In these times of demonetisation, when cash is a rarity, a 60-year-old fisherwoman, who found a wallet full of it on the bustling streets of the Red Hills fish market last week, took considerable pains to find the owner and return it.
“I was on my way back from buying ice around noon when I found the wallet lying on the ground. It had lot of cash and credit cards,” said S. Vasantha, the fisherwoman. She visits the fish market in Red Hills every day to buy fish and sells it near her house in Kodipallam village in Sholavaram taluk.
On her trip to the market, she was accompanied by a friend who urged her to keep the wallet. “But it was someone else’s money, and clearly, they had lost it. I could not keep it,” she said.
After buying ice, Vasantha headed home with the wallet. She told her son about it and the duo checked the wallet to find it had Rs.11,585 in cash, a driving licence and credit cards. They also identified the owner of the wallet as Shiva Pillai, a city-based consultant.
They immediately contacted him after finding his phone number from one of the cards.
A further surprise
“We first cross-checked with him about the wallet’s contents. He said there was Rs.8000 in cash but when we told him there was a lot more, he was very surprised,” said Marimuthu, Vasantha’s son. Marimuthu was left disabled and unemployed after meeting with an accident many months ago.
Around 8.30 p.m, Shiva Pillai rushed to their house and retrieved his wallet and profusely thanked them. It turned out he had dropped the wallet while getting into his car after making a purchase at the market.
“I was overwhelmed when I heard they wanted to return my wallet safely,” he said. After handing him his wallet, the family refused to accept any monetary gift.
Touched by their gesture, Shiva offered a job to her grandson, who was in dire need of it. “I’m trying to put him in a good place where he can earn a decent living to support his family. This is the least I can do,” he said.
“At a time, when everyone is running behind money, people like Vasantha and Marimuthu are a rarity,” he said.
