[DueLLeR]

So, like every weekend, this Saturday afternoon I prepared to go home - home, a word that is spelt V-A-S-H-I.

Like most weekends, I boarded a Neeta Volvo, bound for Borivali, Mumbai - a splendid green multi-axle Volvo B9R from Pune.

Like every time that I board a bus, I was secretly hoping to have a pretty lady for co-passenger, with whom I could strike up a conversation, like Nabil does. Most of the journey was pleasant, except for the snoring of the elderly gentleman who eventually sat beside me, while I remained engrossed in "Perfume - The Story of a Murderer" playing on my Galaxy Note.

Come Vashi, I excitedly proclaimed "Excuse me!" to wake the slumbering gentleman, as politely as possible. Got off the B9R with the happiness of being home and longing a good time tonight. Sat in a rick and about 500 meters before home, horror struck!

My other bag was missing!

Screamed to the auto rickshaw driver to take me back to the place I boarded the rickshaw, as calmly as possible.

A thousand thoughts ran in my mind simultaneously, like the process threads do on a multi-core processor.

"How could I do it?"

"Will it still be there?"

"I hope no one has lifted it."

"I hope the Cops don't think its a bomb and call the bomb squad!"

"Why is this rickshaw moving so slowly?"

Finally, we're there. I jump out of the rickshaw and frantically comb the pavement, like a woman who lost her diamond stud, with ample glares from pedestrians aboard.

No sign of the bag. Nada!

And then a sudden wave of realization splashed across my conscience.

"I must have left it in the bus!"

Reached home and dialled the number on the ticket.

"Hello? I was in a green multi-axle Volvo with number MH-04-G-5959. I forgot my bag in it. Can you give me the driver's number?"

How do I remember the bus number, you'd ask. I always make a mental note of my friends' car numbers and of the public transport that I travel in.

"Call Neeta Volvo on 022-28942525." <click>

"Hello, Neeta Volvo? I forgot my bag in one of your buses. Can you..."

"Dial the drivers desk at 8652222701." <click>

"Hello, Neeta Volvo Drivers Desk? Can you give me the driver's number for MH-04-G-5959? I forgot my bag in it."

"Where did you board?"

"Pune"

"Where did you get off?"

"Vashi."

"Okay, its XXXXXXXXXX." (Masked for driver privacy.)

"Hello! Are you driving the green B9R, 5959?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

"I was in your bus and got off at Vashi. I forgot my bag in your bus. Its a green bag."

"Where were you seated?"

"Left side, around the middle, beside an elderly, bald gentleman."

"Ohh, he got off in Chembur."

"Where are you now?"

"Sion"

"Ohh!"

"Hold on. Let me park by the curbside and look if you're bag's there. "

"Sure"

Dear reader, here's a two minute break for you to anticipate what happens next.

"I don't see any bag."

And I'm thinking, I must have indeed left it on the pavement. What an idiot I am!

"Uhh, it must be under the seat..."

"Green bag, yes, its here."

"Where can I pick it up? Do you have a run back to Pune tonight?"

"No, but I can drop it at the Vashi office around 10 or 11 am tomorrow on my run back."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you! What's your name?"

"Vijay"

"Thank you, Vijay. I'll pick it up tomorrow." <click>

Sure enough, at 9.30 am Sunday morning, I got a call from Vijay that he is starting his run back to Pune and he'd be at Vashi at around 10.30 am. As decided, I went to the Vashi office of Neeta Volvo and picked up my bag, all intact.

Called up Vijay and profusely thanked him for going out of his way to deliver my forgotten bag.

And, oh, if you're wondering what the contents of the bag was...

Just soiled clothes and my contact lens container and solution.

It is because of honest and hardworking people like Vijay that I still have faith in humanity. People, we still have hope. Thanks for reading.

Note: Conversations with the Neeta Volvo staff and associates, and the rickshaw driver were in Hindi and Marathi. They've been translated to English for the sake of verbosity and reading pleasure.

[AbhishekB86]

Well Neeta Volvo gets a brownie point from my side. They could have struck 5 stars had the soiled clothes been laundered perhaps? xD

[raviacc2825]

I too have heard good things about neeta volvo from my relatives in Mumbai, great to hear that you got your bag back.

[sumeshmani]

Thanks for sharing the experience. You were lucky indeed. More than anything else, the ridiculous cost of living in our country can corrupt anyone. Glad to see that plenty of our country men and women are still fighting it off to live a honest life.

[gopikb]

Nice thread.

This happened last year during our Kailash Manasarovar yatra. On the way to Kailash, we stayed in a town called Parayang for a night. The accomodation was a mud house with 5 people in a room. During our stay there, a small bag containing my digital camera, Ray ban glass and binocular had slipped under the bed which I failed to notice when we vacated in the morning. I realized I had missed it only after traveling for 2 hours away from the town. There was no point going back as we are part of a group and I was not sure if I had left it back in the room.

After this, we finished our Kailash parikrama and returned back the same route after about 6 days. Incidentally we had a stay for a night in Parayang also and we were allotted the same room in the same lodge. Immediately I went and looked under the bed where I was sleeping and I found my pouch + lot of dust and other junk under the bed. Realized that the hosts never even bother to look under the bed. The view is covered by a bedsheet hanging down from the bed to floor level. We realized our bedsheets were never changed too..

[mayankjha1806]

Wonderful ending. I would give brownie points to Vijay, and not the company as a whole. Wonderful job Vijay.

And by no means its a mean feat, even if the contents of the bag were sort of ordinary, and one wouldn't sweat if they were lost.

To compare, i lost a polyethylene bag containing one invitation card and one white kurta, in my own office bus.

[ghodlur]

A very similar incident happened with me once when I was travelling from Pune to Thane on Shivneri bus. My son had been gifted a remote control car and it was a huge packing hence the package was kept directly in the Shivneri luggage area. After getting down at Thane, by natural instinct rushed with the main baggages to engage an auto and forgot about the car gift. Upon reaching us it dawned that the car was left in the bus itself, the bawl that ensured aftermath forced me go back to Bus stand and I was told that the bus has gone to the Workshop for regular inspection. Rushed there but was confused about the bus as I had never noticed the bus number. Enquired with the staff and experienced some rude stares but in the end located the bus and the car package. heaved a sigh of relief, thanked the staff and reached home.
To this day both wifey & son remind me of the incident whenever we board the Shivneri bus.

[supremeBaleno]

Hmm. Something I can relate to.

On 30-Sep-2011 I am travelling to Kerala and apart from my laptop bag, I have a bag full of toys for my elder son whose birthday is coming up in 2 days. I also have another parcel which is a 2.5kg cake from CakeWalk-Chennai shaped like a train-engine. During our visit earlier to the shop, kiddo had seen a train-engine cake and since he wants to be a train-driver when he grows up, he wanted it for his Birthday. Since no cake-shops near our place in Kerala make such cakes, I decided to order and get it from Chennai.

The train reaches my station and I get off the train with the laptop bag and the cake, but forget the bag which I kept under the seat (side-lower). I get off the train, cross the track and walk to where my Dad would be waiting to pick me up. And then it strikes me that I have one bag less. Remember that I left it in the train and I look back to see the train blowing the horn and starting to move. I reckon that I can still rush back and board the train and get off at the next station (10mins away) with the bag. But by the time I reach the train it has gained reasonable speed. I am thinking of boarding the train which is by now whizzing by and everyone around is hoping I won't do it. I finally decide not to and am glad I decided that way, else in all probability I would not be here today to tell this tale.

I am panting by now and takes some time to calm down. The people nearby tell me that they are glad I did not try to jump into the train. I am not sure what can be done, when someone suggests I meet the station-master and he could maybe inform the next station. The station master is a helpful guy and he calls the next station, but by then the train has left from there. He gives me the number of RailAlert (9846200100) which is the number to reach the Railway Police incase of any issue while travelling by rail. A cop picks up and I tell him the problem. The next station is Kollam which is ~35mins away and the cop says he will call up their guy in Kollam and ask them to get the bag and later I can collect it.

This being my first experience with RailAlert I am not sure whether they would really bother, but there is no other option. And then I remember that my in-laws stay only 15mins away from Kollam station and wifey is there too. Call her up and she rushes with FIL to the station. The train comes, she boards and finds the bag still under the seat. As she gets out of the train, she sees a cop enter the compartment - must be the guy deputed to act on my complaint. I then call up RailAlert and tell them that my wife has collected the bag and thank them for their prompt action. Was an unforgettable incident.

P.S.: BTW, due to my mad run to catch the train, the cake got damaged and it no longer looked like a train or an engine. Somehow consoled kiddo.

[RaSing]

I remember a similar incident which happened to my friend and eventually i got involved.

So the story starts like this, my friend had parked my his brand new chevrolet beat outside my apartment and went to office with a colleague in his car. He returned around 11 pm and had a bag and a folder in his hand.This folder contained all his important certificates and documents like educational certificates, experience letter, joining letters, passport, pan card, voter id card. He kept both the bag and the folder on the roof of the car to free up his hands. Then he opened the car, took the bag, forgot the folder on roof, and drove off. After around 20 minutes and 10 kms of driving, it came to his mind that he's forgotten the folder on roof and only to see that the folder is no more there. Returned to my place , took 2 rounds all the way to the place he reached but could not find the folder anywhere.We also checked all speed breakers on the way to check if it got dropped due to bump on speed breakers, but no luck !

Next morning, We checked with all the sweepers and gatekeepers to check if anyone got a clue. Finally,we went to the police station, registered an FIR and went back home praying god that the folder may get in some good hands and the person finding it may call my friend. Till evening we got no calls from anyone and we were loosing all hopes. In the night around 9.30 my friend got a call from a person staying 30 kms away from that place saying that he has found a folder with my friends name on it and called my friend to his place in the night around 10 PM. We enquired more from the person that where did he find that folder to make sure if the person is genuine(He was calling at a place outside delhi that too in the late in the night !). Finally we reached the place , met the person and got to know that this man was returning late in the night from his duty and was going back home on a cycle. He saw the folder lying on the road near a metro station and picked it up. When he realised that all the documents inside are very important he thought of giving this folder to the owner.
We gave him 200 Rs as a token of thanks and returned thanking god.

I would say, there are still some people who have genuine intentions to help others.

[venki.bala]

Dueller.... Thats an Amazing story. By reading the story I remembered an Incident that happened couple of months before when I was travelling to chennai from hyderabad with my family. Here is the incident.

Traveled from Hyderabad to Chennai on by kacheguda express. I was sleeping in the side upper berth while wifey and kid were sleeping in the side lower berth. Around 3 am the train had stopped in Renigunta and I awoke to my wife's knocks from below. Both the ladies ( wife and daughter (2 years old) ) were awake and searching some...thing with the help of cellphone torch light. Then wifey told that daughter's gold bangle has slipped and went in to the side near the berth. We searched and then I found that it was somewhere in between seat and the wall but not reachable through bare hands as the space was too small. tried using a comb and it slipped and went through a small hole through the wall and no where to be seen. By now, by the noise we made the police man on duty stopped and he tried searching with heavier torch and bangle was no where to be seen. Slowly one by one in the compartment woke and everybody tried their hand but no luck. The train had stopped for more than 30 mins at Renigunta. the police man thought there might be some holes in the floor through might have drop down on to the tracks. we both got down and checked. no luck. Everybody concluded it must have gone in between the walls and there is big compartment space below the floor and it must be there and also it is impossible to retrieve it without removing the seat and the panel on the wall. so we mentally made up our mind that the gold bangle is lost.

Train reached Perambur at 5.45 am and the policeman who helped at renigunta came back and checked if there are any updates. Then he took down the details and called the TTE. The TTE was such a nice person immediately gave me all the details of the coach and asked me to go to Chennai Egmore Station master as soon as the train stops. the Policeman was such a nice human being, he offered to stay back in the compartment while i send my wife and kid to my parents house and talk to the station master. while I came out sent wifey and daughter with my parents, i walked to the station master cabin. The duty station master immediately called me in and asked the entire story. He immediately told me that not to worry and they will try their level best to retrieve but there was an issue. The train was supposed to be moved to the Kodambakkam station for cleaning and he promised he will try to retain the train as much as possible but also warned that incase if it gets too much beyond control he might have to send the train to kodambakkam. He then directed me to the Wagon maintenence TXR dept. I went there and taked to the people who were packing all the waste bottle. They are the most nicest people I have ever seen. One guy who was working there immediately took a screwdriver and said lets go and see whether we can do something. We both walked to the compartment and the policeman was waiting there. he explained everything to the wagon maintenance guy and he tried his level best to slide the screwdriver to see if it is stuck in between. no luck. he also said that it must slided down and we need to remove the entire seat and the wall it is not possible because the train belongs to South central railways and they cannot do anything. Then he suggested me to get in touch with his Boss Mr. xxx. luckily Mr. xxx was walking nearby and I went to him and told him the story. What a nice human being Mr xxx is? He immediately pacified me and said these things happen and he came and checked if we can remove the panel. He called immediately his JE, forgot to note down his name another great human being. they energised the entire maintanence team, the carpenter who was supposed to be in office only after 9 am was asked to report in asap. By 8 the station master and his crew came and told that they are tremndous pressure to move the train to Kodambakkam but promised to wait for another 30 mins. By now the carpenter has come and he told that they have to remove the entire panel and the seat. and even then it is impossible to retrieve the bangle because the gap between the wall and compartment below is big and no hands can reach the floor. Then all the officials decided and directed to break the wall and try to see if they can atleast give it a shot. Mr. xxx then created a big hole on the wall panel and everybody tried using their hands to see if they can reach the bangle. No luck all of us scratched, i got three cuts. They brought in all sorts of wires, thin cables nothing worked. they confirmed that there is something it is just not able to get hook it on to the cable. by now it was 9.30 and the station master and his crew who were there on the platform for the past couple of hours were getting continuous calls from the control room to remove the train. So he suggested that we all move with the train to kodambakkam and continue there. he said he will try to wait for another 15 mins. Mr. xxx and his JE were assuring me that I can travel with the crew to Kodambakkam and continue to try there. I was so exhausted without anything so Mr. xxx asked his employee to get me a bottle of water and then one of his assitants who has been trying so hard with a cable said he will try a last time. He slided his hand with the the cable so badly on to the wall he got himself a big cut and blood started profusing out of his hands. i said enough, i donot want anybody else to undergo pain so much. but he continued and voila he hooked the bangle on to the cable and assumed it should be in place and slowly retrieved the cable and the bangle was there. Everybody jumped up in joy. I literally had no words and just thanked everyone. News had spread and the entire Egmore maintenence crew had assembled. Everybody clapped and hugged the assistant in joy. I immediately asked the person to go to Doctor. He replied that its not that bad and he can take care. I asked him what he wants " Nothing Sir... it may be your kid's fault but I know how much your kid must be repenting and hou much happy she would be to see her bangle back. i didnot do it for you. I did it for your daughter and Mr. xxx who is one of the nicest human beings. I just didnot have words to thank him. We all washed our hands and scene shifted back to Station Master room. SM told everyone to fix the panel before evening and took a written statement from me. I asked Mr. xxx that I want to pay the person some money as an appreciation, he said it is not neccessary and they just did their jobs. I was stunned and i offered to buy everyone food since nobody had taken their breakfast. All of us went to Vasantha bhavn and I just told the waiter please server everyone whatever they ask for. Mr. xxx also came and he just told all his experiences and we became instantly friends. He never allowed me to pay the bill but I forcibly took the bill and paid. i also gave 500 Rupees to the guy who took the bangle out to check with a good doctor and take a TT injection. I forced him to accept it infact i just placed it in his pocket. Mr. xxx pulled an auto for me and sent me back home. i promised him everytime i come to Egmore will come and meet him. What a day!

Help came from un expected quarters.... starting with the policeman, Mr. Station Master and his assistant, Mr xxx, his JE and the entire TXR crew at the Egmore station.

As the guy mentioned, my daughter was so happy to see her bangle back.... I also decided to be a better citizen and help as much as possible to others....

[traveloholic]

This rekindles the memories we had on one of our family trips. We had been to Vaishno Devi and my parents took the mule to go to the temple on hill top. All taking and praying, we reached the top and my mom alighted the mule and we went our way. To our utter surprise, my mom's purse was missing and it had all our tickets, money and everything. The last she remembered was hanging it by the saddle of the mule. We remembered this, when we were already in the temple complex and we had to finish our oblations before moving out.

We finished and walked out directly towards the Mule Booking Counter near the temple and explained him that my mom forgot her purse on one of the mules. He asked the color and size and handed over the purse to my mom. Normal human tendency, my mom went ahead to check is something is missing. The mere words of the person behind the counter shamed us to death. He said "Madam Ji, Mata Rani ke darr pe koi yeh nahi karta. Woh aap jitna hi Mata Rani ko maante hai aur Mata Rani se darte hai" (Madam, no one does that kind of a thing at this pious place. They too pray the goddess just like you and they fear her too - might not be exact translation of it)

[shashank.nk]

Lucky that you got your bag back. Hard to come by such honest people these days. I also have the habit of remembering the car numbers of friends/relatives cars, never bothered with bus numbers since i don't use public transport much.

Will try and remember bus numbers from now, who knows it might just help me out like it did to you.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Help came from un expected quarters.... starting with the policeman, Mr. Station Master and his assistant, Mr xxx, his JE and the entire TXR crew at the Egmore station.

As the guy mentioned, my daughter was so happy to see her bangle back.... I also decided to be a better citizen and help as much as possible to others....

About my experience in Egmore

In 1995 when I had to move to Madurai, I wanted to take along my 25" BPL TV (One of my only 3 worldly possessions at that time, the others being my Yezdi and my Music System) in the train, but could not do so since the doors were not broad enough (meter gauge trains that time). I had to leave them in the station master's care and asked him to hand it over the next day to my friend who will come to pick it up and he gladly obliged and even made the train to wait for 10 mins beyond the usual departure time. At the end of the journey though, at Madurai, I lost one of the floor standing speakers that I had managed to carry in the train. Just my bad luck.

[R-Six]

Nice and thoughtful thread! Great initiative XXXX

This reminds me of a similar incident I had in December last year.

It happened when I was visiting my parents in my home town, Guruvayoor (Kerela). I was planning to purchase a new apartment in Ahmedabad and wanted to raise some funds selling of some gold coins we have been saving. So on this day, we wanted to see what the current market rate is and how much moolah I can raise if I sell the coins we had. So off we go!

The market was volatile at that time and the prices were fluctuating too much. And my friend who owns Jewelry suggested that I wait for couple of more days before disposing the coins I had. Given that I will be in Kerela for another week we decided to wait for few more days.

All the time, these coins are safe in my better half’s hand bag (as I’m the careless one from the lot). So on our way back we decided to treat ourselves with some nice Shavarma (which is quite popular here due to the influence of Middle East returns). So the shavarma session ended without any events. We drove off after enjoying the quick meal.

I stay close to 5 kms from the place where we had this. When I’m parking my car, my better half screams at the top of her voice! “Where is my handbag?” I was like, what the heck! It is your bag and you should know it. And at this time, I don’t even remember that fact that it had the gold coins in it.

In the next split of second, the realty hit me hard. After divulging ourselves in that tasty shavarma, we royally forgot to take the bag from the restaurant. Off we go again. My mom who was standing at the door expecting us to get out of the car stand shocked as I reversed the car as if there is no tomorrow and drove off!

I felt that it took forever to cover those 5 kms back! I never felt 5 km / 10 minutes too lengthy ever.

All this while my wifey is trying to plead all the Gods she might have ever heard in her entire life. I’m trying to push the Santro hard and its asking me not to do that.

I reached the restaurant and before I could even turn off the ignition, she rushes into the restaurant. She directly goes to the table where we were sitting only to see that it is already occupied with some other guests. Now she turns towards the cash counter to ask if they saw any, the guy at the counter takes out the bag and asks whether this is what we were looking for.

She snatches it back from him and quickly checks to see if the coins were already there. Thank God, everything is in place. I took a mineral water bottle from the counter and drained half of it in a single breath.

Now it was time to thank everyone there. The waiter who honestly gave it at the cash counter, the guy at the cash counter who returned the bag. And I think I might have thanked couple of others who were standing next to them.

It looks another couple of minutes for me to come out of the shock of what just happened in our life in the last 20 – 30 minutes. Once my pulse rate and heart beat was normal, we drove back getting ready to explain mom what the drama I did at the the car porch was all about and thinking how careless we were and thanking god for safe guarding the valuables.

Had the bag was lost, our dream of owning an apartment in Ahmedabad would have been at stake, at least for next couple of years.

That thought still gives me shivers!

R-Six

[GTO]

Here's a recent lost & found story:

Earlier in June, my brother's girlfriend caught a cab to our place. Paid the cab driver, took her stuff and walked out. 30 minutes later, she realises that she probably left her Blackberry in the cab. It was a black & yellow, thus no point of getting in touch with a call center. Called her number several times, but the phone is unreachable.

She keeps trying. Next morning, a well-spoken gentleman answers the phone. She explained the entire situation, asked him how he got the phone, to which he replies "Are you 1st name 2nd name?" Turns out, the man is a relative!! Apparently, his maid found the phone on the road (dropped off when alighting from the cab?) and handed it to her boss.

What are the odds of a relative's maid finding your phone?
What are the odds of the maid giving the phone to her boss?

She swapped the BB for a Galaxy SIII. Says its impossible to lose