The Biggest Theft Poem by Bashyam Narayanan

The biggest theft

I was ten or eleven
When this happened

It was a holiday
Not a Sunday but a less intense festival
And so not much edibles
As it used to be in other festivities

Not much home work
No need for preparing for a test
Or examination next day

It was late afternoon
I located to my pleasure
A coin of one eighth of a rupee worth
On a depression in the wall
Which used to be a place for a candle or a lamb otherwise

I looked around
For some one elder in the family
Who might have left the coin there
None seemed to be claiming
None seemed to be knowing about that

After making sure that
None was watching me
I laid my left hand on the coin
Carefully picked it up
And quickly moved out of the house
And started walking towards the nearby market

I came across none in the street
As the sun was still harsh and bright
En-route I was confirming the worth of the coin
A number of times
Because I never before had a free hand
To spend for myself a cash of such denomination

Initially I thought I would spend this amount
Over a period of time, say over a week
But the problem was as to where to hide
The cash in hand
I took a decision to spend the entire money
In a single go so that problem of balance did not arise

I approached a shop
And extended the coin to the keeper
He simply asked "what? "
Took some seconds
For an answer
As I did not know what to ask for
Gathered strength to say at last
"Ground nut cakes"
"For the entire amount" shop keeper
"Yes" my hurried answer
"Sure? " shop keeper quried
On my confirmation
He packed the cakes in a paper piece
And gave the same to me
Over the row of bottles arranged on the counter

I opened the pack
I saw eight jiggery-based ground nut cakes
Each one of about one square inch
And about half an inch thick
Took one piece
Started eating and by the time I finished it
I was inside the temple
As I walked my way inside the temple complex
I finished the second one
It was so sweet and wonderful
But the number of cakes frightened me
As I started wondering as to how at all
I would be eating all of them
As there were six more cakes

I sat in the shade one of four pillared raised structure
And could two more
Leaving the pack with four cakes

I knew I should not take them home
As there would be questions
As to how I could buy so many pieces
I was determined to some how
Finish eating all of them
Even it took some time
I thought I would give a break
So that I developed some taste
For one or two more pieces
I walked further in the temple
And as I reached the other end of the temple
I had eaten one more
With threatening three still remaining

An idea struck me
I would part with a piece or two
With a friend residing in this part of the town
Luckily I knew his house
So went to his place straight
I reached his house and asked
The elderly gentleman sitting in the
Front portion of the house
"Is Kittu at home? "
"Who are you? " he asked me
Without telling about my friend's availability
But, he added
"He has gone out"

Without wasting time
I took a piece of ground nut cake
And gave it to him
"Please pass on this to him"
And started walking fast home
I practically started running
Though I heard him shouting more than twice
At me to tell him as to who I was

The remaining two pieces
Were no more a challenge to me
And I managed to consume them
Before I reached home
After an absence for more than an hour

It was a tough task for me the next day
To cover me up
When I heard Kittu was narrating to some one
About a fool who visited his house
And left a ground nut cake for him with his dad
Without telling who he was