My 1st April 2010
After reading the title, if you are expecting a nice funny fool's day story, then you are mistaken. Please dont read beyond this if you are expecting that. This is just a true incidence that happened to me this thursday. Something which has still not vanished from my vision. This might be a boring narrative, but I think that this has to be told.
I left office a little early as it was the last working day of the week. I took my car to the hinjawadi petrol pump for refill, paid by card and put my purse in the back-seat. I generally put all my jewellery, mobile, cash, cards etc. in my same tiny purse until 1-4-10. (I know its wrong, but until thursday my argument was, that way I can keep a better eye on my stuff) . I dropped a friend at Sangvi Phata. When my friend got off, somehow my little stash of valuables fell off. I did not realise this until one hour later.
In a post-haste, I took my car back. My only hope was that maybe, owing to the busy traffic, my purse would be ignored. There was no sign of my purse. It had jewellery worth nearly 1.25 lakh(my mangalsutra) and my samsung i8910 mobile(which was an anniversary present from my husband) and one other mobile along with other important documents and cards. The only worthless thing in my purse was my license. My dad asked me to give up any hope of finding it. At max, you may find your license, he said.
When I was a child, a peculiar thing had happened to me. I had once found a gold ring of around 50 gm. I had found it to be singularly uninteresting and I had returned it back to the owner. I was barely 4 years old. I was appreciated for my honesty and I got some awards etc. Why does a bad deed come back to you whereas good deed does not? Why was god putting me into unnecessary loss? Why was a small carelessness being punished so badly? These and many other expletive thoughts were clouding me.
I went to the nearby police station. I filed an FIR. I asked them to give me a call, if they heard of anything. I was willing to offer a reward. Thats when I realised I had not blocked my cards. I had started preparing my mind for the biggest loss of my life. Even my hopeful optimism could not conjure an image in which ANYONE would return all my stuff.
I reached home at around 11. I got a call from my husband. He was able to reach my cell and a person had - YES - kept it with him for safe-keeping. He gave me an address to pick up the purse, next morning.
The address was Sai Shraddha colony in Kalewadi fata. I was to see a person named Hussain Shaikh, who was a taxi driver. A faint unhealthy thought also passed my mind. I wont expound on it, but I am most ashamed of it. I was sure that he will say that the gold was stolen or the mobile was not there. I entered the colony. It had some decent houses all over. I knocked some doors and asked for Mr. Shaikh. Nobody knew him. I finally rang a number he had given me. He gave me directions. I stood infront of a "hut" made of tin sheets. It was less that 8'X8' in size - maybe a little bigger than a clothes closet. It served as kitchen, bedroom and dining room for six of them. Mr. Shaikh was a middle aged man. He, his wife, three daughters and a son, were staying in that dilapidated hut. One of his daughter was undergoing treatment as she was mentally challenged. His son was in tenth standard. Younger ones were even smaller. They had only two cups in the house, which were used to serve morning tea for me and my father. He was working as a six-seater driver for some other person. In less than 10 hours, I wished that he had not given the purse back to me and used everything within it to give his kids a decent shelter.
I offered him some bakshish, which he refused. "This is not a task worth reward", he said. "I had asked a girl to pick the purse when I saw it lying around. She was working girl, like you. But she thought that there might be a bomb in it. Finally I picked it and kept it with me. I dont want to keep anything from that purse. It wont be my earning. Easy money always makes a tough exit. If I would have kept your purse or if I take your reward, I am sure that god will make sure that I will lose the money as fast as I got it. Whats the point of having the ill-gotten money, if I will end up spending it only for illness in my family?"
I knew that by not keeping the purse, he was giving his kids something far more valuable than a good shelter, good clothing or good education. He was giving them good values. I forced some money into hands of his eldest daughter and asked her to buy a new dress and I gave them some sweets as a token of gratitude. I had to spend at least half an hour convincing him into taking it.
All my thoughts were redeemed. What goes around, indeed comes back around and with a larger magnitude. When I had returned a gold ring, I neither needed nor wanted it. When I got this favour paid forward, it was from a man who really needed but did not want it.
Have u realised that only three emotions can bring tears to your eyes - pity, guilt and goodness. My eyes welled due to all the three emotions for a certain 6-seater driver named Mr. Hussain Shaikh. I have spent last four days apologizing to God. He balanced thousands of chindi-chor with one Mr. Shaikh. I thank him for that. I thank him for his benevolence and I thank him for his blessings.
I left office a little early as it was the last working day of the week. I took my car to the hinjawadi petrol pump for refill, paid by card and put my purse in the back-seat. I generally put all my jewellery, mobile, cash, cards etc. in my same tiny purse until 1-4-10. (I know its wrong, but until thursday my argument was, that way I can keep a better eye on my stuff) . I dropped a friend at Sangvi Phata. When my friend got off, somehow my little stash of valuables fell off. I did not realise this until one hour later.
In a post-haste, I took my car back. My only hope was that maybe, owing to the busy traffic, my purse would be ignored. There was no sign of my purse. It had jewellery worth nearly 1.25 lakh(my mangalsutra) and my samsung i8910 mobile(which was an anniversary present from my husband) and one other mobile along with other important documents and cards. The only worthless thing in my purse was my license. My dad asked me to give up any hope of finding it. At max, you may find your license, he said.
When I was a child, a peculiar thing had happened to me. I had once found a gold ring of around 50 gm. I had found it to be singularly uninteresting and I had returned it back to the owner. I was barely 4 years old. I was appreciated for my honesty and I got some awards etc. Why does a bad deed come back to you whereas good deed does not? Why was god putting me into unnecessary loss? Why was a small carelessness being punished so badly? These and many other expletive thoughts were clouding me.
I went to the nearby police station. I filed an FIR. I asked them to give me a call, if they heard of anything. I was willing to offer a reward. Thats when I realised I had not blocked my cards. I had started preparing my mind for the biggest loss of my life. Even my hopeful optimism could not conjure an image in which ANYONE would return all my stuff.
I reached home at around 11. I got a call from my husband. He was able to reach my cell and a person had - YES - kept it with him for safe-keeping. He gave me an address to pick up the purse, next morning.
The address was Sai Shraddha colony in Kalewadi fata. I was to see a person named Hussain Shaikh, who was a taxi driver. A faint unhealthy thought also passed my mind. I wont expound on it, but I am most ashamed of it. I was sure that he will say that the gold was stolen or the mobile was not there. I entered the colony. It had some decent houses all over. I knocked some doors and asked for Mr. Shaikh. Nobody knew him. I finally rang a number he had given me. He gave me directions. I stood infront of a "hut" made of tin sheets. It was less that 8'X8' in size - maybe a little bigger than a clothes closet. It served as kitchen, bedroom and dining room for six of them. Mr. Shaikh was a middle aged man. He, his wife, three daughters and a son, were staying in that dilapidated hut. One of his daughter was undergoing treatment as she was mentally challenged. His son was in tenth standard. Younger ones were even smaller. They had only two cups in the house, which were used to serve morning tea for me and my father. He was working as a six-seater driver for some other person. In less than 10 hours, I wished that he had not given the purse back to me and used everything within it to give his kids a decent shelter.
I offered him some bakshish, which he refused. "This is not a task worth reward", he said. "I had asked a girl to pick the purse when I saw it lying around. She was working girl, like you. But she thought that there might be a bomb in it. Finally I picked it and kept it with me. I dont want to keep anything from that purse. It wont be my earning. Easy money always makes a tough exit. If I would have kept your purse or if I take your reward, I am sure that god will make sure that I will lose the money as fast as I got it. Whats the point of having the ill-gotten money, if I will end up spending it only for illness in my family?"
I knew that by not keeping the purse, he was giving his kids something far more valuable than a good shelter, good clothing or good education. He was giving them good values. I forced some money into hands of his eldest daughter and asked her to buy a new dress and I gave them some sweets as a token of gratitude. I had to spend at least half an hour convincing him into taking it.
All my thoughts were redeemed. What goes around, indeed comes back around and with a larger magnitude. When I had returned a gold ring, I neither needed nor wanted it. When I got this favour paid forward, it was from a man who really needed but did not want it.
Have u realised that only three emotions can bring tears to your eyes - pity, guilt and goodness. My eyes welled due to all the three emotions for a certain 6-seater driver named Mr. Hussain Shaikh. I have spent last four days apologizing to God. He balanced thousands of chindi-chor with one Mr. Shaikh. I thank him for that. I thank him for his benevolence and I thank him for his blessings.
posted by D at 1:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home