Kalki R Krishnamurthi, his writings, About the Tiger King

1. Kalki R.
Krishnamurthy
(1899 –1954)

2. known by his pen name Kalki.
was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic
and Indian independence activist.
He was named after "Kalki avatar", the
tenth and last avatar of
the Hindu God Vishnu.

3. His writings include
120 short stories
10 novellas
5 novels
 3 historical romances
editorial and political writings
hundreds of film and music reviews

5. Social novels (Tamil)
Kalvaninn Kaadhali (1937)
Thiyaga Bhoomi (1938–1939)
Magudapathi (1942)
Abalayin kaneer (1947)
Alai Osai (1948)
Devagiyin Kanavan (1950)
Mohini Theevu (1950)
Poiman Karadu (1951)
Punnaivanathu Puli (1952)
Amara Thara (1954)

6. Tiger King
The story revolves around a King
whose death at the hands of a tiger
had been foretold by astrologers
when he was born. He tries to
reverse the fate spelled out for him
and the author uses thinly-veiled
satire to walk the reader through the
King's attempts which later prove
futile, in a manner that makes them
laugh.

10. Light humour in the Tiger King
• The instance of the Stuka bomber
• The king’s offer of mouse hunt etc
• The incoherent blabbering by the Dewan and the
Chief Astrologer
• The Dewan procuring an old tiger from people’s
park and its stubborn refusal to get off the car
and the description of its waiting in humble
supplication to be shot.
• The shopkeeper quoting three hundred rupees
for a cheap two annas and a quarter toy tiger

11. Irony and Satire in ‘The Tiger King’
•reveals the follies of autocratic and
willful rulers who flout all laws and
bend them to suit their selfish
interests.
•dramatic irony in the story is sharp
when the Tiger King alone is unaware
that his bullet had not killed the
hundredth tiger.