January 10, 2018

Stories of bravery and courage never fail to inspire people, especially if it involves love, care and a protective drive that urges one to gather courage and fight off dangers. This is the story of a mother who risked her life to save her three-month-old son from the clutches of a tiger.

She was only 26 years of age then. Her oldest son, Lalhmingthanga was barely three months of age. Her neigbours had invited her to go along with them to the forest to collect fire-wood. But since she was a young mother with a suckling babe in arm, she went ahead of her neighbours since she was in a hurry.

She laid her child down to sleep under the shade of a tree and began chopping the woods. As she finished chopping two logs of wood, she heard some deep gruff panting sounds nearby. She quickly looked around, but seeing nothing, she continued chopping the woods. No sooner had she started, she heard the rough panting sounds again. She looked down the cliff, and spotted the head of the tiger. And the tiger was glaring back at her!

The tiger slowly took some steps back, positioning itself skillfully and suddenly lept towards her.

Seeing the tiger leap, with the thought “I will not live to care for my son…” fleeting through her mind, she quickly raised the axe in her hand. Surprisingly, she neither trembled nor quivered. Though doubts of living for her son crossed her mind, fear was not what she felt. With a single stroke she axed the tiger right on the head.

The tiger dropped dead. Unmoving and still.

Pi Zadingi was born on August 15th, 1952. She killed the tiger in 1978 at the outskirts of Buarpui village in Mizoram. In 1980, she was awarded the SHAURYA CHAKRA for her valour and courageous action.

At present she lives in Buarpui village with her husband and 5 children.

The above article has been taken with permission from the contributor Mariana Lalrindiki for Mizoram News

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