Chapter 2 Solutions — The Thief's Story

The narrator 'I' is the young thief who tells the story in the first person.

He introduces himself to Anil as "Hari Singh", but this is a false name — he says, "'Hari Singh,' I lied. I took a new name every month."

So 'I' refers to a fifteen-year-old thief, known in the story by the assumed name Hari Singh.

Anil does not hand the thief over to the police because he is a kind, forgiving and understanding person who wants to reform the boy rather than punish him. He realises the boy has returned the money on his own and has begun to change, so he chooses to give him another chance.

Instead of confronting or scolding him, Anil simply pays him properly and says, "Today we'll start writing sentences." He continues to trust and teach him.

Most people would probably have handed such a thief over to the police, or at least dismissed and punished him.

Anil is different from such employers because he treats his servant with warmth and trust rather than suspicion. He is easy-going, generous and caring — he feeds, shelters and educates the boy — and he believes in giving the boy a chance to become an honest, respected man rather than treating him as a criminal.