When finders are not keepers

The little things in life, like dancing in the rain, running into an old friend, a cup of tea just when you need it, or finding your lost treasure, can bring you great joy. I recount a couple of experiences to prove my point.

The physics lecturer in my friend's pre-university college was an excellent teacher and explained the subject well, making even complex concepts easy to understand. My friend jotted down the points the teacher explained in the margin of his text book. Usually, teachers frown upon such a practice—it dirties the text book—but since he had excellent handwriting, the teacher allowed him to go on.

His classmates often borrowed his book to copy the notes, and the book passed through several hands. One day, to his distress, he noticed the book was missing. He had no idea who had borrowed it last, and all his friends claimed to have returned it to him. With exams looming near, he was desperate to find the missing physics text book and searched for it high and low. Finally, he gave up and decided to buy a copy from a second-hand book shop near his hostel. Back then, it was fairly common for students to sell their old text books after exams, so he hoped to find an old copy for a lesser price. Can you imagine his thrill when he found his own book among the old books?

The seasoned dealer refused to fall for his story that the book was his and he had lost it. So he had to pay for it, but it was a small price to pay to hold his own "annotated" copy in his hands again!

Now, closer to home, my son lost his SSLC marks card. He came back from college and discovered the report card was no longer among his papers. He had several attested photocopies, so he did not think it necessary to locate the original.

A couple of months later, we got a call from his old school. What do you know? Someone had left the report card in their office. It seems a recycler noticed it among stacks of paper that had come to him for recycling. The school mentioned in the report card happened to be his own alma mater, so he wasted no time in sending it off to the school.

My son remembered then that he had cleared out his cupboard before leaving the hostel and sent all his old books, papers, and files for recycling. He must have inadvertently sent off his report card along with everything else.

Neither of these stories are cases of "finders keepers, losers weepers." The losers in both cases were winners in the end, either by luck or an act of a good Samaritan!