The world of evil is getting up to raise its head up and to let loose its anarchic forces to disturb the peace of the world which is asleep and dreaming of colorful tomorrow with falling and spreading darkness over the town of Bairagpur. It is the town where it becomes difficult to make distinction between a thief and a gentleman as the most of the people in the town are the thieves of all kind on the record of the police station. Most of them are notorious as burglar, pickpocket, mugger, and shoplifter. Like men, one gets confused in locating the houses of the gentlemen and the thieves. So Bairagpur is nothing but a sludge of chaos as Bairagpur has two separate identities good for day and bad for the night. It is highly sensitive and hoodwinking town as its so called gentleman becomes an ardent thief with falling darkness. Arrival of a patrolling van either at the day time or late in the night in search of their food has become an integral part of routine life of the town. Interesting thing of the thieves of the town is that sometimes they attack on each other’s house. The cacophonous and equally terrifying sound of the patrolling police van has become so common to the people and especially to the little kids and crying babies that they enjoy it as a play toy.
It is on one rainy night, the stepping sound of a dark figure disturbs the placidity of darkness. When the showering like rain falls on the raincoat of dark figure and when the person goes through the light of a dim street light, it shines like silver stream. The face of the dark figure becomes unidentifiable as its face is almost eclipsed by the dark shadow of raincoat’s cap. All of a sudden, the sound of patrolling van disturbs and fears manly stepping of the dark figure. He moves with a fright of being caught and takes shelter behind the backside wall of a house. The police van goes ahead but seems to be stopped at a close distance. The dark figure, controlling his scared breath, tries to move his head to see and confirm whether the van has gone but he becomes more alert after seeing the police van is stopped at a calling distance and that some police men are engaged in an enquiry with a person. The dark figure wants to hide him at a secure place but finds no place. The backside wall where he is hiding himself has a window which is open and throws the light outside through the iron bars of the window. The dark figure plans to break the bars and rob the house. When he peeps through the window, the inside scenario moves his heart and helplessly he has to go back from his intention. The scenario transforms him thoroughly. This flint hearted Thief becomes emotional for the first time in his life. He sees that a long waiting and hungry mother and her little son are engaged in a talk, the sound of which falls on the ear of the Thief hiding behind the house.
The little boy asks his mother, “Mummy, where is my father? You told me that he has gone to do the theft and would bring bread for me. Mummy, I have been hungry for the last two days and hunger has become so unbearable that I feel that I will die if I don’t get food.” It makes her emotional and hiding her tearful eyes, she convinces him. “My darling, my dear little child your father is great thief and I am sure that he will come shortly with lot of food.” To this the boy replies “Really! Is my father a great thief? Mother a little bit proudly answers, “Yes my dear child.” In order to divert the attention of the child from hunger she questions him. “My dear son what will you do, when you will be a grown up person?” To this boy boastingly, ignorantly and innocently answers, “Mummy! I will be a great thief like my father.” Happy mother with this answer gives a pat on the back of her little son.
This brief talk moves the Thief’s heart but makes him ironically laugh at himself for he as a thief is planning to rob the house of the another thief. Suddenly the angry steeping sound of the police march towards the house where the thief is hiding. He shrinks and gets alert. The police men knock at the door of the house. Expecting that her husband would be there, the woman opens the door and gets shocked and worried seeing the Police there outside. They break the news that her husband has been killed by an angry mob when he had been caught while robbing a house. They inform her that the dead body of her thief husband has been at their disposal at the police station and she has to collect it tomorrow morning. After breaking this news, the Police disappear living woman in an almost collapsed state. The woman cannot bear this shock and falls on the ground never to get up. Seeing his mother lying on the ground, the little boy wails loudly. “Mummy, get up! Mummy, get up! Why are you lying down and not speaking to me? I am hungry and you promised for food.” The wails of the little boy grow louder. The Thief enters through the main door and lifts the baby leaving the dead mother there only anticipating that the police may come tomorrow and take her body for further process.
The Thief gets moved by the condition of the boy. He picks him up and takes him to his house where he is staying with his wife who suffers from a childless situation. They had got married ten years back yet they don’t have children of their own. When the Thief narrates the state of affairs in the room where he had planned to rob, the thief’s wife too gets moved by the bad luck of the child. Both are happy as for the first time after their marriage, the cry of child has shaken the barren silence of their house. Thief’s wife is so happy that she feels that the boy is none other than her own son. The coming of the boy adds colors in the life of the Thief’s family. They call him by the name Raviraj. The wife of the Thief becomes so habitual with him that she cannot imagine and bear a single moment’s absence of Raviraj. Whole day she goes on fondly uttering only one name that is Raviraj.
Raviraj grows and with passing time, the memories of his real mother and father grow dimmer and dimmer. He becomes almost oblivion of them except a word which gets inscribed on the slate of his memory and starts assuming that thief and his wife are his parents. One day Thief returns home and finds that the engaged wife in the kitchen is unable to pay heed at the crying Raviraj. He holds him up and places him on the cot and puts some toys around him so that he can play with them. The Thief begins questioning him. “Dear Ravi, “What would you like to be in future?” Ravi instantly replies, “A great thief.” The Thief takes it to be quite positively. The Thief curiously questions him, “Would you like to learn the art of theft?” Ravi positively nods. The Thief conveys his agreement saying that he would make him a great thief. Ravi becomes extremely happy with this and he gets prepared himself to be the great thief. Ravi is too little and immature to understand who is called a thief and what does a theft mean? He is so innocent that he is unable to understand the evilness of the concept of a ‘Thief’. He takes it quite easily and finds a fun in saying that he wants to be a great thief.
The Thief admits him in a school. On the very first day of the school, the Thief brings some books for Ravi. On the eve of the first day of Ravi’s school, the Thief sits beside Ravi and tells him that the he is going to teach him how to be a great thief. Little and curious Ravi with great interest sits beside the Thief. Before dealing with the books, he explains to Ravi the concept of theft in the fewest possible and easy words. He tells him that the theft is nothing but entering in someone’s house and taking things hidden either in the cupboard or suitcase or some locked objects and taking them to our house. He tells him putting a book of English rhymes in front of him, “Imagine that this book is a nothing but a house of some one. If you want see what is there in the house, the thief questions Ravi what will you do?” To this little Ravi brilliantly answers, “I will open the book.” The thief encourages him saying that “That is like a good boy.” The thief reads out a poem and asks him to read it now and intentionally tells him that while reading, he has to steal the words or lines from the poem and store them in his mind which is nothing but his house where he hides the things that he has stolen. To make it easier, the Thief explains to him briefly, the book is the house of someone. The poems or lesson in the book is treasure of the owner. To have this treasure, one has to go in and pick up the valuable things and come back to one’s house where he can hide the stolen things.
After a few days practice, the boy acquires the skill of the theft. He is so innocent and ignorant to understand the darker side of the theft and applies the theory of theft to books only. His passion for encroaching into the periphery of the books enhances. Realizing this, the Thief too brings new books for him every day from the market and adds fuel to the burning desire of the child to be a great thief. Whenever, the Thief and Ravi sit together, the Thief questions what he stole yesterday. Ravi then proudly presents before him some words or some lines of the rhymes from the book.
With growing time, Ravi too grows, going from one standard to the other. In the course of the time he attains that much maturity to distinguish between the good and bad theft. He thinks that the earlier is the best for him and thanks the thief to whom he regards his real father for teaching him the art of doing the good theft. Thief and wife are quite happy to see that their son Ravi marching on the track which they decided for him. Ravi grows, completes his education joins as a professor in a college. But very soon he gets fed up with the working conditions there and eventually he quits the job. A thought to start his own school fans his imagination. He puts the proposal before the Thief to which the Thief responds quite positively.
Very soon, Ravi starts his school to which he names Raviraj Institutions which becomes so popular that every parents wants his ward to be admitted in Raviraj Institutions. Considering the demand of the Parents and a long list of the waiting students, Raviraj introduces new institutes. Every coming year goes on adding new schools and colleges to the Raviraj Institutions. Very soon Raviraj institutions become the topmost and highly preferred educational institute in the state making its owner means Raviraj economically very sound person. Considering the growing burden of the responsibilities, the Thief too takes active participation in the institute’s administration and tries to lessen the burden of responsibility of his son.
The Thief never opens the chapters of history of Raviraj and tells him the bitter truth of his family back ground. He also deliberately hides from him what he used to do to feed Raviraj and family. He does so because he is afraid that Raviraj may develop an inferiority complex or negative approach towards himself and his family. Thus the Thief keeps him away from the evil spell of his and Raviraj’s real father’s profession.
Once it happens that Raviraj and the Thief are meeting the desirous and ambitious parents who wish to have their wards admitted in the Raviraj institutions. There comes a widow with her son aspiring to take admission for Engineering in Raviraj institutions. Conversation begins; woman presents a few pages of her life history and the cause of her family tragedy. When Raviraj comes to know that she is a widow of a gangster who was recently encountered for his anti-social activities, the first thing he does that he asks her son to go out for sometime and then tells the woman very proudly, that in our institute children of rich class take education. If their parents come to know about the presence of a son having criminal background, they may object. He too expresses a fear that the presence of such students in his institute may have an adverse impact on the future of his institutions. So he very rudely denies the request of the widow. On this woman gets irritated and boldly questions Raviraj, “Does it mean that the children having criminal background have no right to get educated? Does it mean that they should not be given a chance to wipe out the disgrace on their families? Denying admission to my son, does it mean that you don’t want to give them a chance to amend and be back to the main stream of the society?” The Thief was patiently listening to the arguments of the widow but prefers to keep quite as he does not want to interfere in the business of his son. Perhaps he is afraid that his interference may not be tolerated.
Raviraj gets annoyed at these aggressive arguments of the woman and tells her that he cannot give admission to her son in his institute. Woman keeps quiet and leaves the cabin. Immediately after the departure of the woman, the Thief helplessly interferes and asks his son Raviraj what would have been wrong, if he had been given admission. On this Raviraj poses the prestige issue and tells him that he does not do such things which can hamper the name and progress of the institute. So far the Thief has held his tongue back but seeing the scenario in the cabin and the begging of the woman, the Thief helplessly lets loose his tongue and gets involved in a hectic argument with Raviraj, “My dear son, you have done a wrong thing, it is an injustice to woman and her innocent son.” To this Raviraj says, “My stand was right, father.” The Thief says, “Do you mean that they are faulty for having criminal background?” Raviraj irritatingly replies, “I don’t want to get involved in deciding who is right and who is wrong? What matters for me is the future of mine and my institutions.” The Thief questions, “What will happen to all those children whose parents are either thieves or involved in some antisocial activities?” Warning Raviraj of the consequences of his action, Thief says, “If they are not educated and given a chance to be back in the main stream of the society, they will follow the foot prints of their parents and history will be repeated. Do you want this to happen?” To this Raviraj replies rather practically, “My dear father I am completely a professional person. I am not a social worker to have sympathy for these people for me they are nothing but a disgrace to the society. It is just because of such a few people, the entire society suffers and eventually gets defamed. It is better if they dissociate themselves from such people who are nothing but a headache.”
Anger of the Thief reaches at its extreme on seeing his son has grown sufficiently professional, materialistic and listless to the emotions of the sufferers. He continues his argument and fearlessly uncovers the truth of his life fully anticipating its consequences. He says, “My dear son, Raviraj, I am not your father. Your father was a thief and he was murdered by an angry crowd when he was doing a theft. It was I taking pity on your miserable condition brought you my home and made you what you are today.” It is the expectation of the Thief after that hearing this record of his life, Raviraj may change its philosophical stand but happens completely contrary. To this Raviraj replies, “Now it does not matter to me whether I was a son of a thief or a sadhu. Whatever you did is really a great thing and thanks for goodness.”
Getting extremely annoyed at Raviraj, he questions him very aggressively, “If there is no place to the son of an evil person in your institutions, it is better not to imagine about the place of a thief in your life.” To this Raviraj scornfully replies, “I and thief cannot go together.” The Thief gets frustrated and determines not to spend a single moment there.
He returns home packs his luggage and returns to his native. He feels very sad at the fact despite of being educated; the people make distinction between good and bad. He exclaims, “If all are treated equally, this distinction won’t exist!” On the very next moment, he realizes that the world survives on this distinction, and nobody wants to end it as it’s end will end their interest. The Thief develops great commiseration for this deprived, unnoticed section of the society and dies to do something so that the disgrace of being a member of thief community would be erased and all will get equal right to grow and develop in their lives.
The Thief gets disheartened by this cool reply of his son who has grown inhuman in the race of earning his livelihood. The Thief feels sad at heart and gets disheartened by the thought that his teaching has gone in vain. Thief being financially sound, he takes step ahead and dares to start a school for the thieves. To which he names as “The School for the Thieves.” On the very opening day of the school, he feels pleasantly shocked to see a long queue of parents with their children representing the evil section of the world. Parents are seen expressing the satisfaction that finally they have got a place where their children will not be distinguished. A separated group of the parents is seen engrossed in reading a long caption written in bold letters displayed especially on the separated portion of the school. “The children of burglars, pickpockets, muggers, and shoplifters, chain grabbers, murderers, rapists, terrorists, hooligans and all other members of the evil society are allowed.”
The Thief becomes happy with the way the school is flourishing and devotes rest of his life for exterminating the distinction between the evil and good which are nothing but offspring of the so called selfish society.