Rehabilitating a Dacoit...

...From The Ravines of Chambal

This incident has taken place about 30 years ago.
One day a man came to my house and requested me to help him in getting a job. I asked him how he knows me. He told me that he knows an uncle of mine who had advised that I could help him in getting a job. I said I will try. Then I forgot that person but he came back again after 1 week.
I did not pay much attention to him. In the evening I enquired about him from my uncle. He told that he is a dacoit of Chambal and he is now trying to lead a normal life. He also told me that he was working as a goldsmith on a very low scale but his business has now closed. His brother had been killed in an encounter and he is now trying his best to lead a normal life. He wants to come back into the mainstream.

Frankly speaking, I was frightened for a moment. Suddenly one day he came to my house at about 10.00 PM in the night and said he will commit suicide by shooting himself if he did not get any work. He was very hungry also. Looking at his pathetic condition, I decided to help him and to get him a job but people were reluctant to employ him because of his back ground.
I really tried hard and after a lot of persuasion I managed a job for him as a cleaner of a truck. He started working as a cleaner. He worked very hard and soon became the driver of the truck. Meanwhile, I also got a job in the Bank.
He used to visit me regularly to express his gratitude. He is now leading a normal life. Looking back I also feel a deep sense of accomplishment by helping a dacoit of Chambal to lead a changed life who would have otherwise become a dacoit again.

VIJAY KUMAR VAISH
ASSTT MANAGER
RCPC, KARCHANA.

(CitizenSBI blog thanks Mr Hem Chandra Karnatak, IL-1, Lucknow Circle for arranging to send contributions from his Circle.)