By Cal D'Sylva on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 1:23am.
On the 31st of August, 2010, something out of the ordinary came to pass.
It was the fifth day of the continuous downpour. After class, Saba, Priya & I got into a rickshaw. On our way to Santacruz station from S.N.D.T., Juhu, we asked the driver to take a detour since both Saba & Priya had to pick up a book each. As we approached the book-store near Podar World School, my peers requested me to get off the rickshaw & buy the books, since I was the one at the ‘entrance/exit’. Considering the heavy rains & the number of bags & other belongings that my friends were ‘occupied ’ with, I decided that that was, in fact, the smarter thing to do.
Now I, myself, had a handbag & a carrybag (for my papers) & an umbrella. When it came time for me to get off & buy the books, I gave Saba my carrybag (with my papers). Then, I saw that they had more than enough to deal with. So, while they were busy rummaging around their bags for money to give me, I just glanced behind to check if there was any space to keep my handbag (which was heavy & would’ve been a li’l too much for me to dump on to Saba + I didn’t want to carry any extra weight to the store & back). Seeing some space at the back, I placed my bag in the ‘dickey’ of the rickshaw & ran to the book-store with the money & my umbrella.
I entered, got the books, paid the shopkeeper & was out of there in just about a minute or so. As I left the shop, I began looking around but couldn’t see them. Suddenly, I hear, “Cal...” & I looked to see Saba & Priya standing a few steps away from the book-store. I asked them what had happened, & they said that they saw this guy selling frankies & they felt like munching on some, so they got off. I asked them where the rickshaw was. “He’s gone... we paid him off...”, they smiled. Immediately, I asked them where my bag was & they both happily showed me my carrybag which I had given to Saba. I cried out, “Not this one... my handbag!!!”
They looked towards each other & then looked at me & said, “You didn’t take it with you?! We thought you had it. There was nothing in the rick. How come we didn’t see it?” I, then, told them that I had kept it in the back of the rickshaw & explained my reason for doing so. We were on the lookout for the same rickshaw, which, by then, was nowhere in sight. At that point, Priya remembered that when they had gotten off, there was a student of Podar who boarded it & requested the driver to take him to Linking Road. Then we began searching for an unoccupied rickshaw to go towards Linking Road. We found one & jumped in.
On the way, we kept peeping into all the rickshaws which had blue/black ‘curtains’ which the previous rickshaw had, to shield the passengers from the rainwater. Both, Priya & Saba, kept telling me that when they got off from the previous rickshaw, the fare was Rs. 11 & neither of them had a 1-rupee coin to give the driver along with the Rs. 10 note, & he was nice enough to not make a big deal out of receiving a rupee less. They said that he seemed to be an honest man & probably, if he saw the bag, he would return it. The girls asked me what all I had in my bag.
With whatever remaining sanity I had in me, I could think of my books (which had all the notes that I had taken down since day one) & my wallet (with my Citibank ATM/Debit card, my PAN card & some cash). The girls insisted that I call up the bank & block my Debit card. Every time I tried calling, I got the machine & was then put on hold & after a while the call would get disconnected. My friends even narrated the incident to the current driver. He asserted that it would be very difficult to find the same rickshaw.
Now, for those who are unaware, Linking Road is this long stretch which gets its name from ‘linking’ different parts of the city. We were still on Linking Road... but ‘how far do we go?’ was a question on all our minds! Finally, Saba decided that we should register an FIR. So, we asked the driver to take us to the Police Station. He did. We reached Khar Police Station.
This was my first time at a Police Station & from what I heard later, it was Priya’s first time, too & Saba had only been to one earlier for her passport formalities. Anyway, Priya entered & spoke to an officer who was available. She explained the situation to him. He stated that since this happened at Santacruz, if the driver did return the bag, he would take it to the Santacruz Police Station. Nevertheless, he took down my name & contact number, just in case the bag landed up there. At once, we left the place & boarded another rickshaw back to Santacruz. We kept wondering, ‘What if the driver saw the bag & went back to Podar?’.
Once at the Santacruz Police Station, we saw an inspector who was already busy conversing with a man. He looked at us & we told him that a handbag had gotten left behind in a rickshaw, & then he said, “Aise kaise reh gaya? Haath mein nahi pakadte ho... isne kaise pakda hai!” (pointing to Saba). I just tried to describe the situation to him. He, then, enquired what was in the bag & when I mentioned my ATM card, he asked if I had blocked it. I told him that I had tried calling but I wasn’t successful in getting through to the Customer Care. So, he instructed me to call them from the land-line at the Police Station. I did. I was finally able to contact the Citibank Customer Care & within a minute of providing my information, the card was blocked. I informed the inspector that it was done. He, subsequently, summoned a junior inspector (I think) & instructed him to fill out the required form.
The junior inspector began taking down my information. He had to make a note of what was in the bag. I mentioned my books. He said, “Jo zaroori hai woh batao”. I explained that the books were important because it contained all my notes. So, he agreed to note it down. Now, because I was so out of my mind, I couldn’t recall how many books I was carrying for sure. I knew there were a minimum of two books. But I couldn’t remember exactly, so, I told him I had three books. Other than that, I asked him to note down the PAN card & the Citibank ATM card. I just couldn’t think of anything else. Priya reminded me that I had my library-card & my pen drive. So, those, too, went down on the form. All the while, I hoped that if the driver did consider returning the bag, he would contact me directly. Although, I wondered how that would be possible since none of my cards (ATM, PAN) had my contact number on them. But, the library card & the fact that we boarded the rickshaw from S.N.D.T. could have helped the driver to track me.
By then, it was around 5:30 p.m., so, Saba decided to take a rickshaw home & drop me off at Goregaon. We said bye to Priya & boarded a rickshaw. On the way, while chatting with Saba, I was trying to visualize my bag & all that was in it. I already began making plans to cope with the loss. Saba offered to give me her notes. Then, I began picturing my wallet, one section after another. I wasn’t too upset about the money since it was about Rs. 100 + some 10s & 20s. Then it struck me that I had my Driving License in it, with my home address. I still wasn’t too restless until I realized that I had my house-keys in there, too! Now, the safety of my home was at stake. Whoever got hold of my bag, had free access to my house!
Saba dropped me off & offered me money to reach home. I got off & began walking. I continued walking & thinking about how bad my friends must be feeling even though it wasn’t anyone’s ‘fault’. I reached home & informed dad about the state of affairs. I said that we would need to change the locks. I got into the room & wept. I didn’t know what to do. This was the first time I had ever lost something major! Previously, I had (only) lost people... through death or broken relationships! & even though, those situations were far worse, this was the first time I had to interact with the cops. Anyway, I went ahead & got ready to attend the second day of the novena for the Nativity Of Our Lady. Later, dad showed me an article that had appeared in the T.O.I., just the previous day (30th August, 2010) - which provided contact numbers of the Mumbai Taximen's Union. I tried contacting them but I guess it was too late in the day since no one answered.
On my way to church, I met Anita & her mother. I narrated the events to Anita & requested her to pray. During Mass, after the Holy Communion service, we are generally encouraged to maintain silence for thanksgiving & personal prayer. On this particular day, the priest invited us to think of one specific intention that we had & bring it to Mother Mary & appeal to her to pray for that petition. I smiled. ‘God works in mysterious ways’, I thought. After Mass, I told Fr. that my bag had gotten left behind in the rickshaw & I asked him to pray. I then met Karen & asked her to pray, too.
Once back home, I decided it was about time I informed mom. I asked dad to give her a call. I spoke to mom & told her everything. She said not to worry & to just go ahead & pay attention to my work. I had my dinner & watched T.V. Finally, I began my work. While writing, I got a call from a friend of mine. Again, he ‘happened to call on the right day’. After hearing what had happened, he felt bad about it, as expected, but told me to “think of the bag as being gone & then if it comes back it would be good”. I said, “Yeah”... because I had already kind of told myself that! I continued with my work for some more time before deciding to call it a day.
The next morning, I left for college with a sling-bag from my brother’s cupboard. It was so light! I didn’t have much to carry- just my papers that remained with me & my umbrella. I left home with some money. Luckily, just before getting onto the railway bridge, I realized that I needed to buy myself a ticket since I had also lost my train-pass. I went ahead & bought a coupon booklet, punched the necessary amount of coupons, travelled to Santacruz & reached college.
When I entered class, both Saba & Priya seemed very sad & disheartened. None of us knew what to say or do. The lecture began. After about an hour or so, our professor had to go to the office for some work. Shamim was seated next to me. Generally, ‘when the cat is away the mice are at play’, so she decided to check her phone for calls/ messages. Suddenly, I heard her saying to someone on the phone, “Aapko ye number kahaan se milaa?... Ji! Main Calveena D’Sylva ko jaanti hun!” I couldn’t believe my ears! I just turned towards her with my eyes almost popping out! I practically grabbed the phone from her... & I heard her telling Saba & Priya, “Calveena ka bag mil gaya!” I spoke to the man. He said, “Madam, aapne rickshaw main bag chhoda tha?”. I exclaimed, “Haan!”. I couldn't believe it... & yet... I could! I asked him where he was & he said that his brother was the one whose rickshaw we had boarded & that as we were speaking, his brother was somewhere near college enquiring about me! I was ready to run down to the security but he said that the bag was with him in their room. So, I asked if he would be coming towards college. He explained that it wouldn't be possible to return the bag that day but may be the next day (1st September, 2010). I was fine with it. No, I was more than fine... I was elated!
I asked him when he would like me to meet him & he said at 7:30 in the morning. Although college begins only at 9:30, I had absolutely no issues coming in early, as long as I was going to get the things back! I thanked him with a deep sigh of relief. By then, Ma’m had entered & the girls told her what had happened & she exclaimed, “Arre, zor se bolo, ‘THANK YOU!’”. Now all this while, I was chatting on my friend's mobile phone because apparently, the man found her number in my book & tried it out. I couldn't remember ever writing down her number in my bo
ok! I thought it possibly happened sometime at the beginning of the course. But, I still was unsure because I normally save contact numbers directly onto my phone as I don’t want them to be misused if someone else comes across them. Anyway, the lecture continued as per schedule.
After we were done with the lecture, Saba called & informed her mom about the good news. Shamim told me that when she checked her phone during the break, she was wondering who she received 7 missed calls from. I was thanking God for the man having called all those times. I took his number from Shamim & gave him a call during the lunch break. I said he could save my number & I asked him, once more, if it was, at all, possible for him to come towards college that day, since I’d be there till 5:30 in the evening. He said, “Madam, gaadi 6 baje ko hi nikaalunga”. So, I told him that I didn’t mind waiting back & requested if he could meet me the same evening. He agreed. I kept thanking him.
During the lunch break, Priya thought of informing her mom about what had happened & that’s when I remembered that I, too, had to let my dad know. In the evening, most of the girls left class around 5 - 5:30. Priya decided to wait back with me... she told me to call & make sure that he was, in fact, going to meet us that day itself! So, I called him & he confirmed that he would come over later. Then, we left the classroom, walked around the campus for a while, went to the canteen & then again continued walking around because we had to wait for him, as it is. I checked the time & it was about 6:15 p.m. I told Priya about it & she just had one thing to say, “Indian Standard Time! You wait.” Ultimately, it was almost 6:30 p.m., when he called & said that he would reach in another half hour.
Priya didn't wait too long to say, “Come, we'll go to Juhu beach!”. I somehow knew that I'd hear that, sooner or later! Now, since she was accompanying me, I thought, 'Why not?' & in any case, I didn't have anything else in mind at the time. So, we walked. We went to Juhu beach & I took some photos of the beautifully-lit sky! I kept telling Priya that I was unhappy about having to miss the novena that evening. While we were there, I got a call from dad, telling me that he would be leaving the house & he just called to check whether I needed the keys... & then he said, “Haan, anyway, you’ll get your keys now”. Priya & I spent a short time there, but obviously my mind was on the bag, so, I told Priya that we should probably get going, in case the driver would reach college & call us, I didn't want to make him wait for us after the already huge favour that he was doing! Hence, we got back... & kept walking around the campus like before.
At last, he called & enquired where I was & I asked him where he was. He had reached college so, I told him that I'd come out to the main gate. & there they were- the two brothers- they gave me the handbag & asked me to check that everything was still in! I took the bag & kept thanking them profusely. They both stepped out of the vehicle & the man who drove us the previous day- the big brother- began telling Priya all the thoughts that ran through his head after he saw the bag. Meanwhile, I opened up the bag & guess what the first thing I saw was... Rebecca's book!
I screamed to Priya, “THIS IS BECCA'S BOOK!!!!!”. I was thanking God so much because as I mentioned earlier, I didn't mind or rather I had tried to make peace with losing my books... I had thought of solutions to it; & I was going to be fine. Apart from that, back at the Police Station, I couldn’t remember the exact number of books I had in my handbag, because I had totally forgotten that I even had Rebecca's diary with me. Rebecca is one of the few people who really writes... I mean, even when our professors give tiny details that others don’t note down, she does! & what was even more chilling was that this diary contained the notes of all the 5 papers (subjects)!!!!! I didn't know what I was feeling... because if I had lost that, I don't know how I would've coped. I'd have that on my mind for the rest of my life!
Later, I opened my wallet & began checking for all the 'important' things that I could remember were in there- my ATM card, my PAN card, my Driving License, my library cards, the money etc. Then, I remembered to look for my house keys & all this while, our ever-smiling driver was narrating the events that transpired since the previous evening. & then, when I was about done, he looked at me & asked what happened.. “Sab kuch hai, na?!”, he confirmed. I replied saying I just didn't know what to give them for their act of kindness. If I remember correctly, he said, “Nahi, bas, saamaan mil gaya na, aapko!” Then I decided to give him the money that I had in my wallet.
So, I took out the Rs.100-note & gave it to the driver who had driven us the previous day (the elder brother). He refused to take it & said, “Nahi, isne sab kiya, to isko de deejeeye”, pointing to his younger brother who had made all those calls. So, I gave the money to the younger brother & then Priya & I didn’t know what to do next, so, we said, "Acchha, teekh hai... thank you". Just then, the younger brother pointed towards the elder one & said, “Inko bhi kuch deejeeye”! I told them that I had given whatever I had & I was just left with some change (10s & 20s) which I was taking out to give our driver. Then, Priya decided that she'd give him another Rs.100. After that, we thanked them again & turned to walk away.
Now, I normally carry a few passport photos of myself in my wallet, in case I suddenly have to fill any form or ID card which requires my photo. So, apparently, both the brothers had taken one photo each when they came to college to ask for me. They sincerely returned the photos & I thanked them again. Then, as we turned to leave, the elder brother called out, “Abhi aap station hi jaa rahe ho, na? Hum bhi uss taraf jaa rahe hain... hum chhod denge”. I looked at Priya & then we both got into the rickshaw with the younger brother driving & the elder brother in the passenger seat with us!
Even on the way, they kept saying how people were telling them that it could be a bomb or something like that & yet, they chose to believe that since we were college students, it wouldn't have been anything of that sort. I told them how that was also one of the thoughts that crossed my mind- if they saw a bag left behind they could easily have thought of it as an explosive because of all that we have been witness to in the past. The elder brother was quite a talker. He said, “Aap, hamein gaali deeye honge”. I assured him that I did no such thing. From the time the girls mentioned the previous evening that he didn’t mind them paying a rupee less than the fare. I knew he was a noble person. He continued explaining, “Ek machli kharab hoti hain to saari machliyaa kharab nikalti hain, woh baat to hai... lekin... ” Then the younger brother added, “Hum Benaras ke hain. Benaraswalle jhoot nahi bolte!”
When we came close to the signal which is a minute away from the Railway Station, the elder brother suggested to the younger one that they go straight ahead & asked us if it was alright if they dropped us there. Obviously, we were more than grateful for everything that they had done for us. We got off & walked towards the station. I called Saba & Shamim to tell them what had happened because they had both sent messages earlier to find out whether I got the bag. Then, I got in the train & once I reached Goregaon, I called my friend to tell him about as much as I could at that time. He asked me whether I had the name of the drivers. I said that I did & then he advised me to write an article about them in the newspapers to let the world know that such good people still exist! & even though he doesn't have much idea about facebook, he knows I use it & he suggested that I write about them there too... which I told him I was already thinking of doing!
Well, on the way back home I remembered I hadn't checked for my pen drive. So, when I did, I couldn't find it. I waited to reach home & scan the entire bag to confirm whether it was really not there. Later, I emptied the bag & around that time I went through both my notebooks & then realized that I had, in fact, not written Shamim’s number in my book. It was Rebecca who wrote it down in her diary! God bless her! Anyway, the pen drive wasn't there. I didn’t mind them having taken the pen drive (in case they did), but I just hoped that they would delete all the photos that were on it. Just a few days ago, when I went to meet my cousin I had uploaded numerous photos of my Godchild on the pen drive. So, that was something that I was regretting.
Anyway, I called the driver to ask for his name which I had forgotten & even his elder brother's name & I told him that I wanted to write in the papers about their kindness. He willingly provided me with the names- Sunil Kumar Prajapati (the younger brother, who made all the calls) & Guddu Lal Prajapati (the elder one, our driver, who came looking for me!). Sunil Kumar ji followed it up by the vehicle number. Then, I just mentioned that my pen drive was missing & I asked him if he knew what it was. He said that he did. I, then, requested him to look for it, in case it had fallen out from the bag. He assured me that he would look around in the room & get back to me, in case he did find it. Now, I had to inform mom that I got the bag back. So, again, I asked dad to give her a call & I joyfully told her about it. She said, “Yeah, I know.” I was taken aback & wondered whether she heard me clearly. Then she revealed to me that she had made a vow to St. Anthony. I didn’t know what to say or feel!
The following morning (2nd September, 2010), Sunil Kumar ji gave me a call & said that the child in their room had found the pen drive & was playing with it; but later, the maid through it in the trash. I didn’t know how to react. I was disappointed.
In the evening, after Mass, I couldn’t wait to let the priest know what had happened. I told him & he said, “See!.. The power of prayer!”. “The power of prayer!”, I echoed his sentiments.
I had still not informed Karen & Anita. On the 3rd of September, I was so enthusiastic when I called out to Karen after the novena, she guessed & asked me with a broad smile, “You got your bag?”. “Yeah”, I shouted out. & guess what she said... “Good! I had a feeling yesterday. I prayed to St. Anthony.” I was now doubly speechless (if that’s possible)! I finally informed Anita a few days ago. She said she prayed for me at Mount Mary’s, Bandra.
Now, I'm sure each one of you will have an opinion of your own. But I just wanted to share this with as many people as I could. & I encourage you to let others know, too! It’s about time I enlightened the world!
Today was a beautiful blessing. I got to experience something incredibly unique... Becoming sightless.
