Innocence of deceit

It was 8:30 AM in the morning and Raman was not yet ready. He had a very important meeting in his office to attend which was scheduled at 9:30 AM.  Despite the best of traffic conditions, it would take 45 minutes to reach office. But now that he was already late, he dreaded his boss’ reactions after reaching office. He quickly grabbed his bag and bolted towards the parking lot of his eight-storied apartment complex. Aaargh…!!! There was a power-cut. Now he had to take the staircase to go down six floors. Somehow, he reached the parking lot and saw that it was 8:35 AM. He tried starting his bike but it would not budge. He kicked and kicked the ignition rod but the bike stood there devoid of any life. Finally, gathering all his strength, he kicked one last time and the bike burst into life. He checked his watch. It was 8:40 AM.

Raman was a 33-year-old marketing professional. He was neither tall/dark nor a handsome guy but was the usual guy-next-door. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall with very thick, curly hair. He had an equally thick moustache which was everyone’s envy.  Over the years, he had a paunch which he took great pains to hide. He would hold his breath while talking to strangers so that his paunch could contract. This was his way of hiding his paunch. Raman lived with his family in the suburbs of the pearl city, Hyderabad. He had recently bought a three bedroom flat and was getting used to riding long distances to reach his office. His office was a good 35 kilometres away from his house and he commuted on his bike every day.

Raman’s boss was an authoritarian martinet who hated late-comers. Of late, Raman had been late to office quite often owing to his long journey. Just the other day he had faced the wrath of his boss and he shuddered to think what would happen today. Moreover , there was this important meeting with a client. With these thoughts in mind, Raman sped his bike criss-crossing the traffic, avoiding the slow moving autos and the stationary buffaloes. He honked his way through the traffic.

Just as he was waiting for the signal to turn green in Kavadiguda, he saw that there was a huge commotion nearby. He heard a young boy crying for help. Curiosity got the better of him and he turned his head in the direction of the commotion to see what was happening. He saw that there was a young boy, around 11 or 12 years old, who was crying for help. There was a police constable beside him. It seemed as though the constable was beating up the boy. Humanity inside Raman wanted him to go and check the problem but the fear of his boss was not allowing him to. After a difficult 45-60 seconds, Raman’s conscience got the better of him and he parked his bike on the side of the road and went towards the boy to check.

The boy was crying and yelling that he was not a thief but the police constable was not listening at all. He was persistent that the boy was a thief. At this point Raman went to the policeman and asked him what the problem was.

The policeman replied - ‘Sir, this boy is a seasoned pickpocket. I have been searching for him since the past 2 months and I have finally caught him red-handed today.’

‘No Sir, this constable is lying. I am not a thief. I am a daily wage labourer and he is harassing me since the past 1 hour. He is hell bent on taking me to prison. He says that I am a pickpocket but trust me I have never stolen anything in life.’ , the boy said gulping tears of distress.

‘It’s all lies. I can prove that he is a thief. Look there are 800 rupees in his pocket. From where will a daily wage labourer get so much money? I am sure he has stolen it from someone. I am going to make him rot in jail.’ Saying this, the policeman slapped the boy.

The boy started crying again and pleaded that he was not a thief but the policeman was not ready to budge. He started pulling the boy’s hand. At this, Raman stopped the policeman and spoke to the boy – ‘ Look boy, I am here to help you. Tell the truth. Are you a thief? If not, from where did you get this money?’

The boy responded-  ‘Sir, these are my savings of last 2 months. I don’t have a house and there is no place where I can save this money. I have to keep it with me all the time. Otherwise, some street urchins would steal this money from me. I have saved each and every penny that came my way. ‘

‘He is lying. He stole this money. Wait, let my lathi do the talking. People like him will not listen if you talk. They only understand the language of kicks.’  The policeman now started pulling out his lathi to launch another assault on the boy.

But this time Raman was alert and he stopped the policeman and spoke to the boy – ‘You said you live on the streets then why do you need this much money. Tell me what are you up to.’

‘Sir, I want to go to school and become a big officer. But I don’t have the money to go to a school. That’s why I am saving money so that I could go to school one day to get myself good education.’

Raman was in a dilemma now. He was overwhelmed by the boy’s words. The innocence in the boy’s eyes was not allowing him to believe that the boy was a thief. The self-belief and the enterprising nature of the boy made an indelible impression on Raman. He thought that the boy must be saying the truth. He thought to himself – ‘There are so many underprivileged people meandering along on the streets with minimal food and clothes. And most of them tend to take the anti-social path but here is a boy who is making an attempt to reform himself. Here is a boy who is taking pains to get himself a good life. Here is a boy who is trying to redeem himself. Here is a boy who is fighting against all odds but the world is not allowing him to come out of the slimy confines of the murky streets. I must do something to help him. This is my chance to help someone realise his dream. I must help him. Yes, I must.’

Raman, then, spoke to the policeman – ‘Sir, I understand that you are helping the society by taking care of the thieves but I believe that this boy is not a thief. I think your job is such that you have to look at everything with suspicion. And I totally agree with your point of view but looking from the perspective of a common man, I think this boy should be given a chance. I can sense the truth in his unwavering voice and I trust him entirely. Please leave him. I know a friend of mine who runs an NGO to help educate street urchins. I will take this boy to him and help him get educated. Please leave him for me. This is my sincere request to you.’

‘Look Sir, you look like a respectable person. Why are you unnecessarily involving yourself in this matter? Why are you wasting your time saving this untrustworthy boy?’

‘Please sir please. Let him go with me. I take full responsibility of him. I will ensure that he gets good education. Please sir.’

‘I must say that you are a very stubborn person. I would never have allowed this boy to leave but since you are insisting, I am obliged to accede to your request. You can take him with you. But I must say, it is because of people like you that this world is not yet extinct. I salute you for your magnanimity.’ Saying thus, the policeman went away.

Raman was completely filled with happiness. He was feeling proud that he was now helping someone attain his goal. His heart was filled with complete happiness. He never felt so happy before.

Raman asked the boy to come with him. He then asked the boy to sit behind him on his bike and both of them rode away to Raman’s friend’s NGO. As he was riding his bike, he realised that Rs. 800 may not be sufficient for the boy. So, he wanted to give some more money to the boy. But he did not have enough cash with him. He saw an ATM nearby and stopped his bike to get some cash out of it. He took out Rs. 5,000 for the boy. Suddenly, he realised that he also had to take some money home to arrange for the monthly groceries. So, he withdrew Rs. 20,000 from his ATM. He put the money in his wallet and started going towards his friend’s NGO.

Just as he neared Paradise, the boy sitting behind asked Raman to stop the bike. Raman stopped the bike and before he could ask the boy about why he had asked him to stop, he saw that the boy jumped from the bike and started running in the opposite direction.

Raman didn’t understand what was happening. He was perplexed as to why the boy jumped so suddenly. He called out to the boy but he didn’t come back. Raman was very annoyed and disappointed. Suddenly, he remembered about his meeting and started to go to his office.

Raman reached his office well past 10 AM. He wanted to have some tea before he ventured in front of his boss. He went to his usual tea-stand to have his tea. Raman was still thinking about the boy as he drank the tea. But he still couldn’t understand why the boy ran away. Raman finished his tea and reached towards his pocket to take money from his wallet. There was no wallet to be found..!!!!!

                                              **********

Somewhere in the outskirts of Hyderabad, the boy was sitting with his uncle, enjoying a lavish lunch. His uncle patted on his back and said - ‘Well done my boy. You acted very well. Now give me 500 rupees from your catch today. I have to pay for the rent of this police uniform.’