The Thief's Story

1.0About the Author

Ruskin Bond born on 19 May 1934, is an Indian author of British descent. He lives with his adopted family in Landour, Mussoorie, India. The Indian Council for Child Education has recognized his role in growing children's literature in India. He was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for 'Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra', his novel in English. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014.

Ruskin Bond

2.0Central Idea

This story focuses on human values and relationships. The story is about a fifteen-year-old thief. He changed his name every month to stay ahead of the police and old employers. This time he called himself Hari Singh. The other person Anil in the story is a 25 -year-old writer. The thief one day meets Anil and asks if he can work for him. Anil takes Hari Singh to his home and shelters him. He knows that Hari Singh saves money from the daily supplies, but he does not say anything. He teaches him how to cook. One day Anil brings a small bundle of notes after selling a book to a publisher. Hari Singh decides to steal that money. But when he left Anil's house, he realized that stealing was completely different from getting educated, so his desire to receive education made him return to Anil. Thus, a person's life could be changed if he meets a mentor who could guide and help him to choose the right path in life.

3.0Hari Singh-The Thief

Anil was 25 years old writer. He was living his life very carelessly. Hari Singh met Anil, when he was a 15 years old thief. He approached Anil while he was watching a wrestling match. Anil was a tall, thin, easy going and simple type of man. The narrator thought that Anil could be an easy target for him to rob. He used some flattering words to gain Anil's confidence. He lied to Anil that his name was Hari Singh. The narrator changed his name every month to hide himself from police and his former employers. Hari followed Anil and told him that he wanted to work for him. Anil told Hari that he would employ him only if Hari knew how to cook. Hari lied that he knew how to cook and started working for Anil. The food cooked by Hari was terrible. Anil had realised that Hari didn't know how to cook. Anil promised him that he would teach him how to write, add numbers and how to cook tasty food. Now both of them were living together happily.

Anil had no regular income. He made money by writing articles for magazines. Sometimes he would have enough money to celebrate and sometimes he had to borrow money. One evening, Anil came back with a bundle of notes which he had earned by selling his book to a publisher. At night, Anil put the money under his mattress and Hari noticed it. Hari had been working for Anil for almost a month and had gained Anil's trust. Anil had even given him the key of the room to Hari. For Hari, this was a great opportunity to rob Anil. However, due to Anil's trust, it was a difficult task for Hari to rob Anil. But he put away these thoughts and decided to rob Anil that night.

4.0The Value of Care and Affection

Hari crawled up to the bed when Anil was asleep. He was planning to catch 10.30 Express to Lucknow. He slid his hand under the mattress and drew the money out quietly. He rushed out of the room and began to run on the road. He was running towards the railway station to catch 10.30 Express to Lucknow as he had planned. When he counted the money, he was happy to find 600 rupees. Hari reached the station just when the train was moving out. He could have jumped to get into one of the carriages but he did not catch the train and stood alone on the platform. Hari decided to leave the station and thought about how Anil would feel when he would come to know about the theft. Soon, he reached the maidan. In the excitement of theft, Hari forgot that apart from giving him some money, Anil also educated him. He realized that education would have made him a big, clever and respected man. He understood that it was easy to steal but it was difficult to be respected like Anil. Finally, Hari decided to go back to Anil. He went back into the room and put back the notes under the mattress and went to sleep.

Hari woke up late in the morning. He found that Anil had already prepared tea. Anil gave a fifty rupee note to Hari which was still wet. He told Hari that he had earned some money by selling a book to a publisher and now he will pay him regularly. He also told Hari that they would start writing sentences from that day. Hari felt that Anil knew about the theft but he didn't say anything about it.

5.0Recall

• Hari Singh was 15 years, experienced thief.
• He thought of targeting Anil, a young man of 25 years.
• He introduced himself as Hari Singh to Anil, who was a struggling writer. Hari's purpose was to steal Anil's money.
• Anil asked Hari Singh if he could cook, and Hari Singh lied that he knew how to cook.
• Anil was a good fellow so he told Hari Singh that he would teach him how to cook and he would also teach Hari Singh to write his name, write whole sentences and to add numbers.
• Gradually, Anil developed trust in Hari Singh. But Hari Singh was waiting for the right moment to do what he was best at, i.e., stealing.
• One evening, Anil came home with a small bundle of notes as he had just sold a book to a publisher.
• Hari stole that money and ran away to catch Lucknow Express.
• But some inner voice stopped him from doing so. He returned because he realized that he wanted to live a life of respect.
• Hari Singh put the wet notes under the mattress from where he had stolen it.
• Next morning, Anil stretched out his hand towards the narrator (Hari Singh) holding a fifty rupee note.
• Anil did not show that he knew about the theft and accepted Hari Singh with open arms.
• Thus, a well-intentioned person tried to reform a teenager who had strayed from the correct path.