100 Pounds of Noses

In western India's Forest of Gir where lions roam, lived a band of dacoits (bandits). Their leader was a fierce man, for he had been arrested by the police, and he had vowed vengeance on all patels, the subcaste to which most policemen in that region belonged: he had sworn to cut off the nose of every patel he met. But the leader had barely begun to slice when he was betrayed to the police, who shot him dead.

The next leader of the band was Visa Manjaria, a religious man. He went to his favorite temple and promised to carry on the feud, and to bring the god 100 pounds of patel noses. Stocky, thirtyish, with a massive black beard, Visa led his band of ten dacoits in raid after raid on the villages near his forest, looting the homes and shops of the patels, and cutting off their noses. The villagers liked Visa, because the patels were a privileged group, and the villagers were glad to see their bosses' noses cut off. Visa announced his raids beforehand, and forced the shivering, delighted village girls to dance at his command. He never harmed women, even if they were patels. But in two years, in 30 villages, he cut off 250 patel noses with his sharp kukri. Before and after each raid he visited his temple and renewed his vow.

At last the government put a price on Visa's head. It spent 500 rupees a day trying to track him down with horses, jeeps and machine guns. This month, it spread a rumor that a large sum of money was being kept in the forester's office in a village deep in the heart of the Gir Forest. When Visa and his band dashed into the village, they were caught in ambush, and Visa and three henchmen were killed. In triumph the police laid out the bodies before the unhappy villagers, and took them to the bank of the Hiran River. Next day, near the temple where Visa had made his vow, he and his bandits were burned to ashes.

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