Jan 17, 2009 - 12:00 AM - "Listen Dude, I want you to go to US for the forth coming project and ensure that it is delivered fine. pls make arrangements for your visa and other stuff"...I broke into a smile and said "OK Boss".
Jan 17,2009 10:00 AM : I was collecting all the paper work that was supposed to be submitted to my office Immigration department and was running around my house in Hyderabad searching for them..All that i had to submit was copies of my birth certificate, 10th, 12th, Graduation, Post Graduation Memos and the Degree certifcates, Voter's id Card.
Mysteriously everything except for my driving license and company id card everything else was MISSING! The very documents which prove my existentence on this earth were missing.
My Mom, Dad and I searched every corner of the house - under the mattresses, sofa covers, every closet and cupboard, suit cases and everywhere else where anyone of us would possibly store some form of paper.But to no avail..
This was a worst possible identity crisis anyone ever could face, and at a time when i was making some head way in my career. Imagine if I couldnt make it to the project just because i dont have the right papers to get a visa. How ridiculous it could turn out!
Jan 18, 2009 10:00 PM : My search in the house was over. I was in my worst senses and everything was going blank, I was thinking how could this possibly happen just at the time when i needed them. The below par certificates which never helped me anywhere were being put to some use today, and suddenly they cease to exist???...What is happening God!!.
Then a thought struck me; may be thinking backwards might help...when was the last time i saw them??? ---Yes! it was Nov 18, 2008. I remember the day very well as i went with the lot to renew my passport. I had shown them to the passport officer to validate my existence and authenticity...Yes!!..that was then..what did i do with them again??? Logically speaking they should have been kept somewhere at home because I came home straight, put my documents in the backpack at home and then went out...where is the possibility of missing them?
Could I possibly have left my certificates there ??
Then another thought struck...the next day after the passport interview i travelled to Chennai - the place I work and i carried the backpack along with me. Did i take them with me to Chennai? if so how fast will i know if they are all there in Chennai!
Unfortunately then i had to wait for atleast 12 hrs to know whether they are there in Chennai or not just because it was Sankranthi festival season and all my roomates went to their natives just as i came to Hyderabad, and everyone were regrouping some time on Jan 19th or 20th. The first guy would arrive only the next morning, that means a 12 hr agonizing wait, and if he says there are no certificates there what am i going to do??
Such thoughts kept me busy all night and i was making plans just in case if there are no certificates in Chennai or if I donot find them at the passport office - lost and found department..
In the midst of this crisis, I prayed God requesting him to get me my certificates back within a day and i will do all the pious deeds which will make him proud!! (HEEEE!!..i made a lot of promises which i dont think i have kept)
Until early next morning i was going through a lot of material on internet on how to apply for duplicates and what would be the lead time to get them..
The trouble was since every department or state govt office was distributed across the city and since I just had one day to apply for everything to get everything before 30th Jan, i was making plans on when do i start in the day, which would be the first dept i approach, how much time can i spend there, who would be the incharge person to meet so on and so forth (basically drawing a critical path with all parameters)...I wanted to use the Sunday next morning to get all the possible work done..something like a police FIR just before i go on a quest to apply for my duplicates..i was making notes on every bit of info available at 3:00AM in the night and gradually i closed my eyes for the day involuntarily..
Jan 19th, 2009 8:30 AM "Dinesh!..wake up...wake up..did you tell anyone in the night to get your certificates?" my Mom asked me curiously...I was in a puzzled state of mind and nodded my head horizontally to symoblise i didnt ask any one.."There are 2 people waiting outside for you. They came searching for you and asked me if you have lost any certificates"...this time when she said "certificates" my mind lit up and i jumped out of bed and ran to my door...I saw 2 people standing there and i immediately greeted them...they verified that it was my house and i was the right guy they are interacting with and then showed me a large cover and asked if it was mine. I grabbed it from them and immediately went through them... YES!!!!!!!!!! They were all my certificates and documents..all Original and intact!!!...I almost shouted thanking God for listening to me so instantly and getting what i wanted..
When my senses calmed down, I thanked them with all the warmth i could share and asked them where did they find the large cover. " I found it at the passport office near the Cash counter..." said the gentleman who found my papers . At an instant the scene flashed in front of me when i unwittingly got them out of my back pack to check if everything was intact and failed to keep them back in the bag.
To my luck the cover had my address written in detail on it. The cover was sent to me by my University with the degree inside and it being of good quality i put all my other papers into that to keep them safe.
Apparently the 2 gentlemen were from Warangal..a place 140km away from Hyderabad and had come to my place 3 times since Nov 18th to give me my certificates and each time they came, it was a working day and so they couldnt find anyone at home. They didnt want to give them to any of my neighbours for some reasons they felt justified.
How oblivious was i to the fact that i LOST my certificates and did not realise for more than 2 months! and just when i wanted them, someone from nowhere turns up to my door and deliver them relieving me of all the agony i faced for 1 day. Certainly it was a Miracle..I regained my identity of the last 24 yrs of my life! Thanks to my Mom who prayed for me all night!
PS: In the midst of all this Drama;..there was a sunday special Movie - Sainikudu (telugu) running in one of the channels..Most of the time Trisha misspells Certificates as CERFTICKETS..insiting on it time and again..which i felt was like rubbing Salt to the wounds!!
