Indian woman loses late father's last photo in Dubai cab, driver returns it intact

Losing a wallet is stressful enough. Losing one containing the last photograph of a late parent can feel devastating. For Indian expat Vartika Sharma, however, what began as a frantic search in Dubai ended with an unexpected reminder of human kindness.

Vartika had accidentally left her wallet in a Careem taxi while travelling through the city. Nearly 10 hours later, she was informed by Careem Care that the driver, Ebenezer Afibi, had found it and kept it safe.

What mattered most to Vartika was not the cash or cards inside. The wallet also contained her passport and the last passport-size photograph she had of her father, who died in December.

“When I realised it was missing, my heart sank,” Vartika wrote in a LinkedIn post about the experience.

She said the photograph was “priceless” and admitted she was “old-school” for carrying it with her. The possibility of losing it made the incident far more distressing than simply misplacing a wallet.

Then came the call from the cab company.

Vartika was told that Afibi had found the wallet and reported it through the app. When it was returned to her, she opened it to find everything exactly as she had left it, including her cash, cards, passport and, most importantly, her father’s photograph.

The relief quickly turned into gratitude. Vartika thanked Afibi profusely, but the driver had one more gesture that left an impression on her: he refused to accept a tip.

Reflecting on the incident, Vartika said she rarely posts on LinkedIn, but felt the experience was worth sharing because of how closely her work had brought her to Dubai.

“We often hear stories about Dubai’s honesty, kindness and humanity. Today, I experienced them personally,” she wrote.

She also thanked the Careem Care team for making the process reassuring and seamless, before addressing the city itself.

“And to Dubai: thank you for continuing to be a city where moments like this restore your faith in people,” Vartika wrote.

Somewhere between a lost wallet, a taxi ride and a stranger’s honesty, Sharma found something she said she would remember for a very long time.- Ends