By Roy Denish
An honest three-wheeler driver in Colombo tracked down a passenger and returned a lost wallet with cash, identification and documents untouched.
Sitting in the back of that three-wheeler as it zipped through the evening traffic from Bambalapitiya to Wellawatte, I had no idea my life was about to temporarily unravel.
It was past dusk. The humid Colombo air was thick with the smell of street food and salt, and I was just glad to finally reach my destination near the Wellawatte flats. I paid my fare, gave a quick nod of thanks, and stepped out into the bustling crowd.
It wasn’t until I reached into my pocket a little while later that my heart completely stopped.
The pocket was empty.
My wallet was gone.
Panic set in instantly.
It wasn’t just about the cash. Inside that sleek leather folder were my foreign ID, insurance cards, critical official documents, and everything else I needed to function.
Being away from home without those papers feels like losing a part of your identity.
I retraced my steps, feeling utterly sick to my stomach and certain that the wallet was gone forever in a city bustling with millions of people. How was I going to replace my ID and recover all those important documents?
That night was a blur of stress and sleepless worry.
Then came the next day, and with it, a complete shift from despair to disbelief.
Nanda Kumar had found the wallet wedged deep in the corner of his three-wheeler seat after I left. Instead of keeping it or taking any of the foreign currency inside, he made it his mission to track me down.
When Nanda finally handed it back to me, my hands were trembling as I opened it.
Every single note, every insurance card, and every vital document was still there.
Not a single thing was missing.
It was all completely untouched.
Overwhelmed with relief, I tried to press a generous reward into his hands, insisting that he take something for his honesty and for the immense trouble he had gone through to return it.
But Nanda simply smiled, stepped back, and shook his head.
“No, no,” he told me, refusing the money entirely. “Keep your money. I’m just glad I could return it safely.”
Standing there on the pavement in Wellawatte, watching him drive away, I was left speechless.
In a world where people can sometimes be quick to look out only for themselves, Nanda Kumar proved that integrity and honesty are still very much alive.
He didn’t just return a lost wallet. He gave me my peace of mind back and refused to take a single dime for simply doing what he believed was right.
This man is a rare of a kind.He will be blessed by God for his honesty