The Guards on a Thief
Pandey Ji had a small family, consisting of himself, his wife, and their two sons. Every day in the morning, everyone had to go out of the house. The elder ones would go to their jobs and the younger ones would go to take up learning. Nowadays, the younger son’s examinations were going on, so outsider’s coming to the house used to disturb the preparation of the exam. Mother and elder brother had already left the house. So, while suggesting an idea to the father, the younger son said:
‘Dad, lock the door from outside while going to work. I have bolted the door of the other room from inside. People will think that we have gone out of the house. In such a situation, no one will bother me and then I will keep preparing for my exams.’
The father justified his suggestion. So while going out, he locked the front door from the outside.
A madam, who lived in the neighbourhood, around eleven o'clock in the day, came out of the house due to some work and stopped seeing the light coming out of the window of Pandey Ji's house. ‘Oh, is that so! These people forgot to turn off the power button while leaving the house today. Now unnecessary whole day electricity will be kept on and the power bill will increase without any purpose. But what can be done in such a situation now?’ With this thought, she forgot this matter. Hardly an hour had not been passed yet that Mrs. Sharma, who lived next to Pandey Ji’s house, knocked at the door of her neighbour and said:
‘Madam, what are you doing? Sometimes, come out even for two minutes. Living all day behind the curtain is not good for health.’
‘Mrs. Sharma, why do you joke?’ Saying this she came out in the lawn and said:
‘Today, I don't know why these people forgot to turn off the light while leaving? Probably, they will be in a hurry. Often such a mistake is made in a hurry.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Mrs. Sharma asked.
‘I’m talking about Pandey Ji.’
‘Where is the light on? I don’t see it. You might have had some confusion.’
‘Mrs. Sharma, what are you talking to? I myself saw the light in the room with my own eyes a while back. Look at that room.’ But just as Madam turned and pointed towards the room, the light was off.
‘Oh, is that so! It must have fused due to continuous burning.’
It was only five minutes after their talk that the sound of something falling in the room was heard.
‘What is this? There is definitely something wrong inside. It seems your talk about light is true. I doubt there should be a thief inside. He must have switched off the light after listening to us.’ Mrs. Sharma gave the reasoning.
‘Yes, I think so. But, now is not the time to make noise. At first, we quietly close the back and roof doors of our houses. So, lest he enters our house while absconding.’ Madam said gently.
Both of them quickly closed the doors of their houses in a proper way and then went out and started thinking about their future plans. They inspected both front doors. The front door was locked. So, they smell a rat on the side door. They confirmed it with a soft push. The door was bolted from inside. It confirmed their doubt. Therefore, they locked the door from outside, so that the thief does not come out. Suddenly a thought came to their mind, what would happen to the back door? It may be that the thief entered through the back door. So, keeping watch of the rear door was more important. The gardener was gardening on the lawn outside Mrs. Sharma's house. Therefore, it was considered appropriate to take his services. The details of the entire incident were narrated to him so that there would not be any deficiency in the alertness. In discharging the responsibility imposed on him, the gardener felt uncomfortable. He said with a little hesitation:
‘Bibi Ji! Thieves are very cruel people. God forbid, if any mishap happens with me, then who will look after my family?’
‘Hey! Idiot, nothing will happen to you. We are also with you. We are not telling you to catch the thief. You only have to keep on the check promptly towards the backyard. Ok. You do one thing first. Hiding behind the boundary wall, see if the back door is closed or open. We will do the rest later.’
‘Bibi Ji, first give me a stick. If he comes in front, I will punch him in the head. It is dangerous to go unarmed like this.’
‘Ok. I give you.’ Saying this, Mrs. Sharma brought a long stick of bamboo from the room and gave it to the gardener and said:
‘Go quietly, don't make any noise.’
‘Okay, Bibi Ji.’
The gardener held the stick from the middle with his right hand and then walking slowly, keeping his head down, he reached behind the boundary wall. He raised his head from above the wall and saw, the back door was slightly open. The gardener was stunned on seeing this. The way for the thief to enter was known. Running he came back, breathing hard, and said:
‘Bibi Ji, the thief entered inside from the back door. I have seen with my own eyes that the door is slightly open.’
The story of gardener's valor was not yet over that Bai interrupted, asking:
‘What happened, Bibi Ji?
‘Oh! Nothing happened, don't make noise. Running, you both go to backside and stand behind the wall. Look, the gardener has a stick; you also carry the brickbats in both hands. As soon as he gets out, hit him quickly. We both knock at the front door and force him to come out.’
Now the front on both sides of the house was completely guarded. Raising his head upwards from behind the wall, the gardener pointing towards the door, said to Bai softly:
‘The thief has gone in from this door.’
‘I see, is there a thief inside?’
‘No noise.’ The gardener placed the index finger on his lips to indicate her to keep quiet.
Two strangers' faces peering upwards from behind the wall and then pointing towards the door were enough to raise suspicion in a good man's mind. The boy sitting inside had captured this entire scene in his eyes through the windowpane.
‘Well, these miscreants got so much encouragement. Want to commit burglary in the house in the full afternoon. One is a man and the other is a woman. No worries, I will deal with these two alone.’ Thinking this thought in his mind, he lifted the hockey stick with great vigour and stood erect behind the door in an attack posture.
‘As soon as these burglars enter, I will raze both of them to the ground in one blow each.’ He murmured in his mind. That's when he heard the sound of a tap on the front door and assumed:
‘Well, that is it. Their number seems to be more than two. They might be conforming from the front whether there is anyone inside or not?’
By sensing the number of thieves, his courage started to get vanquished. To examine the situation, he looked out from the sparse of the open door. The gardener was also stood behind the wall being fully alert. So, looking at the face, seeing from behind the door, he understood that the thief was trying to get out. Because, they had seen each other face to face, so there was no longer anything to hide. The gardener raised the stick after holding it tightly with both of his hands. The boy got scared due to this new trouble. ‘What should be done now? I’m surrounded by thieves from both sides. Mummy does not have a phone and Papa has gone away from the city. Brother will come here late from college. Oh my God! Now protect me yourself.’ He turned the door and closed it well from inside.
‘Bai, have you seen my courage? How was he frightened of me? He hid inside. I had just raised the stick. If I had given one or two strikes, the scoundrel would have left the thievery and sit in a temple and make atonement for his past sins.’
‘Just let it is, Sheikhchilli of somewhere. You are boasting while I'm standing together. Otherwise, if you were alone, your throat would get choked.’ Bai said smiling.
‘Ok. Ok. If you have so much courage, then stand-alone and show it. I come after telling Bibi Ji. Say, should I go?’
‘Yes, yes, but come soon. Never let a thief run away after you leave. I will not be able to do anything alone.’
‘Okay, have courage. I'll be back in two minutes.’ Saying this gardener went to the front side and spoke loudly:
‘Bibi Ji! Bibi Ji!’
‘What is?’ Mrs. Sharma asked softly.
‘I have seen the thief with my own eyes. He has a very scary appearance. He was trying to run through the back door. When I waved the stick in the air, he ran back and bolted the door from inside. Now he is sitting inside.’
‘Okay, then our suspicion really came true. Now we will have to do something. Mali, you immediately run away and go back. If he absconds, then all the hard work done so far will be of no use. Your job is to prevent him from running through the backdoor. The rest is now our responsibility to get him caught.’
On hearing these words, the gardener ran towards the backside. Now both women started thinking about their future plans. All the neighbours had gone out of their work. A few women and elders, who were at home, were resting inside by closing the front doors of their houses. In such a situation, wishing for someone's help was nothing but a blank fantasy. So after considering every aspect of the situation, Madam said to Mrs. Sharma:
‘What do you think? What should we do now?’
‘You tell me, what is your opinion?’
‘I think we should get the help of the police now.’
‘Yes ... that's right. We should have thought about this in advance. Still, nothing is lost. You stay here; I call police on hundred numbers.’ Saying this Mrs. Sharma entered her house to telephone the police.
When she reached inside and dialed the number, the voice came from the other side, ‘The police control room.’
‘Hello brother, a thief has entered our neighbourhood house. We have bolted the outside doors of the house and locked him inside. Now quickly send the police force. So, lest he breaks the door and runs away.’
‘Madam, first you should bother to tell your name and address. It is not possible to send the force without an address.’
‘Okay brother, you note, I tell you my address.’ And then Mrs. Sharma quickly got her home address noted. Coincidentally, at that time there were also two journalists and a cameraman of a newspaper in the police station. This matter also reached them. Without causing any delay, they also followed the police van. Within ten minutes both the vehicles reached the spot. Police personnel immediately laid siege around the house. The cameraman stood in front of the front door and got busy fixing the focus and light of his camera, as if the photo, he is going to take, would get priority in appearing on the front page of the newspaper’s issue that will come out tomorrow. Seeing the police van and the blockade made by them, the people who were passing here and there started gathering. Without knowing the reality, they started answering their questions on their own. Someone would argue that someone had a fight. Someone would have said that if there was a fight, then why the house has been cordoned off. Looking at this, it seems that perhaps some notorious gang members are hiding inside. As many people as many arguments. A Lala ji, standing next to them, said:
‘Hey! Brothers, there is no use in talking like this, because whatever is hidden in the box will come out in front of you. It was still going on that the Assistant Sub-Inspector ended his talk on the walkie-talkie and then going to the door he hit it with the cane, he was holding in his hand, with full force and shouted:
‘Come out, where will you go after escaping? You have been surrounded by the Police. It is in your goodness that you come out silently without doing any untoward thing.’
The poor boy inside the house was frightened, shocked and helpless. What new trouble is this now? He removed the curtain from one end of the window and peeped out of the glass. The outside view was very shocking. A police van, a photographer, and a crowd of people with eager eyes were there. What’s all this? And why are these people standing in front of our house? Have those thieves been arrested by the police? So many thoughts were taking place in his mind. Then the policeman knocked on the door again.
‘Come out, otherwise, I will break the door?’ The Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police shouted.
The boy was helpless. He was badly confounded. With a trembling hand, he unbolted the door and then opened it on one side.
He found himself standing in front of that crowd. Strangers were looking at him with eyes wide open. In a blink of an eye, the camera flash flashed and his image was captured in the camera.
‘Wow! What a wonderful photo.’ The photographer smiled.
‘What were you doing inside here?’ The Assistant Sub-Inspector of police shouted while waving the baton, he was holding in his hand, in the air.
‘I was preparing for the exam.’ The boy said meekly.
‘For whose, it’s your’s own or our’s.’
The boy didn’t understand this question and he kept quiet.
‘Why, why are you silent, why don't you speak? Who else is with you?’
‘There is no one, I’m alone.’
‘What items have you lifted?’
‘Why… will I lift the goods? This is our own house.’ Now the matter was beginning to be understood by the boy.
The Assistant Sub-Inspector of police stared towards the people, standing near him, and asked:
‘Do you recognize this boy? Is he telling the truth?’
‘No, we don't know this boy.’ Many voices came out simultaneously.
The result of this answer of the people was well-known by the boy. So, without any delay, he said:
‘We have just come new. That’s why these people don’t know me. If you have any doubt, ask the aunty living next to our house.’
The Assistant Sub-Inspector of police turned around and looked to his left. Both women were talking in front of their houses.
‘Hello, Madam! Do you know this boy?’ He said while addressing them.
‘Which boy are you talking about?’ She said looking at him.
‘I am talking about the boy, who has come out of this house.’ The policeman said, bringing the boy in front of them.
‘This is Pandey Ji's younger son.’ She said, repenting at her misconception.
As soon as these words came out of her mouth, the thrill of the whole event ended. The Photographer began to pack his camera at once. His facial expressions were pointing as if he had lost something priceless. The crowd of people was reduced to negligible. The Assistant Sub-Inspector of police questioned:
‘Who made the telephone call?’
‘I’ Mrs. Sharma replied and then both women told him the details of the whole incident. People were smiling on hearing this. But the Assistant Sub-Inspector of police said to the boy in a commanding tone:
‘Hay boy! Why did you do this?’
‘I was nervous.’
‘Then you saw the result of panic, the whole drama was got enacted because of you. Anyway, leave it. The mock exercise is done. It is also obligatory to maintain fitness. Okay Madam, thank you. Both of you have done the duty of a good neighbour.’ He said while sitting in the van.
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