His tryst with Gurgaon began with mobile theft

Padmesh had not been more upbeat in a long time. Having just moved from Chandigarh to Gurgaon, he had taken a flat on rent, bought a shiny new mobile phone and was heading to a party organised specially for him.

But the city had a different plan for him. Two thieves stole his phone, ruining his night as well as his rosy perception of Gurgaon.

On that fateful evening two months ago, Padmesh and his colleagues were to meet at a restaurant in a mall at MG Road for an official party. He was on his way and had reached the MG Road Metro station when the incident took place.

At the traffic light, two boys came up to him asking for directions. "My car windows were rolled down and the two teenaged boys came and stood on either side, asking for directions to DLF Phase-5. I told them that I was new in the city," says Padmesh.

The traffic light turned green but the boy on the driver's side kept talking. "He engaged me in small talk so that I don't see the other boy. Fed up, I told him sternly that I couldn't help," he recalled.

He pressed the accelerator and headed for his destination. After a while, he reached for his phone kept on the passenger's seat to call his friends.

"It was not there. I stopped to look for a policeman, but there was no one around," said Padmesh.

When he finally met his friends at the restaurant that evening, all of them had just one thing to say — 'Welcome to Gurgaon'.