The Elusive Elephant Ride

I almost caught a thief last night. Yes, almost. If only I had managed to do it successfully I would have fulfilled a childhood desire of mine. A bravery award from the President and a ride on an elephant on Janpath on 26th January. But (sigh!!) I guess that’s only for children and I would not have qualified for the prize more importantly for the “Elephant Ride”. I have spent so many ‘26th january’s of my life watching the Republic Day parade and eyeing the kids riding the elephant enviously. Anyways I guess I can live without that elephant ride. After all how many people get the chance to ride on an elephant except nobility maybe.
But wait, this blog was about the “thief” and not about me or my silly childish desires. It was the night of 18th Feb and I had been sleeping fitfully the entire night. I had a bad dream, though exactly what I could not recall. Anyways I woke up suddenly and realised I was thirsty and needed a drink…(oh .. clarification….I was just looking for plain water) The idea of getting out of bed was not tempting however with my throat completely parched I realised I could not fall asleep again without the water. I finally managed to pull myself up to sit on the bed and lo behold what do I see, a man standing outside my window. He had something in his hand and was fiddling near the wall. The curtain of the window was partially drawn and I had to crane my neck to get a better view of the man. Of course not that I got a chance to see him. It was too dark and all I could see the silhouette of the man. He was tall and appeared to have wavy hair. Too shocked to think rationally I simply went over to the window lifted the curtain and looked out. This action of mine drew his attention to me and for the first time he stopped fiddling with the wall and faced the window. He stared at me for a fraction of a second and then bolted. Since it was still very dark I did not dare to step out of the house and chase him. I thought for 1 fleeting moment I had seen a look of fear on his face but it must have been merely my imagination. It was too dark to see his features so I could not have seen his reaction at all. Within a few seconds I heard the gates being shut and realised he had left the premises already. Too shaken I did not sleep till it was daylight , luckily for me I had to wait just half an hour. It was 6:15 when I had spotted the thief. I finally went back to bed at around 6:45 and was fast asleep by 7:00.
That was the end of the episode. Nothing more happened, but for someone like me it was a big adventure. I really don’t know whether that act (of lifting the curtain) of mine was an act of bravery or plain stupidity. I am not even sure if I could have qualified for the bravery awards. I can imagine the announcement being made as I walk onto the stage to receive my certificate and award -“Presented to CD for her act of bravery, she lifted a curtain”. Ahemm….it just does not sound convincing. But as I sat alone in my room that night I was proud of myself. I could have been no prouder if I had sucessfully foiled an attempt to assasinate the President of the country. Anyways I am glad I am old enough not to qualify for the awards. I can imagine my parents distress as they would have tried in vain to explain to me why my act of bravery wasn’t good enough for the “Elephant Ride”. Well I guess I will just have to be satisfied with a bar of chocolate which I promise to treat myself to over the weekend to instead of the glorious ride. I know chocolate cannot substitute that ride but it comes pretty close.