The Hidden Treasure

Mani had recently shifted to the city of Bangalore with his family. His father, Mohan, who was the commissioner of police, had received an order of his transfer to Bangalore. The train arrived at the Cantonment and the family stepped foot into the Garden City. They boarded a cab which took them through the busy city roads and the bustling city market. After moving through many roads, they finally stopped before a large bungalow surrounded with trees of different kinds: the banyan, mango and there were also a few banana trees planted. These trees added to the beauty of the bungalow.

A tall man in police uniform welcomed Mr. Mohan and showed his family their new home. Mani was excited to see that there were many rooms. This meant that there was lots of space to play! He was eager to discover all the rooms of his house. The policeman introduced himself as Inspector Ramakrishnan and he showed them all the rooms of the magnificent bungalow. Then, Mr. Mohan left with him for the police station.

One week passed by, the family settled in their new home and were busy with the daily household chores. Mani was glancing the morning newspaper and found an interesting article about the recent archaeological excavations at Sivakalai in Tamil Nādu. He thought Nature has many hidden treasures waiting to be unearthed! He then got distracted when Sundari brought her favorite toy and wanted him to play. Sundari was his pet, a cute Persian Cat always ready to have some fun with him. They decided to play the game of Hide & Seek. Sundari hid herself behind a vase, Mani soon found her by locating her tail. Sundari then came out from her hiding place.

When Sundari came out, the wall behind started to shake and suddenly fell. Mani began to wonder if Sundari was really stronger than the walls of the house. He was astonished to find that the false wall was made up of Plaster of Paris which gave away after a few cracks had developed in it. He looked behind and spotted a flight of stairs hidden behind the false wall. He moved down the stairs that led him to a basement. He wondered why Mr. Ramakrishnan never told them about a basement. Perhaps he never knew about it.

He entered the basement and his eyes opened wide when he saw the basement sparkling with the largest and the shiniest treasure he had ever seen. There were gold coins, jewels and antiques lying on the floor. Then, he heard the sound of footsteps and hid himself. He saw two strong men holding heavy sacks coming in through a tunnel which was dug in the front wall of the basement. He observed them closely and immediately recollected that their faces were printed in the morning newspaper. The police had printed a notice announcing a reward for anyone who would inform the police about the whereabouts of Raghu and Ramesh, two notorious thieves who were looting expensive goods from various locations in the city.

Mani slowly climbed up the stairs after the duo left the place. In the evening, his father returned home from the police station. Mani informed his father about the treasure hidden in the secret basement. His father followed him and went down the secret stairs to take a look at the treasure. He then hatched a plan to nab them red-handed.

He waited until the thieves were back with their next loot. When the thieves entered the tunnel, the policemen blocked the entrance of the tunnel and alerted their team to be ready in the basement. When the thieves spotted the police in the basement, they tried to escape through the tunnel but were trapped as it was blocked. Police confiscated the treasure and the thieves were jailed. Mani was rewarded for being a brave hero and helping the police in catching these thieves.

Mani was kind enough to donate a part of the reward money to the poor and the needy. He narrated his story to his classmates at school – some did believe him and some were jealous of his bravery, few others were friendly to him and the rest thought that Mani was just making up his own story to gather attention!