It is the soul that matters

Friday, August 24, 2007

Phone story

Lost my phone recently. Not lost…actually it got stolen. I was busy talking with my friend, when I noticed a small girl fidget with my bag. But it was only later that I realized that she had flicked away the first ever pricey gadget possessed by me. It happened at Bandra, near Elco market.
I realized after 5 minutes that my phone was missing. Went to the same spot again, tried spotting the girl, asked some of the localites, but all in vain. Even if they pretended to help, they were of no help. Asked one of them the way to Bandra police station.
Headed there with my friend. Got a chance to speak to some junior inspector. Told him about the incident. Instantly came the reply, “Take a certificate from us, contact your service provider; you will get the same number on a different handset.” God! Felt like slapping him then and there. He suggested talking to some senior inspector. We went and sat across him. That inspector was busy doing some paper work, and for a long time pretended as if we were invisible. Later he got a little courteous, looked up and said “don mint haan”. With a smile on our face and composure maintained, we said “Theek hai”. Some more time passed and we were staring at one other inspector, who was busy beating up someone who looked like a thief. A little scared, we again started looking at the inspector across our table.
Finally, the inspector kept his papers on one side, closed his pen with the cap, and looked towards us. We told him about the entire incident. With a little sympathy on his face, he said “Yes, they do this way only. You should be more careful. (OK, I don’t need your lecture, I want my phone. I know it was my mistake as well. But it’s not usual for me to keep losing phones. You find mine, I promise, I will be careful henceforth.) Don’t worry, I will send one detection team over there, for the time being take the certificate and get your number back.”
Movies experience helped us then (Not to take panga with a police officer). Still maintaining that smile, we said “OK”, took the certificate from there and moved out.
How disgusting. It’s just a phone. They can’t find it. Obviously, it’s their area and they know who stole the phone. The localites told us that those girls keep roaming over there only. But I am sure, their team didn’t take any pains to search it.
Just a certificate works…Is that what the police is for? Just providing certificates. Or, is it that they get their share. Hmm…5 minutes from the police station, those girls keep roaming there always; still the police do not catch them. It is understood. They get their share.
But people like me suffer a lot for being careless once. True, every second matters. People in Mumbai have to be cautious every passing second. Who knows what can happen the next second.

Posted by Nats :: Friday, August 24, 2007 :: 2 comments