Memoirs      
When I Stole from School
by Arya Bhushan

It was in 1934 when, after having passed my High School (X Grade) in 1933, I had joined the Ewing Christian College at Allahabad for my Intermediate classes. I was sixteen years old. It was a fine college, set up by American missionaries, and I was thoroughly enjoying there.

The college had organized a Chemical exhibition. We were supposed to demonstrate various chemical reactions and how they created magic. Two colorless liquids, when mixed together, turning the mixture into a beautiful pink. Or two transparent liquids on being mixed. becoming milky. The whole thing was so fascinating and we were simply charmed by these mysterious processes, to which we were getting introduced. The entire laboratory of the Chemistry department was at our disposal to do whatever we liked, to create such wonders.

It was during this period, that I entered the lab store, noticed a vial of Gold Chloride, and was tempted to sneak it. Yet in my mind, there was the fear of being caught. What if someone noticed me doing so? I would, apart from being embarrassed, would also be badly humiliated. But no! Who would notice it? The lure of owning Gold, even if it was in the form of it's Chloride (and I did not even know how much was it worth), was so great, that I brushed my qualms aside, and forcibly threw all my fears out of my mind. I succumbed to the temptation and quietly slipped it into my pocket. Near it was also a small bottle of Potassium cyanide. I thought that I should sneak it too, so that if I was caught, I would swallow it, rather than being shamed and being declared a thief.

Anyway, I came home without being caught and thus the need for swallowing the deadly poison did not arise. But was I happy? Far from it. The peace of my mind was completely shattered. What had I done? Why did I do it? Even if I had not been caught, my action had, not only lowered me in my own eyes, but had disgraced me and also the name of my family for ever in the eyes of God. After all, God knows that I have sinned. Could he ever excuse me and could I hope to escape from his punishment. It was indeed a real torment. And this continued churning my mind for nearly three months.

Finally, I could not bear the torture any longer, and I decided to atone for it. I took the Gold Chloride as well as the Potassium Cyanide bottles back to the college, went to the teacher, Mr. Bannerji, and put them on his table. I told him that I had come to make a confession. The teacher raised his eyes in a questioning manner and I told him that I had stolen those from the store at the exhibition time. I also told him that I was prepared for any punishment he might decide for this act of mine. Saying this I broke into tears.

The teacher took the bottles back and said that the very fact that I had brought them back without being caught by someone else showed that I already had had enough of punishment and he did not consider any further punishment necessary.

Even though over sixty-five years have passed, I still feel an anguish in my heart as to why and how I could do such a thing for which I would never be able to excuse myself.    

May 28, 2006

Top | Memoirs      

The Week of May 28, 2006     
Arjun Singh's Politics: Reservation and the Politics of Reservation! by Rajinder Puri
Congress Government's Two-Year Report Card : 3/10 by Dr. Subhash Kapila 
Schizoid America Tightens Indian Puppet's Loose Screw  by Gaurang Bhatt, MD  
Roots of Terrorism by V. Sundaram  
Can Non-Violence Still Solve the Problems of Today? by TA Ramesh
Andaman Faces Kargil-type of Invasion by MH Ahsan   
Quota Raj : A La Jallianwala by V. Sundaram   
Reservations and Rebellions by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti
Internet Bhagawan by J. Ajithkumar    
TV Invasion : An Addiction to Resist! by Naira Yaqoob 
Dilemma of India's Distant Education System by Dr. Prasenjit Maiti 
Wild Flowers of Tibet A Photo Essay by Kana Talukder
Giants of the Cold by VK Joshi 
Because There is a Cause by M. Qaiser and P. Mohan Chandran
Good Night, Sweet Dreams by Garima Gupta 
Ah, Newlyweds… Then Reality Sets In by Gary Direnfeld 
Have Two by Monisha Sen 
Healthy Kids, Fatigued Moms by Yvonne Barlow
Theatre Therapy for the Disabled by Neeta Lal 
New Peaceniks by Manjri Sewak 
Beyond the Caricature by Gautam Bhan 
A Very Good Woman to Know by Malvika Kaul 
An Intellectual A Short Story by NS Murty
My Dates with Dentists by PGR Nair  
Last Page of a Forbidden Diary by Suseela Pattamatta 
Mujhko NRI Bana De by Usha Kakkar 
Heritage Cuisine by Vikram Karve 
When I Stole from School by Arya Bhushan 
Virtualization by Ruchi Gupta