Bravo Chimpoo - Aniruddha Banhatti (brene brown rising strong txt) 📗

he said,
"We are now in a great trouble. To get you back, I gave away 5 lakh rupees from the office money. I will have to pay it back in the office. We will sell our car and bungalow, and live in a smaller place, maybe a flat".
"Daddy, why did you do it?"
"What else could I do?"
"You could have gone to the police!"
"And put your life in danger? No, no! Haven't you read the news? I shuddered at the imagination."
At that time, they reached the car.
"Perhaps," Daddy said,
"My partners may throw me out of the company because I misappropriated the funds."
"No, Dad, don't talk like the," Scholar said.
The next moment his face lit up.
"Chimpoo!" he said and ran to Chimpoo sitting on the car top with the briefcase clutched tightly at his chest.
Daddy was surprised to see the briefcase in Chimpoo's possession. He took it and opened it. The money was all there in it.
"Scholar," he said in an urgent voice.
"Get in the car with Chimpoo we will return the money to the office safe before anybody comes back to the office. Usually, we don't have this much money in our safe. It is deposited at the bank everyday. Fortunately, yesterday was a bank holiday."
Scholar sat with Chimpoo in the car and they sped forth.
"Oh look! What's that crowd for?" he said when the car turned.
"Crowd?"
"Yes, a little bit away from 'Shamiana Hotel' there is a small crowd."
"Maybe something!" said Daddy.
They knew the next day what that crowd was from the newspapers. The police had captured the rogue lying unconscious in the sand. He had two knives, a revolver and a threatening letter to a kidnapped kid's parents. The police had freed three kids which he had hid in a small hut. When he was found unconscious there was a large coconut lying near his head. It appeared that some monkey had hit him on the head with it.
Reading this news aloud from the paper, Daddy looked at Scholar.
"Bravo Chimpoo," shouted scholar and went out to play with him.
Chimpoo could not understand why scholar was treating him like a king. The unknown monkey who had beaned the rogue with a coconut was jumping freely from one tree to another, quite unaware of its own bravery!
 
FOUR : CAR THEFT

Now Chimpoo had become a friend of Scholar, Mintu, Nikhil, Julie and Lily. Every evening he went with them to the ground, and brought back the ball with two jumps when it went too far while playing cricket.
One day, Scholar said to Nikhil, " Nikhil, last two-three days, I have observed a man watching our game intently, and especially looking at Chimpoo with a rare concentration. A man with a green cloth tied on his head."
"With a green head-cloth? I don't think I've noticed any such person"
"Lets see today if he turns up" said Mintu.
"He has a scar of a wound right below his right eye and due to that he looks a bit terrifying." Scholar supplied additional information.
"Okay, don't tell the girls anything," Nikhil said a little snobbishly,
"Today we will watch our watcher!"
And so it happened. While playing cricket the attention of Scholar, Mintu and Nikhil was riveted on that mysterious man with a green cloth tied to his head, standing at the boundary of the ground, and intently observing Chimpoo. When they started homewards after the game was over, the man was following them. When Scholar and Mintu turned suddenly facing the man squarely, he stopped in his tracks and taking a U-turn, walked fast and disappeared. What mystery is this? The three of them were baffled. Chimpoo's home was an open cage. Is this mysterious man on Chimpoo's trail? Or is he the accomplice of the rogue who had kidnapped scholar and was now in police custody?
Scholar decided to tell his dad about this mystery man. After dinner, Scholar went to his daddy who was sitting on the swing reading a magazine.
"Daddy," he called.
"Oh! What is it?" his daddy asked keeping the magazine away,
"What's the problem, Scholar?"
Then Scholar explained fully the problem of the mystery man.
"It's good that you told me at least now. Tomorrow, immediately I will make some arrangements. I know one police inspector quite well."
"You mean Bhambre uncle?"
"Yes. We will tell him all this and investigate the matter." That night scholar could not sleep well. He had many bizarre dreams.
Suddenly, he was awakened and thought he heard a husky voice speaking something. He sat up in his bed. He threw away the cover and he went to the hall noiselessly. Through the window he looked out and saw the mystery man, a green cloth tied to his head and talking with Chimpoo in a husky voice. Scholar shuddered. The hair on the nape of his neck stood on end. He turned and went to his dad's room. Dad was sleeping calmly in the blue light of the night lamp.
"Daddy,"
Scholar called him standing near the bed. Daddy turned on his side. Scholar shook his shoulder and said,
"Daddy, wake up."
"Um--er--who?" Daddy sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Daddy," scholar said,
"The same man has come in our garden. Near Chimpoo's cage!"
"Really?” said Daddy, getting down from the bed,
"Come. Let's find out"
Both of them came to the hall. There was no one near Chimpoo's cage now.
"Are you sure you saw someone?” Daddy asked.
"Yes dad, I am 100% sure."
"Come, let's go outside," said Daddy, and with a torch, both of them came near Chimpoo's cage. Chimpoo was awake and looking intently at the gate. They strolled all around the garden there was no one about. Daddy yawned and said,
”Scholar, Chimpoo seems to be okay. We'll investigate tomorrow. Let's get back to sleep."
"Okay dad." Scholar said and both of them went back to sleep.
Next morning both of them got up simultaneously and immediately went out in the garden. When they reached Chimpoo's cage, they gasped! The cage was empty.
"Come let's go to Bhambre uncle immediately", Daddy said, and brought the car-keys. When they reached their car garage behind the bungalow the garage was empty and the lock was broken. Their car was missing!
"Oh! What's this now?" Dad said. Then he thought for a moment and said,
"Ok, Scholar, you get dressed. I'll also get dressed, and let's take a taxi and go to Bhambre."
When both of them reached the police-station, Bhambre was not there, so they went to his home. There, they left the taxi, and in Bhambre uncle's jeep, went to the police station again. There Daddy filed the complaint about the theft of the car and disappearance of Chimpoo. They came home in Bhambre's jeep. Bhambre's colleagues started checking the tracks of the tyres on the ground.
"I think there were two people" said Bhambre uncle observing the foot-prints,
"They must have pushed the car in neutral up to the gate and onto the road, before starting it."
"But Chimpoo, what could have happened to him?" said Scholar in a frightened tone.
“Don't be afraid, Sonny," said inspector Bhambre,
"We will find out. But I still cannot fathom the motive behind stealing a monkey, of all the things!"
At that moment, a car stopped at the gate. It's door opened and Chimpoo jumped out, came to Scholar and started pulling him by the hand. A man alighted from the car and came in through the gate.
"Is this monkey yours?"
"Yes, but who are you?"
"I am mister Chatterjee. I was going to my factory, when this monkey asking for lift like a man caught my attention!"
"Where did this happen?"
"At Worli corner. But what an intelligent monkey! He directed me correctly up to here with his 'Chee-chee’ and by his gestures."
Chimpoo was now pulling Daddy by his hand.
"Bhambre, I think," he said ,
"That Chimpoo knows where our car is. Let us take him in the jeep. He will direct us there."
"Yes. I also think the same. Mister Chatterjee," Bhambre said turning to the man,
"Can you take us to the exact place where you gave Chimpoo lift?"
"Oh sure, with pleasure."
"Come then, get into the jeep."
They reached the corner where Chimpoo was given lift by Mr.Chatterjee. On the front seat, Daddy, Bhambre and Chatterjee sat squashed together, along with Chimpoo sitting on the dash-board. Bhambre way driving. From that corner Chimpoo started directing with his 'chee chee’ and his gestures and inspector bhambre turned left or right accordingly. It was nearing 11 o'clock in the morning now.
After traversing two corners, they reached a garage, Chimpoo did "chee-chee" and made a gesture telling them to stop. The jeep stopped a bit away from the garage. Bhambre and his three assistants jumped out. With his revolver in his hand, Bhambre entered the garage. On seeing him, a fellow dropped the spray-painting gun and started running. Bhambre's assistants pounced on him and captured him.
"Do not move, anybody!" thundered Bhambre, firing a shot in the air, his assistants ran inside and captured two more persons. Daddy's car was there. It had its number plate changed and it was being prepared for a change in color.
Then at Scholar's home inspector Bhambre was explaining, sipping coffee,
"For many days this gang is operating in Mumbai. They steal cars, change the number plates and repaint them, and sell these cars to smugglers who after using them for a number of times abandon them. Due to Chimpoo's intelligence, today we unearthed the main garage of this gang."
"Yes," said Scholar,
"Chimpoo must have silently got on to the car when the thieves stole it, and must have come back after seeing their den. Isn't it Chimpoo?"
"Chee Chee", Chimpoo shouted happily, as if he was saying,
"Yes. That's right.”
"And Mister Chatterjee, even if you have wasted your time, we were successful in tracing eleven stolen cars and you will receive appropriate reward from our department."
"Oh! That doesn't matter." said Mr.Chatterjee,
“That this little boy here is reunited with his cute little monkey friend is reward enough for me!"
"But Bhambre uncle," asked Scholar.
"Not a single man from the three men captured is the mystery-man with the green head-cloth. What has that man to do with all this?"
"That, we will definitely find out before long, I promise you!" said inspector Bhambre and took another biscuit from the plate.
 

FIVE : SCOUT GUIDES

"But how did you lose the money?" Scholar asked irritably.
"As it is, Nikhil is rather clumsy." growled Mintu.
"He is a 'Yed bamboo' and a silly clown" Gauri gave vent to her anger.
"Stupid, silly, moron, fink, idiot!" Julie completed the list in English.
"I should've kept my money to myself. I shouldn't have joined your syndicate." declared Lily.
"It is my fault. Now I must listen to all this," Nikhil held his head down.
"Now enough of that," said Mintu, "Now, we must think of something"
"Wait, let me think." said Scholar.
What happened was this: Their teacher for 'Scout guides' had declared a prize for the student or the group of students who collected the maximum money for scout guides. It was for both girl and boy scouts. But, the money was to be collected strictly according to the Scout guides' rules. That is, to take money in return of some work, and to note it down in the scouts' diary. Nikhil, Mintu, Scholar, Lily, Julie and Gauri decided that their group must win this prize. They even stopped playing in the evenings. They polished shoes, wiped floors, did gardening, baked cakes and