Lost And Found

Whenever I lost anything, I was asked to invoke the thousand armed Karthiveerya Arjuna to help me trace the item. It worked for me like on the lines of the oracle at Delphi. Yet, the two incredible “lost and found” episodes of my life thus far never fail to reinforce my faith in miracles.

It so happened when I was in high school I lost my favourite pencil box which had been with me right from my kindergarten. The white box with a red lid embossed with a flower and several sayings haunted my dreams for almost a week. When I had all about given up, I happened to go to the music room of my school on some errand. Lo and behold! I found my box there waiting to be stashed away because no one had claimed it till then. The incident made me reinforce my faith in miracles.

Much later in life when I was travelling to college one of my silver anklets had fallen off in the bus. I did not realise the loss till a couple of hours after I reached my destination. I launched and executed an unsuccessful search along with my friends. The thought of losing something so precious and dear to me made me feel very blue. When I was returning home that evening by bus I was standing close to the front door. As the bus proceeded the driver remarked that somebody’s anklet has fallen off in the bus, No one had asked him about it nor had filed a complaint with the bus depot. Though I did not intend to eavesdrop on the conversation I could not help putting up my antenna when I heard the word anklet.

At the end of his line, I promptly chimed that the solitary anklet was mine. The driver and some commuters were taken aback. Even before they could say anything I promptly fished out the other anklet from my bag and brandished it in front of him with a flourish. I felt like the classical Kannagi who smashed her anklet containing rubies rather self righteously in front of the Pandyan king to prove her point. Within no time the anklet changed hands amidst remarks on God’s grace and good luck.

Though I have lost several things which are yet to be found, I hold on to the memories of these two fortuitous incidents, which I retell with the air of the “Ancient Mariner” to those who care to listen to me.