Emotional thief writes seeing poet Narayan Survey’s photo
Good literature helps in building character, provides direction to the thinking process, inspires several minds and also helps in relating personal experiences with those projected by the author of a book or poem. The philosophical thought stated several times was experienced in Neral village in Raigad district of Maharashtra. The person who had great influence of a renowned poet was none other than a thief.
The thief entered a house, but could not find valuables. He fled with a television set, bronze and copper utensils and some other materials of daily use. The thief entered the house by breaking the window of a toilet. As the house was locked he might have entered the house more than once, according to the local police. He also stole some food grains stored in the house.
The thief, who had not yet been apprehended by the police, saw a photograph, some trophies and the scroll of honour. He recognised the photograph of the renowned Marathi poet late Narayan Surve (1926-2010) and wrote a small chit seeking an apology for the theft he had committed. Not only this he returned the television set and wrote that the other stolen items would also be returned gradually.
Police Inspector Shivaji Dhawle was astonished to see the chit written by the thief. He informed the media about the letter written by the thief. PI Dhawle, however, has to perform his duty. He obtained fingerprints on the television set which the thief returned and carried out further investigation.
Narayan Surve: Born in a poor family Narayan Surve worked in a mill and composed poems which are very close to the life of common people in rural areas. He was honoured with several awards as a poet and the Government of India awarded him the civilian award of Padma Shri in 1998. Believer in Marxist philosophy he also wrote poems relating to the ongoing process of social change and desired changes. He was honoured with the Kusumagraj Trust award, the Kabir Award of the Madhya Pradesh Government, the Nehru Award of Soviet Russia, Padma Shri and several other literary awards..
The house in Neral was occupied by his daughter Sujata and son-in-law Ganesh Ghare. They had gone out and the house was locked for about ten days, during which the theft took place.
The thief also wrote that he would not have committed the theft, had he known it was Narayan Survey’s house.