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Change


This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton Season 2 edition 18; the eighteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

“Do you know who he is Sir?” Said chambi the constable, sipping his tea.
“Yeah, He is the famous Mr. Ravinder” Replied a thoughtful inspector Sharma.
“You don’t mean the Founder of Ravinder & Ravinder Group of Industries ?” Senior constable Ravi kumar asked raising his eyebrows to inspector Sharma’s Nod
“He is the richest man of the country, why would he want to rob the minnow jewellery shop?” Chambi continued sipping his tea.
“It is all over the news channels and News papers, Richest Man of the country caught trying to Rob a petty jewellery shop. Want me to read the front page story from Times of India”? volunteered Sub-inspector Imtiyaz taking a seat besides Ravi Kumar at the Police canteen, holding a folded copy of Times of India Newspaper.

“We did a good job containing the news yesterday, else it would have been a raging fire and conducting the court would have been a mess” Inspector Sharma chirped in thoughtfully.

“Well, here I go” sub-inspector Imtiyaz started reading the front page news
“Mr Ravinder Pradhan, the founder of Ravinder & Ravinder group of Industries, the richest man of the country was caught in the act of trying to break into a small jewellery shop at Juhu two nights ago. Yesterday in a dramatic move he pleaded guilty in the Bombay high court and refused to take lawyer representation. What had everyone’s attention was his request to be sent to Bellary Central Jail and the judge honoured his request. Mr. Ravinder has been sentenced for three month period. His family and friends were not available for a comment. Mr. Ravinder retired from all his official posts in Ravinder & Ravinder group a week back when he turned 60 and handed the reins to his kith and kin. This chain of events had the attention of our reporter Siksha Desai; she started digging around and what she has found is simply amazing. A tale that will touch your hearts and shake your belief in the system and scheme of things.

Mr. Ravinder has spent the first 30 years of his life in Bellary Central Jail. Yes! you read it right. Some say he was born there and some others say his mother was imprisoned after few days of his birth. In either case, she died after a month she was sent to jail and from then on it is history. Ravinder was brought up in the jail – Fed, educated and employed. His eyes never saw the world outside the jail in first 30 years of life. But his mind was full of stories he heard from the employees and prisoners about the wonders and vanities of the world. He always wanted to see it, feel it and be a part of it. His wishes came true when his mentor, the jailer was to retire after serving a full term of 38 years. An adult Ravinder was relieved of his duties to the jail and accompanied the Jailer to Bombay where he setup a small canteen from his savings working at the jail canteen. From then, there was no looking back, Mr. Ravinder made all the right business moves and in the next ten years he owned chains of three star hotels and a retail stores. By the end of next decade, he also added automobiles, constructions, investments and real estate to his business group and by the time he retired last week, Ravinder & Ravinder Group had 42 companies under their cap and from the grand plans of his children, the group is bound to grow.

So why did such a successful man try to rob a jewellery shop? Isn’t it obvious now? Probably in the twilight days of his life, he wanted to spend some time at the place where he started his life. How human mind works is simply amazing. ‘Having achieved everything on this earth and with no milestone to reach, Mr. Ravinder could have gone crazy, anyone would. That is the reason, the last few months he has been saying that he needed a change, do something very different’  says a source close to Mr. Ravinder on condition of anonymity.

Well, whatever the change Mr. Ravinder was talking of, We presume it definitely wasn’t the one he is having now. Hope the dust settles and he comes to senses, takes a lawyer representation and walks out of the jail. For detailed report on the case, police interviews and detailed story of Mr. Ravinder in his first 30 years please turn to page 7 –Rachit Sen and Siskha Desai”.

Imtiyaz finished reading and looked around the table for responses. Inspector Sharma was the first to leave the table muttering under breath “Freak that one”.  Chambi left to pay for his tea. He screamed at the top of his “ Crazy old fag. There were better things to do than go to jail for change”. RaviKumar stared at Imtiyaz, he added “ That was very sentimental, ofcourse anyone would like to go back to the place of birth and life, atleast once before you die.”

After exchanging few glances Imityaz added “If I were he, I would commit a bigger crime and make sure I die where I was born” Smiles exchanged and Inspector Sharma returned to retort “ Get moving you lazy slugs. We aren’t grant children of Mr. Ravinder,  nor is he our father in law. We have duties to attend to and earn our daily Bread”. They all shared a laugh and went out for their daily  routines.


 ------------------------

Sitting in his cell at the Bellary Jail, Mr. Ravinder finished reading the article. He thought to himself “There is more to this jail than you could possibly now. I lived, laughed and fell in love here. This is my rightful place and this is the change I wanted. To get back to where It all started. And for all those of you who think I will be out in 3 months, I have been here long enough and  know tricks to stay in jail than get out. This is my final change in life and It all ends here”

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Comments

Sadiya Merchant said…
uhh ok!
hehe i thot u wud say sumthin abt y he robbed d jewellery store....mayb cos dats whr his mom had kept sum ornament mortgaged or sumthing
hyperactiv imagination! :D
abt d story- odd bt in a nice way! :)
MuddassirShah said…
@Sadiya
It was an Idea I considered too. But then I wanted to write something different. write in a way which I hadn't tried before.
so.... here it is...

I like the last line of your comment - Odd bt in a nice way :)

Does it mean the story is good? you approve of it? or does it mean its bad????
Geeta Singh said…
Md. muddassir ..v nice quote and post too !
T F Carthick said…
Nice one. A different type of story from the usual stuff.
MuddassirShah said…
@geeta,
Thanks your post is much better
MuddassirShah said…
@thefool,
Welcome, it was long since you had been to my blog.
I am glad you loved it :)
Sarah malik said…
ahaa...this was a beautiful story. i liked it very very much. and ur quote in the beginning is a reality which we often forget while moving on in life but one fine day it does hit us back..which is clearly depicted in ur story.
the dialogue - if i were he , i would commit a bigger crime....at the final innings of our life i suppose that what each one of us desires.
sad, that any one would need resorting to such actions for something which is his right.
am touched :)
MuddassirShah said…
@ Sarah,
You made my day.
I myself was not sure if it was good work. I knew it was above average. But then I love trying things which i haven't done before and that's how I ended up writing this in not so regular style of mine :)
Amropali said…
refreshingly different twist.
=)

It is strange how we run after change all our lives and in the end simply want to go back to where we started.

p.S: Thanx for taking out time to read my blog.

Happy blogging!
Best of luck for the contest.
MuddassirShah said…
@Amropali,
Thanks for your kind words.

:)
Nice quote and I love the post to the core Muddassir.. a different story... Smiles, mine is what most people feel in their heart but no one acts to achieve it, Change

Someone is Special
Srimanta Mitra said…
Nice story. Really thought provoking. :)

Best Of Luck for the contest!
Anuradha said…
Quite a different one....Beautifully narrated :)

But don't you think its human nature to seek death where one has spent most beautiful days of life?
MuddassirShah said…
@SIS,
Your post is amazing.
@Srimanta,
Thanks for the encouraging words.
@Anuradha,
Yes I agree with you. That is the whole point of writing this story.
Aashish Sood said…
dont know what to make of the story... a bit weird and out of blue for my taste... smthng that a first timer like me would have done but u r a pro and have written so many short stories.. so i expected more... somewhere there was a balance missing... liked the basic premise, though!
MuddassirShah said…
@Ashish,
Thanks for the honest feedback.
A few of my friends have said the same.
The problem is I keep trying to write in different styles. That is where things went bad I feel. I will try to use your feedback for my coming posts.

Keep the feedback coming and thanks :)
Anonymous said…
Different QUOTE and Different STORY.. Loved the quote and post.. Best of luck for contest.. :)
Arvind Passey said…
Dust to dust returns...

Arvind Passey
www.passey.info
you have started your post with a very nice quote and I liked the narration as well.

all the best for BAT.
MuddassirShah said…
Thanks.
Good luck to you too.
Amity said…
A very nice quotation to introduce the story...but it says it all, right? Keep the quotation in your diary and some day, you will be remembered for saying that quotation, who knows it will make you great someday...

A well narrated story. You are so good at detective stories..From being a good man to trying what he didn't experience all his life - to be bad! I could only smile...:)

Good luck Md!
Sweta said…
Liked the narration Muddassir..
best of luck for BAT !
MAVERICK said…
Quite an Interesting story Md.I must say I was really contemplating different ideas as the motive behind the robbery. Good work and all the best.
MuddassirShah said…
@sayed,
Thanks Bro
@Aravind,
Well said
MuddassirShah said…
@Sweta,
Thanks.

@Amity,
Such kind words. Thanks much. They are all the motivation I need
MuddassirShah said…
@Maverick,

Thanks man.
I am glad you liked it
:)
Alcina said…
Great..Quite a nice flow in each line.
And here on from this contest i have known so many changes your accounts for another different change learned :)
Nice story ( I presume this is not true?).. Probably with so many dangerous criminals roaming free outside, life inside a prison is safer eh? Nice blog!
Raksha Bhat said…
You have begun writing quotes too:)Cheers!Thats the way:)Hope to read more...There is something waiting for you on my blog..do hop in and check:)
MuddassirShah said…
@meera,
It is just a figment of my imagination.

@Raksha,
I am hurrying to your blog right now
Jaai Vipra said…
I'm being a stickler, but you should put a comma before ending inverted commas, like this: "I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
MuddassirShah said…
@jaai,

thanks for the comment, i ll keep tat in mind.
:)
i would like to know ur views about my others posts also
Fatima said…
This was something different!
Loved it...in fact loved your blog too, quite versatile !

Keep Writing and sharing...and thanks a lot for dropping by my blog or I would have missed this blog!

Take Care.

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