King of mud, king of rain

摘要

Back when his eyes were sharp and his handlebar moustache impressive, Braj-raj Mahapatra would go big-game-hunting in the damp, dense forests of Orissa (now Odisha) in eastern India. As King of Tigiria in Cuttack district, 45 square miles of this hill country belonged to him. Rifle on his shoulder, servants creeping behind, he would bring down tigers and leopards-13 of the former, 28 of the latter-and use their pelts to decorate the walls of his palace. The residence was not large. Nonetheless it had fine carpets, marble columns, an ornate throne of gilt and velvet and well-ventilated rooms in which to write down, for various magazines, his famous stories of the hunt.