THE MOBILE THIEF

Vaibhav Dixit. I would have never known about him if not for my close friend Sailesh Prasad and his exploitation of the “real world”. If I were to write a story, Vaibhav would be the main protagonist. Sailesh is my close friend but when it comes to Vaibhav I would always say he was “unfair”. I find Vaibhav a very quite person. I have seen him in college, most of the time, all by himself. Vaibhav couldn’t continue with his studies, he was not seen in college for like a year. He was accused of a theft in our PG, the Tirupati Towers. Maybe controversies and TT (Tirupati Towers) have a long play of togetherness!
I might be trying to have a little fun with my own criticisms in this story but I believe this is pretty serious to many people. Can u ever remember any of your dreams wherein you are a part of those high octane actions like in the movies? Or those where the detective (with his cute and silly assistant) solves one crime, clean chit, within two episodes? Well my story goes such!
7:45 am, TT: Usually I find that if something ominous is to happen, it will rain heavily and among those gruesome lightening, an ill-omened background score will be played. That day was none such, rather a bright sunny day, nonetheless eventful. I had just got up from a rather long sleep when I realized the hostel was silent than ever. When I got down, I saw people discussing about something, all serious and perturbed! I usually don’t have the courage to step up and ask what actually took place so I waited, till I heard the precise of what they were discussing. Yes! My intuitions had proved themselves. There had been a theft in the hostel that early morning! Sailesh’s roommate, Natesh, had an early class. While he forgot to tell sailesh to lock the room after he left, sailesh was still sleeping. The previous night, he and his friends had to catch up on some studies and some chatting (you decide the proportion!) which went on till late. He was in no mood to get up that early. Somebody had flicked Sailesh’s mobile phone in the meantime. He was looking very troubled. I am bad at consoling people. The only thing what was coming into my mind was “how much was it worth?” I am a bad techie! I have a very bad knowledge regarding the most recent mobile phones which enter the market and their prices, yet I could sense it was damn costly.
1:30 pm, college: It was already afternoon, Sailesh was still very upset. He remained silent the whole time. I took up my responsibility of spreading the word that he got looted in the hostel, early morning. I didn’t dramatize much, yet this news was itself spicy. Our classmates were thrilled, especially Shiv (better known as stunner). He presented all possibilities of how it could have taken place and who might be the possible culprit(s). Their stories were more TV and movie inspired than my version. I was kind of enjoying the fact that I was the one who started this thread of hot discussions. I have always been dubiously proud of my abilities!
2:45 pm, college gate: We were just at the gate when one of our seniors met us. It changed the course of the story and the day altogether! “The thief has been caught!” he told us. “Go check it out for yourselves!” My eyes popped out, sailesh was portentously calm. We had to check it out! That we did.
3:00 pm, room no. 202, TT: this room was a celebrity in itself. Huge, well ventilated and upbeat with its bright inhabitants! The room had a happy and happening feel. I cannot tell why they chose this room but to the freshly nabbed “thief” it was more of a drill room, missing were only the electric chair and the guillotine. Angry host elites stormed the room. This was not the first time somebody’s mobile had been stolen. We had to do our means to stop this ugly chain of thefts going on. We made our way through the crowd and the hustle. On the bed adjoining the door, the felon was being greedily held and made to stay on the bed itself.
The “thief” was tall, slim. This was the first time I saw Vaibhav! He stayed in another PG, “Chota House” I was told. He was in a really dirty looking pair of jeans. The first few buttons of the shirt he had put went missing (the angry people around him took them I guess)! His rather startling and meek features were in danger. He had bold, round and big eyes; not really clean shaven but rather a face not really hinting of a totally innocently-backpacked history! His face was red and his skin looked as though it had been smeared. He was badly scared. Some pain and a gut wrenching fright were evident from his harassed and damp eyes. He had already got beaten up for the initial round. Now was the time to interrogate. The “truth” could no longer be far from us all! The crowd gathered around him had made a strict boundary between that of the caught and the hunters. A semi circular perimeter was setting him and the not-so-big-202’s-bed apart from the crowd grimacing at him.
If one had to talk to him one would have to come up till that very perimeter and deliver what one had to speak or hit. He had no answers to those questions- direct and gruesome! Tom Verges was standing next to me. “How did they come to know he is the one?” I enquired. Tom shrugged his shoulders, “no idea!” Tom’s mobile went missing too incidentally. He was also on heavy fire. He stepped up till that perimeter and swore his guts out to Vaibhav. Sailesh could not be any more silent. He snapped. He too went till the perimeter and beyond; he sort of leaped into the not-so-big-202’s-bed bed. He grabbed the villain by the neck. He shook him till his throat started to make some sound as in the answers he was required to retort with. Vaibhav was as silent and clueless as ever, occasional I-am-innocent’s and please-spare-me’s did turn up. “So you won’t tell me anything huh?” Straight to the face went two blows in a quick train. “Where did you hide it?” Sailesh’s question was the most predictable! All trails were being scanned and rescanned to get to the solution to that very hard-hitting inquiry. I was not expecting any valid answers. More people cleared their throats; they too came up till the perimeter and swore at him. Sailesh’s patience went below par; his eye-brows had been made into a hell bent V and his lips went dry and teeth clasped tight by his angry-strong jaw muscles! That could not be good; the beast’s anger had gone above the average warning level! Sailesh made a tighter fist and raised it to his target- Vaibhav’s well structured face. Vaibhav squeaked! His eyes toured the whole room for people who could help him in saving his own life; he couldn’t find anyone for sure. The shrill of his heaving breathing filled the room. The happy feel of the room was a distant past by this time.
I dragged sailesh to the bed opposite to the prisoner’s. “What proof are you following, moron!” He was least interested in obliging me. I couldn’t stop him anyways. He is too well built for me and he was on fire that afternoon! They continued with their cross-examination. I felt strangled. I didn’t have the mind to digest the whole scenario. I left the room in my helplessness.
5:45 pm, my room, TT: My roommate, joy d’mello, came inside. “Too much had taken place in the last two hours” I was told. Apparently, Vaibhav was being taken to the police station when he escaped at some traffic stoppage. Ah! The great escape! “They did not follow him?” I asked. “No! He ran towards the traffic police”. “So he is gone?” This did not sound safe! Sailesh and others involved in the “crime scene” were being summoned. I ran out. Sailesh was near the gate. He had to go too! “It will be all right buddy!” I shouted. I had to say something.
7:30 pm, my room, TT: I was just going for dinner when sailesh made his return entry to my room. “I shouldn’t have been so violent.” The police inspector had spared them all with a long lecture on why students should refrain from taking the law into their own hands! I smiled, “ah! My daredevil, now you got my point?” Sailesh was feeling sad. “Did my mom called at your number by any chance? I still did not inform them about the theft! ” she had not!
The incident had been over like a year. One day I came to know Vaibhav was wrongly accused the whole time!
Once during lunch, Vaibhav happened to pass by us. He had rejoined college after one year of gap. I was with sailesh. I winked at him. “What if he counters you for the treated we all meted at him at that time?” Sailesh looked a little less than amused at my taunt! “Just leave it!” he spitted out!