Jewel of a Girl
(Raja Tridiv Roy)
“Jewel of a girl” is written by Raja Tridev Roy. It has been taken from a collection of his thirteen stories entitled, “The Windswept Wahini.” The writer was fully devoted to the welfare of the Buddhist tribes. So, he dedicated this to the thirteen Buddhist tribes of Chittagong Hill. The writer was also a minister of a state for the affairs of minorities and tourism in the cabinet of Pakistan.
The story is a good piece of satire in which modern society has been criticized. The writer wants to make it clear that people go by appearances that are often deceptive. The story tells us about a rich and fashionable lady who was apparently a courteous one. She did a fraud so tactfully that she was proved innocent in the court.
In a fashionable area of Karachi there was a newly opened jeweler’s shop. One rainy day a young lady height of fashion came in ivory white Cadillac. She belonged to the elite of the city and was a regular customer of the shop. The establishment was grateful for patronage. She had placed a telephonic order for an identical pair of diamond sets, set in platinum. So she was taken to the manager’s room. There was one in the showcase. She was told that the second set was all but ready….only if madam would wait. She said that she was in a hurry and would pick this set in the evening. She paid the price of one set and got the cash-memo.
The young lady came at the appointed time. The manager gave her the second set. She put the set into his bag and came out of the hall. The manager asked her to make the payment but she insisted that she had already made the payment. The matter was taken to the court. The lady proved that she had bought only one set for which she made the payment. She presented the cash memo in the court. The bank authorities confirmed that the numbers of the notes found in the manager’s safe were the same the lady had drawn from the bank.
The court not only acquitted the young lady of the charge of the theft but also ordered the firm to pay heavy damages to the lady. The manager had to lose his job and his security deposit. But the simple fellow was ready to believe that such an advanced, cultured and well-groomed lady could be fraud. He believed that she had done it during an attack of forgetfulness.
The story is a satire on the modern material minded society. We are usually taken in by the outward pomp and show of the so-called cultured people. We feel no need peeping into their mean, hollow and wicked minds. It is true that glitters are not gold. Appearance is often deceptive. We should keen in mind that even a very poor person may be honest, and a person sitting in the highest office may be corrupt to his backbone.