It was a regular Indian monsoon morning, which had it's usual pothole filled roads, traffic moving at snails pace. But I was a bit excited, as the next day was the annual Ganesh Festival and even though it has been a good 40yrs I still feel very excited everytime Lord Ganesh visits my house.
Also it was the regular request from my better half for some more money to do some last minute shopping :), as I was about to leave for the office. Trying to keep my face as expressionless as possible, I walked to the lift with my son in the tow. I withdrew some amount from the ATM, and gave half to my son to give it to his mother and the rest I pocketed it. In a hurry to reach office, I put my wallet in the raincoat. (PS: Always make sure that you only give half of what is demanded, more so if its about money matters :) ).
I drove down on my Hero Splendor to my office with an aim to finish my work ASAP, so that I can go home early. After an hour or so the first signal of fatigue... the trademark yawn, indicated that it was time to have the customary morning pre-lunch tea. That was when I realized that I do not have my wallet......The mandatory search at all possible places was in vain and slowly the thought of having lost my wallet started sinking....
I made a quick check, money about 600/-, but more so my PAN Card, driving license, vehicle's RC card, a credit card and an ATM card.... the thought of procuring all these again itself sent shivers down my spine. I cursed myself for being so careless, but also set about the task of setting in place the mandatory standard operating procedures (sops) to salvage the damage.
There was that mandatory stop at the nearby police station, even though you very well know that it wouldn't lead you anywhere. Fortunately, I had registered my cards under the card protection policy, and placed the request to block the cards with the agency. As I got busy calling the relevant numbers and providing the details, one of the question stumped me "When did you do the last transaction on your credit card, and what was the amount?". Well I am definitely not one of them who would keep such a close track my transactions, although I can easily relate to the transactions I have made once I have the bill in my hand at the end of the month and wonder how could I spend so much money??
Suddenly my mobile started ringing and the number indicated that it was from the most unexpected quarters. It was my cousin from Nashik, who was on the other side. "Kuthes tu?" (where are you?). I was unable to fathom the casual talk she was having with me, when she informed me that she knew the whereabouts of my wallet.....
For a moment I couldn't believe how in the world could she know about it? Well, as it occurred to me later I had written down her number on a piece of paper and kept in wallet and had forgot to clean my wallet once I had stored the number in my mobile phone. That indeed saved the day for me.
It so happened that the person who found my wallet was trying to contact me, but couldnt find any number to call, but fortunately found my cousin's number in the wallet and left a message with her. Thus, she reached me and finally after two three hours of high levels of adrenaline, I could lay my hands on my dear wallet.
I returned to my desk in the office happy at having recovered my lost wallet, and relieved that I need not chase the sarkari babus for all those cards. As I sat down on the chair, re-checking that all was in place, barring the cash, I impulsively tore a piece of paper, wrote my name in block letters and my contact numbers with an hyphen :)
In today's time of Ipad, Iphone and Gallaxies, where we store all our contact numbers electronically, we have lost the habit of maintaining the small pocket diary which would contain the phone numbers of all our friends and relatives. Recollect the heartburn you had when you lost your cell phone or the day when it crashed, and you had to start collecting all the numbers all over again, unless you have backed the data from your cell regularly.
So friends, even though you may be storing all your contact details in your latest model of ipad or iphone, make sure that you atleast put that piece of paper with your contact details in your wallet just in case some kind hearted person wants to return your lost wallet, albeit devoid of the cash :).
Ganpati Bappa Moraya......
Also it was the regular request from my better half for some more money to do some last minute shopping :), as I was about to leave for the office. Trying to keep my face as expressionless as possible, I walked to the lift with my son in the tow. I withdrew some amount from the ATM, and gave half to my son to give it to his mother and the rest I pocketed it. In a hurry to reach office, I put my wallet in the raincoat. (PS: Always make sure that you only give half of what is demanded, more so if its about money matters :) ).
I drove down on my Hero Splendor to my office with an aim to finish my work ASAP, so that I can go home early. After an hour or so the first signal of fatigue... the trademark yawn, indicated that it was time to have the customary morning pre-lunch tea. That was when I realized that I do not have my wallet......The mandatory search at all possible places was in vain and slowly the thought of having lost my wallet started sinking....
I made a quick check, money about 600/-, but more so my PAN Card, driving license, vehicle's RC card, a credit card and an ATM card.... the thought of procuring all these again itself sent shivers down my spine. I cursed myself for being so careless, but also set about the task of setting in place the mandatory standard operating procedures (sops) to salvage the damage.
There was that mandatory stop at the nearby police station, even though you very well know that it wouldn't lead you anywhere. Fortunately, I had registered my cards under the card protection policy, and placed the request to block the cards with the agency. As I got busy calling the relevant numbers and providing the details, one of the question stumped me "When did you do the last transaction on your credit card, and what was the amount?". Well I am definitely not one of them who would keep such a close track my transactions, although I can easily relate to the transactions I have made once I have the bill in my hand at the end of the month and wonder how could I spend so much money??
Suddenly my mobile started ringing and the number indicated that it was from the most unexpected quarters. It was my cousin from Nashik, who was on the other side. "Kuthes tu?" (where are you?). I was unable to fathom the casual talk she was having with me, when she informed me that she knew the whereabouts of my wallet.....
For a moment I couldn't believe how in the world could she know about it? Well, as it occurred to me later I had written down her number on a piece of paper and kept in wallet and had forgot to clean my wallet once I had stored the number in my mobile phone. That indeed saved the day for me.
It so happened that the person who found my wallet was trying to contact me, but couldnt find any number to call, but fortunately found my cousin's number in the wallet and left a message with her. Thus, she reached me and finally after two three hours of high levels of adrenaline, I could lay my hands on my dear wallet.
I returned to my desk in the office happy at having recovered my lost wallet, and relieved that I need not chase the sarkari babus for all those cards. As I sat down on the chair, re-checking that all was in place, barring the cash, I impulsively tore a piece of paper, wrote my name in block letters and my contact numbers with an hyphen :)
In today's time of Ipad, Iphone and Gallaxies, where we store all our contact numbers electronically, we have lost the habit of maintaining the small pocket diary which would contain the phone numbers of all our friends and relatives. Recollect the heartburn you had when you lost your cell phone or the day when it crashed, and you had to start collecting all the numbers all over again, unless you have backed the data from your cell regularly.
So friends, even though you may be storing all your contact details in your latest model of ipad or iphone, make sure that you atleast put that piece of paper with your contact details in your wallet just in case some kind hearted person wants to return your lost wallet, albeit devoid of the cash :).
Ganpati Bappa Moraya......
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