Till a few years ago, finding lost luggage and articles was virtually unthinkable for rail passengers in the prevailing system. However, the Station Manager of New Delhi Railway Station Rakesh Sharma, made it possible singlehandedly through his sheer grit and administrative acumen besides a compulsive desire to extend help to the needy. The idea to help passengers retrieve their lost articles was triggered in Sharma’s conscience about five years ago when he noticed a female passenger completely dejected after losing her purse which contained her mangalsutra (a prized gold ornament worn by married Hindu women in the country).
Sharma, responsible for management of passenger train movements in and out of the most important and busiest railway junction of the country, worked hard to trace her lost article and put a smile back on her face. He successfully retrieved the lost purse and delivered it to the rightful owner.
“Thereafter, occasionally lost items used to come to me and I tried to deliver them to the owners (passengers) and it is here that the journey to bring smiles on the passengers’ faces began. I gained interest despite my professional demands as I realised that to help the passengers is also my obligation. Till date I have tracked 500 such cases and delivered lost items to their owners,” said Sharma when asked for his comments.
From delivering information over the years and now objects like laptops, jewellery, costly mobile phones to cheap pens and ornaments, Sharma slogs to find the "real" owner and hands them their objects with pride, protecting both the image of the Indian Railways and the country.
Costly laptops and IPhones have been delivered to passengers as far as Australia, London and the United States due to Sharma’s personal interest and initiative.
For pursuing his passion to help, Sharma has two effective and trustworthy tools — the pantry car waiters/attendants/porters and the use of technology.
He has earned a name for himself as he has successfully tracked down more than 500 people, including foreigners on social media, mostly on Facebook and returned the belongings to the passengers who either misplaced or left them by mistake inside the train or on the platform premises.
Sharma first tries to get information about such passengers from the PNR details. However, the phone numbers mentioned in the passenger's booking details are either switched off or not in service, making it difficult for him to track.
In one such case, he got the passenger’s details from a photograph that had the address and number of a photo studio stamped on the back.
“I called on the number and sent the photograph on Whatsapp. The owner of the studio identified the man and informed his family. The family members, in turn, called the passenger who was on his way to the airport to catch the flight. He then called me and collected the lost bag,” added Sharma with a sense of satisfaction.
