Book Review — A Man Eater in Kasan Kadu by Balamurugan K A
Ever since my childhood I was fascinated by adventure stories of jungles and tigers. In the same pursuit, I have read hundreds of Ruskin Bond stories backdropped against the foothills of Himalaya that teems with wildlife and encounters of locals with tigers and leopards. However when it comes to stories related to man-eating tigers, Jim Corbett tops the list. He was such a benign and great hunter of British India, his stories of hunting tigers are famous in books like Man-Eaters of Kumaon and Rudraprayag. Since then there are many books in the genre.
The latest offering in the man-eating tiger genre is — A Man Eater in Kasan Kadu — by Balamurugan K A. The novel is backdropped against Ariyalur, a district in Tamil Nadu. The tiger that slips from the hands of veteran ex forest officials and poachers roam across the villages of this district, silently preying on cattle and humans.
Though the novel is fragmented across various villages and areas where the tiger caused havoc, yet it has got two main characters: Arul and Viji. They once worked in the forest department, but eliminated when caught poaching. The story commences from Sathya Mangalam Tiger reserve, where a local poacher named Arivalagan passes information of tiger hunting to Arul and Viji. They capture the tiger and take it in a van through secret routes; however, an accident on the way spoils their plan. The tiger runs away. Onwards the entire novel gets under the skeins of man-hunting stories. Since a tiger was not a common sight to locals and villagers and cattle grazers, thus, when it paws on them — others don’t believe their plight.
The novel becomes unputdownable as the stories from villages chug ahead. Some of the interesting tales about man-hunting are of a young girl, who was killed and eaten by the tiger, but her family thought she ran away. In another instance a notorious old man ‘Alagar’ was taken away by the tiger without an air of hint to normal people of the town. The story of Muthu from minefield was quite interesting and heartfelt. The police labeled it as a case of robbery. People not accepting tiger in their villages and area adds thrilling dimensions in the plotline.
Finally, after many events of hunting and killing, now who is going to trap and shoot that tiger for safety of all? Will the same poachers take the ordeal to re-compensate their mistake or something else is going to happen?
From the narration it’s clear that the author has done his research and vividly painted the life of poachers, cattle grazers, and locals to add dimensions of credibility. Nearly all stories are done with preface and proper introduction of the victims — in fact incidental information on flora, fauna, and village life makes it a delightful read.
The book, overall, is quite exciting. At times you literally hold your breath and literally feel the tiger’s hot breath inn your neck.
The book is available on online stores like Amazon and Kindle.
