Do You Believe in Miracles? - Part IV

I couldnt believe it! The impossible had just happened!

About two weeks ago, I had lost my wonderful Xperia to the crafty hands of a
thief. And here I was, standing in the light draizzle at twilight, holding my
Xperia in my trembling hands.

For a couple of moments, my mind went blank as I simply stared at the phone
encased in the leather cover. I slowly removed the phone from the case and
all the questions started flooding my brain. Finally managing to sort them
out, I asked the guy,
'K-kahan se mila?'

And the man told me the incredible story of some guy, apparently an unknown
colloegue of mine, who took my unattended phone from my desk with all the
good intentions of returning it back to me the next day. But for some
reasons, he couldn't come to office itself. And today, he was leaving the
company. So he gave the phone to this fellow standing in front of me and
told him to give it to me.

Now, as I think back, I can say that this story was phony without a doubt.
Just looking at guy's face as he narrrated this fictional account, I should
have realised that.

But I wasn't looking at his face. I was still staring at my phone, turning
it around this way and that. And I wasn't even listening to him properly. My
brain was too busy checking out the phone and determining that it really was
my very own Xperia.

Just then a piece of paper fell out of the leather cover. I picked it up and
unfolded it. Inside was written a small note.
'Aapne jo FIR ki hai, wo wapis le lijiye please'
A mobile number followed.

I asked the man a few more questions without really following the answers
and then thanked him and let him go. I too continued on my way to the bus
bay.

But now it felt I was walking in a dream!  I held my precious Xperia in my
hand gingerly as though it were a delicate ice crystal that would soon melt
away. A wondrous smile spread on my face. My step was light and springy.
As I sat in my bus, I felt like shouting out to the fellow passengers with
delight,
'Hallelujah! It's a miracle, folks!'


EPILOGUE:

My Xperia was returned without a scratch but the memory card was missing and
there were signs of it having been used by the thief.

The mobile number written in the note turned out to belong to a member of
the Pune Crime Branch, who informed me that the thief was from the
housekeeping staff in our office.

-- Pune, July 8, 2011