Fate

 

Ira took out her new white dress. Its tunic had delicate pink and lilac embroidery on the yoke and wrists. It made her feel special and gave a spring to her step.

She arrived at Mona’s new flat with two other friends. A small, one bedroom flat but it was freshly painted and tastefully furnished. Mona and her husband stood at the entrance, beaming from ear to ear. Mona welcomed her hostel friends with a warm hug.

“What a nice house! And how happy you look, Mona! Congratulations.”

“My mom said the same thing. Our decision to postpone marriage till we had our own house has paid off. Mom was sure that something or the other would go wrong during this period.” Mona confided in her.

The house was full with guests and gifts and flowers they had brought. Ira was introduced around. She made small talk. She became aware of the intense gaze of one man who was eyeing her steadily. He had medium height and was powerfully built. His mop of dark hair, bushy eyebrows and clever eyes which missed nothing gave him a presence.

Ira picked up her plate and sank down on an empty sofa corner.

Only two months ago, she was in the dumps and had thought that she had no future in this city.

She had lost her college teaching job. It was temporary but she had hoped that her good work would lead to continuation. It had not. There were no employment ads for teaching in the newspapers. Luckily she had had the foresight to pay her hostel fees for six months in advance and so did not have to go back to her brother’s house immediately. She rather hoped that her savings would help in tiding over the break till a new job was found.

                                ______________

She got a phone call one morning. The caller told her about an old life insurance policy of her late father’s. The caller added that the policy issued against one lump sum payment had matured some seven years ago and the money was lying unclaimed all this while. He was phoning from an insurance regulatory office and his job was to clear all such pending unclaimed accounts. Her name was mentioned as a nominee in the policy and so this call.

Ira was intrigued. The mention of her father’s name brought a lump to her throat.

“Which insurance company? How much did he pay? What is the maturity amount?” she croaked.

“The maturity amount is ______ and you will be entitled to interest on it for the intervening period.”

Ira sat down. It was a substantial amount. If she could get it, her money problems would be over for a long time.

She used to manage her father’s meagre finances. She had never heard of any such insurance policy. However, it was so long ago! May be her father had forgotten about it. But he had cared for her. It was her name and not her brother’s as the nominee.

The person at the other end continued. He had a warm, sympathetic voice.

“I know, it is too much to take in. There is no hurry. I will give you my department’s phone number. Please call _______ there and give her this file number. She can verify the details I have given you.”

Ira did so. The lady gave her more details of the case.

“Nobody issues policies of this type any more. If you do not claim the maturity amount in the next two months, the government would forfeit it. So you will have to act quickly. You will have to buy a new insurance policy by paying its annual premium and the old policy would be settled against it.”

It sounded very plausible. 

In half an hour, Ira received an insurance policy proposal from a well-known company. She was asked to read it carefully and if satisfied, open the accompanying payment link. Ira did so and made the payment with her card.

She went to bed in a happy state of mind. She kept remembering her father. His legacy would come at just the right time. She did not have to worry about future now.

At midnight however, she woke up with a start. What if all this were an elaborate fraud? Newspapers were full of reports every day of people being duped through false messages, one time passwords, payment links etc. etc. What proof of her father’s insurance policy was with her? Why did she not wait for a few days? Why did she not verify any of the details?

She had no answers. The insurance story sounded so thin now. She had got completely taken in and did whatever she was asked to.

Ira lost her sleep. She bided time till her roommate woke up and then she told her what had transpired.

The roommate burst out laughing. Then she saw Ira’s white face and checked herself.

“You did not pay the premium?”

“I did.”

“How much?”

__________

“Oh God! Ira, how could you? You could not afford to. Why did you not check with any of us? These bogus calls from so-called insurance companies are rampant now-a-days.”

“I believed them. I still think my father left me that money.”

“What money? Who has seen it? The only real money is what you have paid.” Her roommate told Ira emphatically. “Come on Ira! Not a single pi comes to us gratis in this world. Legacy indeed!”

Ira had to accept that she was right. The roommate contacted Ira’s bank. The bank advised her to file a complaint with the police. It also gave her cybercrime detection department’s website details.

              _______________________

Ira sat transfixed on her bed. She could not move. This was the end of her dream of a career in the city and she had done it herself.

 Her roommate made her file an online complaint. Ira kept making mistakes. By the end of the day, she had finally managed to submit her complaint with all the details available with her. She got an acknowledgement.

Next day, she wrote an application, attached the acknowledgement to it, made a photocopy of the set and trooped down to the nearest police station. She had to wait in a queue. When her turn came, she showed her application to the police inspector. He read it carefully and signed Ira’s copy. “We will get in touch with you.” He told her tersely.

Ira came back to her room and lay down. She had made a fool of herself twice over. She could not retain her job and then she lost almost all of her savings. What will she do now?

She required the last vestiges of her energy to get through the next few days. She did not call her brother to fill him in. she forced herself to hunt for job openings. Otherwise she watched TV, listened to songs on the radio and passed time. She dutifully followed up with the police. Phoning was out of question as the number was engaged throughout the day and night. She had nothing to do the whole day except searching for job openings. So, she went to the police station everyday. She patiently stood in a queue, politely enquired about the progress of her case and came back.

After two weeks, she got another phone call. This time, it was from the local cybercrime detection cell to which her case had been referred. The caller checked her credentials and asked her to furnish a copy of her bank statement. Ira was badly frightened. What if she lost the rest of the money also?

Her roommate checked and said it was a genuine call. She persuaded Ira to give details from her bank statement.

It showed a distressingly small balance. It would be just enough to buy a train ticket to her brother’s home.

Nothing more happened in the next two weeks. Ira had reached the end of her tether. She cast one last look at the bank statement before withdrawing money.

She was puzzled. The statement showed a higher balance. How? Who paid? What was going on?

Then the penny dropped. The previous day there was a deposit in her account. The amount was the same as the insurance premium she had paid.

So the police department had done their job and rectified matters but without any kind of intimation to her!

She could not accept this. It was too good to be true. Her roommate confirmed that it was the refund of her lost amount.

Ira’s depression vanished. She felt charged. The worst was over and things would only improve from now on.

She wanted to be extravagant and on an impulse she bought the expensive white dress in a shop window. She had coveted it for months.

                 ______________________

With a start, Ira came to and looked around. The man with bushy eyebrows was sitting next to her and he was saying something.

“Sorry. I did not hear you.”

“You were totally lost in your own world.”

“Oh yes!” Ira had re-lived her ordeal in the last few minutes and as she came out of her trance, she realised the importance of the present moment. She described the whole incident to the man. He was looking at her expectantly.

“Congratulations!”

“??”

“You got your money back and because you have truthfully shared so much with me. You are a very honest person.”

Ira was confused.

He was not done yet.

“By the way, that dress suits you very well. You look pure and you stand apart.”

Ira blushed and looked down.

“How about coffee this evening?”

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