The Thief’s Story
Exercise
6) Textbook page no 13
a) Why did Anil employ Hari as a cook, although he could not afford
to pay him?
Ans: Anil wanted someone to cook for him. He felt that perhaps Hari
could cook for him, and in return he could feed him, as he could not afford
to pay him. Anil was also kind-hearted and probably felt sorry of Hari.
b) What did Hari learn from Anil in the beginning?
Ans: Anil taught Hari to cook and to write his name which he learned in
the beginning.
c) Why didn't Anil hand over Hari to the police? What effect would it
have had on Hari?
Ans: Anil was probably too kind-hearted to hand Hari over to the police.
He might also have thought that he could try to make an honest man of
Hari. If he had handed Hari over to the police, Hari would probably have
been very bitter and angry, and would have continued in his dishonest
ways. Not handing him over to the police had a positive effect on Hari, and
may have changed the way he lived his life.
d) Do you feel Anil's way of handling a thief like Hari was effective?
Justify your answer.
Ans: Anil's way of handling the thief Hari is effective. He handled Hari
differently than most other people do. People complain against thieves,
make them arrested, but even after that the thieves do not stop stealing.
Anil on the other hand, tried to wake Hari's conscience and gave him
lessons in the hope to make him realize his mistake.
e) What tact had Anil used to change Hari's dishonest ways?
Ans: Anil had ignored Hari's attempts at robbing him. He had then tempted
him by saying that they would start writing sentences. For wholeheartedly.
Anil provided motivation for Hari to change his ways.
f) And the smile came by itself without any effort. Say why. When do
people give fake smiles?
Hari regretted what he had done. He went back to anil in order to get
education. He realized that anil knew that he had been robbed. He was
relieved and happy that anil had decided to ignore what had happened and
to teach him to write whole sentence. He gave him an appealing smile to
ask forgiveness for what he had done. People give fake smiles when they
are not happy with the situation they are in, or they realize that the other
person is trying to cheat them or they want to get something.
7. Write a character sketch of ‘Hari Singh’ with the help of the
following points,
using the paragraph format.
Hari Singh’s
background
His dishonesty
His aspirations
His courage to
change
Hari Singh was fifteen years old, but already an experienced and fairly
successful thief. He used to change his name frequently so as not to get
caught by his former employers, whom he must have cheated, or by the
police. He even cheated Anil when he went to buy the daily supply of
groceries. However, he wished to get an education so that he could become
a big and respected man, who would be able to achieve a lot.
He stole a large sum of money from Anil, but regretted it when he realized
that in doing so, he had lost his only chance of getting an education. He is
courageous enough to return the money, even though he knows that he
may be caught in the process. However, his desire to change himself is so
great that it motivates him and gives him courage to return to Anil.
