Ah to be 20 again!!!

Yesterday night was Dance night at RJM, performances by PGP/PGPX/Exchange students- basically everyone. By the time we reached the hall it was jam packed and bubbling with excitement. We got seats near the end of the audi just next to a group of very enthusiastic guys. Even before the performances began the hooting and cat calls began. The poor guy who was compeering the show really put on a brave face and did the job well. Once the acts began it felt like I was back in college, for a moment all adult thoughts took a back seat -the kaam waali bai, the vegetables to be bought, the press waale kapde, the deadline for current piece of work. All that was there was this moment that we (spouses) were enjoying -clapping and moving to the beats of the songs being performed- checking out the performers and the outfits and oh ya cheering or booing on top of our lungs. The PGP students seemed to be enjoying thoroughly too, there was the usual noisy bunch and then there were the love birds, sitting together arm on shoulder way. It was an “ossum” experience after a very long time indeed.

Faith in humanity – Restored!!!!

Day before yesterday on my to the gym I inadvertently lost my wallet, though I didn’t realize this at the time and went about my business as usual. Only when I started getting repeated calls from an unknown number asking for “adit bhai” first and later “aditi ben” did I realize what had happened. The person on the phone informed me that he had my wallet. He was kind enough to let me know where he was at the moment and that I could collect the wallet cards and cash (all of 75 bucks) intact from him. S and I reached the said location within 5 mins and called the number after parking. The man told us that he was right across the road at the pharmacy. This guy was tall, seemed to be in his late 30’s and by the uniform that he was wearing- a driver. After verifying that it was indeed my wallet he handed it to me. I was immensely grateful to this savior. He asked me to verify that all cards/cash/papers were intact. He even apologized for going through my wallet to look for identification. I was overwhelmed and words failed to express my gratitude. Furthermore when S offered him a reward, he politely declined saying that it was his duty and that he knew what a loss losing a wallet could be. I was happy to get my wallet back but disturbed as well. I kept thinking about the incident and kept wondering whether I had become a cynic as my first thoughts after realizing that I lost my wallet were that “I am never going to get it back”. I was also nonplussed by this strangers actions, he did not want any monetary reward either. Maybe my view of the world had been wrong all along; maybe the world is a good place after all. I felt like a fool for doubting humanity. The next day in the evening I got a call from my wallet savior guy (WSG), I took the call thinking he probably wanted to verify all was ok. WSG started telling me the story of how it wasn’t him who had actually found the wallet, it was some other person and how he had taken the wallet from the actual finder and had returned it and that it was actually the cards in the wallet that compelled him to return the wallet (well obviously there were only 75 rupees in cash), after about half an hour into this story, WSG said that the guy who had found the wallet wanted a reward for doing the right thing, WSG said he was being pressurized and wanted us to give him cash that could be handed over to the actual finder. S spoke to WSG and asked him for the actual finder’s name and number, which WSG didn’t have, we smelt a rat and when S asked him for further details he hung up. WSG hasn’t called since and I don’t think there was another guy. I don’t know what made WSG call the second day, don’t know who or what compelled him to cook up such a story when he had declined the reward the first day. The only thing that WSG’s phone on the second day did was to restore my faith in humanity. This is a dog-eat-dog world; everyone is out to see their own good. I slept better that night knowing the world is cynical the way it has always been.