Maid And The Madam

It was 7 am in Raghavpur town. The sky was cloudy and rain was expected any moment. A young girl was standing before the main door of the house, 'Durga'. She was pressing the calling bell button. 

Kanaka, a retired teacher and the owner of the house, opened the door.  She knew that maid Manjari had come to attend the work. The house had just three rooms and in the vast open area  there were tall trees and plants. 

"Manjari, take this list and bring the groceries from the nearby shop." 

"Madam, wait five minutes."

Kanaka  thought Manjari might be watering the plants. She didn't come even after ten minutes. Kanaka called her again. There was no response from Manjari. Kanaka became angry and came out.   

She was surprised to see Manjari outside on the road in a suspicious manner. This was the first occasion after ten years that the maid left without informing the madam. She was unable to understand the strange attitude of  Manjari. Kanaka lost her temper and rushed to another room, where the godrej safe was open and  empty.  Gold, silver and cash was missing. Kanaka was shocked  by the loss of valuables bought for the daughter's marriage. 

Without wasting time locked the main door and went to the police station and lodged a complaint against the maid Manjari. In the FIR, she gave all the particulars like address and mobile number. Observing her worry,  the police officer instructed two constables to catch hold of Manjari from her hut. The constables went to the hut mates' colony on a motorbike. 

One of the constables enquired to an old man, standing near the tea shop. 

 

He denied having seen Manjari. 

It was difficult for the constables to search the culprit in hundreds of huts due to the closeness and similarity. They returned to the police station with disappointment. 

To their surprise, Manjari  was in the police station sitting before the police inspector. He  told the constables not to come inside till he completes interrogation with Manjari. He further told them not to tell the ladies outside about the presence of Manjari here. 

 A small group of women led by Kanaka were on silent and peaceful protest outside the police station. These educated women were  demanding arrest  of the  thief and return gold and cash to the owner. The police  officer  was impressed to see the women protesters and their unique way of protest

The interrogation with Manjari was over in just half an hour. The revelations  made by her were shocking. The culprit was a young man Manikant, who was proposed to be her husband shortly. Manjari was not a thief and a key witness in the burglary. 

In the morning, she went to Madam' s house at 7 am for cleaning. She went to the adjacent room to sweep. In that room Godrej's safe was kept. She saw Manikant open the safe with duplicate keys and took all the gold ornaments and cash in his bag. She wondered how this man entered here.  She protested Manikant not to steal otherwise,  ready for severe  punishment. Manikant tried to convince her as this booty would help them  to lead a happy life.  She expressed her anguish and told him to keep everything back in the safe and advised him to work hard and earn money. But he didn't listen to Manjari and left very fast with the booty. Her right hand was injured and the blood was flowing in the scuffle. She took a piece of cloth lying there and tied it to stop the blood flowing. 

Manjari followed Manikant till the hut mates' colony. He was riding a bicycle  and she was running fast. After reaching her colony, she alerted all the residents and caught Manikant with the booty. Manjari took the booty and told the residents to tie him with rope till she comes back. After this incident of burglary, Manjari rejected him as a life partner.

Manikant was a good person and  happy with the petty business  in the hut mates' colony. He had skills in making  duplicate keys. He wanted to become rich overnight. Being an expert in breaking open the locker, he planned  to open the Godrej safe  in Kanaka's house.  It was his first attempt at burglary utterly failed and landed in jail. 

Police officer called Kanaka inside and handed over the gold ornaments and cash after the due procedure. 

"Madam Kanaka,  you must appreciate  your maid Manjari, who  did exemplary work  and exhibited bravery.  I salute her bravery and timely action," said the official

He revealed the entire happenings right from theft to arresting the thief to Madam Kanaka.

"Where is Manjari sir? " Kanaka asked eagerly.

Manjari came from another room. Out of emotion, madam hugged Maid and expressed thanks for the wonderful work she did. 

Manikant was arrested. 

Bravery of Manjari had  become the talk of the town. Madam Kanaka arranged the marriage of the maid Manjari with a skilled labor Suryakant after a fortnight bearing the expenditure. 

Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.