When the funfair came to our small village, happiness was intoxicating among the children, but not so much for the parents. At the end of the night, they would have to carry their exhausted little ones back home through the dark, up and down hills, and across the river, only to do it all over again the following year.
One thing that stayed with me, though, was the advertising poster for the circus that accompanied the funfair. It promised a Bengal tiger as part of the show. In my language, "Bengal" had two meanings: one was the city in India, which I hadn’t yet learned about, and the other, "bengala," meant a walking stick. For several years, I was disappointed every time I saw the tiger perform, because it never walked with a walking stick, as I had imagined.
Eventually, as I grew older, I discovered the true meaning of "Bengal," and the mystery was finally solved.