I once lost
a ring, a prayer ring, but it was not as valuable as the one I had just found
in the wash room. The markings certified the value of the metal! At the
University hostel, residents, guests, visitors and you name it … constantly
keep flooding in and out of it. The wash rooms do attract their fair share of
patrons!
It was
one of those days, when you wake up after 9AM, with not a care in the world, dismiss
all hopes of breakfast from the hostel mess and resign yourself to your morning
ablutions, at a leisurely pace.
Brushed
and shaved, all that remained was the cool morning shower. There was a little glint,
on the floor, as I entered wash room no. 15. Locking the door and having
deposited my toiletries, on the windowsill, I examined the glint. It was a
ring, its make and sheen, gave a hint of its value. Placing it on the
windowsill, I had my bath and stepped out clutching the ring.
‘Finders
keepers - losers weepers’. The first part, under the given circumstances,
sounded appropriate, and I held on to the ring for a whole day. Not sure,
exactly when, but late in the evening, the second part, ‘losers weepers’ …
began to bother me!
Remember,
I had once lost a ring, a prayer ring. This is how it happened. After, a
particularly insightful teaching learning workshop at Chennai with 52 Senior
Secondary School Heads on School Leadership Development, I had decided to
reward myself with a little memento – a silver prayer ring. Some of you may
have seen one, the type that has ‘ten raised spots’ to indicate the ten ‘Hail
Mary’s’ of the popular Rosary.
My
friends and those who know me, are justified to ask, ‘Anthony and Rosary?’ Well,
why not?
Not
sure exactly when, but a few years ago, I became interested in the ‘mantras’ the
repetition of words and sounds which came with the promise of an ‘aid to concentration’.
Aren’t mantras, Hindu? Well, so they are! To me it was rather, straightforward,
the Rosary, shorn of its ‘popular theology’ is but a repetition of words and
sounds together with its share of promises! Back, to mantras, if you please.
The Ganesh Mantra and the
Shani Beej Mantra, soon became my favourites, the magic and mystery around the
Sanskrit and the number 108 added to their charms. Keeping track of 108 repetitions,
for many a beginner calls for concentration. Counting off a 108, on my fingers
was alright, but with a ‘rosary ring’ such a device would help keep tabs on the
108 times!
Saravana Stores at T.Nagar,
Chennai, known for pandering to the middle class pocket and taste with its
trinkets and baubles, also boasts of a showroom selling gold and silver jewelry
and ornaments. SS was an obvious choice for someone not familiar with the ways
of Gold and Silver, Gold was certainly, not on my mind.
A sales girl attentively listened
and plucked off a ring from the hundreds on the rack. It was the prayer ring I
was looking for. Trying it on, it was a bit tight for my ring finger. The salesgirl
politely declared that it was the only piece left. At a mere Rs.200/- I decided
to buy it. Now I had a silver memento that could double up as a rosary for both
Christian prayers and Hindu mantras and above all to remember my teaching
learning experience at Chennai. This one is for keeps!
Back to Delhi and the routine
of work, the ring, served me well, to inconspicuously, count off the Ganesh
Mantra and the Shani Beej Mantra. As the ring was a bit tight to be worn, it
found a place in my inner pocket along with the currency notes. Slipping it in
when done, was convenient. On a certain Thursday, while emptying the inner
pocket of the currency notes, I failed to see my ring. Panic, I was sure, it
would be somewhere in between the coins and currency notes, but it was not to
be.
I checked my other pockets and
emptied all the pockets of the bag I usually carried to work, it was nowhere to
be found. By now I was convinced that, in the many times I fished out some
money for something or other, the ring must have just slipped off. Oh gosh, I
felt so angry with myself, how could’ve I been so careless? Even by Sunday, it
was not easy to accept the fact that I’d lost my ring.
Tuesday evening, almost five
days after losing my ring, I walked into the Safal outlet near the IIT gate at
Hauz Khas, after picking up a few guavas, while paying for them at the counter,
I asked the lady at the counter, ‘Aunty, have you by chance seen a small silver
ring, with a few raised ...’ hardly had I finished my stammered, request, she
said, ‘while cleaning up at the end of the day, sometime last week, I found
this thing ....’ by now, I was all ears, ‘I placed it on the counter,’ she
continued, ‘for people to see and pick it up if it was theirs,’ even as she
spoke, she kept peering into the cash drawer, ‘since nobody, claimed it,’
she said, ‘I kept it here, somewhere here’, I was certainly not prepared for
such a development, ‘is this the one ...?’ she asked, holding my ring. I did
manage a, ‘thank you, Auntyji’ it is a prayer ring,’ I added, grateful for the
recovery. She reached out for the ring, and reverentially placed it on her eyes
and returned it back to me. I was, lost for words. I paid for the fruits and
walked off in a daze, happy for my ring, and amazed at the recovery in such a
dramatic manner. Months passed by, and I have never forgotten the recovery of
my ring. So, when I found this ring, far more valuable than mine, I made a
decision.
After holding on to the ring for
a whole day, the next morning, I walked up to the five officials of the
University Hostel, all waiting to enter into the office and begin the day’s
work. Approaching no one in particular, I declared that, I had found something
valuable, in wash room no.15, while holding the ring clenched in my fist. One
of them stretched out his hand, and I gave him the ring, after a quick look, he
declared, it is gold and valuable too. ‘Thank you Sir, he says’ in return I
said, ‘thank you’. ‘We’d have to put up a notice...’ I heard them discuss among
themselves. Someone mentioned ‘honesty’. I did not know what to say.
I saw the notice for the ‘valuable
property’ lost and found, displayed prominently and highlighted with fluorescent
pink. Strangely, for almost four days after the notice, there appeared to be no
claimants for the ‘ring’.
On the fifth day, Suman,
having spent the night in his laboratory with his research work, was getting
into his hostel room at around 6AM. He looked at me and declared, ‘Sir, this
morning, as I woke up in the laboratory to finish some work, I looked at my
hands and noticed, I’d lost my ring...’. ‘It used to keep slipping off my
finger, cos it was a little loose...’ he added. I decided to hear more, before
I proffered any information.
‘When did you notice, your
loss?’ I asked, ‘only this morning ...’ he declared, ‘It was my father’s gift
to me this time, I did not want to take it... cos I knew it was valuable...’ As
far as I was concerned, it was still not easy for me to decide that what I
found belonged to Suman. ‘Have you read the notice about something valuable
being found ...’ I asked Suman, ‘Is there some, notice or something?’ he asked,
‘Yes, it’s been on the board for a few days now’ I added.
Suman rushed off to read the
notice, and on his way back, in an excited voice asked me, ‘is that washroom
no.15?’ I replied, ‘yes!’. It was hard to miss the smile of relief on his tired
and anxious face, ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘the notice says something valuable, it could
be my ring, I also have a photo of the same ...’ and he showed me one, which
had a partial picture, but unmistakably the ring I had returned. ‘You should
ask, at the office, and if it is a ring they are talking about, then you could
show them this photograph ...’ I said.
Suman’s happiness, was obvious, he was almost
convinced that it was his ring, they referred to as ‘something valuable’. ‘Sir,’
he said, ‘whoever returned my ring, deserves a reward/treat’. Unable to contain
myself any further, I smiled and said, ‘then you should give me the treat, for
it was I who found your ring and I have no doubts now that, that ring is yours.
Go and claim your ring’. It was now Suman’s turn to go speechless ...
