Bag went around and got bagged

It was one of those journeys that one didn’t want to undertake. But certain things you do in life for family sake. I took the Blue Mountain express from Coimbatore to reach Chennai. To add to my misery, I didn’t sleep well. Whether the train had anything to do with my mood I dIdn’t know I was in a blue mood when I reached Chennai. My daughter’s call added to my blueness. She told me she lost her wallet at the central metro station platform and was waiting for me to arrive so that we could lodge a complaint at the nearby police station. So, we marched to the police station and got an exposure to our security system that is called police. Police station didn’t inspire our confidence at all. We waited for some time, as the person concerned wasn’t there. In the meantime, my niece whom my daughter had informed, and who works with police in a ngo capacity had called up some officer at the police station. He took some pity on us and asked us to write out a complaint and later informed that we should come again during the day and meet the guy concerned. 

While we were waiting my daughter and my wife who had reached by an earlier train from Bangalore had detailed out how my daughter managed to lose her wallet at the platform. My daughter had felt some itch on her underarm and she removed her shoulder bag and the jacket she was wearing and left it at the seat. In the meantime, the metro had arrived and in a hurry, left the shoulder bag where they had seated. Realization came after a few stations. Then they came back to where they boarded the metro and searched all over. They even went up to the customer care and searched in the CCTV. Alas! the CCTV missed the very spot where the bag got lost just like it happens in crime stories. 

In the evening when we returned to the police station the man concerned was once again missing. While we were waiting a woman came to the police station sobbing. She narrated her story as having lost her bag with some money and more importantly ration and aadhaar card. She had taken the bus for home after admitting her dad in the hospital. By her looks she was obviously from the lower strata of the society. 

It was then I asked her if she remembered her mobile no which she did. Upon dialling the bus conductor had picked up her phone and said the bus was on his way to a placed called Mugapper and on return would pass the police station and if the woman could wait in front of the police station, he would hand over her bag. The woman stopped sobbing and I could make out she was relieved a lot. 

Our waiting continued and some guy came and said that our case could be reported online and he showed us a web site. Once processed a FIR could be printed too. This would be necessary for getting a duplicate driving license. My daughter had blocked her credit and ATM cards. We found out that Aadhar duplicate could be obtained easily. So, we thanked him and decided to pursue the online course. 

By the time we were quiet irritated and tired and as we walked out the lighting at the majestic corporation building captivated as the colours mimicked the Indian tricolour. The sun was setting and cool sea breeze was soothing to the skin and the mind. There was some good seating outside where we plonked and stretched ourselves. We recapped the day’s events especially the indefinite waiting at the police station. All our minds turned to the sobbing women who represent the poor in our country and who are wooed only at the time of election for their votes. 

My daughter informed later in the night that she had registered an online complaint. Next day morning she had more interesting news that some one had contacted her on Facebook with the description of the shoulder bag and its content. The bag was found at Egmore station. That guy informed it was his friend who had the bag in possession but as he wasn’t in social media, he had asked this guy to do so. Once again, my street savvy niece in Chennai was contacted and she said she would take up the matter with that person directly and get the bag. We were to go back to Chennai in the following week for a visa interview at the US Embassy. 

To cut to the point my niece did establish contact with the bag retriever and got the bag. My daughter arranged to pick up the bag from my niece via Dunzo and the bag got bagged. As of date it still remains a mystery as to how the bag travelled from Central to Egmore station as the CCTV network missed the crucial evidence.  

The point of this narrative, apart from how the bag got back thanks to a good Samaritan was about the apathy in the system of governance. Take for instance the understaffing at the police station so close to the Central station which witnesses a lot of petty crime like pickpocketing, people losing their belongings, trafficking; no body could give us right guidance of how to go about lodging a complaint; the police portal where my daughter lodged the complaint was still processing her complaint; or for that matter when we came back to Chennai in the early hours lack of any person at the pre-paid taxi or autorickshaw counter in spite of the signage claiming a 24*7 availability of prepaid conveyance. One was welcomed by the touts and taxis ready to fleece the naïve lamb. Our cities are harsh in welcoming the travellers and Athithi devo bhava remains a mere sloka. 

The infrastructure in Chennai was merely stalling, pun intended, so much for the Dravidian (laughing) stock. Much fancied metro stations were supposed to under CCTV surveillance but much to our chagrin we discovered a spot where a crime could happen ala our TV serials. 

I wondered whether the poor woman got back her bag. She was dead worried not so much for the money she had in that bag but the ration and aadhaar card, only means for the poor to eke out a living in our country. Nobody at the police station did even bother to take her complaint.

So, when I hear people talk of shining India I wonder which India one talks about. The one percent India which enjoys all the comforts and privileges available to the average citizens in the first world!

May be I am outdated and living out my last innings!