days from doing exactly what they wished? The eccentric kings of pre partition India were afraid of two things. Firstly, they were afraid of the British Officers. They could lose their kingdom if they annoyed the Britishers. Secondly, they were afraid of their subjects and wanted them to be happy. The rulers feared that they would follow the Indian National Congress.
20. „The bullet had missed it‟. How did the hundredth tiger die? Bring out the irony of the situation. The brave king who killed tigers with his bare hands could not kill a weak tiger. His bullet missed the tiger. The tiger had fainted with the shock of the bullet passing near it. One of the hunters took aim from an arm's distance and killed it. The whole situation is ironic.
21. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. Discuss. The story satirizes the conceit of people in power. They refuse to take no for an answer and their whims become laws for their subjects. This is aptly illustrated by the eccentric behaviour of the Tiger King who wished to disprove an astrologer‟s prediction about his death. The Tiger King banned the tiger killing in his state. Only the Maharaja could kill the tigers. He went out on a hunting spree and made it his main occupation. After killing seventy tigers, its population became extinct. He married a princess from a neighbouring kingdom with a large tiger population. Later, he felt happy when he was informed about the presence of tiger that would have completed his mission of killing the hundredth tiger. He immediately announced a three year exemption from all taxes. When the tiger was not traced for a few days, the king decided to double the taxes and many officers lost their jobs. In pre partition days Indian rulers were scared of the British officers, yet in their own state, they behaved like autocrats.
22. How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his death? It had been predicted by astrologers that the hundredth tiger would prove to be fatal for the Tiger King. He then set out to hunt all the tigers. He vowed he would attend to all other matters only after he had realised his aim. He managed to kill ninety-nine but the Maharaja‟s bullet missed the hundredth tiger who had fainted from the shock of the bullet. The ignorant king was jubilant. It is ironical that the brave king did not know that the hundredth tiger had fainted and had been killed by a hunter. The wooden toy tiger the king got as a birthday present for his son was the cause of his death. It is ironical that the king who killed many tigers with his brave hands died of a „sliver‟ from the body of the toy tiger. The sliver caused infection and developed a suppurating sore. The Tiger King died while being operated upon. In this way destiny took its final revenge upon the Tiger King. Ironically, death came to him from a tiger.
23. Why was it celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram? A. There was a celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram because the state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja and a proclamation was issued to the effect that if any one dared to aim a stone at a tiger, all his wealth and property would be confiscated.
