LOST PROPERTY BOX & A LIFE-CHANGING REALIZATION

THIS INCIDENT happened when I was a student in the fifth grade.

- SRIPRAKASH NADADHUR SRIDHARAN

There was a lost property box in my school, where you would find items left behind by students. A few honest students religiously deposited the items they found unattended, into that box. One would have to pay one rupee as a fine to the headmistress (Sister) to take their belongings back from the box.

I was a stylophile and I used to have a nice Disney double decker box which carried my prized possessions of Hero, Pilot, Sheaffer and Waterman pens. Some of them came from my dad and granddad. My craziness towards these pens went beyond collection and turned out to be greed, without my knowledge.

The Pilot Pen

One day, I was enticed by a good-looking Pilot pen in the lost property box. The pen was not claimed by anyone and was lying in the box for more than a fortnight. I decided to pay the fine to acquire it, even though it was not mine. My friends and I planned to steal some of the good items from the box, especially the pens.