The mirror and the bracelet : $b or, Little bullets from Batala

In a dusty pilgrimage route across the Punjab, a poor mother carries her seven‑year‑old son, Bandhu, on a journey meant for devotion but marked by scarcity. Their meagre supplies run low, and the child is stricken with a fever that spreads sores across his skin, leaving him weak and unable to walk. Exhausted and fearing both hunger and the wild, the mother makes the heartbreaking decision to abandon him on the forest floor, hoping she might survive to find help.

As night falls, the quiet underbrush trembles and a striped tiger slides silently toward the helpless boy, its eyes gleaming with predatory intent. Just as the beast seems poised to strike, a tall, dignified stranger in rich garments emerges from the opposite side, his bearing suggesting authority and purpose. The listener is left poised on the brink of a rescue that may change Bandhu’s fate, inviting curiosity about the stranger’s identity and the power of compassion in a harsh landscape.