Hunting With Home-made Bullets
Picture credit : Daily News
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando
The
response to my first installment on the series was instant. Kevin, who was an
old boy of St. Sebastian College, wrote to me all the way from Australia
reminding me of his experience with Mr. ‘Daddi
Bidi’ on a hunting episode. The story goes like this:
‘Mr.
Daddi Bidi and friends returning from a hunting trip had confronted a wolf and
a lion from two different sides; he was apparently left with only a single
bullet! A panicked teammate had pleaded with Daddi Bidi and said: “Machang! Do something and be quick;
otherwise we all are going to be dead ducks”!
There was
hardly any time to spare as all Daddi
Bidi had was a single bullet, a hand gun and a Keththa (curved knife similar
to a sickle) with a long handle. As the wolf and the lion lazily relaxed,
Daddi Bidi apparently had fixed the Keththi-mita
(handle of the sickle) on the ground and fired at the Keththa. Lo and behold! Keththa
had flown to the right hitting the wolf and the bullet got the Lion! Then Mr.
Daddi Bidi was heard saying:
“Boys, that’s what is called killing two
birds with one stone lads”!
Our PWC
‘Yarn’ Master’s (Pachaya’s) story
about ‘killing the tiger on the rock’
is slightly different. Being always pompous about his own homemade bullets, he
maintained that he always considered seriously about the type of ammunition he
used - in this particular instance, not to take any chances with a fearsome
tiger!
“So did you take Rata Pathuran (imported
bullets) Sir?” One boy showed an interest in the story.
“What are you talking Putha, I always take my
own Pathuran”; I can always depend on them rather than depending on any
imported stuff”.
Having
said that, Pachaya’s countenance
changed, looked suddenly very serious and somewhat excited in his facial
expressions, wanted the whole class to gather around him; the boys pretended to
believe whatever he uttered quite interesting, to skip the lesson.
“Putha, he continued, when the tiger came
to the rock to sun-bathe, I had no option but to get him in one shot”. He
shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows.
“It’s frightening even to listen to it Sir,
you have been very brave I must say,” one quipped to make the master
excited. Looking somewhat impressed, Pachaya continued:
“It was a long wait Putha, and I was getting
exhausted, famished and beginning to lose my cool when the fellow arrived
gracefully and settled down on the heated rock due to sunshine. Could I waste
any time? No! In a jiffy I had to decide what type of Pathuran I should use.
Then again, I thought Putha, why should I worry? I am quite sure of my own
Pathuran no! So, quickly I broke the gun, loaded one of my bullets and fired,
but then amazingly the gun appeared to be jammed to my horror!”
“Then what happened Sir……..? Another
boy got him excited.
“Bit concerned, more than puzzled, I casually
turned the barrel of the gun Putha, towards my face to take a quick look into
the barrel to what on earth had happened”.
“Oh gosh! What did I see then? There it
was, the very bullet that had got stuck was about to travel! I saw it
moving Putha ……., Me enne …..! Me enne……!! (its coming, its coming) In a flash,
Putha, I turned the barrel quickly and
aimed at the rascal and let the bullet fly like a rocket. Seconds later the
fellow dropped dead on the spot.”
“A very
brave act sir’! A student praised him with an ulterior motive to skip another
drawing lesson next time.
Fearless
somersault
During a
subsequent drawing lesson a student quipped: “That tiger story you related last time when you went hunting Sir, was
very interesting. I am sure you must have many more experiences like
that……. Since you were a keen hunter……..”!
“Yes, Putha, once I was late (as usual) to
join the hunting team. I have told you how punctual I am, haven’t I? , So they
had waited for me and already left the meeting place leaving a message for me
to join them at a particular venue. It was all jungle, Putha, no roads but only
a narrow path where only a bicycle could go.
“Elephants were rampant in the area crossing
this path up and down, and going in
search of water Putha. What to do? I had to take a chance Putha and started
peddling my pushbike at a terrific speed through fear of elephants coming and
blocking my path. I was desperate to join with my hunting team without losing
them altogether for the second time. Would you believe what I saw
suddenly Putha……”?
“What happened then, sir…….”? Every time
a student was there to encourage him, the idea being to evade the lesson!
“Putha, an elephant stood right across the
path chewing some leaves where I had to proceed. In a panic, I could not think
straight Putha, but only thing I was able to do was to put all the energy in my
body to my calf muscles and ride the bicycle as fast as I could. Can you
believe, even when I was getting closer to the damn thing, the monster
did not care or budge an inch Putha”!
I continued to peddle hard with all my vigour
until I came almost next to the beast’s stomach area and released the bicycle
to let it pass under his stomach, did a somersault on to the elephant’s back at
the same time jumped again onto the bike in a jiffy as the bicycle came through
and before it fell on to the ground and disappeared like a bullet. That
saved my life that day Putha, I can tell you that”.
“Indeed!
Indeed!! Very brave of you Sir…!. We’ve ten more minutes left for this period
Sir, for a short story, if you have any
more interesting brief experience, we would like to hear it quickly Sir, a boy
whispered”
Life saver
“Ok, then, gather round and listen to this carefully.
“I had a good friend who was a pilot. One day
he said to me:
“ Machang, we have been good pals for
years, but I have never taken you even on a joy ride in a plane,
even to circle around Colombo, what a shame! How about next Sunday”?
“Early Sunday morning Putha, I went to the
Ratmalana Airport. He had arranged a two-seater moth (plane) for the ride. He sat
at the cockpit where all the controls
were and I sat behind him. I could see
all the mechanical hydraulic shafts moving forwards and backwards in between my
legs, as he maneuvered the plane”.
“At times Putha I felt as if the plane was
going to fall down when he swerved it
like a toy. Feeling that I was dead scared, my friend said:
“Don’t worry Machang I am just taking a turn
to the left, enjoy the view, will you”!
“A few moments later, Putha, his frightening words came like a bolt
from the blue:
“ Machang, very unusual, just our luck, can
you believe of all days, today there’s a sudden engine failure, and the plane
is only gliding at present due to momentum; it could at any minute nose dive Macho!
What am I going to do with you? I , of course, have the pilot’s parachute
to eject, but I am worried about you massina”.
“I looked around Putha, and told my pilot friend not to worry, “ Jimmy, you don’t worry about me men, you
just eject out and save your life, and I will some how find my own way to safety”; Shall
meet up when we hit the ground if we are
no dead, OK”.
“One thing
I always do, Putha, is to carry my Mamandiya’s (Father-in-Law’s) umbrella
wherever I go. In this instance it was sitting next to me, and a brave
thought flashed through my mine, So, I simply jumped out of the plane,
opened the umbrella and landed safely on the ground”.
(Bless his
soul)
Daily News- August 2012