Happiness Lost & Found!

Reading has always been an interest ever since I was a child. Though not a voracious reader, I always had a book in progress in our library. Many of my friends knew this. A dear friend, once on his trip to Sydney, the year before Covid, got me a beautiful blade-thin gold coloured metal bookmark featuring a landmark in Sydney. I loved it, obviously! 

In addition to being an especially useful gift, the fact that the bookmark was very thin, proved quite easy to carry around in a book made me like that even more. Thick bookmarks were inconvenient and left a mark on the pages which most book lovers did not like. I have been using the bookmark ever since 2019.

Few weeks back, on a visit to Zulekha Hospital in Dubai, I was carrying a book with this lovely bookmark in it. As we were heading to the pharmacy after meeting the doctor, to my utter dismay, I realized that the bookmark was missing. I traced my route back to the doctor’s office from the pharmacy and searched all around the area for the bookmark that must have fallen off the book.                                                                                                             

After a while, it dawned on me that finding the proverbial needle in haystack could be easier. Nevertheless, I told the nurse in charge to look out for a golden bookmark and keep it safe for me if she finds it. I departed the hospital leaving a small piece of my heart there which was crying over a prized possession that was lost forever, or so I thought!

After reaching home, I tried to use another bookmark, a thicker one this time. Though it was a beautiful piece which we picked up during a recent vacation, something did not feel right. The way the bookmark stood out and made the pages feel uncomfortable with its thickness, made me suffer in unexplainable pain. I was mourning over my lost bookmark from Sydney.

Days passed by. I started to get used to the new bookmark, though not without feeling inconvenient every time I picked up the book to continue reading. As they say, time is the best healer, and I learned to move on.

I had another visit to the same hospital today. We reported for the appointment and as soon as the screening at reception was over, we headed to the nurse’s station. The same nurse was waiting there and took the claim forms from me. I must have been pre-occupied that I completely forgot about the lost bookmark and the request I had made to her about keeping it for me if she found it. I was in for a lovely surprise when she reached out to her desk and handed me something shining.

It was the bookmark I lost earlier!

My heart created a new record in its leap with happiness! I could not thank the nurse enough. A new chapter was born there speaking volumes about efficacious customer service.

I returned home as a delighted customer. Little things do matter.