2 story given: Aharsi the bengal tiger and Tetan buri and Boka buri

2. Shadowy God
by poet Shikdar Waliuzzaman.
Shadowy God Death valley lies in hear
Lifeless rivers claims urbanity, everywhere
Tired clouds, touch less, in the far
A sky touchy way meets another,
Peahens' beds sound shocked written slogan!
Dark words take a secret glance
Shakuny's eyes make my life a strange goal
I, omnipresent god of shadow go nowhere
Think my shadowy face dearest one.

4. The Two Old Women: Tetan Buri and
Boka Buri
A Bangali folk tale told by David
Heathfield

5. Tetan Buri... aha! Boka Buri... hmmm.
Tetan Buri... aha! Boka Buri... hmmm.
Tetan Buri... aha! Boka Buri... hmmm.
There were once two sisters: Tetan Buri, clever sister... aha!
And Boka Buri, foolish sister... hmmm.
Tetan Buri and Boka Buri shared three things. They shared
one blanket. They shared one cow. And they shared one
mango tree.
‘Aha, sister. I will have the blanket during the night, and you
will have the blanket during the day... aha!’
‘Hmmm, very well, sister.’

6. Boka Buri only had the blanket during the day
when the sun blazed down. But at night when
it was cold she had to give the blanket to her
clever sister.
‘Aha! I will have the back end of the cow, and
you will have the front end of the cow... aha!’
‘Hmmm, very well, sister.’

7. Boka Buri, foolish sister, had to feed the
cow and water the cow; while clever sister
came along and milked the cow and made
yogurt and butter.
Boka Buri was hungry.

8. ‘The mango tree! I will have the top half of the
mango tree, and you will have the bottom half of the
mango tree... aha!’
‘Hmmm, very well, sister.’
Boka Buri had to water the mango tree and weed
around its base. Tetan Buri came and picked the
delicious, ripe fruit and kept them all for herself.

9. Boka Buri was cold at night and so hungry.
She went into the village, and there she went to the
hairdresser.
While the hairdresser cut her hair she listened to Boka
Buri’s troubles: ‘Foolish woman. What you must do is this...
When you go back to your sister give her the blanket at
night, but only after you have dipped it in the river. As for
the cow... don’t feed the cow, just shout at the cow. And as
for the tree... chop it in half.’

10. ‘Very well.’
Boka Buri went back to the sister. She gave
her the blanket, but only after she had
dipped it in the river.
Tetan Buri took the blanket... ‘aha...
aaaggghhhh.’

11. It was so cold. She shivered all through the
night with the wet blanket around her.
The next day, she went to get milk from the
cow. But Boka Buri had not fed the cow. Boka
Buri had only shouted at the cow. And when
she tried to milk the cow, the cow just kicked
Tetan Buri... ‘aaaggghhhh!!’

13. Now, Tetan Buri went to pick mangoes
from the tree. But when she got there,
there stood Boka Buri with an axe in
her hands about to chop the tree in
half.

14. ‘What are you doing, sister?’
‘Oh,’ said Boka Buri, ‘I am going to cut the
tree in half. I am going to chop my half
from your half.’

15. ‘No,’ said the sister. ‘What can I do to stop you?’
‘Hmmm, go and talk to the hairdresser.’
Tetan Buri went to the hairdresser. The
hairdresser had no sympathy: ‘I will not help
you. But why don’t you ask the rest of the
community.’

16. The doors of the shop were opened and all of the people of
the community squeezed inside.
They listened to Tetan Buri’s woes: how she was cold at night
with a wet blanket; how she only had the cow kick her and no
milk to make yogurt or butter; how her sister was going to
chop the tree in half.
‘What you must do,’ they said, ‘is share the work. Share the
blanket. Sleep next to your sister. You will keep each other
warm... snug and warm.’

17. ‘Share the blanket?’
‘And share the feeding and the watering of the cow,
and milk the cow together, and together churn the
butter and make the yogurt.’
‘Work together?’

18. ‘And,’ said the people of the community, ‘what you
must do, Tetan Buri, is to look after the tree. Tend
the tree with your sister. Weed the tree and water
the tree and together you will share an abundance of
fruit.’
‘Aha.’

19. And so it was that Tetan Buri and Boka Buri shared the
blanket and kept each other warm at night; shared the milk to
make butter and yogurt; and shared those delicious mangoes.
And so much did they have that they had plenty to share with
the rest of the community.
Tetan Buri... aha! And Boka Buri, the not so foolish sister...
hmmm.

20. Aharsi the Bengal Tiger
A Bengali Story by
Abbey Ledger-Lomas

21. Aharsi the big Bengal Tiger was having a good think. It
was winter and he was still getting used to the feeling
of ice on the pads of his paws. He shivered a little,
missing the warm ooze of mangrove mud. Aharsi was
missing lots of things.

22. He missed the way the sun made his coat glow a
regal orange, or how the glare of midday
brightness made his black stripes look so bold
and striking like black lightening bolts.

23. He missed dozing in the evening
heat and catching the last shafts of
sunlight as they cut through the
jungle vines.

24. He wondered if he would ever again hear
Doyel birds chattering in the trees, or catch
the scent of ripe mangoes on the breeze. It
was these fleeting, poignant moments that
the Bengal tiger was trying so hard to
picture in his mind. Aharsi missed his
home.

25. His whiskers bristled as he let out a big sigh, sending
the starlings that had been pecking at the frozen
ground scattering up into the grey sky. Three hours
had passed, and despite his intense concentration, all
the tiger had managed to remember was some vague
half images of mangoes and mangroves. He was
worried that he was forgetting about his old home all
together.

26. When Aharsi first arrived at the zoo in England with
his mother and father, everything was so exciting. He
lapped it all up; his amber eyes burned with curiosity
as he jumped from tree to tree or smelled each flower
or pawed at each tiny insect.

27. ‘Now just calm down, Aharsi,’ his mother would
say. ‘You have come a long way. There is plenty
of time to explore; now you must rest.’

28. But the young tiger was too busy to rest.
There were new animals to meet, new
trees to climb. There was so much to learn
about his new home.

29. Before the sun went down on that first day, Aharsi
had bounded around all of the animals’ cages, asking
them question after question, absorbing the strange
exotic colours of the paradise birds and smelling the
sweet and unfamiliar smell of the hay in the rhino
stalls.

30. But the more he explored, the more Aharsi realised
how different his new home was to where he’d come
from. And now the young tiger was worried that he’d
lost all of the precious memories he had of his
homeland. He was worried that he had forgotten all
about being a Bengal Tiger.

31. Aharsi squeezed his eyes closed and flicked his
tail purposefully from side to side: ‘Remember,’
he told himself. ‘Try to think harder!’

32. Hours passed, the day grew dimmer and the
rest of the animals started to settle down in
the twilight. After a while, Aharsi felt someone
looking at him. He opened one eye, keen to
stay as focused as he could on reclaiming his
lost memories. It was Zody the Leopard.

33. What are yoooouuu doing?’ came the deep,
purring voice.
‘I’m remembering,’ Aharsi answered. ‘Now if
you don’t mind…’ Aharsi closed his eye once
more and tried to concentrate even harder.

34. ‘Reeeemembering?’ asked Zody.
‘Yes. I’ve forgotten all about being a Bengal
Tiger, and where I’ve come from, so I’m trying
to remember it before it’s all gone forever. Now
if you don’t mind…’

35. Once again Aharsi squeezed his eyes shut
and tried to summon images from his
homeland.
‘You won’t get faaaar with your eyes
closed,’ said Zody.

36. Aharsi opened his eyes wide and looked quite
annoyed. ‘I won’t get anywhere unless you
leave me alone to think!’ he said. ‘You wouldn’t
understand anyway, you’re not even a tiger, let
alone a Bengal Tiger! You’re a leopard!’

37. ‘You silly animal!’ said Zody, rattling
with laughter. ‘Look there!’ She
pointed to a shiny slick patch of ice on
the hard ground.

38. Aharsi stared back at Zody in some confusion. ‘I
think you may have gone a bit bonkers, Zody,’
he said, and just then he almost wanted to
laugh himself.
‘If you want to remember how to be a tiger,’
said Zody in a kind voice ‘just look.’

39. ‘Fine, if you’ll leave me alone then I’ll
look.’
Aharsi bent his neck a little and
peered into the glassy ice mirror on
the ground. Zody purred over his
shoulder.

41. `What beautiful stripes you have,’ she said. ‘When I look into
the mirror I see my spots. Nobody else has spots quite like
mine. My mother had spots, and my mother’s mother, and
my mother’s mother’s mother… all the way back to when my
great great great Grandma prowled the grasses of South
Africa!’
Aharsi noticed Zody’s eyes get brighter as she pictured the
sun baked savanna and plush green jungles of her home.
‘When I see my spots,’

42. continued, ‘I see my whole history. And I will always
have my spots.’ She winked at Aharsi. ‘After all,’ she
said, ‘a leopard never changes its spots!’
‘But don’t you ever get homesick or sad?’ the young
tiger asked in a slight mewl. ‘Everything is so different
here.’

43. ‘We all get homesick,’ Zody replied while pawing at
the ice, ‘but look here at our reflections. We are not
so very different. You are from Bengal and I am from
Africa, but see how we have the same whiskers. And
see here…’ Zody cut an impressive jagged line in the
ice with her sharp claws and then raised them up so
that they shone in the fading light. ‘We both have
these,’ she said with a grin.

44. Just then there was a great trumpeting sound
from the elephant’s enclosure in the east corner
of the zoo.

45. ‘Well that’s not so amazing,’ said Aharsi. ‘We are both
cats. But I’m nothing like the elephants over there, am
I?’
Zody giggled. ‘They might look different and sound
different, but I’ll bet even elephants get homesick too.
That is something you have in common.’

46. Aharsi looked unsure as he thought that the
elephants were far too big and strong to ever
be sad. ‘I bet they still remember where they
are from,’ he said. ‘My mother told me that an
Elephant never forgets.’

47. Zody hissed and giggled and rolled around on the
hard ground. ‘That’s true!’ she admitted. ‘An elephant
never forgets!’

48. ‘And I bet the Zebras don’t get scared,’ Aharsi continued, still
a little bit sulky but starting to smile at his friend’s antics.
‘Haven’t you seen them running from the zookeeper’s
tractor?’ asked Zody
‘And… and the crocodiles? Do they get scared and sad too?’
Aharsi asked.

49. ‘Haven’t you seen them hiding beneath the water?’
Zody replied as she gave her friend a playful bump
with her nose. ‘We all miss home sometimes, Aharsi.
But that is why we all look different. We are different
so that we can remember.

50. Look at me. I have this beautiful tail which reminds
me that we leopards are the best at balancing up high
in the trees.’
Aharsi felt much better and soon began to rumble
with a deep purr. ‘And I will always have my stripes for
hiding in the tall grass. We tigers are the best hunters
in all of Bengal!’

51. ‘Your stripes go wherever you go, Aharsi,’ Zody said with a
smile.
‘And when the elephants feel sad they can look at their trunks
to remember that they are the best at splashing in the water,’
said Aharsi. ‘And when the crocodiles feel sad or scared they
can look at their webbed feet and remember that they are the
fastest in the river…’

52. The young tiger trailed off a little, his eyes were growing
heavy and he yawned without noticing. It was evening now
and the zoo was alive with the crooning calls of countless
animals. Some were stripey, some were spotty. Not any one
of them was the same as the other. As night fell and a million
stars filled the sky, Aharsi began to understand that though
all of the animals were different, they all felt the same
sometimes. That is when he knew he would never be alone,
and that is when he knew he would always carry his home in
his heart forever.

53. The devotee pondered over it for a while. That
evening, he was still thinking about it while
returning home. "I wonder what the Guruji
meant by all that," he thought. "How can God
be everywhere?"

55. As the devotee was walking, he suddenly saw an
elephant rushing down the road. There was a
mahout on the elephant yelling out for everyone to
move away. "The elephant has gone mad! Please get
out of the way!" Initially, the devotee was scared but
then he thought to himself, "Guruji has told me that
God is everywhere. That means He is in that
elephant.

56. And God is in me as well." The devotee came to the
conclusion, "God cannot attack God! So, the elephant will not
attack me. I have nothing to fear." Even as the elephant
charged towards him, the devotee stood in his place,
confident. "He won't harm me," he thought with a smile. The
mahout yelled several warnings to the devotee, but he didn't
budge. "Move you foolish man! He will trample you! You will
be crushed to death!"

57. Coming at a fast pace, the elephant reached the devotee.
Mad with fury, the animal wrapped its trunk around him and
picked him up. The devotee shrieked with fear and disbelief.
Even as he thought, "This cannot be happening!" the
elephant flung him aside in anger.

58. Fortunately, the foolish devotee landed on a haystack
and was unhurt. As he lay there in shock and relief, his
Guru and friends came running towards him. "What
happened? Why did you stand there? asked the Guru.
"Guruji," said the trembling devotee, "You told me
God was in everything and in everyone.

59. If God was in the elephant, why
did he fling me aside like that?"

60. The Guru smiled. "Yes, God is in the
elephant. But God is also in the mahout
who kept warning you to move. Why did
you not listen to him?" The devotee had
no answer.