Theft

 It is a child's nature to take something they like, even if it belongs to someone else. It can be prevented from turning into a bad habit if it is curbed in time. Most children have such habits. Basically, they don't know that what they do is called theft. So I used to counsel such children without using the word theft. I was always successful." But once I failed, and that's still injecting in my mind. 

Kunal's mother wanted to celebrate his birthday very much. But because of his addicted father, it was not possible. Finally, it was decided to celebrate his birthday at school. Anil, Atul, Akshay, and Kunal are best friends. A box was placed in the cupboard of the classroom, and money was collected in it.Once the box is removed from the cupboard before the birthday, the money in the box disappears. Kunal and Atul started crying. "Madam, we used to pay money every day; 300 rupees were collected. Now it is only 100 rupees."

I inquired in class. Seen with love, with anger, with threats. But no one would confess. I did not agree to punish all the students by simply accusing them. Basically, who did you steal from?. It didn't feel right. Finally, I brought a cake for Kunal. Kunal and his mother were very happy. Everyone in the class celebrated the birthday with joy. But the thought that someone took the money did not leave my mind.

My purse was always hanging on a nail in the classroom. Students come and open my purses, take out pens and pencils, and keep the purses in place. It used to happen all the time. But now money has started disappearing from my wallet. I did not know who to blame. I loved my students so much, I couldn't blame them. Slowly, I started noticing that Aarti and Namrata were creeping into the class. They used to stay in the classroom for some time, be it during a lunch break, paripatha, or while playing. One day, I found my purse lying near the chair. Namrata and Aarti were also seated nearby. They picked up my purse. After school, I went to the petrol pump to put petrol in the scooter. 100 rupees disappeared before dawn. The next day, both were called to the office and questioned. Others should not know that these two are committing theft. Almost a thousand rupees were stolen without either of them confessing. It was even worse that the students' savings were stolen.

The next day, Aarti's parents were talking a lot in school, saying, 'Aarti will not steal; she has done it with Namrata; she is like that'. But I was sure that both of them did it. They had come to the demonstration. In the afternoon, Namrata's grandmother came and started threatening me. The girls in the office started complaining that Madam beat them. But now I have run out of patience. How many times will I help this grandmother financially in times of trouble?

After that, both of them started to be absent from time to time. All the efforts to break their bad habit were wasted. Poverty is worse than the perception that if parents feed their children's mistakes, how much worse can the result be? Did Namrata and Aarti fail, or did their parents fail? Am I the one who failed?(2017/18)

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