Thursday, April 30, 2009

What I didn't want to happen...

Last saturday, for the first time in this country, I felt deprived. There are certain incidents in life that we hear about, but it never bothers us because we'll be certain that it'll never happen to us. But apparently, at times, it does.

As a welcome break from the winter, the recent weeks have been bright and sunny. Past saturday was no exception. I set off to Longwood gardens with Kavitha, had a great time clicking pictures of tulips and lillies in the 1200 acres of garden land. Some of the photos turned out quite well, made me one real glad dude.

I had planned to end the day watching the movie 'Soloist'. There I was at King of Prussia mall movie theatre for the 7.30pm show. Movie was very good. I came out of the theatre at around 9.40pm laughing away and cracking jokes, only to see glass pieces strewn around the sides of my car. A chill ran down my spine.

I rushed to the car and found that my rear window was broken open. My backpack with the camera was not seen. My heart almost stopped. My camera being taken away is the last thing I wished in my life. And there it had happened - I could do nothing. I felt a strange fear. And my friend's laptop bag was missing too (not with laptop, but with books et al).

I immediately called 911. Ten minutes later, a cop arrived, enquired about the theft, asked some basic questions, prepared a police report and gave it to me.

I asked her about the odds of getting my stuff back. She calmly replied that the closest surveilence camera was quite far from the place I parked my car and that it rotates, creating abundant blind spots. Also, such thefts happen in less than 30 seconds, making it impossible to capture clear evidence in the surveilence camera. In my mind, the answer translated to a 'You wont get the camera back'. That, from a cop in the second largest mall in US.

Of all my gadgets, there are two things I love the most - my camera and my phone. I would have given most of what I have to get my camera back. But at times, life appears to hit hard. Very hard. Along with the camera, I also lost my bluetooth headset (a gift), my iphone earphones, work ID card and such day-today stuffs. Hearty good bye to all of them.

I have applied for claim through my renter's insurance and hope I get some money back - keeping my fingers crossed.

And in parallel, I'm researching for my next camera, hopefully a better one! And I promise to myself that I'll never keep bags visible in my car.

All said and done, I just cant forget this day that easily. Life seems bitterly unfair.

Update: Couple of weeks later, I got a new camera and did a super cool trip this weekend. I'm feeling happy!

11 comments:

Nandini Vishwanath said...

So sorry man :| I know how much you loved your camera :(

rads said...

That truly is tragic Arun. I know the panic I went through for a few hours when I misplaced mine, I can only imagine how you must feel. ..and you are such a good shot too!

all bad eye wonly :/

Rayees Ahamed said...

Sad to hear that man.

wish u get a better camera soon.

maxdavinci said...

we feel maximum pain when things/ppl close to us are no more...

Ajai said...

hey i'm very sorry to hear that. sometimes things like this do happen. i'm sure u'll get urself a new and better camera and be wiser from the experience.

Idling in Top Gear said...

That's very unfortunate. I've found that the only place to put anything (even if it is of next to no value) in a car is in the trunk. Idiots in the US don't think twice before busting a window to grab whatever from inside the cabin. One of my friends had a $80 car stereo stolen once. The window cost 5 times as much to replace!

Anonymous said...

sorry da! i feel your pain. call off sometime i say

Saran said...

Hi Arun,
I heard the news from vijai couple of days back itself. Felt really bad and sometimes we used to hit hard by such incidents. Dont worry, u will get a nice replacement soon.

-=A.R.N.=- said...

Really sorry to hear that man.

Its really sad when life throws such unexpected turns.

Hope you didn't lose too many good pics on it.

Gauri said...

Awwww too bad !! Hope you manage to get it back ...Have been through your pic gallery on the blog and I thought some of the pictures were really astounding :)

Arun Sundar said...

Nandini,
I did. I still do. But I replaced it with a better one now. And thank you!

Rads,
Thanks. And yaa, attribute to bad eyes!

Rayees,
Thanks.

Max,
Hmmm..I made every one talk philosophy!

Ajai,
Thanks. I WILL be wise!

IITG,
Tell me about it!!

Gayatri,
Yaaa, orey the pain only. you have zandu balm?

Saran,
thanks man.

Rahman,
some pics were lost, but I can take them again..Thankfully, I did not lose the camera during my cross country trip. Would hv been awful.

Gauri,
Thank you for the kind words.