A Tale Of Two Cells And The Ensuing Observation

27^th January-2010

It was yet another feeling of deja-vu.. I felt my trouser's pocket a little bit lighter and for sure my heart skipped a beat or two.. I knew that it is gone, but didn't have courage to feel for it.. Then after a couple of seconds, I felt for it, touching my trouser's pocket lightly and then frantically.. Indeed it was gone, my Nokia N70 cell phone.. And it was not just the monetary loss; along with it, I also lost many other things which we tend to keep in our cell phones these days.. It had all my contacts for which I didn't have any backup anywhere.. Numerous messages from my friends and dear ones which I always like to keep with me.. Then it had a number of snaps taken which the big lazy I am, had not transferred to my system yet.. Ironically, just the evening before, I had decided to take a back up of all the stuff stored in my cell but couldn't since my computer had some problems! Truth took some more moments to sink in completely.. After initial shock, I came back to the real world trying to come up in terms with the fact that my cell phone has been stolen, just 100 odd meters away from my office, that too in a Volvo! While getting down from the Volvo, I looked around and saw other people coming out; I knew one among these had my Cell phone but there was little I could do with everyone diverging quickly in different directions.. I saw a co-employee and requested to let me use his cell phone which he promptly gave and I dialed my own number and was not surprised to find it "switched-off"! It is strange that how we keep hoping always, that too against all hopes; never accepting the fact when something bad has happened! Anyway, so it was gone.. I started towards my office feeling agonized, frustrated and cheated.. I felt like writing a whole book on the need of honesty and morality at that moment.. Jokes apart, on a serious note this incident certainly made my confidence take a little beating since I always used to feel strange that how can someone steal your wallet or cell phone from your pocket without letting you know.. For once, I have known how do they do it and they sure are very very smart people, much more smarter than we think them to be..

What makes life strange is the unexpected ironies it throws when we expect them least and in the process giving unimaginable twists into the turns of the events.. In midst of an annoyed and agonized state of mind, I couldn't help but remember an event which still looks like a scene from some book with stories on acts of goodness done by some great people.. I will try to keep it brief, so please read on..

It was my 5th semester in college and the kind of remote place 'Gunupur' is wherein my college is situated; even the word 'remote place' appears to add a touch of modernity to it.. So as expected, Cell phones arrived late with BSNL being the only operator.. SIM cards were a big thing and were being sold in black at the rate of Rs. 1K to 1.5K.. ‘Demand vs Supply’ theory of economics from 1^st semester came into my mind and I decided to get my SIM through regular process.. It is not that I was trying to lend some balance to the whole set of uneven proportions in the demand supply thing, it’s just that I found the price quite appalling and it certainly didn’t appeal to me to purchase a SIM card at that high price.. So it took some 12 months and finally I received my much awaited SIM card..

8^th September-2005

I still remember the day, it was overcast when I left for nearby town 'Parlakhemundi', an equally 'remote' town with the exception that it was a little bigger and had a counter where one could get the railway ticket reservations done.. I had gone there to reserve tickets for upcoming 'Dussera' vacation.. As soon as I reached there, it started raining heavily.. Somehow I reached the ticket booking counter and was in for a big disappointment since it was closed! So I boarded the bus for return journey.. Buses in that part of our country are fully air conditioned since by default they come with all the windows broken and should I say 'Rain conditioned' too because of the leaking roof/ ceiling? (Yes the holes and cracks are all the way through and force of gravity makes the water seep through roof and it reaches the other side we know as ceiling and then drench the poor passengers sitting inside in the process, again because of gravity).. Needless to say, it was a terrible journey and for the next three hours I was getting drenched completely and continuously.. Complete in combination with continuous can be indeed dreadful..

'Gunupur' is a small town with my college situated at one end and 6 KM away from it, at the other end of the stretch is the main bus stand from where the road takes a curve and relines with the stretch after completing a small circle giving the whole thing a shape of the alphabet 'P'. Inhabitants of the town live along both sides of this 'P'.. Any bus which comes from Parlakhemundi's direction crosses my college first.. So we used to get down right at the entrance of our college..

With floodgates of sky still wide open, my destination arrived and I hurried my way out of the bus to take a shelter at a nearby closed shop.. It was then that I realized this.. And it was not a feeling of deja-vu; since it had happened for the first time with me.. I felt my trouser's pocket a little bit lighter and for sure my heart skipped a beat or two.. I knew that it is gone, but didn't have courage to feel for it.. Then after a couple of seconds, I felt for it, touching my trouser's pockets lightly and then frantically.. Indeed it was gone, my first cell phone.. Of course it was a BIG monetary loss; specially since I was a college going guy.. Fact that I had waited for the SIM for 1 year made the things worse.. Another fact that I had recharged it worth the value of Rs. 1200 just the day before added salt to the wounds.. It was a simple Nokia model with very limited features, but still it meant a fortune to me in those days.. Losing contacts and messages was not a headache; it didn't had any pictures, it didn't have a camera in first place! So it was a pure monetary loss.. Truth took some more moments to sink in completely.. After initial shock, I came back to the real world trying to come up in terms with the fact that my cell phone is lost, just in front of my College's entrance.. Somehow it had slipped out of my trouser's pocket.. I looked around and there was no one around me.. That incident certainly had made my confidence take a little beating since I always used to feel strange that how someone can lose a cell phone or wallet! How can someone be so much careless! And for once, I had discovered how, had discovered that I too can be so much careless..

But at that time, I reacted a little differently.. I didn't start walking towards my college silently.. Rather the very next moment I found myself giving a futile attempt to chase down the bus! Not all of us inherit the gifted athletic features and have I had those, then too I was no match for a bus in full swing and I wasn't surprised to be left far behind.. So I looked in the opposite direction and saw another bus coming.. I raised my hand requesting it to stop.. It didn't.. I saw another one coming and I knew that I need to take a decision.. And there I was, in middle of the isolated road with trees on both sides and sky down pouring, with both my hands outstretched in front of a speeding bus.. At least one person there still had the sanity intact, Bus slowed down and I jumped inside.. Driver gave me an ugly and angry look.. He demanded in irritated voice what the hell I think I was doing in telugu dialect of hindi.. I tried to make him understand in shortest possible sentences; making a conscious effort not to confuse or infuriate him any further.. He asked me just two questions; "You left your cell phone? Was the bus coming from Parlakhemundi?” I nodded twice in affirmation.. I felt the bus speeding.. Conductor came to me asking me to buy ticket and was shooed away by the driver.. Driver signaled me to take a seat.. From there, he refused to stop the bus even at the places where other passengers needed to get down.. Very soon we were nearing the main bus stand.. Despite all the stunts, I was convinced about the fact that there is no way I will be getting the cell phone because by this time, someone must have picked it up from the seat where I had left it.. Population leads to crowding which in turn leads to crimes, the analyst in me thought.. Very soon, the 'other' bus was visible and I gasped.. The Bus driver started honking frantically as soon as we were behind the 'other' bus.. Conductor of the 'other' bus became visible at the rear entrance (where a door was supposed to be present).. I couldn't believe my eyes on what I saw next.. In the hand of the conductor was my cell phone and he was signaling me to calm down saying it is safe with him..

I was handed over the cell phone once both the buses stopped.. Today if I lose a thing which is 50 times more expensive than that cell phone, then too I wouldn't repeat the acts I did that day.. All that happened in a rush of blood.. But that is not the part I ponder about.. Rather, it is those two people, and their real life heroism that I witnessed that day is what I muse about.. It was an act of integrity, an act of pure goodness, an act of complete selflessness with no personal interests involved.. It gave me the opportunity to witness the pure goodness which I wish to have inside me and the goodness which we seek in others.. Most surprising thing is the way everything synced up perfectly.. It was very much possible that in spite of the best efforts put in by the driver, I would have ended up not getting my cell, had it landed in the hands of some other person who might have decided to act otherwise.. Even in that case, I would have praised the bus driver equally and would have been grateful to the same extent.. But as if to give a fitting finish to the whole thing, conductor of the other bus came into picture..

It still amazes me how things fell into place perfectly that day.. When I think of my cell getting stolen purposefully (Act of theft is always done in full consciousness), I wonder how different people behave differently in same set of conditions.. This world is a bizarre place, full of weirdness.. There are people who don't/ won't hesitate to kill others in cold blood for the sake of personal benefits and we also get to hear about people who don't think twice to risk their own lives to save a stranger! Of course I am certainly not going to brood and write over the human behavior, but such incidents certainly give some interesting insights.. I am not a great supporter of giving a conclusion for any or a set of events because we are living in a vibrant world which is ever evolving.. So certainly, nothing is conclusive..

But that incident reinforced my belief that this world is full of nice people with big hearts and with good intentions for others.. And that incident reinforced my belief that goodness, kindness, honesty, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, compassion, gentleness, sympathy, humanity are not the mere words; for they do exist in reality.. We just need to imbibe the real meaning of these..