Supplementary lesson -2 A Theif's Story

Question 1.
How did the thief (Hari Singh) realise that Anil knew that his money had been stolen?
Answer:
The thief realised that Anil knew he had stolen his money because he found some of
the notes still wet, as if they were taken out in the rain. He gave a fifty-rupee-note to
Hari Singh the next morning, and he promised to give him more money, though he did
not have any contract for giving any money.

Question 2.
How did Hari Singh know that Anil had forgiven him?
Answer:
Hari Singh realised that Anil knew about the theft because he found some of the notes
still wet. He gave him a fifty-rupee-note and did not mention anything about the theft.
This made him feel that Anil had forgiven him.

Question 3.
Who is ‘I’ in this story? Why did he change his name every month?
Answer:
‘I’ in this story is a 15 year old boy who is an experienced and successful thief. He
changes his name every month to hide his real identity from his new employer and the
police.

Question 4.
Why, according to Hari Singh, is it easier to rob a greedy man than a careless person like
Anil?
Answer:
Hari Singh has correlated theft with the sense of satisfaction, a thief gets pleasure when
a person comes to know that he has been robbed. Hari Singh says that a greedy man
can afford to be robbed too whereas a careless man at times may never come to know
that he has lost something or he has been robbed. This carelessness, on the part of a
person robbed, deprives a thief of the pleasure which he gets out of theft.

Question 5.
What was the thief s immediate reaction when he stole Anil’s money?
Answer:
Hari Singh stole six hundred rupees and crawled out of the room. When he was on the
road, he started running. He kept the notes in his waist held there by the string of his
pyjama. He felt as if he was an oil rich Arab for a week or two.
Question 6.
What made the thief come back to Anil?
Answer:
Hari Singh came back to Anil because Anil trusted him. He did not want to miss the
chance of being educated. Education could certainly make him a better man. He was
fed up with the life of a thief, i.e. stealing and being caught and beaten.

Question 7.
What was Anil’s job? What did he usually do with the money he earned?
Answer:
Anil was a writer. He used to write articles for magazines. He was a spendthrift and used
to spend money on his friends. He did not bother to save money for his future.

Question 8.
What does the thief say about the reactions of different types of people when they
were robbed? How did he think Anil would react when he discovered the theft?
Answer:
The thief had robbed all kinds of people. According to him, the greedy men were scared
of being robbed. The rich men showed anger. The poor men accepted their fate after
being robbed. He thought that Anil would show only a touch of sadness. He would not
be sad for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.

Question 9.
What made him a successful thief?
Answer:
He always changed his name after stealing. He even managed to change the place. He
tried his best to appear pleasing and innocent so the employers never suspected him to
be a thief.

Question 10.
Why was he about to be dismissed? What made Anil reinstate him?
Answer:
He cooked very terrible meal which infuriated Anil. He gave the food to the stray dog
and asked him to be off. But he got his job back by flattering Anil who was a simple and
large-hearted man.

Question 11.
What made Hari Singh follow Anil after watching the wrestling match?
Answer:
Hari Singh knew by his experience that Anil was an easy-going and simple man who
could trust even a stranger. He decided to rob him as it was quite easy. Therefore, he
followed Anil to win his confidence and get a job there.
Question 12.
Why did Hari not make friends?
Answer:
Hari Singh was a thief. He did not believe in making friends as they were more trouble
than help. He did not stay at one place for a long time so he could not make friends.

II. Long Answers:

Question 1.
“He was the most trusting person I had ever met,’ remarked Hari Singh. Hari Singh took
undue advantage of Anil’s trust. Do you think trusting a servant blindly, like Anil, is wise
or do we need to be careful?
Answer:
Hari Singh is justified in saying that Anil was the most trusting person he had ever met.
But he took undue advantage of his trust. He was a thief and could not be expected to
be honest with Anil. Anil had a blind faith in human nature. He employed him just out
of sympathy and compassion for him. He trusted him and ignored his misdeed. He
handed over all the financial transactions without verification.
He was so sympathetic towards Hari Singh that he did not ask him to leave the job
when he was unable to cook. He trusted a stranger and gave him every chance to
improve. When Hari Singh stole money and came back, Anil knew his act but said
nothing. He knew he was guilty but rather gave him a fifty rupee note. I think such a
blind faith in a stranger is not prudent, one should be kind but not careless.

Question 2.
Hari Singh decided to return the stolen money to Anil. It shows that everyone has some
inner conscience which they do not put in practice. Do you agree? Was it the awakening
of his conscience that made him return the money?
Answer:
Hari Singh’s conscience pricked him. He had a guilty conscience. He didn’t want to hurt
him. Hari stole money because of his compulsive habit, but now he wanted to reform
himself. He wanted to become a reputed member of the society. He vowed never to
repeat the mistake again. It shows that everyone has inner conscience. It becomes
dormant when we do not put them to practice or our circumstances don’t allow them
to be put to practice. Yes, it was the awakening of Hari Singh’s conscience that made
him return the stolen money.

Question 3.
Love is the basic human attribute that can transform evil into goodness. How did this
attribute of Anil changed Hari Singh?
Answer:
Love and sympathy are positive qualities. If we have love and sympathy for a person,
that person will try to win our trust and confidence. He will curb his baser instincts and
try to prove worthy of our confidence in him. It was the love of Anil that transformed
Hari Singh. He treated him kindly, reposed his faith in him and Hari Singh became an
honest man.
Hari Singh was tempted once. He ran away with money. But when he recalled the faith,
love, compassion and kindness of Anil, his heart changed. He decided to come back and
return the stolen money. Anil knew that Hari Singh had stolen money. He could have
handed him over to the police but he showed sympathy and kindness. This transformed
Hari Singh. He gave up stealing and decided to become a good person.