The Character Of Baldeo

ICSE SHORT STORIES- TIGER IN THE TUNNEL

Baldeo was an ideal family man who wanted to give his family a bit of relief from the life of privations as the produce from the small rice fields only enabled them to make both ends meet. He therefore considered himself lucky when he got the job of the khalasi at the road side signal stop under the railways. Though he joined his work only for a short period of one month, he had not ever failed to do his duty despite the harshness of weather. His work involved lighting the lantern at the entrance to the tunnel so that the overland express could pass through without facing any obstruction. There were many animals in the part of the jungle in which the tunnel was but he did his work without being swayed by any feelings of fright.
 He was very fearless and as he was a tribal he was used to the ways of the jungle.  He had got the gift of an axe from his father which he had had made over a charcoal fire. He could use it so efficiently that he had the ease of cutting down a tree in three or four strokes with it as if it had been neatly sawn. It was an integral part of his personality and he did not forget to carry it with him either when he went to the market or to the tribal dance. Though he was poor, he was not greedy as he did not want to part with the weapon when a railway official wanted to have it for some good amount of money.
 He felt comfortable when he was armed with the axe and he always carried it with him. This was in keeping with the tradition of his ancestors. His unfailing devotion to his work is evident from the way he woke up and left the hut, ignoring the comfort of his sleep and the coziness of the hut on an extremely cold night. He draped a shawl around him and began to walk haltingly along the rails and the stones as he was still sleepy. As he came near the tunnel, he checked the lantern and lighted it. Then when he encountered the tiger, he fought it bravely with the axe which he still had in his possession. He fought like an intrepid man without fearing for his life. He also wanted to fight against the tiger because the father in him did not want it to go back to the hut where his twelve year son was sleeping unprotected. He fought until he died and thus proved his commitment to the work and the fact that he was essentially a tribal with heroic might with the weapon, his cherished axe.