Talking on Cellphone in an ATM could be fatal to your monetary health. It could easily cheat your thoughts and free you off your savings. And sharing an ATM centre with such people could be dangerous too and my story will substantiate this point.

I was busy begging some money to one of the money telling machines kept at the famous Powai Galleria branch of ICICI Bank. Then this 'lady on phone' entered with so much to talk and conclude with no more minutes to spare. She kept on talking while the machine ate her card, chewed it and finally excreted the money she demanded. Since she was too busy or such over-confident that the machine wouldn't make a mistake in counting, she did not even count the notes and left the Machine like a ball bounced back.

After a second's silence, the machine started screaming as if something got stuck in its stomach. I looked back and saw her card not taken back by her and thus the machine was angrily screaming. Without thinking much, I took the card out and flung to look for her. But she had disappeared.

I proceeded to the bank branch attached to the ATM centre and gave the card to one of the senior executives. He offered me a seat and asked my name. Respectfully, he then sped up the little banking I had to do.

While coming out of the bank, a chill struck my thoughts and I asked myself, what if this bank executive wouldn't handover the card to its owner? What proof I have that I handed over the card to the bank? One thing was obvious; the machine had captured my face, while I took the card out. And what if it never reaches its owner? Who will stand chargeable?

I walked back to the bank and confirmed with the man whether he could give me some declaration that I had handed the card over to the bank. He said, he had already informed the card owner and she was rushing back. Another executive came and thanked for what I did.

While walking back with the peace I acquired, a sad fact came into my thoughts. Today, we barely trust any one. Rather we can't. A wholehearted help to the other could land you up in pitiful trouble. In the drought of truth and wholeheartedness, our minds have dried up to a materialistic desert full of greed and self-importance.

And another truth revealed itself as the moral of the story. I realized that even I had done this mistake by talking on phone while attending the ATM machine. It was indeed a great lesson, why I shouldn't do it again.