BHARATH VIDYA MANDIR SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL (CBSE)

CLASS 10 – ENGLISH NOTES - FOOT PRINTS

2. THE THIEF’S STORY
Answer the following questions:

1. Why did Hari Singh not make many friends?

Hari Singh did not have friends as he believed that friends were more trouble than help.
Moreover, he did not want to make anyone curious.

2. Why did Hari Singh decide to come back to Anil?

Hari Singh decided to come back to Anil because he felt that when Anil would come to know
about the theft, he would feel sad, not for the loss of money but for the loss of trust. He
did not want to lose his trust.

3. Why did Hari Singh choose Anil to be his next victim?

Hari Singh was an experienced thief. He found Anil, a wrestler - an easy-going, kind and
simple man - the correct person for his purpose. He found an easy target to win confidence.

4. Why was it difficult for Hari Singh to rob Anil?

It was difficult to rob Anil because he was the most trusted person Hari Singh had ever
met. According to Hari Singh, it’s easy to rob a greedy man because he can afford to be
robbed but it’s difficult to rob a careless man because he doesn’t even notice that he’s been
robbed and that takes all the pleasure out of the work.

5. Why did Hari Singh tell a lie about cooking?

Hari Singh said that he could cook but when he cooked the meal at night, it was so terrible
that Anil gave it to a stray dog and told him to be off. But then Anil patted him and said that
he would teach him to cook.

6. Why was the thief able to steal from Anil easily?

Anil was a person who trusted Hari Singh easily. Also, he seemed to be a slightly careless
person. Thus, his gullibility and trusting nature made it easy for Hari to rob him.

7. Why did Hari Singh feel bad after stealing the money?

Anil had trusted Hari Singh completely and also taught him how to cook. Anil also started
teaching him how to read and write. Thus, when Hari stole money from Anil, conscience
pricked him as he had broken Anil’s trust.

8. What are the different reactions of the people when they are robbed?

According to Hari Singh, different people react differently upon being robbed. The greedy
man displays fear, the rich man shows anger, and the poor man shows acceptance. However, a
trusting man like Anil would be sad due to the loss of trust.

9. Why did Anil decide to pay Hari Singh regularly?

Anil handed Hari Singh fifty-rupee note as payment for his services. He went on to that
since he had started making money, he would pay Hari regularly. However, he knew about
Hari and did not want him to be tempted again for want of money.

10. Describe Hari Singh, the young and successful thief.

Hari Singh was a fifteen-year-old boy who had already gained much expertise in the field of
thievery. He knew how to find prospective victims, and used his intelligence to get close to
them. Even when he was being taught how to read and write, his first thought was how he
could use it to his benefit while stealing.

11. Why did Anil hire Hari Singh?

Anil hired Hari Singh because Hari Singh himself expressed his desire to work for him.
When Anil told him that he could not pay him, Hari Singh asked him if he could feed him. Anil
replied that if he knew how to cook, then he may work for him.

12. How did Hari Singh realise that Anil knew about his theft?

Anil gave him a fifty rupee note in the morning, which was still damp from the night’s rain.
Anil told him that he would start teaching him, how to write full sentences and smiled at him.
This made Hari Singh realise that Anil knew everything.

13. What was-Anil’s job? What did he usually do with the money he earned?

Anil was a writer. He wrote articles for magazines. He had no regular source of income. He
earned by fits and starts. When he earned some money, he would go out to celebrate.

14. What made him come back to Anil?

Anil had been teaching Hari Singh to read and write. He thought that without education, he
would remain only a thief. But with education, he would become a big, clever and respected
man. This made him come back to Anil.

15. What did Anil give him in the morning? In what condition was it?

Anil gave him a fifty rupee note in the morning, which was still damp from the night's rain.
He told Hari that he had made some money and from then onwards he would be able to pay
Hari regularly.

16. How did the thief know that Anil had forgiven him?

Anil did not express in any way that he knew about the stealing. Moreover, he promised to
pay him regularly. He also promised to continue with his teaching him full sentences.

17. Why did the thief smile without any effort towards the end of the story?

The thief was under tension that his master would be angry with him for stealing the money.
But Anil did not express any anger. He said that he would pay him regularly and continue
teaching him full sentences. This made him tension-free and he smiled without any effort.

18. Why according to Hari, is it difficult to rob a careless man?

A careless man does not have much anxiety about the money. If he would have stolen the
money of a rich person, the person would become angry; similarly, a greedy man would show
fear. Anil was careless and would only loose his faith, if Hari stole his money. Hari thinks
that it is difficult to rob a careless man. Sometimes he does not even notice that he has
been robbed. This takes out the joy of robbing him.

19. Why did Hari Singh think of doing some real work?

By ‘real work’, Hari Singh means stealing. He wants to steal Anil’s money because he has not
stolen anything for a long time. Secondly, Anil is a careless man. If Hari Singh did not steal
his money, he would waste it on useless things.

20. What made him think that he could live like an oil-rich Arab for some time?

Hari Singh was a poor boy. He stole Anil’s bundle of notes. It was a sum of 600 rupees. Hari
Singh thought that he could live in luxury like an oil-rich Arab for some time on that stolen
money.

21. Why should he find friends to be more of trouble than help?

Hari Singh believed that friends were more trouble than help. Hari Singh was a very poor
boy. Whoever he knew were also poor like him. So, he thought that friends would be
troublesome. On the other hand, he was a thief and conman who always lived alone and took
on a new name every month to escape from the police and his former employers.
22. Why did he feel nervous about going back to Anil’s room?
Hari Singh decided to go back to Anil and replace the stolen money under the mattress. But
he felt nervous about going there. He thought that it was much easier to steal something
than to return it undetected.
23. How was Hari Singh’s ‘appealing smile’ at the end different from similar smiles of
his on earlier occasions?
Hari’s ‘appealing smile’ in the story was all part of his pretense. It was full of flattery. He
wanted to target Anil and to prove that he is a trustworthy person. He showed his best smile
to Anil every time. It was all part of his plan until the day he has a change of heart. When he
realised that Anil forgave him even after knowing that Hari tried to rob him, Hari felt
genuinely happy. But in the end, his smile was real. It was natural and appealing. That is why
it was different from his earlier similar smiles.
24. Who is ‘I’ in this story? Why did he change his name every month?
In this story ‘I’ is a boy thief of 15 years. He often changed his name every month to avoid
being caught by the police and his former employers. This time he tells that his name is Hari
Singh.
25. Why did Hari Singh smile in his most appealing way?
Hari Singh cooked food for Anil. He did not know anything about cooking. Anil could not eat
it. He threw it to a stray dog. He asked the boy to go away from his house. But the boy did
not want to leave him. So, he smiled in his most appealing way.

26. Why was the thief grateful to Anil?

The thief was grateful to Anil because he gave him a job and promised to teach him to write
his name. The thief knew that once he learns to read and write properly, there would be
nothing so difficult to achieve.
27. Why did he want to become an educated man?
He was an uneducated person. He made his living by stealing and cheating others. He thought
if he were educated, there would be no limit to what he would achieve.
Answer the following questions in detail:
1. Anil plays a major role in the transformation of Hari Singh. Comment on the
statement by highlighting the values possessed by Anil which touched Hari’s heart and
made him return to his honest ways of earning his livelihood. Write in about 100-120
words.

Anil was a struggling writer who befriended Hari Singh. Hari Singh was an experienced, 15-
year-old thief. He found Anil an easy target to steal. Anil offered him to stay with him and
to teach how to read and write. Gradually, Anil develops trust in Hari Singh. But Hari Singh
was waiting for the right opportunity to do what he was best at. After stealing money, he
tried to go away forever but some inner voice stopped him from doing so. He returned to Anil
because he wanted to live a life of respect. Anil did not show that he knew the incident and
accepted Hari with open hands. Thus, a well-intentioned person, Anil, changed Hari Singh and
brought him on the right path. The story shows that trust and spirit to forgive someone can
bring big changes in someone’s life.

2. Hari Singh didn’t confess that he robbed Anil. Did he lack the courage to do so or
he really wanted to maintain his relationship with Anil at any cost? Explain the values
Hari needed to imbibe in about 100-120 words.

Hari Singh was a teenager, of 15. He was good at stealing. He chose Anil to be his next
target as he was a struggling author and a simple person. Hari Singh started living with Anil
who in turn, started teaching him how to read and write. Hari Singh, one day got the
opportunity to steal Anil’s money. He left with the money and decided to go away forever;
but his inner voice stopped him. He returned and kept the money in its place. Next morning,
he started with his routine work and didn’t tell anything about the incident to Anil. He was a
teenager and lacked the courage to face Anil with his truth. He did not want to lose Anil’s
trust. He wanted to maintain the relationship with Anil, wanted to get an education and
become a respected man. So, he hid the incident from Anil.

3. Draw a character-sketch of Anil. (Or) Who was Anil? How did he treat Hari Singh
and how did it influence Hari’s life?

Anil was a young man of 25 years. He was a tall and lean fellow. He looked easy-going and
kind. A small boy met him. The boy wanted to rob him. He found him fit for his purpose. The
boy told him that he wanted to do a job for him. He said that he could cook food. Anil gave
him a job. The food cooked by the boy was terrible. He told the boy to run away but later he
taught him to cook the food and to learn reading and writing. Anil earned money by fits and
starts. He wrote articles for magazines. One day he earned 600 rupees. In the night, the
thief, the boy, stole the money and ran out in the rain. Later, his heart changed and he
decided to put the money back under the mattress. Anil discovered all this. But he was so
kind-hearted that he said nothing to the boy. Instead, he promised to pay him regularly.

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