The Lost Wallet

Of many dreadful experiences in life, one is of losing your wallet. Losing money is the least of our headaches at such times. The process of getting a brand new Credit/Debit card or a new driving license is almost killing. The thing is, there is not enough care in the world that can ensure your wallet doesn’t get lost. People lose things one way or another, it just happens. There are successful organized gangs that do pick pocketing and are thriving. So yes if luck favors we are quite likely to get pick pocketed.

Once it happened, I was visiting a friend. My wallet was in my back pocket as I rode my bike. There were a few traffic signals on the way, and were quite jam packed. Once I reached my destination, got my bike parked and got ready to move to a small eatery, I involuntarily reached my pocket to check the wallet. And my heart just skipped a bit. There was this sudden sunken filling as if I just lost something irreplaceable. I checked my pocket again knowing well the futility of action. The heart beat was picking up speed like a bolting athlete. And for a moment I was just dazed, lost and empty.

My friend arrived, and a sudden smile appeared on my face out of nowhere. Friends mean so much! I told him what had happened. Every ordeal is a joke when discussed with your buddy and this was no different. At first he was like, I knew it all along, with your careless attitude this was going to happen someday. Any ways tell me what all things you lost. And we started analysing the gravity of the situation. Once the situation was read, first task was to block the ATM cards. We went to the nearest internet cafe, got customer care numbers of the two banks which trusted me with those beautiful plastic cards. I dialed in and requested them to block my cards with immediate effect.

Next we went to a nearby police station to report the matter. We thought far ahead, maybe if my wallet was picked by a criminal who got caught at any point. Then it will be more trouble for me as all sorts of questions like what is your driving license doing with this person? How does this man hold your credit card? Would crop up. If you say it was lost then a question would be asked, where is the police complaint? So we thought it was wise to just lodge a FIR as a proof that my wallet was really lost. I suspected that it was stolen at some damn traffic signal. But when I narrated my story to the police, they came up with standard excuses like not under our jurisdiction etc. to just whisk us away. I didn’t have enough will left in me to fight them anymore, so I just gave up. Although it feels me with remorse as to why I didn’t stand up, it felt most wise at that time to just give it up.

Once such a thing happens, it’s a huge pain to explain to the rest of the world what really happened. You have to repeat the same story a hundred times. As most of us have this flair for spicy conversations we always tend to extrapolate things. But for me huge effort was to remember if I had extrapolated something so that my account of the story wasn’t in conflict with what I had told to someone else. People provide different opinions. Some will provide you with wisdom like, it’s never a good idea to keep your wallet in your back pocket while travelling, or when you are in the crowd. It should always be your front pocket at such times. Some people will say, it’s never correct to put all your money at one place like your wallet, instead it should be spread all over your pockets. Hell! How cumbersome that is, I would prefer losing my wallet again. And then there are parents who will look at you like a policeman looks at a criminal and make you believe that it was all your fault. It was quite funny to observe.

So the news was finally out in the public. Next I had to go to the bank to get some cash out. I was back in ancient times, filling out bank slips. I attempted that forgotten signature again, man I never get it correct the first time. Stood in the long queue, while collecting cash the cashier observed I had not updated my bank book in 2 years and coyly asked me if I had lost my ATM card? A little amused I asked how she guessed? She replied people visit the bank for such small withdrawals only when they can’t use their ATMs. Then I filled up the form for a new ATM and got out. Next went to another bank some kilometers away followed the same dull process and the day was up. When you have a bank work, typically that’s the only work you do in the entire day. Next big headache was getting my driving license back. That was going to be a real pain with FIR and all required. So I decided to just postpone the activity for time being.

Just 3 days later when I returned home from my office I saw an unusual package lying on the table. The envelope of the package was made out of notebook paper. A few pages from an old notebook must have been torn to make it. The package was sent by speed post and had the postage seal on it. I could make out the place from where the package was sent by looking at the postal seal. It was a place nearby to where I parked my bike on the day I lost my wallet. On the envelope there was my name and address handwritten in big letters. I quickly opened the package and the sight just blew my mind. There emerged my beautiful wallet in perfect condition. I have not enough words to express my amazement and joy. In the envelope there was also a note, which I opened and began reading.

The note read. Dear Mr. Ajay, you dropped your wallet at a traffic signal last night. I picked it up and searched through it to see if I could find your number. When I couldn’t find it, I used the details on your driving license to find you on Facebook. However I could not find you on Facebook. So finally I decided to post it back to you on the mentioned address. Please make sure you take good care of your precious belongings next time. I read the letter and reread it few more times. It meant a lot. There wasn’t a mention of the sender anywhere on or inside the package. It doesn’t really matter, I will remember the person for the rest of my life.

The package left me with lots of lessons to be followed over a lifetime. My own happiness and joy was a proof enough to do something good in life and not desire to see its impact directly. If you are doing good it will always bring a smile to someone somewhere, you don’t really need to see it. The world is not really bad as we perceive it, it’s just that our eyes are not wide open to see those beautiful people with their wonderful hearts making a difference day in day out.