Lost in TRANSIT

What is the worst case scenario while travelling? Losing important documents or your iPad or phone, right? Although being careful is a given, they are many personal belongings that people tend to leave behind — wallets, rings, keys, jackets and more. A recent study by an international cab company showed that Bengaluru is the most forgetful city in India, with India itself leading the APAC region, and Australia and Philippines coming next.

After namma ooru, it’s Delhi and Mumbai next! People are losing a number of outrageous things like wedding albums; LCD TVs, even cheques! What makes namma ooru such a forgetful city? Is it the stress of work, the constant travel or just laziness? City folk share their lost and found stories, as we dig deeper into the forgetfulness of the Garden City inhabitants. 

Many frequent travellers leave their phones, jackets and other personal stuff behind in cabs. Leena Mahapatra, a city doctor, realised that she had left her phone behind in her cab some weeks ago. She immediately called the cab driver, who was nice enough to return it, at no extra cab fare. But some are not that lucky. Losing cash, it seems is better than losing credit or debit cards. According to the survey, the highest number of belongings lost were on weekends! Which was also when Leena lost her phone. 

An engineer by profession Shivani Roy recalls a recent cab ride home, “While travelling home, I had left my wallet in the office cab. It had all my cards, cash and other important stuff. I thought I had lost it, as our cab drivers change often. But the best part was that the cab driver had saved my number, and was waiting at the office pick-up area to return my wallet which had the cash and cards.” 

Anshu Oberoi who works for a medical solutions company shares, “The day I lost my wallet was one of the most stressful days ever. On boarding a BMTC bus, I lost my wallet with my cards, cash and daily passenger’s pass too. I remember putting the wallet in my backpack and zipping it. I had to get my cards blocked, hail a cab and get home (god bless cab money through the app!) but I did learn an important lesson — Now, I keep important things closer to me.” 

Losing phones and other electronic gadgets with personal data stored can be a nightmare.  Aditi Singhal was travelling back from Lucknow on a flight, and on reaching home, she realised that she had misplaced a shawl. “I called the airline, gave them my details. Since I was coming back two days later, on a lark, I asked an airline personnel and she was kind enough to run to their lost and found section, and I got my shawl back, numbered and kept safe.”  

Elizabeth Moyon who has been part of the hotel industry shares, “I have seen many guests leave behind their belongings all the time. The most common are clothes left in cupboards. Wallets, hair dryers and even jewellery kept in the safe are very common. Once the items have been reported missing, the lost and found procedure is followed. We inform guests that their things have been found, and when we confirm details, they can collect it. Sometimes, we also courier it to the guest.” BIAL and all airlines have their own lost and found departments where articles are kept with seat, flight numbers and other details etc... For airlines, the arrival destination is where one can find things you’ve lost. The international cab company which did the survey recently released their second edition of the annual Lost and Found Index, and also has an app to guide lost souls. Not a bad idea for the city that tops the lost and found list!