The Pro of Con

I love thriller novels.. and at times, try to relate them to real life... and think if all that is really possible.. Today, my mind drifts back to the greatest con act I have witnessed in my life....

I was in 3rd semester, when a new lecturer(who will remain unnamed) joined my engineering college.. He created an instantaneous impact.. Everyone was impressed by his charm and knowledge.. He used to teach us Pascal.. He told us that he was a bachelor, and a native of Bhilai.. His father was working in the Indian Embassy in Nepal.. After having graduated in Computer Science Engineering from REC, Nagpur, he worked for a multinational bank in Nepal for sometime, before joining MIT for a sponsored MBA program.. But then disaster struck.. after retirement, his father fell ill and had to be brought to his home town Bhilai.. As he was the only person to take care of his father, he had to take a 6 month sabbatical from his studies and stay with him for a while.. that’s how he had landed up as a lecturer in BIT.. It was quite incredible that everyone believed his extra-ordinary narrative.. from the Director.. to the HOD.. to all Profs... other lecturers and even the usually cynical students..

I must say I was impressed by him too.. but I always had a simmering suspicion.. How could such a well learned guy who had been abroad for so long speak with such a rustic accent.. But none of my friends were willing to heed my reservations.. They were simply awestruck by his personality..

His teaching style was.... well.. different... Hardly used to provide us with any input.. and used to make us discover things by ourselves.. And we thought, this must be the way they do it in MIT....

As time passed by, news began to trickle in that the guy was short of cash, and needed some money to pay his MIT fee installment.. He asked some faculty for help.. People found no reason to disbelieve him.. lending him various amounts.. Slowly, he began spreading his web of deceit.. He borrowed money from one and all.. across the entire hierarchy of administration.. from the Director to the lab attendant.. and what’s more, he even conned a few students into lending him... He borrowed in all types of denominations too.. from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 500....

Slowly but surely, people began to smell the rat.. they began to realize that this guy was upto no good.. and began asking him their money back.. Then he began the most incredible jugglery act.. borrowing from one and repaying another..

By that time, we could already foresee his next step.. and we were not wrong.. One fine morning (when I was in 5th sem.), the fellow just disappeared into thick air.. Enquiries found that he never had any home of his own in Bhilai.. and no father either.. He used to stay in a rented house with his wife.. and had not even paid the rent for months.. He had disappeared from this house with his entire language in the dark of the night.. and the landlord had heard absolutely nothing!!!!

No one knew how much money the guy had disappeared with.. And there was nothing anyone could do.. No one had any written record about the money they had lended him.. What would you tell the police?? That I lended Rs.50,000 to a person.. believing in his concocted stories.. and now he has disappeared.. and I have not a shred of proof to back my claims..... You would only make a jackass out of yourself...

It’s an incredible story.. and the more I look back on it, the more outrageous it seems.. I was not a victim of his treachery.. but a very intrigued spectator of this sensational swindling act.. all my college friends were testimony to the affair as well.. And I am dead sure that no one will ever forget it..

God alone knows which unsuspecting beings are being conned by him right now.. Sometimes I think.. what would I do.. if by some strange coincidence.. I happen to meet this most extraordinary conman again.. Would I admonish him for his deeds.. Or would I congratulate him on his extraordinary skills.. Perhaps.. I would do both...

“A thief is not the one who steals, a thief is the one who gets caught”