The Story of Shikara
ACT ONE
The set is an Indian rain forest. As the show opens, the stage is completely dark, as in pre-dawn. A drum beats softly, becoming louder. As it reaches its crescendo, a moon appears. A lone tigress enters. (The Tiger) Gradually more tigers enter on all fours in a stylised ballet dramatising a tiger’s capture. All movement in the forest stops, as the sound of a steady drum is heard. Suddenly the forest becomes frantic, as tigers scurry for a hiding place. One tiger is left behind, looking up in fear. He is killed. Another tiger takes his body up the steps of a temple. The rest of the chorus appear from out of the woods, and watch in curiosity. To everyone’s astonishment, the tiger rises and stands upright. The other tigers rise en masse to their feet. The moon descends in the sky.
It is dawn. The tigers are awakening. (Every Day) Colonel Rammington, dressed in a quasi-military uniform made of scraps of fur and reeds, with a pith helmet made of a turtle shell and a monocle made from vines, arrives with his wife Meena, his daughter Devi and his lieutenant Madinlal. Rammington and his entourage climb up on the highest rock and begin to set up camp.
Fraidy Cat emerges from the thicket, just waking up. (Maybe Tomorrow) Of course, “Fraidy Cat” isn’t really his name. It’s just what the other tigers call him. Life in the Melghat Forest is difficult enough without not knowing who he is, but since his parents won’t tell him, he’ll just have to make do with being “Fraidy Cat”. Besides, everyone has more important things to think about. Like finding food. Or the Shikara – the tiger hunter. Actually, most of the tigers are more worried about the Shikara than they are about food. Colonel Rammington is here recruiting for the Tigers Corps, and everyone is joining. Except for Fraidy Cat. It’s all he can do just to drag himself out of the thicket.
“Wake up!”, hollers Bikhu, his father. Fraidy Cat stumbles to his feet as his father hovers sternly over him. It’s time to practice his hunting skills again, while Bikhu tries to teach his son how to survive. (Looking At The World) As Fraidy Cat practices his stalking on his own, he is startled by a young Stag who is also hunting. The misguided animal believes he has cornered a tiger and will make world history by eating him. “An opportunity like this comes but once in a lifetime.” However, after talking to Fraidy Cat, he concedes it would not be a good idea. “It’s pretty hard to eat somebody who’s already told you about his family.” Rather than eat each other, they become friends.
Devi screams as she awakens. She had been pursued across the forest by a fearsome creature, only to be rescued again by Bahadur, the Courageous One.(Mama, I Had That Dream Again) The trouble is, nobody believes her. Being Colonel Rammington’s daughter is of no help whatsoever. He and Meena have already promised her to Madinlal, who claims to have once saved her life. She remembers things differently. That is, if she remembers at all. She finds it all very confusing. It is while she is in this confused state that she happens upon Fraidy Cat, still practising his stalking techniques. Leaping out of a bush at her, she screams, frightening him up a tree. “You’re not supposed to be scared!” she cackles. Just then, a gang of young tigers spots him and begin to bait him. (Fraidy Cat) He wants to stay up in the tree, but she insists that he join her father’s recruitment drive.
Recruitment. Fraidy Cat stands before Colonel Rammington as the other tigers sneer at him. (March of the Fifth Mounted Tigers) Bikhu storms in and pulls him away by the ear. “What do you think you’re doing?” he shrieks. “I thought you told me I had to learn how to survive”, protests Fraidy Cat. “That’s right”, replies Bikhu, “and the first rule of survival is not to get killed!” Rammington spots Bikhu, and his mouth curls into a wide grin. “Oh dear, I think I feel the ‘P’ word coming on—Sounds like a profusion of Pacifism.” Fraidy Cat shifts timidly away from his father, who had once been a Colonel but who fell out with Rammington during an episode referred to as the Night of the Long Claws. “The Shikara is in our midst, Rammington” growls Bikhu. Rammington shakes his head in disgust.
“Last night, I was all alone in the forest, when this giant bird came swooping down on me”, Devi explains to Fraidy Cat. “He was going to carry me away in his claws, when Bahadur appeared and frightened him away.” (Delirious Devi) “Bahadur?” he asks. “The one who comes to my rescue!” she explains. “Can’t you see him?” “Oh, yes. Absolutely. Well, sort of. Actually, no.” She sighs. “Now you’ll think I’m a whisker short too.” Fraidy Cat thinks for a minute. “Just because you see him and I don’t, doesn’t mean you’re a whisker short.” “What other explanation can there be?” “I don’t know, but I’m sure there is one.”(Two of a Kind) Just then, the same pack of desperados come down to the stream to wash, and find Fraidy Cat and Devi sitting together. “Fraidy Cat and Delirious Devi! This is too much!” Summoning what courage he has, Fraidy Cat throws himself at the attacking mob, but is knocked unconscious. Thunderstruck, Devi blurts out, “My Bahadur!” (Far Away)
“The Shikara! We’ve seen them!” cries Nathuram. The tigers gather around him amid much commotion. “Where? How many?” “It was a small group of beaters. We scared them away. We beat them!” Some are not so convinced. One of the elders shrieks, “You wouldn’t know a Shikara if one skinned you!” Another demands, “Has anybody seen Colonel Bikhu?” A few of the tigers decide it is time to search the forest.
Meanwhile, Fraidy Cat lies by himself in his thicket, trying to sleep. (Tick Tock) He is suddenly startled by a solid white tiger. Fraidy Cat looks at him in awe, as the Great Felis Tigris, who looks an awful lot like his father Bikhu, explains: “You see the world from the ground up, and I from the sky down. The perspective is very different. Now you will see yourself as I see you.” The Great Felis Tigris disappears, and Fraidy Cat finds himself transported back in time to when he was a kitten. (The Moon Monster) His mother is cautioning him, “Don’t wander away. We’re just about ready for dinner. And stay away from the Iron Road.” He hears a tiger cub named Devi come up behind him. “Isn’t the moon pretty?” she exclaims. “It’s so bright, I can hardly see when I look at it!” Fraidy Cat suggests that they try to get closer to it, but another cub named Madinlal frightens them with stories of the Moon Monster. Devi starts to shake. The children follow a moving beam of light that they believe to be the moon. Suddenly, they hear a ghastly wail. It seems to be coming from the moon itself. “He howls when he’s hungry.” Fraidy Cat counters, “That’s nonsense. It’s just the moon.” As it appears to be getting closer, they can see that this moon has a tail that snakes behind it and glows in the dark. A whispy beard of steam bellows from its face. The children are standing directly in its path. Madinlal seizes up in fear and stands motionless. Fraidy Cat throws Devi and Madinlal out of the way, but catches his foot in something on the track. The monster keeps getting louder and closer. Then everything goes black. The last thing he hears are the voices of Rammington and Meena claiming “The coward led them off down this trail and—Look, he just stood in its tracks—It’s a good job Madinlal had the wits to rescue Devi—Such cowardice! Coward! Fraidy Cat!”
Fraidy Cat opens his eyes, and sees the Great Felis Tigris looking down on him. “You should know that I don’t make cowards, and I never did.” Fraidy Cat looks up wistfully. “So what do I do now?”
Twilight. Devi’s nightmares continue, and she feels sure there is some connection between Fraidy Cat and the tiger who rescued her. (In My Dreams) As the tigers prepare for the hunt, there is a sense of foreboding in the air. (On This Magical Night) The moon looms ominously in the sky. Devi is sitting atop Rammington’s rock, trying to sleep, but tossing and turning. Fraidy Cat can see her gazing at the moon. He is so fired up excited that he can hardly contain himself, but Madinlal, with Rammington’s unwitting co-operation, sees to it that he gets nowhere near her.
“You owe Madinlal your life!” Meena declare. Thumping her tail against the ground, Devi spits “Well I’m sorry, but you’re not giving him my life!” “And Fraidy Cat just stood by and let this thing—“ Devi’s heart stops. “What did you say?” Wondering what the relevance could possibly be, Meena continues: “He passed out. He was so scared, it was weeks before he even spoke...” This is an outrage, Devi thinks. “You mean it wasn’t just Madinlal...” “Dear, you should have seen him—he just cowered...” That is it. As far as Devi is concerned, the charade is over.
Fraidy Cat’s new friend the Stag gives him a pep talk. (You Could Have Possibilities)
Veer carries a wounded Gopal in, with the entire pride gathering around them. “The Shikara! They’ve struck our own!” Gopal cried. “I found Colonel Bikhu. He’s dead.” Fraidy Cat remains motionless, in shock, then falls to the ground sobbing. (In My Darkest Moments) The tigers ceremonially pay their respects to Bikhu and their condolences to Fraidy Cat and Kasturbai. “What do we do now, Colonel?” asks Nathuram. “We must prepare for attack!” “Attack them? How?” “No. They will attack us. We shall confront the Shikara head on. Don’t be distracted by the beaters. The fire sticks are the heart of the beast, which we shall rip out from its chest...” First, they hear the soft beating of drums which builds to a crescendo, then stops. (The Shikara) Then they see a burst of fire from the tree-tops. Veer is struck in the chest. The tigers are losing badly until Fraidy Cat rises, exclaiming “Hold it! Wait! This is all wrong! We should be confronting the Shikara’s weakness, not its strength!” To the others, this is cowardice, but Rammington knows that Fraidy Cat’s father engineered some of their greatest victories. Reasoning that the beaters are only there to frighten them toward the Fire Sticks, perhaps if they were to charge the beaters...
The Shikara scatters, but not before firing one last shot toward Fraidy Cat. Madinlal jumps in the way, and falls instead. The Shikara retreats, and Meena nurses a wounded Rammington. The rest watch silently as a crowd begin to gather around Fraidy Cat. As he lies dying, Madinlal reveals at last that it was Fraidy Cat who saved him and Devi from the “moon monster”. He also tells that he once overheard Bikhu saying his real name—Bahadur, the Courageous One.
As the others celebrate, Fraidy Cat begins to slip away. At last, he has what he’s been seeking—his honour, his name, his girl—but what does he do now that there are no more creatures to slay? (There Must Be More) The Great Felis Tigris re-appears, telling him “What makes you think all this was for your benefit? All your life you’ve been looking at the world. Now it’s time to begin living in it.” Then he sees Devi, sitting alone. He walks up to her. She begins to lick some of the blood stains off of his collar. “How do you think you would adjust to my father?” she asks him. He replies, “Do you think he could adjust to me?” She laughs. “He never adjusted to me!” They curl up together, the moon shining down on them through the trees. (Imaginary Love)
© 1979, 2006 The Friendlysong Company, Inc.