You don't learn a lot of things unless you get into problems. This is something that I learnt from a bizarre incident that took place a couple of months back.
After having several busy weekends in the previous months, I wanted to enjoy a hassle-free, restful weekend and so I chose not to accompany my wife on her visit to her maternal uncle's place.
I had passed the Saturday as merrily as I could and wished to pass the Sunday with similar glee. However, we had plans to buy a refrigerator and so I decided to meet my wife on her way back at Ultadanga and visit Capital Electronics together.
I was awakened by a call at 11 AM. My wife was coming back and I had to move fast to meet her within an hour. Alas! Even on a cloudy Sunday with no rain, there was no scope to wake up and say "let me sleep again!"
At Ultadanga, I found my wife with two attachments - her sister and a small bag. As per our plan, we purchased a refrigerator from Capital Electronics and asked them to deliver it next day.
Thereafter, we boarded an auto for Haldiram's. The auto had some space at the back and I decided to make good use of it. I placed the bag there and thought I would take it after de-boarding and paying the fare.
On our way back to Haldiram's, my wife was too happy about the refrigerator acquisition and was completely aloof of the surroundings. We got down at Haldiram's and I paid the fare. When the autowallah returned the change, for a moment I started calculating if he returned the correct amount.I am a bit weak with mental calculations and often get lost in them. After I was done with the calculation, I remembered that I had to take the bag that I had placed at the backside of the auto, but by that time the auto was gone. Unfortunately, neither my wife nor my sis-in-law had remembered to take the bag. Usually my wife does not forget to take her belongings but that day she was probably in a different world throughout the auto ride.
I ran after the auto, but it was too far and stopped nowhere. In tense situations like these, it is difficult to keep one's cool; else I could have easily retrieved the bag by waiting for the auto's return at the other end of the road. Instead, I followed it on another auto. I informed the second auto driver about the bag and got down at Kaikhali where the vehicles stopped at the red light. Unfortunately, the auto that I was following was not the one that had my bag. I had lost it.
I desperately peeked into each auto standing there, but could not find the bag. Soon after, I gave up and returned to Haldiram. At the Haldiram stop, the driver of the auto that I had used for chasing informed me that he had found the auto that had the bag, and I could retrieve the bag from their union office. The auto driver provided me the address of their union office, but I was reluctant to go there.
My wife is very possessive about her belongings and insisted that I must retrieve the bag anyhow. So, I took another auto from Haldiram and asked the driver to drop me at their union office at Narayantala. The driver informed me that there were two union offices; one for the stand auto and the other for the flying autos. The office at Narayantala was for flying autos and those autos can be recognized by an orange logo at the back.When I visited the union office and explained the problem, the staff showed me a register containing photographs and addresses of all the auto drivers of flying autos in Ultadanga-Airport route. I tried to identify the auto driver, but it was futile. After all, how often do we try to remember the face of bus conductor, rikshawwallah, or autowallah? We depend so much on them and still, to us, they are just faceless identities. Isn't this incredible?
From the auto union office, I could not get more than a mere assurance that I will be informed if the bag is deposited, but the way the auto network was organized really amazed me. Truly, it works like an organization in all senses, with every member's information duly recorded and their roles and scope properly defined.
I came back home empty handed and could sense my wife's despair. My Sunday was ruined.
I waited till 4 o'clock and then called the union office multiple times, but my calls were not picked. So, I again went to visit the union office.
After waiting for almost an hour in front of the union office, I asked an auto driver if the office was going to open in the evening. He asked what the matter was, and I told that I had lost my bag in an auto. The auto driver started querying further and I described the entire episode including the bag's contents and all. Then the auto driver told me that I had left the bag in his auto only and he had looked for me at Haldiram's, but in the afternoon he had deposited the bag in a shop near his home.
I was so glad to hear that. I thought it is rightly said that when you set your heart on something and make the requisite efforts to achieve it, the entire universe conspires to make you succeed.
I requested the auto driver to take me to the shop where he had kept the bag, but he ensured that he will get it himself.
The auto went, and I had to wait for another hour for its return. Finally, I got the bag and rewarded the auto driver with Rs 100.
The bag did not contain anything precious, but still, it feels really good when you find a lost item, isn't it? For me, it felt even better because my efforts did not go in vain and I could make my wife happy. Also, I felt happy that through this bizarre incident, I learnt something new. I learnt how the auto network operates. I learnt that even in today's greedy world, honesty still persists.
