ONE MORNING IN Kutch (part of Gujarat), we set off to see a historical monument not far from the town of Mandvi. On the way, we stopped at a cash machine (ATM) to withdraw some cash.

We inserted the debit card and the appropriate PIN code. After keying in the amount we wanted, the machine made the normal noises, and then asked us to remove the cash and our card. To our great dismay it delivered no cash. Yet, we received an SMS stating we had just withdrawn the amount of cash we had keyed in. This worried us greatly.

Fortunately, there was a branch of our bank near the ATM. We spoke with the manager, and explained what had happened. After taking a few details, he resolved the situation and instructed the cashier to give us the cash we had wanted. From his desk, he also managed to ascertain that the ATM had suffered a technical problem.

We drove on towards our intended destination. Despite information on the Internet and on noticeboards, all of which suggested that the place would be open, it was closed. The watchman at the gate explained that the attraction was closed for repair. However, he let us go in for a couple of minutes, after telling us that if anyone saw us enter, he would be in big trouble.

After this second mishap of the day, our driver took us to see a lovely Hindu temple a few miles away. As we began walking around the place, my wife noticed that one of her earrings had become detached. It was one of a pair that a jeweller in Sarajevo (Bosnia) had made. The pair had been made by the uncle of one my Bosnian dental patients, who, having been pleased with my dentistry, had given them to me to present to my wife. These earrings were of great sentimental value, and Lopa was most unhappy to have lost one.

After retracing our steps in the temple compound and failing to find the piece of jewellery, we decided to return to the bank and the ATM, where during the panic of the debit card problem, it might have fallen. On the way, we returned to the closed visitor attraction. We asked the watchman of he had spotted the earring. He had not.

So, we decided to search the part of the driveway, where we had stopped earlier. Lopa and I looked around in vain. Then, our driver joined the search. Within a couple of minutes, he found the earring in the gravel of the roadway. Sadly, either something had driven over it or stepped on it. The earring was intact but the silver stone setting had been distorted. We will have it repaired by Kalim, our skilful jewellery repairer in Bangalore.

They say things happen in threes. That was the case that morning in Kutch. Fortunately, two of the three problems were resolved in a good way.