The thief who stole nothing

Oscar - Our lucky charm

This story goes back to the year 2013 , when my husband Commander Sudeep Bhaduri was pursuing his MTech in Defence Institute of Armament & Technology , Pune. We were staying in Baner , a quite happening locality. I was working with Aker Solutions at that time . We had a pretty busy life. Like any other working couple in a big city , our day used to start at 5 am and go on till 10.30 pm.With a toddler to take care of and an adorable pet dog , one of the cutest breed – a Pug , our hands used to be full all the time. So this incident happened when we had to go for a MRI Scan ( I will write about the details of why & how in my next piece) , for my daughter Diya . She was 3 yrs old at that time. We finished all household chores and left the house early morning . Our pet Oscar was left behind waiting for us. Out of no where , Diya picked up the Hanuman Chalisa booklet without anyone of us instructing her , from the temple at home . She kept on reciting the shlokas throughout our drive , as well as while we waited for our turn in AFMC , Pune. She was sedated by the doctor , so that she remained still , during the scan .Even seconds before she slept soundly , the murmur of Hanuman Chalisa was clearly audible. After the scan was over and a long hectic day , we headed back home. The moment we reached the front door of the house , my heart skipped few beats. The door was broken and the so called unbreakable , high security lock was lying on the floor. The first thing that flashed through my mind was Oscar. For those who might not be aware , there are a group of thieves who specifically steal Pugs & make quick money. Since Pugs are over friendly and would happily accompany any stranger , they are an easy target. We rushed into the house horrified and kept calling out for Oscar. There was absolutely no response. The door to one of the bedroom’s was closed. The moment we opened it , we saw Oscar completely scared , sitting in the corner , under the bed. It took us almost 20 minutes to get him out , after lot of pestering. We hugged him tight & pacified him . After a while he was back to his normal behavior . Then we started to looking out for what had been stolen. All the stuff in my ward robe was out on the bed . The locker was broken. Being from the armed forces and always on the move , I never keep any expensive jewelry at home ( Blessing in disguise). However , there was some cash , silver ornaments and a canon camera in my ward robe . Its difficult to believe , but actually the thief did not pick up a single thing or penny. Nothing was missing .Absolutely nothing. At that point of time , we just thanked God and counted our blessings.

The local news paper next day had the following headlines :

A group of thieves broke open at least 10 houses in Baner & stole cash and jewelry worth xx lakhs.

Me and Sudeep just exchanged smiles !!