BAR-A-THON DAY 1 - STRANGER THAN FICTION

                  It was the year 2008. I had come down from the US for a visit to India. I was staying at my sister's place in Hyderabad. My parents and my brother's family too had joined us there. One evening, we went to a newly-opened shopping mall which was about a half of a kilometre away from my sister's house. My nephew and nieces had a great time as we roamed around the mall, had some sweet corn and played some games before we went back home. We had our dinner and the kids were planning to entertain us with their dance. I went to the bedroom to take the digital camera from my handbag. As I took it out, I suddenly realized that my purse was not in there. I frantically searched the whole bag and the bedroom before it struck me that I had taken it out to pay for the sweet corn. A horrifying realization hit me that I had probably left it there. My heart sunk! That purse contained my debit card, my US driving license, some cash and most importantly, my husband's credit card which he had given me to use for my expenses. 

                As soon as I informed my family, my brother took out the car and we all rushed to the mall. It was nearly 9:30 in the night and we had left the mall three hours before. No thought came to my mind at that time except that my husband had entrusted an important thing to me and I had lost it. We rushed inside the mall and hurried to the place where we had eaten the sweet corn. The image is still etched in my mind. There it was -my purse- lying in all its glory on the platform where we had sat a few hours ago. There it lay - a purse with many important things, apart from money, in a MALL where hundreds of people come and go every day.  Gratitude tinged with a slight sense of shame overwhelmed me.

                I do not know if it was a miracle, a piece of sheer good fortune or a blessing from a higher power. Probably it was a mix of all. But definitely, it was an experience that I can truly say was stranger than fiction. (And, yes, I did call up my husband and owned up to what had happened.) As they say, all's well that ends well!