'Today there was a big galatta in our dorm! Three galattas rather...!'

20 August 1994 | A Klepto Spotted! 🙈

#memoriesfromdiaries 💕

Today being a Saturday, we three of us, Girish, Sunil & myself, we decided to go for weekend outing! 🛺

Our friends followed suit in yet another autorickshaw!

Our destination?

The Anna Flyover! 😁

From my personal diary entry, 20 August 1994 - part 1

You see, outing was permitted on weekends, after we got the ‘Outing forms’ duly filled in and signed by the warden!

Well, we went to the Anna Flyover for two reasons!

Anna Flyover was in itself a landmark to Madras (Madras became Chennai only two years later, in the year 1996!)

from my personal diary entry, 20 August 1994, part 2

Secondly, the famous Woodlands Drive-in was quite a stone’s throw away from the Anna Flyover.

The Woodlands Drive-in was our favourite jaunt not only because it gave the best degree coffee in town, but also because celebrities used to frequent this restaurant during weekends.

And perchance, if lady luck smiled on you, you could even catch a glimpse of your favourite stars here, all of them under one roof! 😍

Autorickshaws were our trusted means of cruising through the labyrinthine lanes of Madras! 🛺

All seven of us had a sumptuous lunch there, which cost us Rs. 186.50/-

Then we swainggg returned to our hostel, by 3.15 pm, again via auto.

This was our weekend outing summed up! 😍

And in what other ways did we spend our weekend? you may ask!

Well, we all usually huddled up in any of our friend’s cubicles, playing chess or chatting endlessly all through the night! 😍

Today there was a big galatta in our dorm! 🙈

Three galattas rather! 🙈🙈🙈

It seems a mischievous fellow hosteler had shaved off the eyebrows of our classmate Murali, when he was fast asleep! 🥴

Then, yet another guy (name withheld pls 🙏) had attempted to try the locks of most of our cupboards!

Since our boys had caught him in the act, they all surrounded him and gave him sound kicks, venting all their anger on him, for stealing our money and valuables, when our warden came to his rescue!

We all complained about him, and also warned him, after he admitted to having tried the locks of Girish’s, Jopi’s and Riyaz’s!

Thirdly, in the ensuing melee, a washbasin was broken as a mark of protest, in our dorm by an indignant hosteler.

Only later, we came to know from our warden Mr. Parthiban that the said guy who had tried our locks, was a klepto!

A confirmed kleptomaniac!

There was a great sense of unrest and hullabaloo amongst all of us hostelers because of a klepto in our midst!

Connecting the dots, we could see the bigger picture for ourselves.

He hailed from a very rich family.

His father was working in some prestigious concern abroad, and used to pamper him with money and valuables more than what was needed it seems!

So when our Warden spoke to his father on his son’s inclinations to klepto, the father almost broke down over the phone, and had requested him to go slow on his son, thus admitting to his klepto streak it seems!

Today I looked up the word ‘kleptomania’ on the Oxford Handbook of Impulse Control Disorders, and found some intriguing points on the subject –

Here goes –

Kleptomania is characterized by repetitive, uncontrollable stealing of items not needed for their personal use.

Although kleptomania typically begins in early adulthood or late adolescence, the disorder has been reported in children as young as 4 years old and in adults as old as 77 years old.

Intense guilt and shame are commonly reported by those suffering from kleptomania.

Items stolen are typically hoarded, given away, returned to the store, or thrown away.

Many individuals with kleptomania (64 % to 87 %) have been apprehended at some time due to their stealing behaviour.

Additionally, individuals with some impulse control disorders (kleptomania, compulsive buying) frequently report hoarding symptoms that resemble those of individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Bleuler classifies kleptomania (impulse to steal) and pyromania (impulse to set fires) under the heading of impulsive insanity!

Esquirol was probably the first author to provide a nosological framework for ICDs.

His monomanias describe a number of disorders, including arsonism, alcoholism, impulsive homicide, and kleptomania, which share the common features of a compelling or irresistible urge and a tendency to act impulsively.

In the early twentieth century, Kraepelin reported similarities between excessive buying in women (oniomania) and men’s unrestrained gambling in the context of pathological impulses.

It has been argued that Impulsive Control Disorders [ICD] share analogous behaviour with substance addictions.

Like people with substance addictions, those with ICDs, such as pathological gambling, pyromania, and kleptomania, experience a growing urge beforehand and relief, gratification, and/or pleasure afterward.

The drive to undertake a repetitive act that is to some extent rewarding may be termed a behavioral addiction,

says the entry on the book!