Colaba gallery owner forgets cash-stuffed wallet at airport, sales executive returns it

u00a0Honesty is not dead, and sales executive Dipesh Balmuri (24) of Media Mart at the domestic airport is its latest example. Had it not been for his honesty, Pravina Mecklai, gallery owner of Jamaat in Colaba, would have lost her purse containing important documents such as credit and debit cards, her PAN card, driving licence and thousands of rupees.

Mecklai was set to fly to Goa with her family on the afternoon of October 23, and dropped in at the store to buy a few books before boarding the flight. But she forgot to take her wallet after making the payment and left the store. It was Balmuri who found her wallet at the cash counter.

Balmuri, a resident of Virar, said, "I have been working at the store for over a year now. The moment I saw the wallet at the counter, I recollected the lady whom it belonged to.

The hero: Dipesh Balmuri went online to search for contact details of Pravina Mecklai (below) after he found a gallery card in her walletu00a0

I rushed to the terminal manager and asked him to make an announcement, requesting the person to come back and collect her wallet. However, despite waiting for a few minutes, the woman didn't show up to reclaim her wallet. Then I searched her wallet, hoping to find a contact number. I found her gallery card and checked online to find its contact details. I found only a landline number."

The person who answered Balmuri's call in the gallery realised that it was Mecklai's wallet and gave him her daughter Priyanka's contact number. Priyanka told him that a driver could be sent to the airport to collect the wallet, but Balmuri insisted that he wanted to hand over the wallet personally.u00a0

"It wasn't until I switched on my phone after reaching Goa, and received the message, that I realised that my wallet was at the store. If not for the kindness of that boy, I would have probably never found my wallet. He went out of his way to search for my contact details," said Mecklai.

Mecklai added that when she called Balmuri to thank him and offered to give him a token of appreciation, he refused it.u00a0