How did Tigers get Striped?
Do you know an animal that has black stripes on its orange body? Yes, it is a tiger, but tigers did not have stripes always. Would you like to know how tigers got stripes?
Long, long ago, thousands of years ago, there was a huge forest in India. The forest was very thick. It had lots of trees, big trees, small trees, thick trees, thin trees, huge trees and tiny trees. The trees were so close to each other that it was always dark inside the forest. There were all kinds of animals living in the forest. Hissing snakes, chattering monkeys, laughing hyenas, mighty lions, trumpeting elephants, beautiful peacocks, and melodious Koels. There were thousands of insects like centipedes, spiders, bees, ladybirds, beetles and big red ants.
In the middle of this forest, there was a big lake. The water in the lake was cool and clear. The water was so clear that one could see the stones on the bed of the lake. There were many kinds of fish. Frogs were hopping in and out of the water. The green- snakes slid through the water. A tortoise made lake it’s home. Every night all the animals of the jungle came to the lake to drink water.
A Water-goddess guarded the lake. She protected all the animals. All animals were abided by her rules. The Water-goddess made the mighty lion the king, and “From now on all of you the animals of the forest drink the water from the lake only after the king ‘lion’ touches the water and sends ripples in the cool and clear water”, she ordered. The animals waited in a queue until their king touched, created ripples, and drank the water from that day onwards. Those who broke this law were severely punished and imprisoned. For this purpose, the animals built a jail near the lake.
In this jungle, there was a strange animal called Tiger. It looked like a big cat but was plain orange in colour. This tiger was very sad. It had nothing to be proud about. It thought, “the peacock is so beautiful with all those colourful feathers, the elephant has a big strong trunk, the king lion has a mane. This small tiny snail is so special that it carries its home on its back, monkeys have such a long tail, but look at me, I have nothing special….. no special trunk, no bushy mane no beautiful feathers, my colour it is so plain it’s so boring…….”
One day it was a hot summer day. Sun was shining brightly. The day was getting hotter and hotter. There was no sign of a breeze. It appeared as though the wind had stopped moving. The tiger which was hunting got tired. It was hungry and very thirsty. It tried to roar in irritation. “G……. G………” what happened, no voice. Its throat was so dried that it could not roar. It got so hot that the tiger tried to cool its body by opening the mouth and letting the tongue into the air. “Hmm, Hu….” It did not help much. It came near to the lake. It looked at the water, “Water! Cool and Clear!” It was about drunk but remembered the order of the water goddess. It stood still near the lake, looking forward to the lion. It went around the lake. Still, there was no trace of a lion. It went one more round around the lake. No one came.
It looked this way; there was no one. It looked that way; there was no one. It looked up there was no one, it looked down, Oh! Water! Cool and clear! Quickly it bent down and gulped down the water as much as it could.
Suddenly “Tiger is a traitor. Tiger is a traitor” “Tiger is a traitor”, the tiger looked in that direction. It was a monkey behind him. Before he could reply anything, he saw the lion coming majestically.
Lion heard the monkey and roared at the tiger angrily, “How dare are you to drink the water before the king. Don’t you remember the rule of the water goddess! You will be imprisoned for a week.”
The Tiger got scared and guilty,
“I was very thirsty……… I could not……. control. Don’t send me to jail……. please …. Please…” it lamented.
“How dare are you to back answer the king?” Roared the lion wildly
Now the tiger lost its patience, “King, who is the king? What kind of a king you are! I can make a better king than you. I am stronger than you!” Tiger replied impatiently.
Lion’s whole body shivered in anger, “What did you say! Come again! Are you stronger than me! Come, I’ll show you who is stronger?” and bounced on the Tiger. Tiger was already in the air. A big fight began between them. All the other animals stood around, some in amusement, some in fear. The lion and the tiger fought fiercely, each one trying to take control over the other. Sometimes they bounced back and went around staring at each other, all set to use the minute distraction. Sunset, sun raised, the fight continued. No animal had the interest to go home or sleep. Again sunset and sun raised, no one moved out. No animal felt hungry or tired. The fight continued for Five Days and Five Nights. Finally, the tiger started losing. At a precise moment, the lion gave a strong punch on the tiger’s nose and “Thud……..” Tiger fell on the jail door and was not able to get up. Two elephants pulled the tiger from the jail bars. “Dum laga kar aisaa……. our thoda aisaa, little more aisa……..” made it stand. All animals looked at this new tiger. It is no more boring plain orange in colour! The black paint of the jail bars had stuck to the body of Tiger and had black stripes all over. In a flash, the water goddess appeared and cursed him, “The black stripes shall remain on your body forever.”
Tiger got up sadly and walked to the water, and looked at its reflection in the water. It saw the stripes on its whole body. It started jumping happily. “Wow! Look at me! I am no more, plain! I am also special now look at my stripes” It showed its stripes proudly to all and walked into the dense forest.
Since then, the Tiger has black stripes on its body.