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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] going to steal money, because that will be detected immediately, but I am thinking of making off with a necklace. She has so many in that safe, she wouldn't even notice. What do you think?' 'Lajwanti, Lajwanti, listen to me. If you consider me to be your brother, then follow my advice. Don't even think about this idea. Trust me, I have had many brushes with the law and I know your crime will eventually catch up with you. And then, instead of participating in your sister's wedding, you will be grinding a mill in some jail.' 'Oh, you men are all sissies,' she says in disgust. 'I don't care what you say. I will do what I have to do.' In desperation, I turn to my trusted old coin. 'Look, Lajwanti, if you don't believe me, that's fine. But believe in the power of this magic coin. It never sends you the wrong way. So let us see what it says. I am going to toss it. Heads, you don't carry out your plan, tails, you do what you want. OK?' 'OK.' I flip the coin. It is heads. Lajwanti sighs. 'It looks like even luck is against me. OK, I will go to my village and try to raise funds from the headman, who knows me. Forget that we spoke.' Three days later, Lajwanti locks up her room, takes a week's leave and departs for her village. * * * 'I want you to stop working as a prostitute,' I tell Nita. Nita agrees. 'I don't want to die before I am twenty like Radha. Take me away from here, Raju.' 'I will. Should I have a chat with Shyam about this?' 'Yes, we must get his agreement.' I speak to the pimp the same evening. 'Look, Shyam, I am in love with Nita and I want to marry her. She will no longer work in the brothel.' Shyam looks me up and down as if I am an insect. 'I see, so you have been giving her all these stupid ideas. Listen, you bastard, nobody tells Nita to stop working. Only I can tell her that. And I don't want her to stop working. She is the goose which lays the golden eggs. And I want those eggs to keep coming for a long, long time.' 'That means you will never allow her to marry?' 'I can allow her to marry, but only on one condition. That the man who marries her agrees to compensate me for my loss of earnings.' 'And how much is your estimated loss of earnings?' 'Let's say . . . four lakh rupees. Can you get me that sum of money?' He laughs and dismisses me. I check my savings that night. I have a total of 480 rupees. Leaving a shortfall of only Rs. 399,520. I feel so angry I want to strangle the pimp. 'Shyam will never agree to you marrying me,' I tell Nita the next day. 'The only option for us is to run away.' 'No,' Nita says fearfully. 'The brothel people are bound to find us. Champa tried to run away last year with a man. They found her, broke the man's legs and starved her for ten days.' 'In that case I will just have to kill Shyam,' I say with a malevolent glint in my eyes. 'No,' Nita says vehemently. 'Promise me you will never do that.' I am taken by surprise. 'But why?' 'Because Shyam is my brother.' * * * A jeep with a flashing red light has come to the outhouse. Constables pour out. This time there is a new Inspector. We are all called out again. 'Listen, all you good-for-nothings, something very serious has happened. Someone has stolen a very precious emerald necklace from Swapna Devi's house. I have a strong suspicion that the thief is one of you bastards. So I am giving you an opportunity to make a clean breast of it, otherwise when I catch the thief I am going to give him a hiding.' I am immediately concerned about Lajwanti, but when I see the lock on her room and remember that she is in her village, I heave a sigh of relief. It is good she dropped that ridiculous idea of stealing a necklace. She thought Swapna Devi wouldn't notice the loss, and now the police are on to it in a flash. One by one all of us are questioned. When Shankar's turn comes, the same scene is re-enacted. 'Name?' asks the Inspector. 'Odxifxn,' replies Shankar. 'What did you say?' 'Q Oxqa Hu Ixhz Qo Odxifxn.' 'Bastard, trying to act smart with me . . .' the Inspector says through gritted teeth. I explain again and the Inspector relents. He waves Shankar away. This time the policemen go away empty handed. Without any necklace and without any suspect. The same evening a mangy little street dog with black spots dies near the Taj Mahal. No one takes any notice of this fact. * * * Lajwanti returns from her village the next day and is immediately arrested. A sweaty constable drags her from her room to the jeep with the flashing red light. She wails inconsolably. Helplessly I watch the spectacle unfold. I am with Abdul, who works as a gardener in Swapna Palace. 'Abdul, why are the police taking Lajwanti away? Why doesn't Rani Sahiba do something? After all, Lajwanti is the best maid she has ever had.' Abdul grins. 'Madam has herself called the police to arrest Lajwanti.' 'But why?' 'Because Lajwanti stole the necklace from her safe. The police searched her house in the village and found it today.' 'But how did Swapna Devi know it was Lajwanti who stole the necklace? She wasn't even here when the robbery took place.' 'Because she left behind a tell-tale sign. You see, she did not go to her village straight away. She stayed in Agra and waited for an opportunity to break into the house unnoticed. When she finally entered the bedroom to steal the necklace, Madam was at a party. But just before leaving for the party, Madam had combed her hair on the bed and there were a few of her pins and clips lying on the satin bedspread. When Madam returned late at night, she discovered all her pins and clips neatly arranged on her dressing table. This immediately alerted her. She checked her safe and found a necklace was missing. So she knew instantly that it could have been none other than Lajwanti.' I thump my forehead. Lajwanti couldn't resist being the perfect maid, even when on a mission to steal! I try to intercede with Swapna Devi on Lajwanti's behalf, but she rebuffs me with icy disdain. 'I run a household, not a charity. Why did she have to arrange such a lavish wedding for her sister? You people who are poor should never try to overreach yourselves. Stay within your limits and you will not get into trouble.' I feel genuine hatred towards her that day. But perhaps she is right. Lajwanti made the cardinal mistake of trying to cross the dividing line which separates the existence of the rich from that of the poor. She made the fatal error of dreaming beyond her means. The bigger the dream, the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |