Yes, I know some of you have already read about this on my Fb status and even liked it. I am saying this because none of my statuses have ever received so many likes before and yes, nothing I wrote before on Fb has been worth liking this much! And that's pretty much the reason why the first post on my blog is also on this story. I have been thinking about writing for as long as I can remember now and yet I never knew what to write about. Most of the times I thought I don't feel so strongly about something, anything, that I create a blog and write about it. You know the way Aman discovered a hidden writer in him with his football blog? And yet, at other times, I guess when I did feel strongly about something, it was expressed by some other means than writing..(That means of expression is obviosuly my non stop yapping!)
But now, today, after this story, I feel very very strongly about something. So strong that I did take the effort of setting up this blog. What do I feel so strongly about, you ask? Read on..
I was coming back home after meeting a friend- yes, I was in my dad's chauffeur driven car, far from the hardships of usual commute in Bombay. I took my wallet out of my bag to hand some change to a beggar at the Inorbit signal after which, I very conveniently let it remain on my lap. I did not put it back in my bag. When I got off the car at Gokuldham to buy stuff, I asked the driver to take the car home since there was no place to park. I went to the store to buy what I wanted to and when it came to paying the shopkeeper, I realized I didn't have my wallet. My first thoughts were that I left it in the car and I called my driver asking him to pick it up from the back seat.You guessed it right, he checked and said it wasn't there. Before I move on to the frantic search that began, I must tell you about the contents and why that was the worst day I could lose my wallet. It had some 5K cash, 2 debit cards, 1 credit card, my driving license, my PAN card, visiting cards (which I was blissfully unaware of) and like any other girl who has a just about a passing interest in shopping, it had some 5-6 membership cards of various stores. Now before you think who keeps 5K cash on any passing day, let me clarify, I never ever have this much cash with me! I have to withdraw cash every second day because the more cash I keep at once, the more I spend! (Shhhh..) And before you think, how very irresponsible of me to carry my PAN card in my wallet- no again, I am somewhat irresponsible and so I always keep my PAN card with my mum but just that particular day it was in there for some bank work. What bank work? Ok yeah, I had lost another debit card the previous week and so I had got a new one that very day. And now you know why it was just the most imperfect day for me to lose my wallet!
So I searched and searched on the street where I had gotten off my car but found no wallet and no luck! It had taken me all of 5 mins to realize that my wallet was missing so I was pretty hopeful at first. But then after 2 hours of searching, I began the painful process of getting my cards blocked and it sunk in. It wasn't so much about the money, I realized, that bothered me endlessly. It was the thought of going to the police station and getting an FIR registered for my lost PAN card that really bothered me. The idea of going to the police station fills me with dread, absolutely freaks me out! My dad was super supportive and said that it wasn't a big deal, we would go and get it reported. But I felt like shit! It was a pretty loserly way of losing a wallet. And then there was the driving license- after owning one for so long, the fact is can't drive so the idea of taking driving lessons again and applying for a new license..urgh!
My mum, the eternal optimist, kept saying stay hopeful, maybe someone will come and give it to you. My reaction was that yes, I like being positive, I love the idea that a stranger angel will come and give me my stuff back but did I think it was realistic..umm.. lets say it was a faaaaaaaaaar stretch! All I wanted was my pan card and driving license! I assumed that the cash went to someone who genuinely needed it more than me. And if only i didn't have to go back to HDFC for a new debit card yet again! (I was sure they would just refuse- sorry m'am, due to the frequency at which you lose your HDFC cards, you are no longer eligible for a new one!) Could someone get only these cards for me? Please, please, please!
I sulked all of the next day but when I came back home late evening and checked my office email- Voila! I had a message saying 'Plz collect your cards maam' from a lady called Jyoti Kamble. Could these be my cards? Really? How could that be? But if not, what else could this email mean? What other cards could this woman possibly be talking about? I instantly replied to her asking for her number and even shared my number with her. I searched for her on the net hoping to reach out to her asap. It wasn't a surprise when I saw 10000s of Jyoti Kambles in Mumbai. "Try, gokuldham, goregaon", my dad said."You lost it 5mins away from home". Turned out there were quite a few by that name here too. But I couldn't reach to anyone that night. Next morning at work, I got a call. "Hello ma'm, Main Jyoti. Mujhe aapke 8 cards mile powai mein road pe. Kya aap Chandivali mein aake mujhse collect kar sakti hain?" Really, could this be possible?! Was this real? I wanted to run to the address she gave me instantly. But I asked MJ to come with me because mum insisted, "Akele mat jaana, kisi ko saath leke jaana" If only my paranoid mother knew that this woman I was going to meet was truly an angel! She had found my cards on the street and picked them up, "Mere toh kisi kaam ke nahi the, aur aap pareshaan ho rahi hoti" she said. She had neatly packed them in an envelope with my visiting card pinned on top. (For all you slow people, yes that's how she had got my office email id) "Agar aapse contact nahi ho paata na, toh main courier kar deti office address pe" I was stunned. I thanked her as I kept thinking this thank you isn't sufficient. It isn't sufficient for her kindness, her righteousness and the simplicity with which she did this deed. Like there was no other option but to help me. Like letting those card be where they were and minding her own business didn't cross her mind at all.
I am grateful, she helped me in my ordeal. But as much thankful as I am, I am also very happy to have met someone like her. Someone who thinks and acts like this. The happiness comes from knowing that people like her exist in this world. This happiness that not only I felt, but everyone who I shared this story with felt. That I was lucky to have actually met a living angel (and not my mother, but a stranger angel), that I was lucky enough to see how kind kindess can be and how good goodness can be. Seems like a good enough reason to write about, no?
But now, today, after this story, I feel very very strongly about something. So strong that I did take the effort of setting up this blog. What do I feel so strongly about, you ask? Read on..
I was coming back home after meeting a friend- yes, I was in my dad's chauffeur driven car, far from the hardships of usual commute in Bombay. I took my wallet out of my bag to hand some change to a beggar at the Inorbit signal after which, I very conveniently let it remain on my lap. I did not put it back in my bag. When I got off the car at Gokuldham to buy stuff, I asked the driver to take the car home since there was no place to park. I went to the store to buy what I wanted to and when it came to paying the shopkeeper, I realized I didn't have my wallet. My first thoughts were that I left it in the car and I called my driver asking him to pick it up from the back seat.You guessed it right, he checked and said it wasn't there. Before I move on to the frantic search that began, I must tell you about the contents and why that was the worst day I could lose my wallet. It had some 5K cash, 2 debit cards, 1 credit card, my driving license, my PAN card, visiting cards (which I was blissfully unaware of) and like any other girl who has a just about a passing interest in shopping, it had some 5-6 membership cards of various stores. Now before you think who keeps 5K cash on any passing day, let me clarify, I never ever have this much cash with me! I have to withdraw cash every second day because the more cash I keep at once, the more I spend! (Shhhh..) And before you think, how very irresponsible of me to carry my PAN card in my wallet- no again, I am somewhat irresponsible and so I always keep my PAN card with my mum but just that particular day it was in there for some bank work. What bank work? Ok yeah, I had lost another debit card the previous week and so I had got a new one that very day. And now you know why it was just the most imperfect day for me to lose my wallet!
So I searched and searched on the street where I had gotten off my car but found no wallet and no luck! It had taken me all of 5 mins to realize that my wallet was missing so I was pretty hopeful at first. But then after 2 hours of searching, I began the painful process of getting my cards blocked and it sunk in. It wasn't so much about the money, I realized, that bothered me endlessly. It was the thought of going to the police station and getting an FIR registered for my lost PAN card that really bothered me. The idea of going to the police station fills me with dread, absolutely freaks me out! My dad was super supportive and said that it wasn't a big deal, we would go and get it reported. But I felt like shit! It was a pretty loserly way of losing a wallet. And then there was the driving license- after owning one for so long, the fact is can't drive so the idea of taking driving lessons again and applying for a new license..urgh!
My mum, the eternal optimist, kept saying stay hopeful, maybe someone will come and give it to you. My reaction was that yes, I like being positive, I love the idea that a stranger angel will come and give me my stuff back but did I think it was realistic..umm.. lets say it was a faaaaaaaaaar stretch! All I wanted was my pan card and driving license! I assumed that the cash went to someone who genuinely needed it more than me. And if only i didn't have to go back to HDFC for a new debit card yet again! (I was sure they would just refuse- sorry m'am, due to the frequency at which you lose your HDFC cards, you are no longer eligible for a new one!) Could someone get only these cards for me? Please, please, please!
I sulked all of the next day but when I came back home late evening and checked my office email- Voila! I had a message saying 'Plz collect your cards maam' from a lady called Jyoti Kamble. Could these be my cards? Really? How could that be? But if not, what else could this email mean? What other cards could this woman possibly be talking about? I instantly replied to her asking for her number and even shared my number with her. I searched for her on the net hoping to reach out to her asap. It wasn't a surprise when I saw 10000s of Jyoti Kambles in Mumbai. "Try, gokuldham, goregaon", my dad said."You lost it 5mins away from home". Turned out there were quite a few by that name here too. But I couldn't reach to anyone that night. Next morning at work, I got a call. "Hello ma'm, Main Jyoti. Mujhe aapke 8 cards mile powai mein road pe. Kya aap Chandivali mein aake mujhse collect kar sakti hain?" Really, could this be possible?! Was this real? I wanted to run to the address she gave me instantly. But I asked MJ to come with me because mum insisted, "Akele mat jaana, kisi ko saath leke jaana" If only my paranoid mother knew that this woman I was going to meet was truly an angel! She had found my cards on the street and picked them up, "Mere toh kisi kaam ke nahi the, aur aap pareshaan ho rahi hoti" she said. She had neatly packed them in an envelope with my visiting card pinned on top. (For all you slow people, yes that's how she had got my office email id) "Agar aapse contact nahi ho paata na, toh main courier kar deti office address pe" I was stunned. I thanked her as I kept thinking this thank you isn't sufficient. It isn't sufficient for her kindness, her righteousness and the simplicity with which she did this deed. Like there was no other option but to help me. Like letting those card be where they were and minding her own business didn't cross her mind at all.
I am grateful, she helped me in my ordeal. But as much thankful as I am, I am also very happy to have met someone like her. Someone who thinks and acts like this. The happiness comes from knowing that people like her exist in this world. This happiness that not only I felt, but everyone who I shared this story with felt. That I was lucky to have actually met a living angel (and not my mother, but a stranger angel), that I was lucky enough to see how kind kindess can be and how good goodness can be. Seems like a good enough reason to write about, no?
