Missing Laptop
During my doctoral years in Mumbai, I lost my laptop one ordinary evening in an auto. I remembered my dinner takeaway, but forgot to pick up my recently bought laptop.
I tried my best to recover it. I went to the auto stands and gas stations; met hundreds of auto drivers; put missing laptop posters with a cash award, including life size banners at the local train stations.
The outcomes of these untiring efforts were phenomenal. Those ignorant about laptops now knew that computers could be slim too and the small bags people carry to offices were dear to them as they hold these precious machines. My phone number became virtually public. Some auto drivers tried to settle scores with their enemies by falsely giving me their names.
But alas! The laptop never returned. With it, I also lost a year of my doctoral work. I was devastated and felt it was time to return home for good. I called my parents. My father being a writer, I thought he would quote philosophers to convince me to continue my studies.
Instead, he shared a secret of his.
“You are worried about last year’s work, some of which you may still remember. In an accident in standard five, I lost my memory of my entire schooldays. I had to begin again with alphabets.”
“What!”
“I fell from a guava tree, whose fruits I am still fond of.”
“Dad, you never told me this?”
“I was waiting for the appropriate time. See son, if you lose your mind, you lose something; if you lose your heart, you lose yourself.”
Since then, I have never lost heart on any failure. And what could have been a more appropriate occasion than a literary platform celebrating Father’s Day to share this to the world!
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