LOST AND FOUND
The day was
like any other day. It was Friday. Evana’s Amma was there at the Pettah Bus stop
to pick her up when St. Thomas School Bus arrived at 4.30pm on the dot. She had
no other go as there was no one else at home to trek the distance.
Amma is a
very busy person, on, work at home. IT. She had somehow disentangled herself from
her schedule on permission to proceed to Pettah. Even while she was waiting she had to attend
to calls and SMSs and respond at once.
A regular
feature in her life.
Just a kilometer.
To save
time she takes an autoriksha both to and fro.
Expensive.
But her tight schedule dictated it.
On Friday
she was busy more than ever. And she forgot to take out Evana’s school bag from
the vehicle. The auto went off.
It was
after ten minutes, it came to light the school bag was missing. It contained Evana’s
text books and note books. Evana , 7 years, is in the 2nd standard.
There was
no way to track the autoriksha as they did not have its Registration Number.
The entire
house was in turmoil. Evana’s grandma, was visibly upset. Her BP went on a gallop. She went out. Threw
open the gate. She stood there hoping the auto would return with the bag. After
a while her husband went out and told her it served no purpose.
She had a
brainwave. The Residents Association had installed Cameras in the area. Her husband
called Rajmohan who had the access. Unfortunately he was at Ernakulam. Rajmohan
assured he’d be back the next day and he’d locate the autoriksha through
theCCTV.
That was
the whole issue. The autoriksha remained untraceable.
The elderly
gentleman from the beginning of the episode was sitting there like a Zombie
till then, the rest of the people at home had felt. They thought why he was
brooding. He didn’t say anything. He
displayed no emotions.
Then he
asked his wife to fish out the phone number of Anilkumar, former councilor. INCI. He
called Anilkumar. He requested him to help out. “How?” was the response.
“Please
circulate among your circle of workers and friends. “
Evana
started crying. She was sad the bag was lost because she was careless. The
grandpa pacified her. He told her it was something that happened to many
children. He assured she wasn’t at fault. He suggested she’d better have some
food.
The man
went into an overdrive. He called Bobby, neighbour and politician. CPI. Bobby
was in a meeting. He messaged back asking
for the matter in Malayalam. Ann wrote out in English and asked Google for the
translation into Malayalam. The data was forwarded to Bobby. Bobby replied that
it had been in the Janamaithry and two groups of autoriksha drivers.
Then the father
in law asked Ann to call Roy, his nephew and seek his help. She promptly did
that.
Meanwhile
Ann called her husband 10km away, and apprised him of the developments. He
called his friend in the Police, an SI. He suggested the registering of a complaint with 112. Ashwin
phoned his father and requested him to do that as he believed his father was pretty
good in conveying such issues.
The father called
112. They were very kind. They asked for the Police Station in whose
jurisdiction the incident occurred. When the reply was Pettah, they provided
the phone number of Pettah P S and advised to refer the matter there. Pettah PS
was also very helpful. They advised to file a complaint the next day and that necessary
paper and pen were available there.
The father
in law and the daughter in law then proceeded to the place from where she took
the auto. It was 7pm. No autos were parked there. They waited there for some time
and made enquiries. An autorksha driver who had returned by then told them,
such bags are delivered either at the union office or the local Police station.
When they
sought where the Union Office was with Mr.Jayaram, a shop keeper, he showed
them the circulated message on his phone. He assured he would talk to the Union
President and advised them to go back home.
Meanwhile
the father in law called his friend, Kannan, a painter and who knew many
workers at Pettah. Kannan sprang into action and spread the matter through his
groups.
The father
in law and the daughter in law returned home in an autoriksha. When they
revealed their predicament, the driver advised them to post the matter in the
Facebook and he assured they’d get the schoolbag back in no time.
Back home
while they were wondering what else they needed to do, the calling bell chimed.
It was Anil on his scooter with the bag. He said he was the person who drove
the autoriksha. He said he had discovered the schoolbag when he reached home. Though his wife told him to deliver it
at the Police Station, his friend Sathy, another Union Leader advised him to
search for any ID in the bag. Then he went to the house he had taken a passenger
last. When they told him it was not theirs he was certain it belonged to this
house.
He was planning
to take it to the Police Station in case it did not belong here.
Evana took
her bag gleefully. Her Amma tried to give some money to Anil. He declined. He
wanted nothing.
Tense
moments were over. The cumbersome issue
was the re-creation of the texts and the notes in case the bag was irretrievably
lost.
Such a nice
man, the family thought.
Three hours
Lost at
5.15pm.
Found at
8.15pm
In the
interim, the message for assistance must have reached countless phones.
There is
goodness in this world. Kind people abound all around.
The
Schoolbag was lost… and found.
.
Posts
