I was about to open the door of our bachelors-house with my key I usually keep the wallet and then I suddenly noticed that the ATM card is misssing. It was a cool evening in Chennai early January 2010 , a busy day as usual , it being a Saturday notwithstanding.
I had evolved to a calmer person during the previous 3-4 years and this was not a crisis by my standards. Still I had to do something , ultra fast. When you have a job and you are 25 years young with no idea how much money there is in your account or your pocket (it is not a big amount most of the time anyway) you cant tell how much you can lose through an ATM. Swipes can kill.
There are two things you can do in this situation : defend or attack. I could get inside the house, log in to HDFC bank website and hot-list my card. Or , riskier it might be , I can rush back to the ATM where I pulled 300 rupees an hour ago for murdering a Chicken Shawai and search for my card there - may be check with the security there .
I turned back . After 15 minutes I found myself talking to the security guard at the Indian Bank ATM near Besant Nagar. "Annaaa' (meaning Brother in Tamil) 'inge oru ATM card kalanju poch"
As ideal as a security guards behavior can be , he asked me without any excitement : 'When?'
'One hour ago. HDFC bank atm card.'
Believe me , the guys expression looked like he didnt even know what an ATM is. Then he asked casually : 'Unga name enna sir' Any bystander would have had a more sympathetic look than he had then.
I had started losing hope. DONI JAMES. I said.
With the same unconcerned expression he pulled out a blue card from his pocket and verified the name on it. Handing it out to me , he asked me to check the account.
Then I knew. Here is another amazing common man of Chennai. I realised how professionally he handled the situation. Now he wants to check if I know the PIN number or not and that is the reason behind that 'polite but firm' request. I typed in the pin and saw the account balance .
I happy he happy all happy. Of the. Some customer had found the card inside the machine and handed it over to the security. That was what happened.
We shaked hands and parted.
But was it sensible to go back to the ATM? I used the card at 8 o clock and forgot to take it back from the machine. It was 9.30 by the time I reached home and saw it missing. Someone could have already swiped it somewhere.(Not Yet , because I didnt receive any 'menacing' alert SMSes they always send when the card is swiped). The wisest thing would have been to hot list(block) the card asap.
If I was in kerala , I would have done that. Back there in the 'gods own country' (a big misnomer) you can trust nobody.
This narration is more than just a diary note , it is my tribute to the goodness this city holds. Chennai is simply amazing. Chennai rocks. I love chennai......!!!
[I have not explained why the title is the one given above - about brotherly Love.. I hope I can explain it in upcoming posts]
