The Thief of Balloon

“The Thief of Balloon” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Krishna Dinesh Choumal, Lalita Green Lawns School, Ahmedabad, India.

The Thief of Balloon

This is the story of Maninagar Colony in Ahmedabad. Everybody in the colony knew about miserliness of the father of Suresh. Suresh was just 8 years old and he was the only son of his parents. But, his father never showered his love on him, and never used to spend money for him. For him, money was important than even God. Dinku, Suresh’s classmate and neighbor, was his best friend. She was the only daughter of a farmer. She was enjoying her parent’s love and care. Dinku’s father was a peace loving and soft hearted person; every day he bought a balloon for her, even without her demand. Whenever Suresh was around, he was also given balloons.

One day Suresh requested his father to give him 1 rupee, for a balloon. Suresh’s father got angry and said, “Don’t you know this is wastage of money. Don’t you know I spend a lot of money on your studies and other requirements? Don’t ask for balloons otherwise I will punish you.”

Suresh said: “Dinku’s father used to give her a balloon every day. Why can’t you?”

Hearing this, Suresh’s father went straight to Dinku’s father and picked up a fight for misguiding his son. So Suresh decided to steal some money from home and decided to purchase the things of his choice. There after he started stealing from others things smartly from shops also. Slowly he lost interest in studies and his mind was always hovering around fun and entertainment. After few years when he failed in the 10th standard twice, his father decided to discontinue his studies and engage him in his business. This gave him an opportunity to steal more and more money for his own enjoyment.

One day his father caught him red handed. That night Suresh stole all the money in their home and his mother’s jewelry worth several lakhs and left the home. By the age of this he also got addicted to alcohol and tobacco. So this is the story of a balloon stealer becoming a criminal by neglecting the basic needs of children by parents and on other hand Dinku’s father showed what the real parenthood is by showering love and care. So she became a successful doctor.

Moral: Parents must know what is right and what is wrong, otherwise their shortcomings may mould their children’s nature in wrong way.