It was a wintry evening in 1984 in Visakhapatnam. I had just returned from college and was relaxing. I was in my second year of engineering. My mother also returned from office. I lost my father early that year. My brother was playing somewhere. The gate was opened. We saw a man in police uniform along with another person. The constable asked whether we had lost any watch. Yes, I indeed lost my HMT wristwatch a few months ago. I felt bad about it for quite some time but eventually forgot about it. I told him that. Then he informed me that the person with him was a thief whom they caught and that he had revealed where all he had stolen things.
He was a petty thief who stole small items, as told by the constable. The thief described how he had stolen my watch kept on a table near the window of our front room, by dragging it using a coconut frond. My mother and I were surprised and happy also. We didn’t even file a complaint, but we were getting the material lost.
The constable asked us to come to the station next day and file a complaint to proceed further. We did that. I saw the watch there and felt excited. After a few days, we were asked to come to court. The judge heard me. And I left.
A few months passed. We were asked to come to the station again. The case was transferred to another police station. Again we went to court. I saw another judge. I was asked to wait till noon. Later, the constable took me into the judge’s anteroom. There in the presence of the judge, the watch was handed over to me and I signed in a register. At last, my prized possession was back with me. Indeed it is prized as I bought it in 1980 in Standard 10 with the National Merit Prize of ₹100 I had got every year for the previous three years. After 36 years now, it is still very live in my memory and I appreciate the constable who pursued the case with such sincerity.
mvchamundi@gmail.com
