Lost and Found

Our family was on a vacation in Udupi when this happened.  My wife looked worried and was frantically searching for something in all our bags.  She was looking for the purse which had our identify proofs and some money.

When we are stressed, our mind tends to miss the obvious.  Everybody in the family started looking for it but couldn’t find it in all the three rooms that we had booked at the resort.  Then my brother went for a walk near the beach to ask people if anybody had seen it.  It was assumed that we had lost it near the beach the previous evening itself.   He even investigated near the trash cans in the hope of at least finding the ID cards but to no avail.

My seven year old daughter innocently asked me if I could call up Swamiji and ask where it was.  I had a hearty laugh and said that it’s not good to disturb Him for such things. 

I’ve read the books ‘If Truth Be Told’ and ‘Om Swami as We Know Him’ for my kids, so they are aware of some of the miracles and grace that flows from Swamiji.

I sensed frustration in everybody’s voice and some of the conversations were becoming a blame game.  So I requested everyone to stop talking about it and move on to seeing places.  I told my wife that we could use the soft copies of the ID cards at the airport or anywhere else it may be required.  She cared more about them as it could cause hassles later.

Throughout the day that topic kept cropping up even though we were having a wonderful time visiting some beautiful temples and beaches.  Sitting in the front seat of the tempo traveler, I prayed to mother divine something like this. 

“Ma, you know we have lost this purse and there were some valuables in it. If somebody has stolen it, please forgive them and let them benefit from the money.  Don’t punish them this time but please steer them in the right direction. This money is not big for us but someone else may be devastated by it.  And if somebody has found it and unable to find us, then let them also benefit from it.  Perhaps they needed this money very badly, please bless them.”

Later in the evening, we went in to a philosophical kind of discussion where I said somebody at least will be happy.  May be they can buy something nice for their spouse or kids.  It would be bad if they spent all the 21K+ on liquor 😊

I jokingly said that it’s too bad we can’t log it as a RAK on black lotus as it was unintended.

We had given up looking for it and simply focused on enjoying our vacation.  The next day, I came out of shower and searched for my clothes that my wife had kept there only on the sofa. 😃 I found the purse instead, stuck right in the middle of two cushions of the sofa.  Everybody was relieved to know that we had found the purse with all its contents intact and thanked the almighty for it.

I thought our reactions in times of adversity are so much influenced by what we do during other times.  Reading Swamiji’s blogs, books, watching His discourses on YouTube and meditation does have a deep and profound impact on our behavior.  I’m sharing this at the risk of sounding immodest but thought there is a lesson in it for us.  I used to think that I wouldn’t ever be able to share my stories on os.me.  But then I’ve learnt so much by reading others stories and people are so kind here!