It was a rather uncomfortable summer day. He peaked out of the shed and examined if there was a glimpse of a cloud cover. There was none. Bangalore usually had it’share of it’s 4 o’clock rain during the summer. But on that day it wasn't to be. On one side it helped his business, since more people would tend to buy the tender coconut from him. But on the other hand, it would give him an excuse to wrap up early. He went back and switched the FM station and took his seat on the wooden stool. He hated to stand. It felt like a rather long day for him; longer than usual, possibly because he had gotten up early to drop his wife off at the bus stand.
The point of sale for him had shifted. He had to move out of his earlier location since he couldn't afford the increase in the tip that the policewala was demanding. The sort of thing that usually happens in India. He was lucky to get another spot closer to the park, and at a much lesser tip. He got the discount since the hawaldar monitoring that area was his Brother-in-Law’s brother’s neighbor. The sort of thing too that usually happens in India. For some strange reason, the number of customers on that day was less. Probably because it was a Friday evening.He had noticed the maximum crowd building in the park on Monday evenings for jogging. He never understood why so many people came to run. When there were no customers, he would sit and look at the park, observing the joggers. They were funny – The cane stick walkers; the fat joggers who mostly just walked around the park; the aunties who wore shoes like men usually do - they walked in groups chit-chatting. And there were the odd runners, who would come behind the old uncles and wait for them to clear. Most of them had their headphones on. He wanted one of those too for long. But then he could never fit it into his budget. He saved most of the money he earned for starting a shop of his own. The shop that his dad always wanted to open, but never could. He spent the next fifteen minutes thinking about his dad. The easiest memory that came to him of his dad was that in the hospital, where he sat beside him hoping that he would remove the oxygen mask and speak to him. But he never did.
It was getting dark and he was planning to wrap up earlier than usual. His friend had promised to bring a quarter of Old Monk that day. As he sat there looking at his knife, he noticed that something was lying on the other side of the road. It was a hand bag. He crossed over and picked it up. The initial reaction was to check if it had a bomb in it. As he opened it he could see that there wasn't much in it. It had a hair clip, a few papers, an envelope and a few receipts. He returned quickly into his shed making sure no one noticed him picking it up. He ignored the papers lying inside it and reached for the envelope. He opened it up and for a second he gasped for breath. He could see a few 1000 rupee currencies inside. Many in fact. He again looked around to check if anyone had noticed him picking up the bag. He closed the shed with the huge coconut tree leaves, which acted as his door. With the help of twilight, he opened the envelope and took out the cash. He slapped himself to make sure he wasn't in the middle of the dream; but he was actually experiencing one his many day-dreams. He started counting the notes. After a 50 he lost track and started counting again. Finally after recounting a number of times, he figured that there could be over a 100 of those. He sat there with his mouth open.
Over the next one hour he sat there deliberating what he should do. He couldn't hand it over to the cops since it would mean that the hawaldar would take his family on a holiday and may be buy a few gadgets for himself. He thought of asking the Pharmacy across the road if anyone had come looking for the bag. But then the green painted envelope would not let him do that either. He thought to himself that may be God was being kind to him. May be it is the result of the trip that he made to Tirupati last month. Back then he thought that God might not have heard him since he did not shave his head off. His hair-style was very important to him. He couldn't blindly keep the money with himself either since his dark side, the conscience, would kill him. It would make him go against the principles that his dad had taught him. Finally he struck a deal with God. He would wait till 8.30, half an hour, more than the usual, and see if someone comes looking for the bag. If they did, he decided that he would gracefully hand over the bag to them. He waited there in anticipation and fear. He promised to make another trip to Tirupati if he gets to keep the finding.
He started to wrap up proceedings for the day at around 7.30. He identified the coconuts that could be carried over to the next day and that those need to be carried back home and sold to the restaurants. He closed the shed with his work around door and stood there waiting. The clock hanging in the pharmacy showed 8.00. He looked around to see any seekers. He had carefully kept the envelope in his inner pocket and he kept the cycle ready, balancing the coconuts on the carrier. The clock was ticking as if it had a snail as the needle.
At around 8.15 pm he noticed a female, may be in her late twenties, walking across the road. She was wearing a Saree and was walking on high heels. She was looking carefully at the road as if she was looking for something. Something which she had lost, may be. He threw his head back in disappointment. The next 30 seconds saw a battle inside his head - the worst of its kind.Right side compelling him to take the cycle and flee and the left side asking him to stand still, even asking him to go talk to the girl. He stood still. The lady after examining the road slowly stared at the pharmacy for a while. She then crossed the road and walked to his side. He could see the shop-dream shattering into pieces. She approached him and asked in Hindi, ‘ Did you find something from the road here?’ He gave a confused look as if to suggest he did not understand Hindi. She inquired again, this time enacting along, ‘I am looking for my ring. Did you by any chance happen to see it’? He tried to recollect if he had seen a ring inside that bag. But he was sure he did not see one. He shook his head side to side vigorously. She gave a suspicious look and walked away from there. He let a huge sigh of relief and promised God that he will shave off his head this time at Tirupati; Just to be sure. He saw the clock strike 8.30. He took his bicycle and started towards his home.
She checked her watch as she approached the park and it showed 8.31 pm. She looked stressed and tired. Her brain was not listening to her anymore. The tears had dried up but her head was still aching. She had no hopes of finding her bag. She went into the pharmacy and inquired if they had seen a bag lying around. The guy at the pharmacy said he hadn't. She couldn't make out if the guy was lying or not. She remembered that she was rushing through the streets on her bike to make it on time to the hospital. She was wearing a skirt too which did not help her cause. She might not have worried so much if the money was hers’. But then she knew the pain that she took for collecting the money, going from floor to floor in her office, urging everyone to contribute towards a noble cause. A 10 year old kid was dying and she had collected the money for the surgery. She looked up in despair seeking some divine intervention. There was none. She waited in front of the closed tender coconut shop without knowing what to do. She knew she would be in deep trouble over the lost money. But she was praying for the kid’s recovery to God. She promised to visit Tirupati if the kid made it alive. As she was preparing to leave, she noticed something glittering on side of the road, under a pipe that was newly laid. She bent down and picked up what was a ring. She looked around and couldn't find anyone there. For a moment she thought that she can sell it off and give the money to the hospital, but then she knew someone else might come looking for it, just like she was looking for her bag. She didn't trust the pharmacy guy anymore and she couldn't wait there longer either. She stood there thinking about what could be done. Finally before leaving, she carefully slid the ring through a small gap into the shed hoping the vendor would give the ring to the seeker.
Two days Later:
He sat in his couch glancing through the paper. He was not able to concentrate much as his mind wandered through the troubled thoughts. He had planned to work from home that day since he was lazy to drive in the maddening traffic. As he scanned through the paper, he came across an article about a 10 year old kid who died because of lack of fund for surgery. And that someone had swindled a hundred thousand rupees in the name of providing assistance. He started to think about the meanness o the person who could do this. After a while his thoughts again drifted towards the troubled waters. The engagement was not going that great and he ended up thinking about it every other minute. ‘May be she didn't lose the ring. May be she threw it away on purpose’, he kept thinking to himself. He folded up the paper and left for the park to take a jog. He stopped for his usual tender coconut near the park. As he tried to clear the cloud in his head, he noticed a beaming smile on the vendor's face, which made him feel a bit better.
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