My Wallet

Amongst the few exclusive possessions of a male, perhaps the most sought after is a wallet. A wallet -the thing which no man can go without- reflects many things about its owner. For some it may reflect their financial position (the different type of cards tucked inside ranging from debit cards, credit cards to visa cards, club membership cards and so on), for some it may just reflect how much cash they take with them wherever they go (mostly students fall in this group; they keep whole of their pocket money inside and flaunt everywhere they go) and for others it may just show how choosy they are about their wallets -neat leather ones, stylish Italian or Spanish leather wallets with detachable card pouches, funky wallets with beads and metal engravings that come with a hanging chain whose other end is fastened onto the belt-ring of jeans or denim wallets of washed and worn-out fabric.

It's an obvious fact that men like to carry their wallets everywhere. Unlike girls who take their purses out only when they visit shops, parlours or restaurants, we men prefer our wallets to be with us anytime of the day (some might even take their's to the loos!). It's a comfortable feeling to know yours is intact at the back pocket of your jeans; why sometimes even this feeling suffices, though there might not be enough cash inside the wallet! Youths are seen at public places such as parks and movie theatres sporting low-waist jeans and a funky wallet at the back, evident from the long chain hanging down from the pocket and then curving up finally till the belt-hole. This thing with a cool t-shirt turns on most men for sure (particularly me!). These trendy wallets have an additional feature -they protect your wallet from theft at busy places. I remember having given this explanation at home when my parents enquired about such an 'ugly' looking wallet -metal beads all around the perimeter and a big eagle head at the centre of the upper surface with neat metal letters at its bottom, saying "HARLEY DAVIDSON". And believe me they were convinced to this extent that when the next time I bought another and I explained that those were costly, my daddy reprimanded me and ended saying 'you don't know son, those wallets are safe'. Little did my parents know that on one occasion when a friend of mine had been to watch a movie, his similar wallet was stealthily removed from his pocket while he was on his way up the stairs to the balcony; only during the intermission he realised that a chain was hanging from his waistline inches below his knees and that he had no bucks to pay the vendor! But, on a fair approximation, such wallets are safer than the other ones.

Speaking of my possession, right now I have an ordinary one. I bought it few months ago. It is a black coloured wallet with a very polished and shiny surface. No, the one in the picture isn't mine. Speaking briefly, it has two sections for currency notes -front and back and then there is a pouch with a fastening button and few inner card pouches. I use the back section to keep currency notes of larger denominations viz. Rs.100 and more and the front to keep the lower ones. The pouch is to keep coins, lockets, recharge vouchers and other small articles. Now, I am very fond of plastic cards. I have a range of them -state bank ATM card, Reliance Fresh customer card, college identity card, college library card, driving licenses for two and four wheeler vehicles and PAN card. I love keeping my cards in my wallet and, you know, show-off a bit (come on, typical of boys). But I take caution not to fulfill my wish because if per chance I lose my wallet then my parents will hang me without a last wish! So in my wallet you will find only the library card, ATM card and Reliance card along with a card-like copy of my two-wheeler license. Recently when daddy opened another bank account on my name, I remember having immediately asked when the ATM card is going to come and why, some time back I had also acquired the fetish to collect the plastic cards that come along with mobile sim cards and put them in my wallet. But I have grown sensible now.

The next thing which I would like to share with you is the time-to-time emptying of my purse. Whenever I visit the ATM to withdraw cash, I never feel like discarding the withdrawal slip. I keep it inside my wallet with the thought that it will keep a check on the number of times and amount of my withdrawal. Needless to say, the check never prevails and the ATMs see me every now & then till my conscience denies anymore of my visits. This creates another scenario. After certain withdrawals, I issue a mini-statement from the ATM which shows me the list of the ten recent money transactions. But the fate is same -without bothering for anything, I tuck the slip into my wallet and this thing repeats.

So after a long time when, on one bright day, I remove the contents of my purse, I have many things to worry about. Rather, the only section I don't have to worry is the back section because the notes keep on moving into the front and on most of the occasions it stays empty. You can say the back section has its weight for only few days after an ATM transaction. So I start with removing the ATM slips from inside. After removal I am sure you can make a mini letter pad with the papers I generate! Then amidst other disposable things are halves of movie tickets, restaurant bills (I retain some of them, though), recharge vouchers of varying denominations (I remove them and pile them up elsewhere), vehicle parking bills, bits of paper wherein temporary numbers, addresses and other information are written and other useless bits of paper (such as one which was used by me to pass information in the class. On one side I had written 'yaar, aaj nalini mast lag rahi hai' and at the back there was something more 'yaar, mere muh pe bhi yehi baat thi... her legs r so sexy').

All set and done, now my wallet looks good and feels lighter. It is a five-days-left-for-the-month-to-end time and my front section has a fifty rupees note with three ten rupees notes and the back section is...well, emp... no, wait a second, it has a hundred rupees note! How? This has never happened before. And then I realise that I had borrowed the same from a friend the previous day...!

P.S: I am fond of my wallet.