The Spanish Inquisition-Seville-Part 3

We used to think when we were in India, that the police were good for nothing. Corrupt, morbidly-obese from all the extra income they earned, drunk by their own power, they were a nuisance more than they were protectors of the law. We guessed then that the police in advanced societies were much better and honest.

Well, we are here to tell you friends that they are no better in Spain. They did take pity on Saru and Kala everywhere they went that's for sure, and did not demand any money to hear them or file a report. But then, the sight of a worried Saru is pretty heart-rending. Not to mention Kala, who was pretty sick by then and could hardly speak. I could hardly hear her when she bid us farewell and boarded the bus with Saru to go to Seville city center.

First stop, the "Lost and Found" department. They met the guard at the gate, who would not let them in unless they told him their case. This was a recurring event everywhere they went. The guard seems to be like the peon in our sirkar offices. Next problem, no one spoke English (and I had the phrase book to battle the cab drivers). They found one sympathetic lady called Lucia, who spoke a little bit and she helped them. They hit an obstacle when they could not recollect their address in Barcelona. The police needed to know where we might be in case they found the laptop and they had to ship it.

So these 2 went to an internet center to check their hotmail account. Smart people that the women folk are, they had emailed themselves all the details in case we needed it later!! Saru also needed to email his lawyer to ask her to send him the duplicate H1B documents. However, the internet center was still closed at 11am! So Saru and Kala banged on the door and got the bewildered owner of the place to open the door a full 45 minutes ahead of time!! Then they went back to the "Lost and Found" department at1:34pm, only to find it closed for siesta. So, for the second time that day, they banged on the door and got Lucia. After all this work these guys did, she asked them to file a case at the local police next. Turns out nothing else can be done there anymore, as everyone is asleep at the Lost & Found place.

Now the police. 2pm, without a single morsel of food in them, these two people went to the local police station. This time, NO ONE spoke English, and they had to narrate their story to 5 different people. The cops (turns out Spanish cops are just as pot-bellied and chain-smoking as our own) there passed the buck, and asked these 2 to go to the police responsible for cab crimes, where the photo archive of the drivers was kept. Dead end, after 1 ½ hours of trying. To rub salt into the wounds, they cops also told them that this other place was at the end of the street, and to run as THAT place closed in 10 minutes for their siesta. The WHOLE freakin place shuts down for siesta.

So Saru and Kala ran and arrived breathless at the cab police station before the siesta began there. They even managed to get a cop to listen to their case. But after listening to their story, the cop told them this: "Sorry. Everyone is asleep here. Please come back Tuesday". Turns out it was a Friday and these people don't work weekends, then the 1^st day of the new year's. To make matters worse, we were leaving in 2 days (Sunday) to Granada. As Saru and Kala sank in despair, the cop advised them (which turns out to be the one good piece of advice they got all day) to go to the National Police station, all the way across the city

Again, they hurried to get to this one last station. Here, they finally got an interpreter who talked to them: from Madrid! For the first time that day this man heard them patiently and wrote up a complaint letter in Spanish for them and faxed it over to that office. After an hour of that, they had officially lodged a complaint. One noteworthy point is that Elizabeth's (our apartment owner) mobile number was distributed freely in all the places these 2 went to (She might be getting obscene calls even now, thanks to us). They also learnt that there were over 2300 cabs, and over 8000 drivers in that city. The odds of finding our one driver were pretty slim. Especially since every freakin driver looked just the same. Dejected and depressed they took the bus and headed back to airport at 6:30pm. As a last defiant act, Saru decided to stop by a nearby McDonald's and buy some fries just to give an American company his money. The fries turned out to be barbecue-flavored and neither of them ate it finally!

Back at the airport, things were beginning to warm up. My contacts among the cabbies kept growing. I was introduced to Jesus (Pronounced Hey Soos) by Pasqual (the tall cabby from Episode 2 earlier). He did not look like a cab driver. Swanky clothes and haircut, he looked straight out of a GQ magazine. He spoke better English and, best of all, he claimed he knew the president of the cab driver "Syndical"- a certain Senor Juan Carlos. The name of "Senor Juan Carlos" was taken almost in reverence. I understood it to be a union thing. I introduced Vamsee to this guy as well, and she found him very handsome. Vamsee and I did not let up the cab patrol at all. Even while talking to the cabbies, we kept one eye on the cab lineup. Then, out of the blue, I spot this one driver, who seemed very familiar. Stealing glances at him, it struck me that this short stocky guy was the driver of a cab that was behind us in the lineup the previous night. He had gotten out of his cab when we were haggling with our driver about the cab fare and had tried to intervene on the driver's behalf. He was driving a Benz, and that's what Vamsee remembered. With two independent confirmations, we knew we had a break. We noted down the cab number and the license plate number. I immediately ran to get Raoul, the policeman and told him the news. Vamsee went to Pasqual. Soon thereafter, I ran into Jesus and I told him. I also informed him that we had informed the police as well. Pasqual and Jesus assured us that they will look into it. We saw them conferring thereafter.

Vamsee and I knew something was brewing. Within half hour, they said there is a good chance we will be getting our documents back (NOT THE LAPTOP). That was exciting news indeed. I even met the elusive Senor Juan Carlos, who assured us that we will get the documents either that evening or the next morning. Then, everyone asked us to go home. Again and again, they requested we go home and rest. Something did not seem right. We could not go anywhere until Saru and Kala came back anyway. So we stayed put.

The mood was distinctly upbeat at this point. It looked as though every cabby knew we were going to get the documents back, and they all urged us to go home. Vamsee and I decided we needed to look relaxed and still look for the cabbie. Just to make sure nerves were not frayed, I told every cabbie I met that we were waiting for our spouses. I forgot to mention that Raoul, during the course of a conversation, asked me where my boyfriend was. After a few fervent translation attempts by the rental car lady, I realized he was asking about Saru! I quickly gave him all the spousal details. He did not make that mistake again.

As if on cue, Saru and Kala joined us at this point at 7pm. When we told them about this news, they were positively giddy. Kala tried to smile, but just at that time she had a coughing fit. Saru decided that he could pay for the return of the laptop. Now that we were assured that we were going to get the documents, we decided to get it all back, if possible. With my newly-established network of cabbies, I passed the word around that we wanted to speak to Pasqual, Jesus and/or Senor Juan Carlos.

7.30pm, Juan Carlos made a triumphant entrance with Raoul, carrying Saru's documents. Saru seemed relieved. After 8 hours of desperation, things were happening too quickly for him. While he sifted through the documents to make sure everything was there, Vamsee stepped up her offensive and asked Juan Carlos about the laptop. You should have seen his face at this point. There was surprise and there was fury. Saru, having gone through his documents, found a strip of Coldarin tablets among them. He remembered he had left them in the laptop itself, NOT WITH THE DOCUMENTS. So whoever had given back the documents, had taken care to remove the tablets from the laptop. In other words, they had taken the laptop and returned the rest. Big mistake to return the medicine. Vamsee picked up on it, and went to war. She and I pushed and pushed. As she and Raoul were talking, I pulled Juan Carlos aside and told him that without a password the laptop was useless to the person having it . I said that Saru was a computer engineer, working in India, and that Saru would lose his job if he did not get his laptop back. I even reiterated that we could pay. Juan Carlos picked up on it, and retorted "How much?". I must have looked surprised and/or pained (I did think highly of him until that point), because almost immediately he said "No. No money. For you, no money". Vamsee then took over, and did a routine of the "wrath of the righteous woman". She later confided that she was trying to bring some tears as well. But all she could muster was suppressed laughter. Strange woman, this Vamsee.

An interesting side note is that Raoul had this driver's mobile number, and was talking to the guy intermittently while talking to Vamsee. He was evidently talking to a middleman. Somewhere around this time, Vamsee dropped the bombshell that we had a police case filed with the National Police. Kala came up with a good idea to tell them that it is law to file a National Police complaint, whenever visa documents and passports are lost. That changed the tone of the proceedings as well. Raoul's phone conversation with the middleman was becoming more and more animated. When things were not working out, Raoul threw a tantrum and said that "Now its personal", and that he would get the laptop back fat any cost. It was all a freakin soap-opera, I tell you.

After that Juan Carlos and Raoul went away promising to look into the laptop deal. We decided to stay put and hunt for the driver. 3 hours went by, and there was still no news. Vamsee had the car rental lady call Juan Carlos. Within 10 minutes, Juan Carlos came to meet us, seething with fury. We had obviously interrupted something. He said "You go home. Come tomorrow 8am. I am here. You get laptop back. Go home now!!". Pretty definitive we thought. So we caught the bus and went back to the city center. Had a quiet dinner at a baguettaria. Sounds fancy, but it was a coffee shop which sold 2 baguettes with a couple of cheese pieces, for 5 Euros. We were waited on by a nice gay waiter. We slept a little better that night. I awoke, again, to the sounds of Pepe's pregnant cat crying, and Saru peeing. Dude and the cat have the nasty habit of waking up at 5am. Again, there was hot water for only 2 people. This time, Kala took a shower instead of me.

We caught a cab from the 3-women poster stand. This time, we did not even ask to go to the airport. The cab driver recognized us and took us there. 8.30am, we entered the arrivals area, and were immediately accosted by Raoul. He took us to the car rental lady and was talking when I saw a familiar face walk toward me. IT WAS THAT @#%@#& CAB DRIVER we were hunting for the past 36 hours. He showed up right in front of me. I called Raoul, who now had the driver translated as well. Turns out the driver had a day off the previous day. Otherwise, we would have gotten our laptop back earlier. We still had not seen the laptop at this point, and none of us believed a word.

Raoul and the driver asked us to come with them to the cab stand. We knew that we'd be outnumbered by the cabbies if we went there. Saru and I despised that place. We stayed put, and had these 2 guys come meet us at the airport- in public view. 5 minutes later, they come out of the cab station, the driver carrying the laptop bag. Saru was literally jumping up and down in glee.

The driver handed me the laptop, while still talking in Spanish. I understood a little bit, and I said "Gracias Senor.", and handed the bag over to Saru. Man was I glad to be rid of it finally! The driver disappeared soon thereafter. As we were all walking back to the terminal, I kept asking Raoul "How??? How Raoul, How??" He just smiled, and said " Now go. You and your esposa and friends go see Seville. Ok?"

I said "Ok."., and then asked him if we needed to pay anyone. We were surprised to learn we didn't need to. We then asked him to thank Senor Juan Carlos, Jesus and Pasqual for us.

We had a good celebratory cup of coffee (and tea for Kala), and left the airport for sightseeing. Our official sightseeing in Seville began with a good 36 hours delay.

Not to sound clichéd, but if this is not a perfect "Alls' well that end's well", I don't know what is.

After all this, we still cannot come up with a good hypothesis why we got everything back, without having to pay single Euro. Maybe it was our sad faces that haunted them. Maybe we were cramping their style by hanging out by their place of work, maybe Raoul was our guardian angel, maybe they realized we were suh poor people we wont have any money to pay them...

If you have any, we'd love to hear it.

Adios