Ladies' Handbag

I remember what I felt when the kind lady came up to me and told me that she saw a little girl take my bag and go out of McDonald's. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. 

My purse was flicked inside a crowded fast food joint on 31st December literally from under my nose.... I've seen the CCTV footage of the theft and I won't call it negligence on my part. I call it an oversight .... 

My handbag. As a friend told me the next day, "You women carry the house in it." Yes I do. 

I am a mother. My purse has wet tissues to wipe off dirty Kurkured hands, dry tissues to wipe leaky noses, hand sanitizer to clean up hands after a visit to a public loo and even disposable toilet seat covers...so we can rest our butts and pee in public toilets - on trains, in aircrafts, cinemas etc.... They took most of it.

I am a woman. I carry a gloss to shine up dull lips just in case I 'feel' like it, a kajal to brighten dull eyes, a hair brush to manage unkempt hair, a few hair clips and even a small vanity mirror... They took most of it.

I am a journalist. I carry a handy digital camera that has shot some spectacular pictures, helped me take shots I am proud of... They took it.

I am a citizen. I carry all my documents - Driver's License, registration of the car, Pan card as a photo ID.... They had no need for the stuff.

I am a woman constantly on the move who has too much to do and too little time. I carry two debit cards, two credit cards and cash that makes me feel 'secure', makes life easy when I suddenly have to fill fuel or buy a birthday gift for a party my children remember at the nth hour....  I have numerous bills stacked inside my wallet for clothes to be picked up at the dry cleaners, the tailor etc..... They took all the cash, but left my bills intact.

My kids' pictures, my tampons, my glasses, my pill case..... It was all there in that one handbag.

After filing the mandatory FIR I knew that the police didn't intend to do anything about my 'lost' handbag.... Its just another ladies' handbag to them. 

But to me, it had seemed like the end of the world. Because I carry my little world with me everywhere I go. Everything is in it...in my handbag.... 

Footnote: Miraculously, my handbag was found 14 kms from my home (and from where it was stolen) the very next day. In 24 hours, my belongings were in my hands...minus the things they had chosen to keep.