The Thief's Story
1. What are Hari Singh’s reactions to the prospect of receiving an
education? Do they change over time? (Hint: Compare, for example,
the thought: “I knew that once I could write like an educated man
there would be no limit to what I could achieve” with these later
thoughts: “Whole sentences, I knew, could one day bring me more
than a few hundred rupees. It was a simple matter to steal — and
sometimes just as simple to be caught. But to be a really big man,
a clever and respected man, was something else.”) What makes
him return to Anil?
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2. Why does not Anil hand the thief over to the police? Do you think
most people would have done so? In what ways is Anil different
from such employers?
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1. Do you think people like Anil and Hari Singh are found only in
fiction, or are there such people in real life?
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2. Do you think it a significant detail in the story that Anil is a
struggling writer? Does this explain his behaviour in any way?
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3. Have you met anyone like Hari Singh? Can you think and imagine
the circumstances that can turn a fifteen-year-old boy into a thief?
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4. Where is the story set? (You can get clues from the names of the
persons and places mentioned in it.) Which language or languages
are spoken in these places? Do you think the characters in the
story spoke to each other in English?
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• ‘He Said It with Arsenic’ by Ruskin Bond
• ‘Vanka’ by Anton Chekhov
• ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
Question Type By: Himashree Bora.
