Answer any one of the following questions in 150-200 words:

(i) Describe Raja’s happy family life in the forest. How did it come to an end?

(ii) Describe the development in Captain’s relationship with Raja.

(i) Raja was leading a carefree life in the forest. He enjoyed the company of his master and selected a place below a rock to reside on the foothills of Mempi range. Like a tiger, he was free to move, hunt whenever he liked and drank water from the nearby spring. He also enjoyed the discourses of his master. However, his idyllic life came to a standstill when his mate and cubs fell prey to hunters. After this, he went around terrorizing and raiding villages and he was soon captured and sent to the circus. In circus, he shared a very tense relationship with his trainer, who often starved him to make him behave. He was tortured in the name of training, with even an electric prod being used on him. While he learnt to be the star performer of the circus, he was deeply unhappy, with annoyance and anger in his heart against his brutal trainer.

(ii) After he was captured and sent away to the circus, Raja met Captain in the circus. Captain was his trainer, and Raja had to go through extreme rigours of training in which the captain would be very strict; he even kept him hungry during training. The tiger performed in the circus on the instructions of Captain. Captain was a greedy man who would go to any level to satisfy his wants. Raja was tortured by him, with even an electric prod being used on him. While initially Raja, withstood the harsh behaviour and torture, and behaved like a model circus animal, eventually he reached his breaking point. The tiger could not bear Captain’s behavior anymore, got irritated and attacked Captain. This attack of his ended Captain’s life and forced him to flee the circus and hide in Malgudi College’s old building. Thus, the relationship between Captain and Raja was not a happy one, and was marked by brutality and animosity towards each other.