SATYAN
-2. The Theft

That night itself, Vasudev visited the area where Dyanchand lived.  He found a mammoth tree having a round basement just a few miles away from the merchant’s house.  He decided to sit on the basement under the tree and keep a watch on Dyanchand’s house from the morrow. The next day, he took his seat at the decided spot and acted as if he was reading some books which he had brought along so as not to raise anybody’s suspicions.   Quite tactfully he managed to keep an eye on the merchant’s house making note of the activities going on over there. 

For the couple of days he was there Vasudev found that Dyanchand left his house early morning and thereafter for a long time the door remained shut.  Then someone came outside to water the vast garden near the house and thereby till evening there were neither any visitor nor did anyone come out from the house.  As dusk fell, the man who had watered the garden in the morning walked out and returned with some vegetables.  Vasudev had a good look at him and felt that he had to be a full-time servant of the merchant.  On the evening of the second day, after the servant had left to purchase vegetables, two men sat beside Vasudev chatting. 

Looking at the merchant’s house one of them exclaimed, “What a palatial house this is!” 

“Yes!” admitted the other, “Dyanchand is a wealthy man!  But I feel that this house is too big for three members!” 

The other person laughed and changed the topic.  From this Vasudev confirmed what his friends had said about the number of members staying in the merchant’s house.  Dyanchand used to return home in the night and a short while thereafter the lights went off which indicated that the family had retired for the day.  Although his friends had told him that Dyanchand was a married man, Vasudev never saw his wife in those two days he spied his house.

After a couple of days, Vasudev met two of his friends and acquainted them of all his observations. 

“Good work, Vasudev.”  Hari complemented him, “Now we have to plan our next move.  It’s good that they sleep early!  There is no need for us to wait till mid-night to break into the house!” 

“Where’s Shiva?  All four of us had decided to gather here today.  Then how is it that he’s not here?”  Vasudev asked.

 “He must be coming!”  Sridhar asserted and looked at Hari.  “What do you say, Hari?  Should we accomplish our task today?  From what Vasudev says, it seems to be an ideal family to commit theft.  I say that let’s do it now!” 

“You mean during daytime?”   Vasudev asked perplexed. 

“Why not?  You said that the servant comes out to water the garden.  That is the most appropriate time to attack!  We can easily overpower that servant, and as you said, that the door remains open at that time, we can easily barge in.”  Sridhar felt.

“No, Sridhar!”  Vasudev objected, “That would be suicidal!  People would spot us during daytime.  I do not agree to your idea!”   

Just then, Shiva came running and made a startling disclosure, “Do you know?  Yesterday night there was a theft in Dyanchand’s house!” 

All the others were shocked to hear this! 

“How could that be?  I was keeping an eye till night!  I found no one with dubious intentions getting out of the house.  What I mean to say is that if someone committed a theft, I should have atleast seen him running from the house.”  Vasudev deduced.

 “Maybe it happened after you returned from your spying work.  From what I heard, the servant heard some sound while he was asleep.  As he came to inspect, he found that someone had opened the door and was scurrying along with a bundle of cloth.  He at once realised that it was a thief and ran after him only to have a grievous fall as he stepped on a banana skin.  He could not get up as he felt a severe pain in his back and by the time he managed to stand on his feet, the thief had made good his escape.  Thereafter, he returned and alerted the family members!”  Siva disclosed the facts to his friends.

Sridhar rubbed his fists in frustration, “Damn it!  Here we were planning a robbery in that house and now we find that someone has already done our job!  What do we do now?”  Hari shook his head in disgust, “This is a big blow to our plan.  But once we have decided to rob an exorbitant sum, we will not backtrack.  We shall certainly try our luck at someone else’s house where there is wealth in abundance.” 

“Leave me out!”  Vasudev said, “I am fed up of this!  From the time I decided to be a part of your vile plan, I have lost my peace of mind!” 

“Vile plan, Vasudev?”  Hari looked at him perturbed.  “And how do you earn money these days?  You deceive people saying that you are in need for money to open a sweet shop!  That’s fine with you, isn’t it?  There’s nothing ‘vile’ about it!” 

“But that atleast is not robbery.  For you, stealing is an art and for me deceiving people is an art!  I am sorry, Hari.  I do not want to be a part in this anymore.  To be frank, I am glad that this plan of yours has failed.”  Vasudev said relieved.

Thereafter, he returned home and removed a big bundle of cloth from under the bed.  He appeared very excited as he opened it and lo!  There were lots of silver coins and some invaluable ornaments inside it!  From where had he managed to get them?  Vasudev lifted the bundle of cloth and kept it in front of the idol of Lord Krishna.  He prostrated before the idol and said with folded palms, “O Krishna!  Thank you so much for all this!  Without your blessings all this would have never been possible!  Yesterday when I got all this wealth I was filled with apprehension thinking about my friends.  After they find out that Dyanchand’s house has been robbed, would they suspect me to be behind it?  But today after meeting them, all my fears have been laid to rest!  I have made them feel that I am, too, timid a person to become a robber!  Now all this wealth is mine!  I don’t need to share it with anyone!  How can I ever thank you for this, O Lord?”

(To Continue)