The Delhi metro is clean, cheap, fast, reliable, and crowded. On Saturday, we decided to go on a shopping expedition to the Old Delhi camera market for some photo equipment for Tim. We put a little extra money in the wallet and we were off! We traveled one stop on the Delhi metro to Central Secretariat where we change to the yellow line. The first train was too crowded and the security guard was yelling at people to stand back so we waited for the second train. I decided to travel in the women's car because it was less crowded and Tim waited at the door of the next car. When the train arrived and the doors opened, someone started pushing Tim from the right side (not unusual in India). Tim was holding a bookbag with his workout clothes in front of him with both hands. After the train doors closed and the train started to move, he felt back where his wallet had been (in his zipped back pocket), and felt nothing. He turned around and said "who stole my wallet?" Someone responded, "Whoever stole your wallet will not tell you sir." Yes, common sense. The person behind Tim held up his hands and said, "I did not take your wallet sir, you can check me." Tim walked towards the women's car and signaled for me to come over. He told me the news and we both knew this was going to be a very long day.We got off at the next stop and told the security guard there what happened. Unfortunately he didn't speak English and just started yelling and motioning toward the station entrance. We walked up to customer care, who told us to go to the control center. At the control center, there was a sign saying if you had been the victim of a pickpocketing crime to go to the police station at Kashmere Gate. We gave up and decided to go home. There was a mobile police unit in our neighborhood lounging in their police jeep. We approached three police officers there and after thinking we wanted to exchange money, they finally understood that we had been pickpocketed. We spent hours with those police officers - first waiting for the investigator, then going to the local metro station control room, then police headquarters. After 5 hours of this, we were allowed into the metro central control room where all the metro surveillance video footage is kept. We knew exactly when and where we were when the crime happened, so we were able to watch ourselves on the security footage (very cool!). It looked like a 2-3 man operation, one pushing, the other taking both hands to unzip his pocket and take out the wallet, crowding onto the train, handing the wallet off to another man, who jumped off the train before the doors closed. Tim realized what had happened 10 seconds afterwards, but it was too late!
Saturday was an Indian holiday celebrating the bond between brothers & sisters, called Raksha Bandhan. While those criminals should have been celebrating with their families, they were targeting and stealing from us! At the end of our day, however, we were happily surprised by some generosity. At our local milk stand (Mother Dairy), we stopped to buy some ice cream to ease our troubles. The man in front of us was buying several small cups of strawberry ice cream (the kind you eat with a small wooden spoon) for his family. He smiled at us, ordered 2 extra, and gave us each a cup of strawberry ice cream with a "Happy Raksha Bandhan" and a smile. A sweet end to an exhausting and frustrating day.
Lessons Learned: Don't wear your wallet in your back pocket in a crowded place EVEN if it has a zipper. If someone is pushing you, keep your hands on your valuables. Don't travel on crowded public transportation on an Indian holiday.
