Noblest of all

Leaving bed early required a lot of persuasion, internal and external. We completed the morning duties and had light breakfast. The day was long and had to be spent driving thru tortuous roads. The petrol pump 7 kms back in Tandi was the only one in the area, the next petrol pump was in Leh 350 kms from Tandi. We decided to completely fill the tanks of 3 bikes with the petrol in jerry cans and drive back to Tandi on rest 2 bikes with all the empty jerry cans. After filling petrol in all the cans and bikes Abhishek, Shatru, Sid and me turned back to our base in Keylong.

Previous day long journey provided tips on how to be better ready for the journey ahead. We were caught in rain and snowstorm just a few hours after leaving Manali the day before. Roads were narrow and contained pot holes all over. Valleys got deeper as we moved from one curve to the other and it became dreadful to drive on the valley side of the road. Flowing ice water had created seizures on the roads and it was difficult to drive on exposed gravel without grounding the foot. As soon as we grounded it, the foot became soggy with Ice Cold water and numbness of the foot ensued.

That lazy morning we were much better prepared for the day’s journey. All of us wore clothes that screened the warm inner clothing from water and chilly air. We wore multiple socks to reduce water reaching the foot just in case we landed out foot in water and we put multiple locks while tying the rope around the luggage and cans to prevent any loosening on the way.

Abhishek was driving a few hundred metres behind me while coming back from Tandi. He had not reached our hotel even 10-15 mins after I reached. Waiting for him, I packed the remaining stuff gearing up to have another adventurous day.

For most of us adventure on the 1^st day was enough for a couple of years. Being caught in a snowfall unguarded on one of the highest mountain pass had the excitement rolling down the valleys.

Too anxious to wait any longer, Sid and I went back towards Tandi and found Abhishek just a km away from Keylong. He had lost his wallet, possibly dropped on the way from Tandi. He and Shatru had driven back to Tandi with little hope of finding it and were coming back unsuccessful. Since 2 pair of eyes has already scanned the area, we thought it was futile to spend any further time finding it. Eight thousand rupees in cash, PAN card, credit and debit cards and a dear photograph was gone. The only case in which we would have found it was if no one else had found it by then. We managed to get the cards blocked, thankful that we were still a few kms before the NO SIGNAL ZONE of hundreds of kms started. Accompanied with a few sighs and miserable feeling we continued on our journey to the most spiritually peaceful destination I know of.

About a month later Abhishek received a call from Manali. The person on the other side of the phone asked if Abhishek had taken any recent trip to Leh and lost his wallet on the way. He asked a few questions around the content and the color of wallet and finally believed that the wallet belonged to the person he was speaking to. He asked Abhishek how he would like the contents of the wallet sent back to him. Abhishek was gagged by the question, before he could believe his ears and think coherently the person said that he would make a DD for the amount in the wallet less the cost of courier and send it to him. Abhishek with great difficulty opened his mouth to say eh...Thank you very much...eh...Thank you. About a week later Abhishek received the courier with DD and his PAN Card inside.

Mr X runs a small transport company operating between Manali and Ladakh and one of his truck drivers gave him a wallet found near Tandi petrol pump. With no address references in the wallet, Mr X contacted the IT department citing the incident and asked them for the contact information of the person whose PAN Card was found in the wallet. Though incredible, someone from IT Department sent the contact information of Abhishek’s permanent home address and Mr X got Abhishek’s number from his parents.

Abhishek and I spoke at length about the incident waiting for dinner on that evening; predicting where we would have given up on locating the owner of the wallet had we found it. The incident has changed Abhishek and me for good, now we know that we are highly inspired to take that extra step beyond the point our faith collapses and hope gives way. Like Betaal of Vikram and Betaal I am interested in understanding whose act amongst the three was most noble. Abhishek and I mutually agree on the truck driver, but deep inside I know that we would not have become a better person without Mr X’s extraordinary effort.