I got a call from my mum the night I landed that she did not find the wallet in my house despite searching in all the places I had mentioned it would be in. To my family of friends and M, this would be a surprise - Rosh misplacing her WALLET of all things? Nah! Too Type-A to do that. But to my mum? - this was not a surprise because she’s seen how aloof I was as a kid. And it has been hard to shake off that image no matter how hard I’ve tried. Maybe some parenting programming inside her automatically made a list of all skills her kid needs but did not exhibit growing up? 🤷🏻♀️
IDK - I just know that it either takes a very very long time or something dramatic (multiplied by 5) to change the skills on that list.
“Are you sure it’s not in your bags?”
“You’re right, Ma! It’s actually in my bag - I wanted to try a social experiment to see if a stranger would pay for my ticket if I pretended to lose my wallet.” is what I wanted to say…
But I bit my tongue.
“Yes, Ma, I have checked it 5 times now.” is what I ended up telling the poor soul who actually would have liked a retirement from the “Finder-Of-Things” title.
“Seriya yosichu paaru, yenga vechcha?” (Think hard and tell me where you actually kept it).
Well, this was not rhetorical even though I have written it as such. She really was inviting me to think out loud. So I put on my detective hat and mapped out all the touch points:
Home
Taxi to airport
Airport trolley
Airport security
Flight to vietnam
Noi Bai Airport to Bus
“Hmm. The only other place it could possibly be in is the Bangalore airport” I said “because I checked the taxi thoroughly before shutting the door. And I had my wallet in hand when I was showing my ticket at the baggage drop counter.”
And I did not realise I activated the end of the think-out-loud invitation with those lines because I heard a disappointed, anxious, and a fairly high-pitched “Airport la ya vittae???” (YOU LEFT IT IN THE AIRPORT???)
My poor ear.
After that, the defense-lawyer in me responded on my behalf “I said it is a possibility. Why would I deliberately leave it in the airport?” followed by a quick “Okay, leave it - I will ask M to check at home. Now, you tell me - how are you?”
Fun Facts about Kempegowda International Airport I did not know earlier:
They have a functioning Lost and Found department.
That department reads emails sent to the official ID.
They respond within a few hours of emailing, even if it is midnight Indian time.
They will ask for lots of evidence to verify if the item is truly yours, including pictures of your wallet which you scramble to get.
Because who takes pictures of their wallet randomly?Textual description of the contents inside your lost wallet are also accepted as evidence of ownership
THANK YOU, Checklist!Once they assign you as the owner of the item, you have 30 days to collect it from the airport.
They allow you to nominate someone to collect it on your behalf provided they show proof of being authorized by you.
Now, ask me how I learnt the said fun facts. 🤡
