The Grand Theft

Sorry for the long delay. It was because of a combination of quizzes, lethargy, sleep, laziness and general boredom. Today, however an interesting thing happened. I lost 1500 bucks; or rather stolen would be the more appropriate word. I forgot my wallet in class today, but remembered it before leaving the class, which is about 3 minutes after I left it on my table, but by the time I got back to my table, it was already gone. Pretty obviously, it was taken by someone in my class itself, which includes all students of Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil and NavalArch students. I first frantically checked all the desks in the row I was sitting, but to no luck. I checked with the people who were sitting beside me and behind me, but there also no luck. I finally started spreading the message through SMS that I had lost a wallet. I was very scared by now, because it had my ATM card, student’s ID card (which requires Rs. 1000 for a duplicate one) and Rs. 1500 in cash, with which I was planning to treat my friends for my b’day. Fortunately, a good soul came and returned the wallet to me in my room, saying that it was found near OAT, which is quite far from where the classes are held. It had all my cards, but zero cash. Also, my mess food coupons were also flicked. My first reaction was that of extreme relief. I had told my parents by this time, and even though they didn’t make that big a fuss out of it, I knew that I had blown it big time here. Slowly, the feeling of losing Rs. 1500 started to sink in. Then, that of amusement, that the guy who actually flicked my money, also took the care of emptying my mess coupon booklet worth some 40 odd bucks.
All this got me thinking into one direction – the people who study here, are supposed to be the cream of India, and even though I won’t make any assumptions as to these people would be the ones who will lead India and all, but these are the people who can make a huge difference. But if some of these people don’t have the ethical sense of returning a wallet to its rightful owner, especially when it has a card which tells the finder about the owner of this wallet, then doesn’t it make you feel uncomfortable that some of these may actually become our leaders in the future. Do we really need to wonder where our Ramalinga Rajus come from? My final emotion was that of disgust because of the fact that I am studying with such students. This proves one fact - moral sense cannot be drilled into a person, it all depends on your character and upbringing. I am not saying that I will not be tempted if I see 1500 bucks just lying around somewhere. But if I know whom it belongs to, I will definitely give it back, because I know that losing something that expensive, causes a lot of stress. This comes from personal experience, because I myself am quite careless.
This, by the way, should in no way be treated as the general trend. I have made some really great friends here, who I can trust to any extent. We have helped each other countless number of times, and I realized that the friends that you make when you are in a hostel are especially close, because you literally live together. But a few people like these can indeed spoil anyone’s impression of the whole lot. I learnt my lesson today (as I did when I lost my mobile, my pen drive, my keys etc.). Be ultra careful with your stuff. Not everyone is your friend.