One Mysterious saturday!

Dated: 09/27
PROLOUGE
A couple of months ago, I went to a Fedex Kinkos store on a work that I do not remember anymore. Just as I opened my driver seatʼs door to get down from the car, I saw something, the most tempting type of paper in the world, on the spot where I put my foot. It was a $50 bill. For an instant, I thought it is very wrong to take somebody elseʼs money and went into the store feeling like a very good samaritan.
As I was making my transaction in the store, I was thinking about what I could buy with a $50 bill, although with the conflict in my mind that it was not mine to take anyway. As I was doing my transaction, I saw a couple of people come in and go out of the store. Somehow oddly, I was praying that nobody would see it. I decided that if the money was still waiting for me like the one in Geico commercial, by the time I went back, I would take it.
When I went back to my car it was still lying there and I almost got into the car without picking it. After a quick fight between the bad and good parts of me, the greed in me won the battle and I did take the $50 bill.
I was driving back from Cherry Hill NJ to Keasbey NJ, which is about an hourʼs drive. On the way, my bad side started convincing the good side that it was lying there for me to take, it could have been observed by anybody and would have been picked up (I am not sure what that other person would have done with that money), it could have been blown away by the wind and got out of my sight. But, against all those odds and many others that I canʼt possibly imagine, it was still lying there to be picked up. So, why not me?
Finally the bad side convinced the good side and I was at rest. After I reached home, just as I was getting out of the car again, a thought struck me. What if I spend this money for others along with me rather than spending it just all by myself? That way, I would feel better for not having spent the whole money just on me. So I decided that I will buy dinner for home that day.
Right after picking it up, I thought of going into the store and giving it over to the person in one of those customer counters and ask them to give it to anybody that comes claiming for it. But then I also started wondering how good that person was and what if he or she keeps the money to himself / herself. That was one of the factors that pushed me to take the advantage rather than throwing it away to somebody else.
In all, probability, my mind was just making up things to convince me that it is ok to take that money.
I never thought about that $50 after that night, until now.
CHAPTER 1
Swaroop came from Detroit to Chinni Akkaʼs place in Maryland. I was actually calling him a couple of times this week to catch up as it has been a very long time. Finally, when he called me on Friday to say that he is coming to Maryland and wanted to know if I can drive there, so the both of us can “go and meet Deepak in Virginia?”. I did not have anything much to do over the weekend and so told that I had some work with the car and that I would drive there after I am done.
I started driving on the saturday after Mouli said he cannot make it, as the person that he his landlord became sick and he had to take care of her. I was kind of feeling tired and drowsy while driving, from sleeping late the previous night and waking up early on saturday and having had done some work with Car cleaning. I finally did reach Swaroop at around 6 PM. We spent an hour at Chinni Akkaʼs place and started to Virginia and reached there by 8:15 PM.
We all had dinner and were catching up with what was happening in each others lives, up until about 11:30 PM and Woke up at 8:55 AM on Sunday (09/27). I don;t usually think about how the day is going to unfold when I wake up....I just go about it. But at the end of this day, I wondered about how it would feel like to know about what a certain day is going to be like?
I was done with the regular morning stuff, had breakfast and started back home around 12 PM, after bidding Good Bye to Swaroop who was picked up by his friend for their drive back to Detroit, and Deepak after making some uncommitted plans to catch up again soon.
The traffic was fairly decent compared to what it would have been had I started 2 hours later. After getting into Maryland I got into a service area to refill the gas in my car at 1:30 PM
I called up Thiala and left a voicemail to see if she can come for a cup of coffee at around 3 PM as I would be passing by Cherry Hill NJ at that time. She texted that she was busy with school work and that she cannot make it, which was after I called Badri to check on the recently moved servers status. They were moved from one building to another building as the office was being shifted.
on Friday (09/25), he wanted me to connect to the relocated servers from outside the office network and see if they were accessible. I sent him an email that I was not able to connect and now was calling to check for an update on that issue. I offered to stop by if he wanted me to take a look. He did want me to take a look. To do that I would have to
get the keys to the new office from him, check the servers and drop off the keys back at his place as that was the only copy he had.
I fed his home address into the GPS and started driving. Once I got off 295, the way it was directing the route made me realize that his place was not as close to 295 and New Office as I assumed. I began to sulk about offering myself to take a look at the servers, I finally reached his place and collected the keys. While driving to the new office, it also became apparent that even the office was a good 8 miles. Given the traffic on 73 and 70, I got more frustrated. I was feeling terribly hungry and stopped by at Dunkin Donuts to get a Chicken Parmesan Flat and a Small Regular Coffee.
I had been wanting to pee for a while by now. As soon as I reached the new office, I realized that I would have to get through a main door into the building before I can even reach the actual office space, to which I had the key. The old access number that I thought I knew was not working and so called Badri to see if he had a new number. He also realized only then that he does not have the access number and was apologetic about it.
My urgency to relieve myself was getting bigger. The adjacent building which was the old office seemed like my salvation. After I got into that building with the access card, I tried getting into the restroom that has a code. I forgot this code too. I again called Thiala to see if I can use their place. She did not answer the call, as expected.
So I decided that I will give the keys back to Badri and use a service area on the Turnpike right after I get on it. So the top priority was to get to this service area as quickly as possible.
I could have used the restroom in any store or have asked Badri to use their place. Being the kind of person that I am, I did not do that.
CHAPTER 2
I drove back to Badriʼs place, returned the keys. With yet another instance of sense of responsibility, I gave him the old buildingʼs access card, which I had to take from my wallet in the car. (I don;t always put my wallet in the back pocket as it is a different kind of pain to have it there and sit).
I remember putting it on the front bumper, to get into the car and get the office keys out of the key ring. I gave him the keys and talked for a while about the Project at NJTA and started driving back home. My bladder was all being prepared to get to the first service area and open the flood gates at the earliest possible chance.
I got on rt 73, was driving at top of the speed limit and got to the service area on the turnpike. I started gathering my phone and wallet, as I usually do. I did not see the wallet anywhere and started to get worried about it. In thinking about that I forgot about going to the rest room, which has caused me to come to this point. I searched my car
for a while and did not find it anywhere. So I went into the restroom, relieved my bladder from the stress it was going through for a while.
I called Badri and told him about the wallet. He went into his driveway where I gave him the access card and keys. The good man also started driving his car in the same way that I passed about 40 mins ago. He said he would drive on rt 73 for a certain distance and see if he can find it. I told him that I was returning to his place.
As I was driving, I began to put a chronology of what happened after I gave him the access card from my wallet. A part of me was very certain that I put the wallet on the front bumper of my car, but a different one was saying that I might have taken it before getting into the car.
If it was in the car, I would have found it and there is no way that it can be anywhere inside as I did not get off it at any point after starting from Badriʼs place.
My chances of finding it were getting weak as the day was starting to go to sleep and the night was beginning to awake. It either fell off in Badriʼs community or miraculously it must have hung on to my car for a long time and fell off in some pits on rt 73, in which case my chances of finding it were almost impossible.
After I got off the turnpike, and got on rt 73, I started looking on the opposite side of the road which is how I have gone from Badriʼs place. I was in the left lane and the lane that was visible to me from the side I was driving to Badriʼs place was the right lane. That sideʼs left laneʼs view was partially covered with grass on the divider. I noted in my mind that I should look all the way through while going back again from Badriʼs place.
When I was 3 miles away from his place, he called me to ask where I was. The tone in his voice somehow indicated to me that he found the wallet. I asked him the question and he answered in negative. I thought he was just kidding with me. My hopes started to raise and I was beginning to feel half happy.
I reached Badriʼs place and did not see any signs of him finding it, on his face. Either that or he was really putting up a nice act. Vandana and their kids were also outside. I tried to see any signs on their faces. There were none. Badri & Vandana helped me look in the car, under seats and everywhere. I was still thinking that they were having fun with me. They were not.
I only realized that when Vandana said ʻDonʼt worry too much about it, Sudesh. Things like this do happen. A lot of people go for a walk around this place and anybody could have picked it. If it was a responsible adult, they would call or report it to the authorities, but if were some teenager or somebody nasty, then you are in troubleʼ.
I hoped that some adult had picked it and already reported to some authority and that I should be getting a call anytime soon. Looking back at it....maybe I was being too much optimistic about the situation?
Badri came up and said I would need cash. He gave me $400 and I said that much would not be necessary. He insisted that I keep it as I will need it till I get all the bank cards back in my hand. It was only then that it fully sinked into my mind that my wallet was gone forever unless somebody responsible (like Vandana said) would make it come back to me.
Badri asked me to come in and block all the cards. I told him that that I will do it after going home. Badri asked me to not hesitate and use his phone to call the banks first, as the chances of it being used by somebody else can be negated to the maximum possible. He also said it is usually in the 1st half an hour or 1 hour that the cards would get swiped.
I went in. They had a big and nice place. Vandana offered me dinner which I politely rejected. She said that I should at least take some coffee / tea which I declined again. They said they would be having some coffee and that I can join them. I just was not in the mood to eat or drink anything. However, I did not want to seem like too messed up and gave in to the offer for coffee.
Badri gave me his laptop and the phone. No transactions were made on either of the cards, when I checked the transactions online. I called up BOA and cancelled my Debit card and the credit card.
Vandana got the coffee and some snacks. Badri started talking about some similar experiences that he had. Most of my mind was still thinking about where I would have lost it. I was thinking about it so much to the point that when Vandana asked about my family in India, the question did not register with me and I had to make her repeat the question twice. I guess that must have been very embarrassing for her.
She said that when things like this happen, it is quite natural to get tensed, but then we have to think logically about the situation and let it be. She suggested that I should start thinking about fixing any services associated with any of the cards (License, Insurance, SSN etc) right. That kind of made me loosen up a bit. Badri suggested that I should get a new bank account ASAP. And, also that I should go to DMV the first thing the next morning to get a duplicate license.
By this time, I had given up all my hopes about it. We talked for a while about friends, movies and stuff like that.
I had to leave , but was afraid of driving without a license. There was nothing that I could do, so just took the chance. Even Badri did not say anything about not driving without a license. So I assumed it is ok. Looking back I think he did not want me to get more tensed about the situation and so did not say anything about it. He really might have thought ahead.
I started driving back home again and stayed on the left lane on rt 73, which is most probably the lane on which it fell off. I was looking, to see if I can find it, as I had planned while driving to Badriʼs place in pursuit of my wallet.
CHAPTER 3
There was about 8.5 miles drive on rt 73 before I could get on the turnpike. Half way through this distance, there was a construction on rt 73 & rt 70 junction. There was no way I can drive slowly at this intersection. Also there was no way of finding it if it fell right in that intersection.
I passed by this intersection and after about 1 miles from there, I saw something black at a distance. As I passed by it, I thought I saw something vaguely similar to my ICICI bank debit card cover, but the one that was holding it did not look like a wallet. There were no cars behind mine for a considerably long distance and this somehow made want to go back and check the spot again.
For quick second I also thought of just driving by and getting on the turnpike in about 3 miles. The optimistic side of me said that if I turned around and looked at it again and if it was my wallet I can save a lot of time and some money that I had in it.
So, I took the next U Turn and went by the spot on the other side where I thought I saw something similar to my wallet. Took a U Turn again after passing through the assumed spot. There was literally no traffic for a long distance from where I took the 2nd U Turn. So I decelerated and started looking carefully on the left side of the road beside the divider. There it was again, my ICICI bank debit card, but the wallet still did not look familiar. I pulled over the car at a safe distance.
I crossed the road and started running towards the assumed spot. There was some trash at the spot where I thought I saw it. Very quickly I began to feel that it was all an illusion and almost went back to the car. The optimism in me was still alive and kicking, though.
I started walking a little further and saw it again at a distance. I was sure that it was an illusion again like I imagined. But I wanted to give it a chance. When I began to get closer, my pulse started racing and desperately wanted that illusion to be true.
As I was getting near to it, it was not moving nor was getting invisible. I thought it was my wallet and it WAS my wallet. I picked it up and felt like I was literally blessed.
Checked for all the cards and they were intact. I thought it just fell off the car and was lying there. But when I looked for cash, $60 were missing. I thought somebody must have found it, took the cash and would have thrown it out of their car. Whatever, I was happy to just get it back with all the cards intact.
Crossed the road again and started running towards my car. I got into the car and screamed in excitement. I could not believe that I actually found the wallet again. I started driving again and called Badri to inform about the finding and thanked him for all the help.
I wanted to stop again and see if everything is alright and so pulled over again in a strip mall that had a Whole Foods Store in it. Everything was intact except for the money. I fancied the idea of going back and looking for the money in case it came out of the wallet and was lying around my ex-assumed spot. But then I told myself that it would not be possible because I knew that the lost 20$ bills were better tucked in the wallet than the 10s and 1s that I still had in it.
EPILOUGE
In retrospect, I believe that this was a way of making me compensate for the $50 that I found about a couple of months ago.
In what circumstances did that person lose the $50?
What was his/her state of mind when the $50 was lost? How did he/she feel about it when it was realized that the money was lost?
What kind of trouble would that person have gone through for losing the $50?
Did this person go back into the Fedex Kinkoʼs store asking about any lost money being reported?
How much was that person in need of those $50? How much pain did this person go through to earn that $50?
I hope and pray that the $50 that I found was not from a person that was very needy of it!
I also hope that the $60 that I lost was taken by that person who lost the $50, though I would never know what happened. I sincerely hope!

Are you living today like you are going to die tonight?

Is it going to be today?

What does it take to be the person that you want to be?

Why is it so tough to fight against yourself?

Voice - May be a silly one!

Does the voice of a person depend on the style of crying while being an Infant?

Election Results in India

It has been li'l over a year since I have come to the US. One thing that has amazed me since I have moved to NJ is the # of Indians that are around here....while in India I did not realize there were so many of them congregated in one single state here......maybe there are others in other states and I still don;t know.....there are so many to the point that there is a certain road here that all the road rules change once anybody enters there meaning the driving conditions are a li;l like in India.....anyways this is not the point here.....I was at an Indian restaurant on the 05/15 to get some food and they had about 4 different televisions each having a different telugu news channel and there were so many telugus trynig to follow up with the results....I learnt that most of them were so curious not for the results but for the amounts that they have betted on the results....it is sad to see that people are more interested in the money that they would win (or lose) over who would come to power....

Although I don;t realize it quite often, I have quite an inclination towards political discussion, I came back to my friend's place (his wife is in India and so his place is now a bachelor's den) and started following the results....as the counting began, the hopes were revolving around TDP as it was running close with Congress.....I followed till a certain while and fell asleep. The first thing that I saw after waking up the next morning is the results.....it was stunning(and disappointing) to find that Congress has won with a huge majority and TDP has fell far beyond.

It is not that I like TDP over Congress.....in my opinion it is just that TDP was less corrupt in comparision to the Congress....also in terms of establishing the fundamental development. It is choice of less corrupt (and more development) party.

One party that has stayed true to the definition of spoil sport is PRP. It amazes me about how a certain movie star (who has a huge fan following) establish a political party assuming he can come to power by simply leveraging his fan base. Did he think that people were so ignorant of the happening around them? Did he think that he really had the capability to bring the Social Justice that he talked about so much? If he was so passionate about his agenda, why could he not prove the point in as fundamental function as selecting candidates (what I think about caste is a different story!). I guess after certain point even the well educated and well connected kids begin to lose their mind. How could his daughter, his son, his neice think that they could go and campaign for him? What were they campaigning for? That their dad (or uncle) would get to power and they can start riding on it? Would these people even come out to do anything for the people even if he won except sitting at home or going about their personal things (whatever they could be)? What did this Party 'Leader' (is he even one?) think he has done to make him look substantial to become a CM of the state(?) except that he has entertained huge crowds (there has been several instances where people have died trying to get tickets for his movie or in a movie's successful run celebrations). He declared that it is people who have compelled him to come into politics after seeing so much injustice in the society. Does he have proof to vindicate this assumption except for maybe some media coverage (which could again have been paid for)? even if he was really called for by the people , what did he do to provide a voice for them? Over and above, there is news that he (and his brother-in-law) have earned huge amounts of money. If that is true, would that be used to balance the so called social (in)justice scale?

Having been involved in political campaigning (at a very small level a long time back), I believe it is the high that comes to people in the middle of all political heat which makes people do or say everything and anything that they can (or cannot) do. Some body who can keep their cool in the middle of all this and talk after making due analysis is required for Indian politics. One person that seem be like this is JP Narayan who has established a political party called 'Lok Satta'. He is somebody who has established a NGO with the same name and has brought about some social reforms and only after showing the results has entered into mainstream politics. This adds a lot of credibility to what he says and the confidence that he will do what he says (atleast tries to do). It is leaders like these that India really requires at this point in time.

Jai JP ! Jai Lok Satta! :)