Price of a tomato

Date Line-!984-Raipur:
There was curfew in Raipur the day after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. There was relaxation for two hrs. in the evening.  I gave Rs. 5/- to my son to get some vegetables. He returned with a single tomato, double the size of a table tennis ball. No other was available in the market and the cost of it was Rs.5/-.  In those days Rs.5 was lot of money and could purchase lot of vegetables.  Taking into consideration the inflation the value of 5 is almost 150 now.
Date Line -2014, 13th July-Salem:
Yesterday, the cost of one KG of Tomato was 50 and I got 4 weighing 250gm costing 12.50., each costing about 3, damn cheap.
 

Lost and Found -III

Sometime during 1985-86, Raipur days.    In one evening, I took my cycle to the nearby grocery shop.   Parked the  cycle outside, made  some purchases,  some more  in  near by shops and returned home.  Around midnight, I realized that I left the bicycle, without even locking it, where I parked. The cycle was very valuable to me.
I was very much worried.  It was purchased on installment basis and some amount were still due. There was cash crunch and I was doubtful whether I could afford to go in for a new one. In those days. In Raipur, cycle was  the main domestic vehicle. Entire family  travelling in one cycle was an usual sight.  So one could understand the necessity of that simple two wheeler. The cycle was used by me for taking my children to school and back because I could not afford to hire cycle rickshaws, another important and only mode of  public transport, no Auto and no city buses.
I lost hope of finding it in that midnight.  Though doubtful, I just wanted to make a try. The street was empty and dead silent.
I reached the parking spot  and oh,oh,oh, my cycle was standing there, untouched

Lost and Found II

I was posted at Raipur, presently the capital of Chhattisgarh State, as Asst. Engineer Long Distance, in the year 1981.  I had the privilege of enjoying rent free quarters and a van(for official purpose only).  The life was peaceful and it was my good fortune to get a posting in such a beautiful place.
 On a Saturday morning, in the year  1984/85, month and date I do not remember exactly, two adult boys came to my quarters and enquired whether I had lost something during the previous few days.

Yes, I said.  I lost my purse while cycling towards my quarters after shopping in an evening two days prior to that Saturday. The pant pocket was a bit loose and the purse slipped out of the pocket. I also told them that  there were Rs.300/- in that purse.  The value as per todays standard would be 3000/-.  One of them took out the purse from his pocket and gave it to me. I along with my wife , sons and daughter could not contain our surprise and praised the boys for their honesty. Not a single item was missing from the purse.  I offered some money as present in appreciation of their honesty.

They flatly refused to accept anything in return and said that it was their duty to hand over the lost property to its rightful owner.  We requested them to visit us the next day for a cup of tea and enjoy the famous serial Mahabharata with us at 9 A.M.  But they never returned and they were not the residents of the area in which our qtrs. are located.

But how did they find out our quarters and located us?  Here only we should appreciate the efforts
taken by them.  The school receipt for payment of fees for my daughter was inside the purse.  The boys took the receipt to the school,  got the address and came to our residence.

A wonderful set of honest boys. I salute them.

Next: Lost and Found III
 

LOST AND FOUND-1

On returning from a short visit to Erode, We took an auto from the old bus stand, Salem, to our home. On reaching home, I took the auto fare from my purse and before giving it to the auto man, I placed the purse on the seat beside me, counted the notes and gave it to him.  We got down from the auto , went towards our home, opened the door and placed the luggage inside the house. When I was checking my personal items like cell phone etc., I found the purse was missing and  remembered that I forgot to take back the purse from the seat.  By that time,  the auto drove away and there was no trace of him. I took my two wheeler and rushed to the auto stand from where I hired the auto.  The auto drivers there recognized me and I told them the incident. One of them was kind enough to speak to the auto man I hired and I also spoke to him. He flatly denied of having seen the purse. He said that, after dropping us near our house he went for another hire.  The purse might have dropped outside since the road was uneven and full of potholes.
I felt that no useful purpose would be served by arguing with him and there was no point in going for a complaint with the police.  I lost Rs. 1500/- in cash, two ATM cards two ID cards of mine and my wife.
I, on reaching back home,  started the  damage control process. I called the banks to block the ATM Cards.  In a few days time I got new ATM cards and there are other ID cards to manage with. There is no point in grieving over the loss of money.
The lost purse contained my Vising card also.  If any one who might have found it, could have easily
contacted me. But the lust for the money might have prevented him to do so.

Next:  Lost and Found II      


 

Taxyman in Bangalore

In my previous posts I had written about my experience with Auto men in Chennai.
Now about a Taxy man in Bangalore.
On one Sunday afternoon, I got seated in a Taxy, a share type, along with three other passengers, at Marathahalli bus stop.  After few stops on the way all got down and I was the only left in the cab.
I got down at Silk Board Junction and offered the fare to the taxy man.
He flatly refused to accept the money and hurriedly crossed over to the other side of the road.
He just melted away into  the crowd and I could not trace him.
He had done a great service to a senior citizen like me.
I just turned around and I saw a hand stretched asking for alms. I just dropped a rupee coin on his palm and moved away towards Bansankari to catch another bus.
While in that bus I just looked back about the taxy incident.  I in my inner heart felt that I should have
given the entire taxy fare to the alms seeker because that money belonged to somebody else.
I am still ashamed of that, of my attitude