A Lost Laptop and A Few Good Men

Honesty is one virtue which seems to be in short supply these days, moreso in this country of widespread poverty and wealth distribution of gigantic inconsistency. There are, however, quite a few people who would not let this stand in their way of being honest and helpful citizens. We were witness to such an act not two days ago. Me and my wife along with my parents had gone for a Shimla/Manali vacation last week. We spent 3 days in Shimla and 2 days in Manali, and were supposed to catch Kalka Mail at 11:00 pm on the 5th of July. We boarded the Himalayan Queen toy train at Shimla and had a wonderful 5 hour journey, basking in all the natural beauty the ride had to offer. We had decided that my wife and mum would deboard first and get us a retiring room as we had a good 5-6 hrs before the connecting train to Delhi would leave. Not a very wise idea!!(It always helps if a woman is around in these moments you know). Anyway, both the women left the compartment as soon as the train came to a hault, each carrying a bag and their purses. I was carrying out the rest of the luggage from the compartment and as luck(read as my stupidity) would have it..I forgot the laptop bag!! When we reached the retiring room, my wife asked me about the laptop bag....!!!!!!!!Damn. I ran like a Shatabadi back to our compartment...but it wasn't there. We searched and searched, asked all the cleaners, the attendants, the sweepers, the porters, and even had an announcement made from the station master's office. All our efforts went in vain though. We finally lodged an FIR at the GRP station, although I didn't think that would help much. It was about an hour to go before our train left for Delhi and my wife said that we should leave our contact no. and address with the station master. I didn't think it was a great idea and was going into depression. The depression wasn't due to the stolen laptop but what was inside it and the bag. CD/DVD's, tons and tons of music, all my FIRENDS episodes!! and a pair of Rayban sunglasses gifted by my wife. Anyway we left our card with the station master Mr. Vinay Kumar. We reached Delhi the next morning 6 am. We had already planned on buying a new laptop this weekend; my ThinkPad stays with me til the time I'm in office and my wife used the stolen one at home. She hasn't started working yet after marriage and she used it to look/apply for jobs and keep her busy. Anyway, we were having breakfast when the phone rang!!! It was a guy called D.R. Thakur, he was a TEXR and he told us that the bag had been found!!!! Me and my dad rushed back to Kalka station; we expected to pay some money for this but what happened there was unbelievable!!!We were greeted cordially by the station master Mr. Vinay Kumar and were served tea. he then called Mr. Satpal, who was the TEXR on duty that day. He told us that one of their men, Tularam, had found the bag in the lavatory of another train!! Thanks to the layers and layers of passwords on my laptop, the bugger probably couldn't even turn it on. What amazes me though, is why the hell did he leave the sunglasses and the CD/DVD's..such a moron I tell ya. When Tularam came, I tried to offer him some money but he blatantly refused, he seemed more happy that I got my laptop back than I was:) They were even feeling sorry that we had to come all the way from Delhi. Heck, even the guy who collects 1re coins outside Sulabh Shauchalya asked me if I got my bag back:) When we were leaving the station, even the guard asked us if everything was ok. I tried to give him a 50re note but he kept refusing. Anyway, I forcefully shoved in into his pocket and he smiled at me:) So there it was, I got my laptop back, and everything that was inside the bag due to the honesty and helpful nature of some nice Railway employees.

Some takeaways from this true story:

(1) Always count your luggage pieces, while boarding as well as deboarding.
(2) Always keep women around; you might think otherwise, but they are right most of the times.
(3) Back Up!!!!! everything you have.
(4) Not all government employees are corrupt.