"Chor chor!" shouted the boys at Hanuman Junction in Rajasthan. But the thief escaped from the crowd. Two more people accompanied him for his help. I kept close to our train so as not to miss it.
I am writing to share a secret that I have not yet unveiled. Perhaps if my teacher reads it, then I will get punished. He might be angry to read it.
We were coming back from Pransla, Gujarat after participating in Rashtra Katha Shivir. We boarded the train from Ahmedabad Railway Station, Gujarat. Everyone was happy, returning back home with wonderful memories that we had shared together. Students played music on the train. Some of them sang. But we were in different compartments. While going to Gujarat, we were given a special compartment that was only for us students participating in the event. On that day, we all were at the same. No outside passenger entered the train. So we had no tension about our luggage. We were safe and enjoyed a lot.
On returning, we were traveling with other people and were distributed in different compartments along with escort teachers. The escort teacher who was assigned to me and other 7 students fell ill. So he slept early. But before that, he made sure that we all cared for each other. "Who among you has a light sleep and can wake up early if any disturbance occurs?" our escort teacher said. As you know, at this moment, who would keep quiet. Everyone said that he can even wake up with little sounds. So the teacher trusted. "I am ill and I will sleep. So kindly take care of the luggage and yourselves as well." One boy was overconfident and he shouted, "Sir, you don't worry. I will take care of everything." So our teacher slept and later all of us.
Suddenly I opened my eyes. It was still dark. I didn't know the time. I raised my head a little and I saw a man sitting at the end of my seat near my feet. I didn't recognize him. He was a stranger. I couldn't say anything to him. I thought he was a passenger. What could I tell him? Everyone else was sleeping around me except this man who was sitting silently. I had to go to the washroom. Our escort teacher had kept his phones on his bag. Not inside the bag but outside, on the bag. Everyone could see them. Not only one phone but he had two phones. Mine was in my bag. I stood up and went to the washroom.
But I was having weird feelings. I had suspicions about the man. I felt that he was a thief. But I didn't come back. I thought let him steal what he wants. Inside the washroom, I was thinking about it. I was sure that he would steal all my things, my wallet, and phone, etc. I came back within a few minutes. I put my blanket over me, my watch was there, I saw the time which was around 4 am, and I slept.
Suddenly I heard my teacher's voice. I woke up. It was around 4:30, just 30 minutes after that. He was looking for something. "What happened si?" I asked. "My phones are not there," he said. "Oh! Really?" We looked here and there. Searched under the seats, in the bag, and in everything. They weren't there. We woke up other students in our compartment. They didn't know too. The light was on too. "Did you turn on the light?" I asked my teacher. "It was already on," he said. I remembered the man who was sitting here on my seat. On returning from the washroom, I totally forgot about him. I didn't even think that if a man was sitting here then where did he go. I forgot about it. I didn't even look at the phones which were there when I went to the washroom. I didn't think why the light is on while returning from the washroom which was off earlier. I forgot about all these things when I returned from the washroom. Exactly as if I had lost my memory of the past 10 minutes at that time when I returned from the washroom. Now I regained my senses. I remembered all those things. But I didn't tell anyone about it. They still don't know.
The teacher said, "Let's check at the next junction when the train stops." After some minutes, the train stopped. We read the board. It was Hanuman Junction in Rajasthan. Our teacher, me, and two other students went out of the train. They looked here and there, trying to find the thief. I didn't recognize anyone. Neither that strange man because it was dark inside the train. I stayed close to the train so as not to miss it. They moved and suspected one man. The two boys tried to search him. But he didn't let them. They told the teacher that he is not letting us to search. The teacher went near him and the man escaped. They ran after him. I didn't move. I thought let the teacher's phones go. I have to save myself. The boys shouted, "Chor chor." The man escaped from the people. Nobody helped to get the man. Two more men accompanied him. One of our boys fell on the ground and harmed his arm. Somebody told the teacher that the train will go in two minutes. So they returned back quickly and the man escaped. We again entered the train. Later the train left after 10 minutes.
Everyone came and asked the teacher about phones. Each person tried what they could do. Everyone felt sad, and all the enjoyment vanished. Our teacher didn't eat lunch that day, but he did one thing: while we were reaching Jammu, I counted the tea cups he had consumed that day due to tension. I found he had consumed more than 20 cups. Whenever a tea vendor passed by shouting "Chai chai," he would buy one. If I had told him about what I saw, I would have had to pay for all those cups of tea.
