Bus Travel

Auto travel was getting really expensive .

Thought I'll go by bus from Jayanagar to Majestic. Conveniently there is a bus stand right opposite my hotel.
Asked a couple of people at the bus stand for the bus number for the route( Routes on buses are printed in Kannada )
After couple of "Goth Illa's" and "Nahin maloom's" , I get the answer.

Waited for a couple of minutes , and here comes a bus with that number.
A couple of people climb before me , ask the driver something and suddenly want to get down.
Meanwhile I am pushed into the narrow entrance of the bus by the crowd behind me .
I managed to get into the bus , but I feel something odd . I check my denim pockets and my cell is missing !
Well , I thought it must have fallen down while climbing into the bus. I get down from the bus and check the bus stand , it isn't there.
I go into the hotel and called my cell , it rings and someone picks up , Yaay!
I tell him that it's my cell and ask him where he is . He tells me he's in the bus and will be getting down at Majestic.

I caught an auto , reach Majestic and call my number . The message says my cell has been switched off. I now realize what had happened , I vaguely try my number many many times .
I come back dejected to my hotel room , and for the next couple of hours retry my number.
It feels like a part of you has been cut off , and an n72 did not come cheap.
I call my sister and tell her about this . She had noted down the IMEI id numbers of all our phones . It is possible to track down the thief with that number , she says.

Happily I went to the police station , told the SI about this and he says that I probably lost the cellphone. He isn't ready to lodge an FIR , says instead of that I can write a signed handwritten note and he will take care of it . I wrote the note and I described the entire incident and then he tells me , it is impossible to catch cellphone thieves ! wow !

This has never happened to me when commuting in extremely crowded local trains or buses in Mumbai .
This was my first week in this city . Since then I have never travelled by local bus , nor plan on doing so in the future and neither will I buy an expensive cell.