Lost and found

Delhi Police have been facing flak since December 2012 - from within the civil society as well as from the political class. The latest, of course, is a public castigation of the Police from the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit (you can read her statement here). There are not many sympathizers for the Police, at least not among the public since police force all over India have earned notoriety in not caring really for the public, but serving only the elected representatives.

This blog post, however, is related to something surprising - a shocking experience, that turned well after all, thanks to the Delhi Police.

I had travelled to Delhi by the evening flight from Bangalore and reached Delhi about a couple of hours later than the scheduled time, thanks to inclement weather in the month of January a couple of years ago. After having collected my checked in baggage (which took another half hour), I spent a further 20-30 minutes in the pre-paid taxi queue inside the airport manned by the Delhi Police.

I got into a Maruti 800 taxi at the airport and the taxi took me to a hotel where I had my reservations. Due to the delay and traffic, I reached the hotel (close to Nehru Place) almost at 11 pm. I had to take out my wallet to check the address of the hotel. In the confusion to get my bags out, and get into the hotel at the earliest due to the biting cold, I seem to have dropped my wallet inside the taxi. By the time I realized I had lost my wallet, the taxi had already left. I didn't know what to do. My credit card, debit cards, driving license, and cash (about Rs. 4,000) were in the wallet and I didn't have any identity proof elsewhere. I was sure that the driver didn't really know that I had dropped my wallet in the taxi. Anyway, the hotel staff didn't insist on any identity proof and said I could produce it after I got back my wallet. I didn't know what to do. I asked the staff for help, but saw that they too didn't have a clue. Nevertheless, I did have the pre-paid receipt for the taxi in my hand and on the reverse of the ticket there were telephone numbers for any complaints or help. I first tried those numbers, but was told to complain to the Airport Police and was given their numbers. I didn't get them on line. After a few failed attempts, I again dialled the helpline and explained my position to the person on the other end. He was not only sympathetic, but also mentioned that he had already contacted the Airport police station and informed them. Fortunately, I had memorized the taxi number which would prove easy for the Airport police, I was told. I checked up with my contact in Delhi and was advised to lodge a complaint in the nearest police station and get an FIR if I needed to get my duplicate documents. I did that and by the time I came back and settled down, it was 1 am.

Around 2.30 am there was a  call in my room and a chap at the other end asked for me by name and introduced himself from the Airport police to inform me that they had located my wallet and it was with them and could I please collect my wallet immediately! Imagine my surprise. But how to reach the airport at the dead of night in a cold winter morning in Delhi? I asked the receptionist of the hotel, and he arranged a taxi in about half an hour. I reached the airport and woke up the police guy, who took a letter from me and handed over the wallet after checking my driving license. But my real surprise was to follow.

When I wanted to tip him with Rs. 500, he refused and with folded hands said, "Sir, this is like a temple for me. I will not take a single rupee from you. I am glad that I could help you and you got your wallet and your cash and other valuables intact." I was dumbfounded.

I returned to my hotel in the same taxi, a much relieved and happy man silently thanking the Delhi Police.

Allure

A recent news item caught my attention. It says that India is the largest importer of gold - mostly used for jewellery. The most amazing news item was that after crude oil, gold is the largest material imported by Indians. Wow! That is something. Gold imported in 2012 by India is a staggering 25% of the total gold mined in the world, and the value of the import - (hold your breath) - $60 billion in fiscal 2012, just 50% higher than the $40 billion in fiscal 2011. I do not know the import duty on gold, but it is not high - at least not high enough to restrict consumption. The fear that if the government raises the import duty, there will be large scale smuggling is the major worry - given the laxity of officials in various areas of government!

Be that as it may, I have often wondered what makes buying gold so attractive. Is it the lustre, is it its lasting value, is it the very fact that it is almost indestructible, is it because it can be used to pledge and collect almost the entire value as loan? What is its allure? Maybe a combination of all of the above. Does wearing gold increase one's beauty? I believe in the opposite.

It is said that gold is one metal that cannot be "lost". We can always get back the gold through physical or chemical means. India has also been one of the first countries in the world to realize its value and use it for jewellery making since 2500 BC or thereabouts. A very long history.

But is it really required for a regular middle class person to invest in gold for his/her daughter's marriage? To borrow money and buy jewellery and give to the daughter for her to take away? What is the reason why we are so attracted to gold? Many rituals place a requirement for the person (groom or bride) to wear jewellery made of gold. That was when it was affordable. Is it affordable now? Then why do we insist on following the same ritual even when we know that we have to borrow, sometimes beyond our means, to artificially beautify ourselves? I don't understand the logic.

I stopped wearing jewellery a few decades ago. I didn't take any jewellery during my marriage - much to the chagrin of my in-laws inviting possibly some comments like "probably there is something wrong with this fellow that he doesn't even want a ring". My parents too tried to force me to agree at least to one ring or one chain. I refused. No regrets.

What if everyone stops getting attracted to gold? What if the metal stops being such an alluring possession? Imagine the grief of the miners, the jewellers, the goldsmiths, and the entire industry dependent on the allure of the masses. They will come to grief.

How I wish I had a magic wand to make this love for gold vanish!

My sporting life

Its been some time since my last blog. Many unsavoury things happened in December 2012 and the most unsavoury was of course the gang-rape and "murder" of a 23 year old in Delhi, Nirbhaya (not her real name). I thought out of respect to her, I should refrain for some time from posting anything that is not serious. And blogs are not for serious posts! At least not mine.

I have been watching some cricket of late and India's decline specifically. After losing the Test series to England at home, we managed to draw the T20I series (1-1) and lost the ODI series to Pakistan (2-1). Yesterday we lost the first ODI to England. So amidst all this gloom and my relative's exhortation that those who watch cricket are only wasting their "precious" time, I reflected on what did I achieve in my school and college days. Nothing, really. No competitive sport.

I grew up in  a township in Ranchi and we had less people there when I was in school. The township roads used to be pretty empty - thus my friends and I would draw the boundary lines on the road (tarred road) and play hand tennis. We had "fault". No "let" call since there were no nets. We also played "doubles" to ensure that there were no spectators - all players! I don't recall anyone reprimanding us from playing on the road. Life was simple. After sometime I graduated to play cricket on a ground not yet developed for township purposes. It was pretty flat, adjoining a railway track connecting Hatia to Ranchi junction. Amidst the chugging of an occasional goods train, we would bowl and bat there. I may not have lasted a few balls with the bat, but I was considered an amazing fielder and, not unlike some current Indian players, would be included in any side solely based on my fielding.

There was a "friendly" match being played between two schools and I was drafted into the side simply because there were not enough players who had come to the ground! I lasted a couple of balls and was probably bowled moving towards the leg side when facing a pace bowler. I remember our captain, RS (called "nai" for a reason I don't recall) had a few unsavoury things to say to me for lasting just a few deliveries and not troubling the scorers. I decided to retire from all forms of cricket after that episode. However, my retirement was not to be. During the "games" period in my school, I happened to hold the bat and Nai was bowling! He was smiling to himself thinking he would get another wicket in the same over. Ha ha! Not so fast mate. Not only did I NOT move towards the leg-side at the time of his bowling, but I smote him for a few boundaries and by the time the bell rang for the period to be over, I was still playing with a creditable half-century. My only one! He didn't have the guts to say anything to me after that. But unlike Afridi, my retirement was final. I concentrated on table tennis later. Couldn't get hurt, see!