Sunday, June 29, 2008

The story of a benevolent thief

On a fine sunny morning a few days ago, I was awaken by a commotion going on in our house. Instead of hugging me with the usual charming words, my mother asked me whether I had seen my father's bag the night before. She was referring to a small brown bag which my father carries on his way to work. I went to the study and found my father searching frantically for his bag. I joined him in his efforts but could not find anything. He said that when he had first come to the study that morning, the cover of the bed had looked as though it had been tampered with. Moreover, not just one, but two of his bags were missing. When all our efforts proved futile and my father was absolutely certain that he had not left his bag at his office the previous day, we concluded that it had been stolen after all. The brown bag had his identity card, a diary containing the phone numbers of fifty million people, other important papers, a cheque book andthe duplicate keys of the main gate of his bank, but no cash. The other bag, a big black one, was absolutely empty.

My parents thought of lodging a complaint with the police station although they knew that the bags would never be found again. They also decided that the broken window of the study would have to be repaired on the very next Sunday. We suspected that the bags had been taken by the thief with the help of a long stick, as anything else had not been broken. After that, they both left for work. My father had to see to it that the payment from that cheque book was stopped and pay the money to order new keys for his office gate.

At about 8 o' clock that evening, our calling bell rang. Imagine my surprise when one of our neighbours handed me that same brown bag! She said that she had found it lying beside the drain behind their house but had not found any other bag. She had found my father's identity card in it and had thus come to return it. I checked the contents of the bag and found that none of them were missing, not even the keys! It was clear that they had been tampered with because they had all been shoved together into one pocket of the bag. I informed my parents over the phone and they were equally stunned.

That night, we decided that the thief was rather benevolent. He had not found any money in the bag. So, it had turned out to be pretty useless for him. He did not touch anything else and thus saved my father a lot of trouble.He could easily have thrown it into a dustbin or the drain or somewhere quite far from our house. But, he left it at a place where it was quite easy and natural for someone to find it out. The funnier part was that he took the big black bag, probably to carry other things which he would steal in future!

15 comments:

nanny said...

What a story! I think your family has been very lucky with the thief only been interested in the money, which wasn't there. Luckily a story that has ended well. But what a fright........
-nanny-

RB said...

The thief really was benevolent! I just kept hoping for my ID cards when my wallet got flicked once.
And lol@taking away the black bag. :)

Subhadip said...

I don't know where you stay in Kolkata, but in Bhawanipur, these "chichhke chors" will steal anything: clothes from a clothes line, pieces from grills, even light bulbs! It's a real nuisance.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful story! But I can very well imagine the sense of panic in the house.
Take care.

~ Deeps ~ said...

thats indeed lucky........U didnt mention about the FIR but incase if ID card is stolen then you should file it immediately.....

the dreamer.... said...

accha pardon my asking so unceremoniously, but r u the sinjini who is in the news so much lately because of the reality show thing...

Swetank Gupta said...

Nicely written, and I'm glad you see the humour in the situation. But it is so strange to be in such a situation. Generally thefts at home, robberies, purders, bomb blasts are things that happen to other people and in other colonies/cities/states, but lately, it feels as if these things are slowly approaching you from all sides and it is just a matter of time before you fall prey to any of them. :|

Take care, and all the best for the exams.

Butterfly said...

@Nanny
Yeah, we really were lucky!

@Richa
:-D

@SubhadipDa
I stay in Baguiati. Here, it's not as bad as Bhawanipur.

@Woodsmoke
You know what, the thief still comes near our apartment at night. We have heard fishy sounds...

@Deeps
Thanks for the advice!:-)
But, my parents must have known it...

@The dreamer
No, at all! I am definitely not the same Sinjini. I was never interested(I still am not) to participate in reality shows.

@Swetank
And, I am glad that I could make the post humorous.:-)
And, yeah, those things can happen to us anytime, on any day of our lives...
Thanks for the best wishes!

Scribbles! said...

Benevolent thief...hahah! well i have a story too abt a benevolent thief.my friend was in the rickshaw heading to the airport she was going to dubai. n there was this thief on the bike who snatched her bag which had her passport, cell phone, important documents,etc in it. n then the next day the thief left the passport with the watchman in her building. freaky na.

Butterfly said...

@Scribbles
Yeah, sure was freaky! Great story!

R said...

Sheesh...and so true about the other bag! Love your sense of humour!

Titash said...

The thirf must have been miserable!

Butterfly said...

@Rohit
I had always meant to make this post humorous! Knew you would surely find the humour in it.:-D

@Titash
Yeah, maybe!:-)

That Girl said...

What a story, really! And love the way you wrote about it - the humourous bits and the narration. But you all must've been in such a state of panic all morning.
Poor thief though, his hopes dashed!

Butterfly said...

@Amiya Didi
Thanks for appreciating the humorous bits!:-)