Lost and Found in India

When I sat down in the New Delhi airport awaiting my flight back to the Western World last week, it struck me: I had left my gold bracelet behind in my room at the Hilton Garden Inn in New Delhi.  Oh, dear.  The bracelet is actually a customized man's gold watchband from the 30's.  In fact, it is the watchband worn by my husband's grandfather, John Smith, who was President of Pfizer and a co-owner of the Brooklyn Dodgersbefore the team left Brooklyn for Los Angeles.  Most important, though, is that my husband adored his grandfather and the bracelet, which bore John Smith's initials, JRS, was a sentimental reminder of him that I felt privileged to wear.

So I was upset.  I telephoned the hotel and waited while the most accommodating housekeeping staff checked the room thoroughly.  No bracelet.  For good measure, they voluntarily checked in the hallways, the lobby as well.  No bracelet.  I was sure I had left it in the room and figured that someone had simply not been able to resist that bright shiny and clearly valuable object.  I assumed it had been stolen.

Nonetheless I tried again, this time via email, from Heathrow, where I had a quick layover before the flight to JFK.  The hotel people were polite but firm.  No bracelet.

I said a few prayers to Saint Anthony, a favorite tactic of my mother, who lost --and found--many things.   She was a regular communicator with Saint Anthony, whom she referred to as "Tony."  As in "Tony helped me find my wallet after I left it in the taxi..."

So even though I'm not a regular, I dropped my pride and made a special request to Tony. 

Then I asked Laura Kim, my colleague here at Wf360, to make one last effort to reach the Hilton Garden Inn people in New Delhi and inquire once again about the bracelet.

Laura came back with the good news: the lost bracelet had indeed been found.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that the Hilton people told her they could not ship the bracelet because gold objects cannot go through FedEx or DHL or other usual delivery methods because of strict customs rules.

What to do?  We called our friends at our client, Ameriprise, who hosted the Inner Circlea few days earlier in New Delhi. They are truly terrific people.  "No problem," they said.  It turned out one of their executives was traveling to the States this Friday this week and would be happy to make the delivery.  So Ameriprise staff arranged to pick up the bracelet at the hotel and give it to the executive flying to the States who would in turn get it to me.

Speaking of conversations, Laura and I both noticed that everyone with whom we talked was exceptionally kind and generous in their willingness to take time to look for the bracelet, to make the arrangements for its delivery and all the other details it required to get it more than half way round the world.  Would the same conversational tone have taken place if I'd lost it in a U.S. hotel?

In any event, how lucky am I?  Very.  Usually when something challenging occurs in my life, I am quick to call my husband and share the news, seeking his advice.  Something told me to hold off on this news until it was certain the bracelet was indeed gone.  I just didn't want to upset him (although I knew from experience that his concern would be more for me than about the bracelet).  This time the right decision was not to initiate that conversation. 

Someday I'll tell him, I guess.  It's just good to know that Mom was right; Tony always seems to come through.  Especially when he has help from the wonderful people of Ameriprise and New Delhi Hilton Garden Inn.