“Photo vachindi, Bag poyindi”, I am sure most of the Telugu audience remember this dialogue from the movie Manmadhudu. I believed it was a mere joke, but my friend who is part of the trip group, came to know from his colleague that is in fact true. Paris and Rome share the fame in terms of theft. Being aware of this, we were very careful about handling our bags while roaming in the city. But what happened in a span of 2 minutes shocked all of us.
While going to Louvre Museum we had to change trains in Auber metro station. We were on the platform for 8 minutes and got onto the train. I, Stalin and one of his colleagues went straight to the door on the other side as there are around 4-5 girls standing in the aisle.
I: I was moving aside as one of the passengers had to go to the other compartment while noticing the other colleague of Stalin helping one of the girls with the way to reach Disneyland, Paris.
Stalin and his colleague: Involved in a discussion about their field of practice.
Suddenly, my friend held the hand of one of the girls and shouted that she stole something from her bag. The girl shouted back asking “what, what did I steal”. My friend checked her bag, found her mobile intact and said sorry to the girl.
One of the girls pressed the door open button and all five got down of the train. Two girls proceeded to the station exit, the other three stood at the door and just before the door closure they arrogantly threw my friend’s purse inside the train. That is when my friend realized it was not the mobile but purse that the girl stole. When checked, the purse was empty, they took Rs. 7000 in the purse before throwing it inside. Immediately my friend’s other colleague found her bag open and noticed 750 EUROS missing. A mixture of nervousness, fear, guilt, and sadness occupied our faces. It took us no time to realize that there is nothing we can do. A couple who observed the happenings immediately suggested not to talk to any strangers even if they ask for help.
That incident left us with a big loss and a lot of learnings. Then we indulged in detailed research to find out what we saw was the exhibition of the skills acquired through the training provided by the pickpocketing mafia. Post the incident, we were very vigilant about things around us. We strongly believe that our vigilance has helped us escape from one more stealing. While returning, another group of four people were setting stage for their skill exhibition. They observed us for 5 minutes before realizing that we were also observing them. They took the next train and left the place.
Except for this, my trip to Paris and Switzerland was just wonderful. I surely suggest visiting Paris but please be aware of this and know the ways to escape pickpocketing in Paris.
