Date: 3/3/2017
Day: Friday
I was returning back to Bangalore from Chennai in the morning train (double decker). My seat was in the lower level, window side (I like the sights while travelling) and was the only seat on the left side corner of the coach. I had kept my bag on the rack on top and made myself comfortable. No co-passengers had arrived as yet, but there were a few seated on the other side, a bit far from my sight. There were the caterers loading the large food trays and filling up the dispensers with hot coffee and tea. I usually drink a liter of water once I wake up. I guess that shot a trigger to my bladder to relieve itself. I got up and went to answer natures call. The train hadn’t departed as yet. Relieved, I came back to my seat, plugged on the earphones for my brain cells to feel the hit of some nice songs and my lips to sing along gently.
A passenger walks up to me and says “Excuse me, you mind if I keep my luggage on the rack above you? As I see that you aren’t having any”. I look up and to my surprise, I see my bag missing!! When I came back from the rest room, an elderly person had occupied a seat adjacent to mine. I asked him if he may have seen anyone walk across but he seemed to have seen no one. He had in fact said that he hadn’t seen any bag on that rack. I began to ponder who would have taken it? A passenger or one of the caterers, or a railway staff, or a keen observer of me from the time I had walked into the station and boarded the coach. A mix of panic, anxiety and worry was trying to settle into my brain. Trying not to fall prey to them, I had to think of what has to be done to try to retrieve the bag. I asked a few others in close vicinity to my seat, but they too seemed to be lost and instead started rendering advices and situational outcomes. I was getting a bit irritated, but realized that they were doing their bit to help.
I then conversed with the caterers in Tamil, each of them who were selling breakfast, tea, coffee, snacks and water. Upon hearing my rendition, they jumped to a conclusion that someone would have walked into the coach, with the thought that I was carrying a laptop, cash or other electronic goods and would have taken the bag. But I wasn’t carrying a laptop. “Railway police kiita complain pannunga Sir. Try panallam but bag kadaikarithu guarantee iila” (File a complaint with the railway police, and if you’re stars are lucky you may get the bag. )
Contents in the Bag:
- 3 t-shirts
- Shorts – 1
- Toilet kit
- Sunglasses – 1
- A course file and a notepad
- A pair of floaters
- 2 vests 3 boxers
- Bangalore house keys
They said I was lucky I wasn’t carrying a laptop or money as they seen cases in which the absconder had stolen cash worth 30,000 and laptops. One instance they narrated was saddening, as a girl who had her graduation certificate in her laptop, had left her laptop for charge and went to the restroom. When she came back she found it missing. This train (double decker) is unlike a Shatabdi or a Lalbagh, in which you’ll never get tickets, and in this there are ample available, and a few coaches will have null occupation. I informed the TTR, he acknowledged and took a note of my complaint and said he would pass it on to the railway police and would try to get it back. He also said since I wasn’t carrying anything of worth, that person might even leave the bag in the station. I wanted to check if the bum would have left the bag in one of the other coaches and walked all the way from coach C1 to C8. Wonder what the co-passengers would have thought of me, as I didn’t do this once but thrice!! I texted my roommate about this and told him to leave his key at home before going to work. I was a bit upset, but if fate had to play its game, then that’s a stroke of bad luck and so be it! But what made me feel bad was that I had lost 2 biker tees and a box of 4 panner rolls (Yumm!!) which my mum had to wake up before sunrise to prepare. I know what you are thinking!! ;-). I also thought about the fond memories the bag and I shared for one last time!
Date: 06/03/2017
Day: Monday
In the afternoon, I get a call from an unknown number. When I answered a voice familiar said “Hello,Rahul?”. Yes, I responded and while conversing I came to understand it was a guy named Jeykel whom I had met in Chennai when I had attended a four day course. He was from Bangalore, pursuing a master’s degree in Coimbatore, so we exchanged numbers and decided to meet when he comes to Bangalore next. You’ll be amazed with what he had to tell me. He said “Dude, did you lose your bag in the train on your way back to Bangalore?”. It took me a few breaths and about two minutes to comprehend what he had just said. I said “Yes I did, how and what do you know about it?”. “I got a call from a lady who claims to have found your bag in the station. I’ll share her number; get in touch with her as soon as you can”. Bewildered! I asked him how on earth did she get his number? “She found my number in your notepad which you had used during the course” Whoa!! A great presence of mind I would say, but a human beings alter ego always raises this ridiculous feeling of doubt! Now, why would anyone be even a tad bit concerned about an abandoned bag at a railway station? I didn’t want to pile up a story without even knowing the prologue! I called the number which Jeykel had shared with me an a man answers the call. I speak in Tamil, introduce myself and told him the entire sequence of events. He responded saying he is that lady’s son and he would pass on the phone to his mom. Her name was Prema. She works in the Egmore railway station as a supervisor in the 2nd class waiting room (in charge of luggages). She said she found my bag in the 2nd class waiting room and had taken it home and was ardently looking out for contact information. She said her son found the number (Jeykel’s) and had made a call to him. The absconder, having scanned the bag and not having found anything of use to him would have left it to remain astray.
I noted down her number and she told me to call her next time I was in Chennai. She gave me two options: 1. if she was reporting for duty, she would carry the bag to the station and I could collect it from there and 2. If she was off duty, I could go to her residence at Avadi (about 25 km from where I reside) to collect it. A bit apprehensive of the latter Ta da, I plunged and grabbed the first offer. Yeah she literally made an offer I could refuse!! (Don Prema Corleone) LOL! I get to Chennai on 13th afternoon and give her a call. She told me to come to the Egmore station at 3:00 pm on 14th to the 2nd class waiting room. I thanked her and said I would call her on 14th afternoon prior to me leaving from home. When I did, she said her father has slipped in the bathroom and she had to take him to the hospital, and she is off duty on 15th. Again a dose of this ridiculous doubt loomed over my head! Why is she trying to avoid meeting me? She had been cooperative throughout, answered all my phone calls. But yes, she also shouldn’t care about others belongings? Hmmm. You stupid human mind, people all over the world are creating fires in their head because of you! Over the years, I had practiced not to succumb to his gameplay and also realized that overthinking and passing judgments leaves one exhausted!
Inner peace! Calmness! Tranquility!
I call up Prema on Wednesday, 15th and she said relayed the two options she had given me earlier. But now she would be in the station on 17th and at home on 16th. Preferring the first, we made an accord to meet on the 17th at 3:00pm. My dad had some work at a place nearby the station so he said he doesn’t mind coming with me once he is done with his errand. We drive down to the station and on my way I called Prema but did not get a response. After reaching the station, I called her nearly 8 times but to no avail. We walk up to the 2nd class waiting room to meet her. Witnessed a lot of people sitting, a few lounging and a whole lot of bags, a few stacked neatly in racks with tokens on them, a few sprawled around. We see this guy sitting with a table in front of him and a register on it. He said this is a list of people who have left their bags in the room and while taking them, they would have to sign. For the record! We ask him if he knows anyone by the name Prema. He looked a bit lost and on an auto-pilot mode, looking north talking south! “Premaa Va?” He exclaims. “No Saar, yennaku theriyadhu”. She must have gone for lunch. Wondering what to do, my dad and I exchange a few glances, gestures and words.
I take a look around the room but couldn’t spot it. Despair stricken, a line from coldplays song Fix You – “Lights will guide you home” played at the back of my head. Coming back to the place where the guy was sitting, I was standing with my legs crossed and my left hand on the side of the table, I take a look near the guy’s feet and I see three bags stuffed between the chair and the table. I inspect closely and could identify my bag was one among those, as it had two small holes in the front pouch. I pulled it up, opened it and took out all the items one by one. Apart from my sunglasses, everything was intact. I didn’t bother who would have taken it but that feeling of exhilaration ran down from my spine! I found my bag! I call up Prema again but her phone just kept ringing. My dad and I wait for 15 minutes but still see no sign of her. I take the bag and walk with a slight feeling of dejection, as she had kept my bag safely. Who would be so down to earth and humble in today’s world? We thank the guy and leave the station.
After about half an hour or so, I get a call. It was from Prema. I told her I came to the station, and found my bag in the 2nd class waiting room. She asks where I am. On my way home I said. She immediately responded asking why I hadn’t waited to see her. I said I had called her 8 times and also from the waiting room. She had apparently left her phone in her handbag, kept it in the locker, went to sign the register and finish lunch prior to taking up her responsibilities for the day. Having kept the bag under her custody for a week, she was irked up a bit as she couldn’t meet me. I carried the same emotion too. I told her next time I was in Chennai I would definitely come to the station to meet her. I called her son and thanked him too. I told my mum about it, and she too opined that I should have stayed as it is very rare to come across such pristine souls at a time when humanity has corroded! What would you have called it? Good Karma?
Appreciate people for who they are. We are all imperfect, dancing to the tune of life, and that’s what makes it beautiful!
The bag and its contents!
rahul15388 