My wanderings - 40. Short Story No. 22. The Crime of Lambhodhar Bakaya

Lambhodhar was perhaps born in the beginning of twentieth century in a small two storey dilapidated house situated on a narrow  lane of Batyaar mohalla in Alikadal area opening towards river Jehlum  ghat adjacent to temple.  His father had a small kiryana shop in the same lane which was the only  source of his income to   support a large family. Lambhodhar was born after his mother had already given birth to five daughters one after another in succession with a desire to get a son. Although Lambhodhar was brought up with much pampering but dearth and  poverty hovered the household throughout his childhood and youth. When Lambhodhar completed Matriculation four of his sisters were already married. He wanted to do something innovative so that he can support his  family nicely. He got a Govt job  but after working in Govt for few years Lambhodhar renovated the shop of
his father and started the business on large scale with him. He also started money lending business. When the business picked up, Lambhodhar left the job and devoted himself wholeheartedly towards family business and money lending. He was very  eager to make money and status and therefore, he never looked back. In the meantime his last sister  got married and his parents were now eager to marry  Lambhodhar also. Lambhodhar was fortunate enough to marry a very wise and beautiful girl who became an inspiration for Lambhodhar to work harder and realise his dream of becoming a rich man with a status in society. He was now a perfect moneylender, who was well acquainted with the tricks of  his trade.He could make a large property and money. Only tregedy in his life was that his wife could not bear a child for him. He was however , advised by his well wishers to adopt a child but he was not interested in that.
As the business of Lambhodhar was expanding day by day,  he was not able to manage cash and pledged  jewellery as Banking system was not much in vouge those days. He was however,  carrying cash and jewellery to his home on daily basis and ensuring its custody in a safe kept thereat.There were only  one or two branches of Bank that too located far away near Amira Kadal during those days. Moreover, Lambhodhar was also skeptical  about the functioning of Banking system. He thought about it as a direct intrusion on his trade. But as he grew old,  one day on the advise of his well wisher , he was compelled to open a Bank account with the major amount of  his earnings I.e. Rupees one lakh, a huge amount those days. He also deposited some jewelleries in the  Bank in the form of  Bank Safe custody as lockers were not available those days. It was the jewellery  usurped by him  from  his defaulter borrowers. 
After depositing his prize possession,  Lambhodhar reached his residence feeling restless. He could not sleep the whole night. He was not sure about the safety of his valuables at bank. He considered Bank employees careless and incompetent to guard his valuables. He repented over his decision and cursed his well wisher who gave him this useless suggestion. He made it a point to guard his valuables himself also in addition to Bank staff. He started visiting the bank daily on foot from Alikadal  to Amirakadal after Banking hours to ensure that Main Gate of Bank was properly locked. In this exercise he used  to fondle the Lock with his hands. This exercise of Lambhodhar remained unnoticed for several days. But one day he reached the Bank earlier than usual. The Bank people were still loitering nearby after locking the Bank door. They noticed an old man fiddling with the Bank Lock. They became suspicious and caught hold of him and informed police. The Lambhodhar had to spent a full night at Police station. This incident left a deep impact over the nerves of Lambhodhar. He could not sleep the whole night he spent in the police station. The reality of life dawned upon him. Though he was not guilty but he felt the guilt taking possession of him. He was not guilty of tampering the lock of Bank but he felt guilty of tampering the lives of thousands of his clients who took loan from him and pledged their valuables for it, which they could not redeem later on even after paying to him heavily in terms of Intrest and service. They were the people of his society and community, even his relatives who were poor  and deseperate like his father. He in order to make a fast buck altered their  peaceful life by adding misery to it. He had lost  all business ethics and tampered with Intrest rates of accounts of his clients taking due advantage of their illiteracy and innocence. Now he wanted to redeem his guilt.
Next day when Branch Agent visited the Police Station, he was surprised to see Lambhodhar Bakaya, a valued customer of Bank as culprit. He sought apologies from Lambhodhar and arranged for his immediate release.
After his release, Lambhodhar Bakaya took back possession of his Jewellery items from Bank   and tried to locate their bona fide owners or their kiths and  kins by searching his own ledgers and was successful in returning the most of them.
Mr Bakaya never felt the need of making premature payment of his Fixed Deposit of Rupees one lakh, which was huge amount those days ,in his life time. It was only reinvested several times. But after the death of both Mrs Bakaya and Mr Bakaya in quick succession and after receiving no claim from anybody, Bank transferred the amount to Unclaimed Depositors account with due notice to Reserve Bank of India.