When Anders Andersen, a Danish executive, lost his watch at the busy Bengaluru airport, he had little hope of reuniting with it.
The watch, a gold Omega with a brown strap, held deep sentimental value for Andersen: it was a birthday gift from his late grandfather.
Andersen was in India for a work trip last month. He is an executive of insurance company Tryg, that has a partnership with India's Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
On his flight back home, he realised his watch was missing.
"I was preparing myself for permanent departure of the watch, lost in an airport with more than 16m annual travelers," he wrote in a LinkedIn post last week. "I could feel the loss creeping in under my skin."
Andersen later wrote an e-mail to the Bangalore International Airport Ltd and Airports Authority of India, keeping TCS in the loop too.
He received prompt responses from the Bengaluru airport's lost and found department, engagement centre and TCS, promising help.
But he tried not to get his hopes up till he got a definitive answer.
It came soon enough. Bengaluru airport authorities reached out to tell him that the watch had been found.
A TCS staff member drove to the airport to the pick up the watch. Another employee returned to it to Anders during their trip to Denmark.
Anders said finding his watch was a "tiny needle in a huge haystack" situation but the cooperation of airport officials and TCS staff made it possible.
"I am overwhelmed by the professionalism, effectiveness and cooperation of Bengaluru Airport CISF and the Terminal Lost & Found team," he added. "And I am grateful to Tata Group Consultancy Services team for their local assistance and commitment to reunite me with my watch.
"This is also such a great practical example of professionalism and process performance scaling with scope of operations."
Anders said he took back and an "incredible" experience from India.
His LinkedIn followers added comments of appreciation for Indian authorities.
"It caught my attention because I have the exact same watch, also from my grandfather," a user named Mark Dowling wrote. "I have not lost anything during my Indian travels, but I can confirm the warmth and care of people generally in that wonderful country."
Another person, Vanduta Khurana, said. "So glad you could get such a sentimental piece back. Kudos to Banglore (sic) Airport Team."
"Lovely Post," read another comment. "Kudos to the teams involved."
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
